The folks at the New Mexico Tourism Department are busy counting the votes to see where to send green chile cheeseburger lovers to find the best plates in the state. Stay tuned for the 2011 results!
New Mexico didn’t invent the hamburger, but we’re the one who added green chile and made it hot! Sample this culinary treasure on your next trip, or turn your next trip into a sampling of burgers down our highways and byways, including Route 66.
No state is more passionate about its burger than New Mexico. A juicy thick patty grilled over an open flame or sizzled on a griddle, then blanketed in molten Cheddar or other cheese, and topped off with enough New Mexican green chile to tingle the tastebuds—what could be more glorious?
The green chile cheeseburger has been a staple on menus here since the middle of the last century. Burgers gained in popularity during the glory years of American road travel, when the asphalt ribbon Route 66 bisected New Mexico from west to east. Many lay claim to the idea of adding the state’s chile to a classic cheeseburger. The fiery burger’s early esteem was fueled by decades-old burger hotspots like The Owl Café and Buckhorn Tavern in San Antonio, Burt’s Burger Bowl in Santa Fe, Bobcat Bite just outside of Santa Fe, and Blake’s Lotaburger’s original Albuquerque location.
The national media’s fueled the flames of passion for our burgers. Alan Richman’s “The 20 Hamburgers You Must Eat Before You Die” (GQ, July 2008) includes Buckhorn Tavern and Bobcat Bite, and George Motz’s Hamburger America book and film singled out Bobcat Bite for even more accolades. The Food Network’s “Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives” host, Guy Fieri, loved the well-known Bert’s Burger Bowl but even sleuthed out Albuquerque’s fabulous Monte Carlo Steak House, hidden behind a humble package liquor store. The Food Network’s “Throwdown with Bobby Flay” brought its roadshow to New Mexico and saw Buckhorn Tavern crush grillmeister Flay.
Those places all deserve the attention they get, but you’ll miss out big-time, if you limit your burger budget to only those spots. However, a search for all the great burgers might take an intrepid diner too many years and a few too many calories to find.
We’ve made it easy, selecting some 4 dozen of the state’s outstanding green chile cheeseburger restaurants, cafes, drive-ins, and joints. Now this was tough! Some 8,000 people—residents, visitors, reviewers, and other restaurateurs—weighed in. By no means did they or we exhaust the possibilities, but we did try to make sure visitors have options on the most travelled routes, along with pit stops in all corners of the state. Now you have no excuse to miss Lucky Boy, a Chinese mom-and-pop shop, or Home of the Laguna Burger, in a superette inside a gas station on a pueblo west of Albuquerque, or newcomer Badlands Burgers in Grants, winner of the Governor’s Green Chile Cheeseburger Challenge, held during the New Mexico State Fair.
Some of the best news about our burgers is really old news. Decades ago, prepared condiments may have started at a local farm, and the bun may have come from a local bakery. So it is again. New Mexico-raised beef is turning up on more and more restaurant menus, as is New Mexico-grown chile. Albuquerque’s Bueno Foods, supplier of pungent pods for many a restaurant, recently began designating “New Mexico Grown, Guaranteed” on menus around the state. Chile is one of our most important but most endangered crops.
You’re sure to find great burger places we missed. We don’t want you to miss anything yourself, so always call ahead or check the establishment’s website to confirm details before going out of your way. We update periodically, but facts can change.
Happy trails and buen provecho!
Click here for a map of the 2009 Green Chile Cheeseburger Trail
