Buckhorn Saloon – Pinos Altos, New Mexico

In 1859, 49ers returning home from California discovered gold among the tall pines (Pinos Altos) north of Silver City. Word spread like wildfire.  In short order, there were more than 700 men prospecting in the area. As with other boom towns, rampant lawlessness made prospectors lives exciting to say the least.  Miners faced an anything goes attitude in the pursuit of gold punctuated by frequent raids by marauding Apaches.  In the “Apache War” of 1861, Cochise joined his father-in-law Mangas Coloradas (an Apache war leader who towered at 6’7″) and some 400 Apache warriors to drive away miners from their traditional homeland.

In its early days Pinos Altos saw a veritable who’s who of fame and infamy.   In the 1860s, Old West legend Roy Bean operated a mercantile in Pinos Altos before moving to West Texas to gain fame as Judge Roy Bean “The Law West of the Pecos.” Henry McCarty (William Bonney was just an alias), the infamous Billy the Kid, began his life of crime in the area.  As the area’s gold began to deplete, families turned to ranching.  Some of the largest ranches in the country once were located just outside of town.  Evidence of ranching still abounds: windmills, stock tanks, corral and cattle.  Cowboys aren’t always visible to motorists  They often work far from the highways and byways. If you’re fortunate enough to see a cowboy, you’re seeing someone with one foot in the past, one foot  in the present.  Cowboys remain completely steeped in the traditions that helped settle the West.

Historic Pinos Altos was the first county seat of Grant County. The town is located along the Continental Divide at an elevation of 7,000 feet.  It’s situated in the southern end of the Pinos Altos Mountains of the Gila National Forest. Today, Pinos Altos has a charming main street that could pass for an old western movie set. Many of the old buildings date back to the 1800s and have been restored with original memorabilia and artifacts. Pinos Altos has a population of 300 and is about nine miles north of Silver City. While in town, visitors can walk literally through the pages of downtown history.  They can enjoy historical sites and museum tours; enjoy great food and entertainment; try their hand at gold panning; or simply delight in the beautiful mountain views of the Gila National Forest.

Traveling on horseback rather than on horsepower-driven automotive conveyances seems more appropriate in the area.  You almost expect horses tethered to a hitching post in front of the mountaintop bar known as the Buckhorn Saloon which first opened in the 1860s. Time has moved much more quickly in the Grant County area.   During its 160-plus years, the Buckhorn remains virtually unchanged.  From the outside it it resembles an unkempt, ramshackle facade in dire need of a paint job . One thing has remained constant: It’s a welcoming gathering spot for anyone in search of a cold drink or a bite to eat.

There are three different facets to the recently-renovated interior space. First is the saloon, which features a thick oak bar, brick walls, a wood-beamed ceiling, and regular live music and open mic nights.  Dim lighting and raucous crowds enjoying live music lend to the thematic (Old West) ambiance.  Knock down, drag out brawls aren’t a frequent occurrence as they may have been in the 1860s, but with a little imagine you can picture Big John Canyon and his brother Buck clearing the bar.  The sit-down and slightly more upscale dining areas are more tranquil though when music is playing, conversations at hushed tone are difficult.

17 April 2024: The cuisine is the creation of executive chef and owner Thomas Bock.  The restaurant menu is contemporary, featuring seafood, USDA choice steaks and salads, soups and homemade desserts. Libations include Sioux City sarsaparilla, one of the creamiest root beer drinks available anywhere. To remain consistent with our Old West surroundings, Kim and I both had steaks. The Porterhouse steak is easily an inch and a half thick and prepared with salt, pepper and garlic. It was juicy and succulent with just a hint of pink when ordered medium.

Order your salad with the ranch dressing and you’ll be asking the wait staff why they haven’t bottled and sold it. It’s rich, creamy and tastier (by far) than commercial offerings. Also quite good is the chicken noodle soup which is made with thick egg noodles and white chicken with a broth so savory, it would be criminal to add crackers.  It was the soup-of-the day during our inaugural visit.  Friday’s soup is clam chowder and Saturday’s is French onion soup. There are a number of  “usual suspect appetizers such as chips and salsa, house-cut French fries and green chile chicken fries.

5 April 2024:  We were delighted advanced geriatric progression hadn’t diminished our memories of the  Buckhorn Saloon.  It was like revisiting an old friend.  Service reflects my contention that Silver City just may be the most friendly city in New Mexico.  Tandem service was on the spot, friendly and ambassadorial.  Every server that visited our table was friendly and kind with savvy recommendations and drink refills as we needed them.  Even if you don’t imbibe adult beverages, drink options include the usual Coke products as well as a number of juices.

Sure, Silver City is situated in the scenic Chihuahuan desert, but our appetizer seemed more appropriate for a Middle Eastern desert region.  We were happy to find a Mediterranean Plate (hummus, pita, Kalamata olives, cucumber, red onion, feta cheese and tomatoes) among the appetizers.  Happy turned to elated when we discovered just how warm and pliable the soft pita was.  The pita was a perfect canvas for tiny “sandwiches” created by heaping on some of the other ingredients.  The Kalamata olives were pitted and perfectly briny.  Our Dude enjoyed most (if not all) of the feta.

5 April 2024:  Make no mistake about it.  The Buckhorn is a carnivore’s paradise, a showcase of brawny beef.  In other words, it’s my Kim’s type of restaurant.  Listed on the “USDA Prime & Choice Steaks” section of the menu are a New York strip, Prime filet mignon, ribeye, cowboy-cut ribeye and prime rib (Friday and Saturday only).  Among the “Specialties of the House” are  other pulchritudinous proteins such as a bone-in center cut pork chop, shrimp scampi on a bed of linguine, Asian glazed salmon, coconut curry mahi mahi and grilled jumbo prawns.

The special-of-the-day when we visited was a ribeye steak with six scampi and your choice of potato (baked or French fried) and the vegetable of the day (zucchini).    Our server didn’t have to ask twice.  Porterhouse may be my Kim’s favorite cut of meat, but she won’t ever pass over a good ribeye, especially at a bargain price.  An eight-ounce cut was splayed on her plate with the six scampi (which she gifted to me) atop of the meat.  Though there was somewhat more fat on her steak than she would have wanted, my Kim enjoyed her steak.  It’s moist and juicy at a medium degree of doneness.  She wasn’t able to finish it but later learned it’s just as flavorful cold.  The baked potato was about the size of the steak and is served with butter and sour cream.  Forgive me if you’ve heard this before–American restaurants do NOT know how to prepare baked potatoes.  Despite slathering the potato with butter and sour cream, it didn’t help much.  American restaurants should visit Mexican restaurants to learn how it’s done.

5 April 2024:  Every time we visit a steak restaurant and I scour the menu for alternatives to meat, my Kim threatens to take my man card.  It’s reminiscent of the Seinfeld episode titled “The Wink” (Season 7, Episode 4) in which Jerry worries about his masculinity when he orders “just a salad” in front of his carnivorous, pork chop-cooking girlfriend.  At least I’m more masculine than Seinfeld.  I’ll order a burger instead of steak.  The Buckhorn offfers six distinct burgers.  I assumed the Ultimate burger    (basil aioli , goat cheese, roasted red peppers, grilled onions) would be the biggest and best of them all.  It certainly wasn’t sizable…and a wonderful as all the ingredients might be, there just wasn’t enough of them (particularly goat cheese).  Now, the ultimate burger was good, but it’s not nearly the ultimate.

5 April 2024:  One menu item worthy of the label “ultimate” is the Old-Fashioned Chocolate Cake (three layers of chocolate filled with whipped ganache and surrounded by more creamy chocolate).  If this dessert had been available during New Mexico’s frontier days, cowboys would have become caloric overachievers too corpulent to  be able to mount their horses.  This is one of the largest chocolate cakes you’ll ever have, a veritable chocolate skyscraper.  Big applies to flavor, too.   The chocolate is an adult chocolate, not a cloying milk chocolate that rots your teeth.  We were able to share an entire slice of this behemoth, a feat the equivalent of swimming the English channel.

When done with your meal, stagger on over to the adjacent Old Opera Melodrama playhouse for a raucous evening of revelry and fun. The Opera’s Western plays are bawdy and bodacious with just enough double-entendre to make them more appropriate for adults than children. Pinos Altos has other attractions which make it a must stop in the Land of Enchantment’s wild and history laden Southwest quadrant.Buckhorn Saloon
Main Street
Pinos Altos, New Mexico
(575) 538-9911
LATEST VISIT: 5 April 2024
1st VISIT: 17 April 2004
# OF VISITS: 2
RATING: 21
COST: $$$ – $$$$
BEST BET: Porterhouse Steak, New York Steak, Sarsaparilla, Ribeye Steak, Mediterranean Plate, Old-Fashioned Chocolate Cake