It took over a year to land Chope’s Town Café and Bar in La Mesa on the National Register of Historic Places.
What started off as a then-student project by New Mexico State University graduate Addison Warner and NMSU graduate student Norma Hartell took the café and bar’s nomination beyond the classroom and into history.
Their professor at the time Dr. Beth O’Leary who is now retired knew Warner and Hartell’s project was special.
“We had the State and Register coordinator come and he listened to their pitch in a draft stage, and he said it was interesting, so I really knew this was a good one," says O'Leary.
Addison Warner was happy that their work helped this historic café and bar become recognized nationally.
“We kind of just took it on as a project, and then shortly after that decided that yes we would take it further. To be honest I was not really expecting the national register when we first started this project, but I’m very thrilled that it did go that far, I think it’s awesome,” says Warner.
Norma Hartell recalls telling Warner during the middle of the semester that they should just go forward with the nomination to the state and national level.
“After the semester ended we just went through with it and kept working on it. For me, I just love the place. I’ve been coming here since I was in high school. This is where I had my first beer, my first 40-ounce. So I’ve always loved this place. This is a place where I have a special personal connection to,” says Hartell.
"Chope's" is known for its 40-ounce beers as well as its cuisines. On any given night, you can find customers enjoying their enchiladas or chili rellenos with a tall cold one.
In the bar next door to cafe customers Kathleen and Dawson Wood, who recently moved to Las Cruces just finished some tacos. Kathleen says that she was very frustrated, because the couple got lost trying to find the rural restaurant, but the hospitality at the bar and café cheered her up…not to mention the tacos.
“I was in a horrible, bitter, angry mood and these two lovely ladies behind the bar were so nice and so friendly. I immediately got in a good mood, the food was great, and we’ve had a ball ever since. This staff is fantastic, says Wood.”
The history of that hospitality goes back generations to 1915, when Longina Benavides opened her home to area residents. Locals knew that they could enjoy a cold drink there, and when the outside lamp of Longina’s home was lit, they could find fresh enchiladas for sale inside. Later her son José “Chope” Benavides and his wife Guadalupe took over the place and built a bar next door. The couple would raise their daughter’s just steps away from the kitchen of the café.
Today, the cafe and bar is owned and operated by Cecilia Yañez, Margie Martinez, and Amelia Rivas the daughters of "Chope" and Guadalupe Benavides. They have owned and operated the café and bar since their father passed away in 1990.
Cecilia Yañez says that the restaurant’s success took off after the Bracero Program was introduced. The agricultural agreement between the U.S. and Mexico brought workers farm workers from Mexico to fill vacant spots here in the Mesilla Valley and across the rest of the country during and after World War Two.
Many of the Braceros would fill "Chope’s" after working in the fields and sometimes would pay with the crops they picked that day, and their children would also go to their restaurant according to Yañez.
“By then the farmers had children just like us, and the grade school was open and their wasn’t a cafeteria in the grade school, so they would walk over here and eat burritos, and they would run a tab, and on Saturdays their mother would come to pay the tab.”
Margie Martinez says with a big smile she is happy with the café and bar’s honor for generations of hard work. She says there were tough times, like with the recent recession, but they pulled through.
“It’s such a big honor, and I was really, really proud of the restaurant. We’ve worked hard for it; it deserves it,” says Martinez.
Cecilia Yañez says her father; who was an iconic figure in the Mesilla Valley would have been loud and proud with the designation.
“I think he would-of announced it to the whole world. That’s the type he was. If something like this happened…he would have announced it to the whole world.”
Whether it’s Red or Green Chile enchiladas or "Chope’s" famous Chile Rellenos...You can still find the original Benavides family recipes being served today. When you visit, you may even have a chance to say hello to 97 year-old Guadalupe Benavides who is still in the restaurant everyday.
Previous KRWG story on "Chope's" landing New Mexico designation:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cj_Y8KqZ3fw
