View of Las Cruces from
San Augustin Pass in 1981

Las Cruces is the center of New Mexican cuisine in the southern part of the state, and a number of local restaurants present this style of food to locals as well as tourists who are either curious or who know they are in for a delicious treat–or at least something that is totally unique to this area.

At first glance it is hard to tell the difference between the local cuisine and northern New Mexico food served in Albuquerque and points north. To be quite honest I never thought most restaurants in Albuquerque had it nailed, and I always looked forward to trips farther north such as Santa Fe, Taos, or Española for the “real deal.”  Much of the difference is that northern restaurants many times use blue corn tortillas in enchiladas and other dishes, while I have never seen this in the south. There are a myriad of other differences such as the dishes that are served and the way they are served.  I think that if I gave an analogy to European food it would be much like the difference between German and Austrian food.  I don’t know which one is better but if I had spent years there I certainly would have some opinions about which ones I particularly enjoy.

The purpose of this article is to impart my own knowledge and opinions about the food in Las Cruces and to recommend some restaurants when you will not have time to try them all (my disclaimer is that I have not tried every restaurant in town, but I pay attention to reviews and recommendations from my friends who tell me what I might be missing).

Las Cruces downtown mall 1977

Where I Find the Best:

Red Enchiladas:

1. La Nueva Casita has the best I have had in the city, and I think is comparable to the best in Northern New Mexico
2. (tie) it is difficult to determine whether Chope’s, Nellie’s, or Nopalito is the next best, and I think any of these could be my pick on any given day
3. Los Mariachis also has excellent red chile

Green Enchiladas:

1. I know for sure that the green chile at Chope’s is excellent
2. Nellie’s and Nopalito have excellent green chile but I haven’t tried it on enchiladas (Nopalito serves it as one of their salsas)
3. Los Mariachis has green chile that might be better than the red
4. (Honorable mention) I get frustrated with La Posta that the food is not spicy enough but the green enchiladas have a flavor that is hard to top anywhere

Chile Rellenos:

1. The clear choice for this is Chope’s
2. Nopalito
3. Andele
4. La Posta (again this is an honorable mention choice)
   

The downtown mall today

If I were planning five trips to the city and I wanted to get the five best meals of New Mexican food:

1. Nellie’s: Sopapilla compuesta with red and green sauce
2. Chope’s: Christmas (half red and half green) enchilada plate with a chile relleno on the side
3. Nopalito: Enchiladas (either red or Christmas) with either a stuffed sopapilla or chile relleno served a la carte at  (Note: the enchilada plate by itself is enough food to fill me up)
4. La Nueva Casita: Red enchilada plate
5. Los Mariachis: Take your choice: Enchiladas served Christmas style –OR– stuffed sopapilla with beef covered with green chile, and add another stuffed sopapilla or a la carte item

Info about these restaurants:

• • Andele — 1950 Calle del Norte, Mesilla
  • Chope’s — 16165 S. Hwy. 28, La Mesa
  • La Nueva Casita — 195 N. Mesquite St., Las Cruces
  • La Posta — 2410 Calle de San Albino, Mesilla
  • Los Mariachis — 754 N. Motel Blvd., Las Cruces (also at 5600 Bataan Memorial E.)
  • Nellie’s — 1226 W. Hadley Ave., Las Cruces (Note: as of Feb. 2025 it is temporarily closed)
  • Nopalito — 310 S. Mesquite St., Las Cruces (also at 2605 Missouri Ave.)

A book about New Mexican cuisine

There is a lot more to New Mexican food than enchiladas or tacos (or even stuffed sopapillas). A new book by Art Pollard named Enchantment: A New Mexican Cookbook contains more than 1,200 recipes of authentic New Mexican cooking for everything from salads to fondue made with taco sauce, to grits with green chile, or to a Spanish Rice Casserole that has no green chile in the recipe (a rarity, but some dishes are not spicy). Recipes come from a number of sources including the Griggs family cookbook (the family who founded La Posta Restaurant).

The author and I have a common fond memory of the now closed Rio Grand Cafe in Española — one of the best, and spiciest, New Mexican restaurants of all time. It also places both of us within a certain age bracket.

This book opened up my eyes to some menu items which do not sound like New Mexican food but may in fact be. I think it sounds like a fun challenge to find some of these in the various Las Cruces restaurants that I visit.