In a less-than-scientific poll, I asked readers of the Times' El Paso History facebook page to chime in on which El Paso restaurants they wish were still open. There were more than 600 comments and lots of nostalgia. Here are the results:
No. 5: Chopsticks, Elmer's
Tied at number 5 are Chopsticks at Cielo Vista Mall and the recently closed Elmer’s Family Restaurant on Montana Avenue.
Although Chopsticks is now closed, former owner Francisco "Paco" Wong Jr. owns Paco Wong's on the West Side.
Elmer’s, which closed in June after a lease dispute, was known for its fried chicken. In 1957, Elmer and Jewel Poulsen built Elmer's Drive-In on Hawkins Way, followed by Elmer's Chicken Cottage, which quickly became a favorite of El Pasoans. In 1962, missing the close contact he previously had with his customers at their first restaurant, Poulsen designed and built Elmer's Coffee Shop on Montana.
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No. 4: La Paloma
At number 4 is La Paloma. On Sep. 11, 2006, Times reporter Darren Meritz reported that the restaurant would be closing at the end of the year:
A Northeast El Paso staple in Mexican food that’s served popular dishes to local patrons for 47 years is closing its doors at the end of the year as its proprietor looks forward to retirement after decades of running the popular business.
Edna Esparza, after building La Paloma In the Northeast and operating the restaurant since 1959, is leaving behind a career that helped put her children through college and provided thousands of dishes to regular patrons throughout the community.
Esparza, who is selling the property at 9225 Dyer but not the restaurant’s name, is leaving behind La Paloma, which was begun by her father-in-law as a small stand, then a restaurant on Delta Street before moving to the Northeast. …
“The recipes that we have are the original recipes that my father-in-law set up in 1949," she said. "We tried to follow his recipes because he was a great restaurateur. So was my husband. So why change a great thing?”
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No. 3: Moe's
Moe’s, which was at 6298 Alameda Ave., comes in third. Moe’s was founded in 1953 by Moises “Moe” Dominguez. The business started as a bar with a limited food menu but transformed over the years to a family-style restaurant.
Victor R. Martinez wrote about Moe’s in the April 11, 2013, Times:
It had been at least 10 years since I'd sat in the vinyl booths at Moe's Restaurant in South-Central El Paso. ...
I am happy to report that nothing has changed much at Moe's, which is celebrating 60 years of serving down-home, traditional Mexican food.
The decor is still 1950s chic, with vinyl booths and a mixture of vintage family portraits of the original owners and prints of Mexican villages.
For some reason, Moe's is often overlooked when people talk about "the best of’ El Paso."
Perhaps it's because Moe's is off the beaten path, hidden deep in one of El Paso's oldest barrios.
Whatever the case may be, it was nice to rediscover how Moe's has continued to serve loyal customers for six decades. …
It's the type of place you would take an out-of-town visitor who wants a real sense of what El Paso Mexican food is all about — great food and good prices in an unpretentious atmosphere.
No. 2: The Iron Tender
Second in votes is The Iron Tender, known for their steak soup. On May 18, 1972, an ad in the paper announced, “Iron Tender is coming May 22.” The location was McRae at Interstate 10 (1270 Giles Road)
In a March 14, 1976, “Dining Out” review, Rhoda Milnarich wrote: The dinner menu features steak with prices going up to $12.50 (for two). The beef is grain fed prime beef from Ft. Worth. Top sirloin, filet, New York strip, eye of rib and sirloin are served. All steaks are about two inches thick.
Steaks are prepared over a grill and served either alone or with chicken or lobster tail. …
The restaurant takes its name from the man who took care of the branding irons on cattle round ups. ... To carry out the western theme, the waitresses wear long skirts (but the cocktail waitresses wear minis) and the men wear ranch attire.
The restaurant tried a West Side location, at Interstate 10 and Executive Center Boulevard, but on Jan 11, 1987, ran this ad: Iron Tender East is now the one and only. We love the west Side, but we’ve been unable to come to terms with our landlord. So, for now we’re putting all our Iron Tender irons in one fire at our original location. … The Iron Tender at McRae. Yesterday was the last day of business at our Executive Center location.
The Iron Tender closed Jan. 30, 1991, due to financial difficulties.
The steak soup was popular enough that a Jan. 2, 2008, ad boasted that Jaxon’s restaurant was serving Iron Tender steak soup.
Iron Tender steak soup recipe
I found a Sep. 11, 1996, column that purported to have the Iron Tender steak soup recipe:
1 lb. sirloin steak
1 lb. lean ground beef
1 cup chopped onion
1 cup chopped celery
1 cup tomato, fresh, chopped
½ teaspoon celery salt
½ teaspoon seasoning salt
½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
4 tablespoons oil
6 tablespoons flour
6 cups beef broth
½ teaspoon of garlic salt
½ teaspoon black pepper
1 to 2 tablespoons of Kitchen Bouquet to darken.
Cube the sirloin, brown in a skillet using a little fat. Add the ground beef and cook until browned. Sauté the vegetables and add browned meats and seasoning to the pan with the vegetables.
To make the gravy, heat the oil and add the flour. Stir until the flour mix (roux) is browned, but not burned. Pour in half of the broth and whisk until smooth. Add the remaining broth to the beef mixture and simmer until the meat is tender.
Combine all the ingredients and simmer for another 1½ hours. Makes about 6 to 8 servings.
No. 1: Pancho's
The restaurant with the most votes for the one El Pasoans wish was still open is Pancho’s Mexican Buffet, 1407 McRae Blvd.
We all remember raising the flag to attract a server and the sopapillas.
On May 10, 2001, the Times ran an article by Louie Gilot, about the death of Lilia Natalia De-Cory Arrambide, one of the founders of Pancho’s:
In 1964, Arrambide, her husband, Jesus Arrambide, and her son, Jesus Arrambide Jr., opened Pancho’s Mexican Buffet on Alameda Avenue. The restaurant became popular for its 99-cent Mexican-food buffets.
The chain spread throughout the Southwest and grew into a Fort Worth-based, publicly traded corporation. …
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At the beginning of April, Pancho’s Mexican Buffet Inc. announced it had reached an agreement to be sold to Pancho’s Restaurants Inc., an affiliate of Steven Oyster of Austin, for $7 million.
Lilia Arrambide was active in the corporation until the mid-1980s, family members said.
She was born in Casas Grandes, Mexico, in 1907, the youngest of eight children of parents who owned and operated silver and gold mines, but were forced by Pancho Villa’s Villistas to immigrate to the United States during the Mexican revolution of 1910. The family settled in El Paso when Arrambide was 10.
She married Jesus Arrambide, and the couple weathered the Great Depression thanks to Jesus Arrambide’s income at the Colon Theater, El Paso’s first Spanish language theater. …
“As Arrambide’s husband’s health faltered, Arrambide opened her first restaurant, Frank’s, in Downtown El Paso, and discovered the mass appeal of the 99-cent buffet. …
“There were lines out the door," said her grandson, El Paso commercial real estate broker Roland Correa. "She really was an innovator.”
To read comments, or make your own, visit facebook.com/ephistory/
Trish Long is the El Paso Times' librarian and spends her time in the morgue, where the newspaper keeps its old clippings and photos. She may be reached at 915-546-6179 or tlong@elpasotimes.com.
https://www.elpasotimes.com/story/news/local/el-paso/2019/08/01/5-restaurants-el-pasoans-wish-were-still-open-trish-long-tales-from-the-morgue/1883775001/ 2019-08-01 03:03:00Z
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