The Food of San Antonio (New Mexico)

Did you know Conrad Hilton was born in San Antonio?  New Mexico, that is?  I didn't.  Apparently the state of Texas did not either, as they inducted him into the Texas Hall of Fame before they realized he was born in New Mexico, and I am told he is the only non-Texan in the Hall.  But I digress.

San Antonio is the closest town to the Fite Ranch and the Trinity Site, so that is where we ate.  As a little girl my dad took us to the Owl Bar, where people would pin dollar bills to the ceiling after writing their names on the bills.  They have cleaned the place up a bit, now not allowing writing on the bills and not allowing the dollars to be pinned to the ceiling but instead taped to the wall.  And now they donate the money to charity.  We went there on Saturday after going to the Trinity Site.  We were lucky.  A busload of children had just arrived, but they were ushered into a back dining room.  Just after, a table emptied that we could use, and then a huge line formed.  They opened another dining room, however, and everyone was happy!  Our group ordered Green Chile Cheeseburgers, which are the specialty of the house.  Within about ten minutes we were all served, and the hamburgers was as good as remembered - sloppy, sloppy, and as tasty as ever.

The first night we were in San Antonio we ate at the Buckhorn.  We knew nothing about it, but have since learned that the proprietor, Bobby Olguin, won one of Bobby Flay's Throwdown competitions.  Not knowing that, however, we went in.  A table was not available, but it wasn't long before a man in a black apron waved us back.  As we walked up he said, "I don't even know you but I hate you."  My sister said, "What?" And he said, "Not you.  I like you.  I just don't like them (Don and me)."  Well, I am a bit thin-skinned, and it really bothered me that he said that, even though he was probably kidding.  We sat down (perhaps we should have walked out), ordered, and I have to admit, the food was very good.  I still prefer the Owl Bar's hamburgers, but the Buckhorn's were pretty darned good.  The onion rings were not great, unfortunately.  After we ate, the proprietor (Bobby Olguin, who was the man in the black apron) came over and talked to us.  Turns out he used to teach in West Elk and Howard and his wife worked for a friend of mine in Howard.  Bobby chatted with us, told us a joke, and was generally very amiable.  Too bad he didn't start out that way  The first impression is still with me.

Finally, after our day at the Trinity Site and the VLA, we stopped in at the San Antonio General Store.  We heard they carry delicious homemade fudge, so Don and I decided that ice cream and fudge would make a good dinner.  We bought maple fudge and chocolate fudge, and we each had some ice cream.  The fudge was as good as advertised.  Much better than I have ever had from other fudge stores.  We would most definitely go back there again.

The moral of this story?  We ate at the only three food establishments in San Antonio, and they all have pretty tasty offerings.  I would not hesitate to recommend any of them . . . just make sure you aren't too thin-skinned!