A mouthful of history: Tracing the origins of iconic New Mexican dishes
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The story goes that Frank added a grill so that he could serve the hamburgers that his regulars craved. That burger was often accompanied by a side bowl of spicy green chile. One day, the dishwasher didn't show up. When Frank ran low on dishes, he simply plopped the green chile on top of the burgers. And the rest is history.
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The Owl Bar & Cafe is a small desert roadside eatery in San Antonio, N.M.
David Lyon
Apart from the fresh paint job, the squat adobe-colored roadside joint looks like it hasn't changed since the days of the Manhattan Project. Once our eyes adjusted to the chill darkness inside, we walked past the bar, settled into a booth, and didn't even have to look at the menu. We did ask our waitress what makes the famous Owl burger so good. 'We have a good cook,' she shrugged. The beef in the patty is hand-ground and the green chile is prepared daily from a 'secret″ recipe. 'They say it's just salt and pepper,' she confided, advising us to also order a plate of green chile fries — a heaping meal in itself, as it turned out.
Our waitress left a big pile of napkins on our table and we needed every one. The bun could barely contain the beef patty that escaped over the side or the cheese and green chile that oozed from the edges. As if that weren't enough, the burger was also topped with onion, pickles, lettuce, tomato, mustard, and mayo. (In a moment of ordering exuberance, one of us also added bacon.) Both versions were two-fisted tastes of history.
Diners from across the country and around the world make a point of stopping at the Owl. They eat a burger, write a few laudatory lines on a slip of paper, and tack it to the wooden walls along with a few dollars for charity. Recent diners at our booth had come from Maine, Costa Rica, and Oklahoma, as well as points in the Four Corners.
Despite its culinary fame, the Owl remains a down-to-earth neighborhood place where at least two of the waitresses had worked for more than 40 years. We overheard an Owl regular order his burger with 'no mayo, extra mustard.' So we decided to ask him what makes him keep coming back for more. 'The chile and the grill,' he told us. 'It's been in use since 1945, so it's well seasoned.'
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He paused for a bite and then continued. 'I've eaten everywhere. This is the best green chile cheeseburger in the universe. I'd be back here on Sunday — except they're closed.'
Tia Sophia's has been a staple of the Santa Fe restaurant scene since 1975.
David Lyon
Because we were spending a month in a casita in Santa Fe, it was much easier to stroll into town to enjoy the breakfast burritos at Tia Sophia's. The breakfast and lunch joint stands at one corner of the main plaza across the street from the Art Deco Lensic theater. When the restaurant opened in 1975, Santa Fe was still a slightly sleepy Hispanic city favored by painters, photographers, and folks seeking mountain air. Ann and Jim Maryol's casual diner flourished by serving good regional New Mexican dishes at good prices.
With son Nick Maryol at the helm since 2004, Tia Sophia's remains a go-to place for local comfort food. Widely lauded by Santa Feans for its sopapillas drizzled with honey, Tia Sophia's true fame in wider culinary circles derives from its breakfast burrito. But Nick is quick to set the record straight. Jim Maryol didn't invent the breakfast burrito.
'It was my father who put that name on the menu,″ he says. 'But he always said New Mexican people have been putting breakfast food on tortillas forever and wrapping them up. He was just the first to call it a breakfast burrito.'
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Beautiful plates arrive at the table for breakfast at Tia Sophia's.
David Lyon
In fact, his father was modest about his role in American culinary history. 'Back in the '90s, when Taco Bell put a breakfast burrito on its menu, the family joked that Dad should have trademarked the name. But he was a humble man and didn't want to take credit for tradition.'
One Saturday morning, we arrived early before the usual line formed down the sidewalk and scored one of the last small tables at the front. The menu offered several tempting choices, but, again, we were on a mission to go to the source. So we ordered the famous breakfast burrito. Adhering to tradition, we chose bacon for the meat in the filling (as opposed to sausage or bologna).
All that was left was to decide if we wanted red or green chile. The diner's homemade red and green chile sauces are celebrated, and the menu warns 'Not responsible for too hot chile.' It was September and the smell of roasting green chiles filled the air. So we went with our noses and chose green.
The burrito was filled with a generous mass of scrambled eggs, nicely crisped fresh hash browns, and delicious strips of sweet and smoky bacon. On top was a fiery helping of green chile sauce and the inescapable melted orange cheese. Breakfast was born.
And the green chile? 'Not
too
hot,″ one of us said bravely as tears rolled down our cheeks.
If you go...
For information on the New Mexico Green Chile Cheeseburger Trail, see
Owl Bar & Cafe
77 US Highway 380, San Antonio, N.M.
575-835-9946,
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Open Monday-Saturday 8 a.m.-8 p.m. Green chile cheeseburger $6.
Tia Sophia's
210 West San Francisco St., Santa Fe.
505-983-9880,
Open Monday-Saturday 7 a.m.-1:30 p.m., Sunday 8 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Breakfast burrito $14.
David Lyon can be reached at
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