The little places with lots to give

I love the little restaurants that are run by families and those who simply love to serve good, homemade food. These kinds of small business restaurants are everywhere and are the backbone of the community. This, I say, is where you can find the best food in the world. You can taste the love and dedication. Sometimes you can taste the family history and cultural identity at these places. But they’re in trouble. I write about tons of these little restaurants as a reporter with the Las Cruces Sun-News and I’ve seen so many good restaurants go out of business. It makes me sad — and scared about going into the restaurant industry myself.

My very favorite restaurant went out of business a few months ago and I wanted to cry. I drove up to the small house on Mesquite Street and got ready to make my way out of the car and into the restaurant where the owners knew my name and always said “hi.” I collapsed back in the car seat when I noticed there was no “La Playita” sign out, no “Open” sign and no more curtains and outdoor umbrellas. This was one of my (and my sister’s) favorite places to get fresh seafood every weekend in the summer. It was cozy, beautifully lit and the food was delicious beyond anything I have ever eaten. Actually I only ordered one dish, the fish ceviche tostadas (a cold heap of minced fish, crab and tiny shrimp tossed with lime, pico de gallo and avocado on a tostada). It was heaven and a treat every weekend. My sister was a fiend for the large shrimp cocktail. That stuff is like crack for her. We had never had Mexican seafood like this before. I wrote a story about their opening sometime early last year and got to sample these things. I brought my sister there and we have been there every weekend. It was sad when they closed. I don’t know why they closed, but I do know my sister and I were usually the only customers when we were there.

 Fish ceviche tostada at La Playita.

SB’s Late-Night Lunchbox closed recently too. They were open for two years in the downtown area and they made quite a name for themselves. This was actually the first story I wrote for the Sun-News (I was so excited for this I asked the Pulse editor of the time if I could write something). SB’s was a hip joint serving vegan dishes until 3 a.m. along with tasty treats like Heart Attack Wraps (bacon and cheese wrapped in a croissant and smothered with apple butter) and hippie popcorn, my favorites. They had a wide range of creative homemade things. It was mentioned in all kinds of magazines and Pulse so many times. I was always satisfied when I ate here and I was sad to see it go too (thank goodness some cool youngsters from Mountain View Co-Op with the same vision of eating local and fresh are taking over the place).

 Green chile mac, hippie popcorn, Heart Attack Wraps and Oreogasms at SB's Late-Night Lunchbox.

I saw El Tiberon close. It’s another Mexican seafood place with awesome fish tacos. They briefly opened a neighboring restaurant with other Mexican things on the menu like machaca, carnitas and some fried-intestines-taco thing I always wanted to try (I like fried sheep intestines a lot, don’t hold that against me, I’m Navajo). That went out of business quick and then El Tiberon went underwater just a few weeks ago.

Fried fish and chips, with a fish taco, at El Tiberon.

The kettle corn place also went out of business. These were some good people who always wanted to open up a place of their own. They specialized in snacks, baked goods and kettle corn. They had these awesome, delicious, cute cake pops. I always wanted to go back for more cake pops, but the location was always the issue. They were open for less than a year.

There is always something special at these small, family restaurants. Sure, they can’t seat 300 people, they don’t have fancy booths, 50 waiters and 20 cooks, they don’t have a professional paint job or décor and they don’t have the cheapest prices. They can’t compete with Apple Bee’s or Olive Garden. They make their food from scratch, from experience and love, not from a box and a bag of salty sauce they boil and serve like at the chain restaurants.

It’s unfair. Some of them have really good food to offer, but they get stuck in bad locations and debt that force them to close. Don’t get me wrong, some places are not good and you can tell someone in the kitchen really doesn’t give as shit about what they’re making.

Even though these places above are closed, there are many other small places to go in town. Mariscos Boca del Rio Y Comida Mexicana and Delicias del Mar for Mexican seafood (although I know Delicias del Mar can’t make a shrimp cocktail the way we liked it at La Playita. We tried and were a little disappointed). Mariscos can make this lovely, tasty garlic fish that I loved when I wrote that story. 

Fillet al Mojo de Ajo (fish with homemade garlic sauce) at Mariscos Boca del Rio Y Comida Mexicana.

One of my new favorite little places is A Bite of Belgium on Alameda Boulevard. And that’s one of the reasons why I want to go to Belgium (Bruges) before I die. Michel Mal, the chef, is a cool guy. He’s extremely passionate about food and that’s all we talk about when we go there. Lamb sandwiches, Belgium burger, apricot chausson, apple Danish, homemade sauces, homemade breads, quiche and soups. I’m excited to move into our new Sun-News building, because A Bite of Belgium is going to be next door!

The new lamb sandwich at A Bite of Belgium comes with three different homemade spreads.

Another place I like is Pho Saigon, the Vietnamese place with more than 300 menu items. I don’t know how they do it (300?!?!), but they make everything very good. Pho is a given, curry chicken is my favorite and the spring rolls with the peanut sauce are a must. 

A duck soup up front and beef pho in the back at Pho Saigon.

Also:

Kim-Chi House, the Seoul, Korean joint on Soloano Drive. Mmmm, black bean noodles and kimchi pancakes when you dine in.

Ja Jang Myun, potatoes, zucchini and pork in a black bean sauce at Kim-Chi House.

Delicias on Lohman, a Mexican joint with a very homey, comfortable feel, a good burger and killer fajitas.

Green chile cheese burger at Delicias.

Ranchway BBQ, the Mexican barbeque joint on Valley Drive that serves the very best, most delicious refried beans in town. They make it themselves; boil the beans early in the morning, blend it down and do some magic to it (I’m pretty sure it’s a ton of lard, but hey, that’s what refried beans are). I also come here for the tampico steak. It’s a large rib-eye — on the fatty side — grilled up with some green chiles. Yes.

 The tampico steak at Ranchway BBQ.

International Delights, the only place left in town that serves Middle Eastern foods. I love Middle Eastern foods and I kind of eat it once a week (cause I make it at home). Mmm, falafel…

 The falafel sandwich at International Delights.

El Patron has the best Huevos Rancheros I’ve had so far (and this is saying a lot. I’m not really a breakfast person at all).

Huevos rancheros at El Patron.

Cow Palace way on the other side of town in Doña Ana. They have very good homemade fries and this great fish and chips plate. 

The fish and chips at Cow Palace (it's the special on Fridays).

Those are some of my favorite places in Las Cruces. I wish the very best for all of them and can’t wait to visit them again. I also can’t wait to try something new at some other little-hole-in-the-wall place. 

Please support your favorite local restaurant. 

(Wow, I can't believe I had photos from all these places... All photos by Andi Murphy.)