Chope’s – La Mesa, New Mexico
During my Kim’s inaugural visit shortly after we retired from the Air Force in 1995, we ran into a former Las Cruces resident now living in the nation’s capital. His near teary-eyed testimony about how much he missed Chope’s was more powerful than a Sunday sermon. When he kissed the hallowed ground in front of Chope’s, we knew he meant it. An elderly gentleman recounted the time Chope’s salsa was so hot it made him hiccup for three days. A middle-aged woman from Las Cruces rhapsodized about Chope’s chile rellenos, her testimony practically eliciting involuntary salivation in the impromptu audience of queued patrons. Chope’s has had a similar effect on most its guests for six generations. Perhaps the consummate mom-and-pop operation, Chope’s had the most humble of beginnings. Nearly a century ago,–1915 to be precise–Longina Benavides began selling enchiladas to her neighbors in the farming community of La Mesa. A kerosene lantern hanging outside the front door of the circa 1850s family home signaled the availability of enchiladas just off the stove. When Longina’s son Jose inherited the home, he and his wife Lupe continued the family tradition of feeding their neighbors. They named the family business “Chope’s,” the…
