Hillsboro General Store and Cafe

The Hillsboro General Store and Cafe is a thriving, local institution in the foothills of the Black Range Mountains of Southern New Mexico. For over 130 years, the cafe's building has been utilized for several purposes, such as a stagecoach stop, a phone company, a telegraph office, a soda fountain, a mercantile store, a pharmacy, and a post office. Currently, it is a local restaurant. For nearly two-and-half decades, Ben and Doreen Lewis have owned and maintained the Hillsboro General Store and Cafe, and the duo also cook and prepare the menu items. As owners of the restaurant, the Lewis' have preserved historic elements of the historic adobe building while up updating the restaurant by creating modern dishes and installing modern kitchen equipment.

Once customers walk into the restaurant, they can admire the many antiques, artwork, jewelry, regional books, crafts, ceramics, and novelties that the Lewis' have collected over the years. Most of these antiques date back to the 19th and 20th century, and they are pieces accumulated form the US Southwest. Some of these antiques include piece of snakeskin that one of Theodore Roosevelt's Roughriders owned and a New York Herald newspaper clipping that features the original report of Abraham Lincoln's assassination. The antiques and artwork in the restaurant are housed in the building's original cherrywood cabinetry.

The Hillsboro General Store and Cafe is not just a local eatery for the Hillsboro community, but it is a hotspot for tourists in the area. The restaurant has a guest book where customers can sign their name and where they are from, and the book has guest signatures from all across the nation and over 60 countries. For its long history in the Hillsboro community, the restaurant is recognized as a National Historic Landmark.

The restaurant's menu is mostly compromised of breakfast and lunch dishes. For breakfast, the restaurant serves egg dishes, breakfast sandwiches, ham, bacon, pancakes, and french toast. For lunch, customers can select from hamburgers, salads, grilled cheese sandwiches, french fries, patty melts, and hot dogs. Heavily inspired by Mexican cuisine, the restaurant offers various Mexican and Tex-Mex dishes for breakfast and lunch, such as enchiladas, tacos, tamales, quesadillas, chile con carne, and burritos. The restaurant is also known for their handmade desserts and milkshakes and floats. Once customers finish their meals, they have the option to purchase a bumper sticker commemorating their trip to Hillsboro, New Mexico.

Hillsboro General Store and Cafe. n.d. Accessed July 20th 2020. http://www.hillsborogeneralstore.com.

Jamar, Emily. "This Tiny General Store In New Mexico Is Also An Amazing Restaurant," Only In Your State. July 18th 2018. Accessed July 20th 2020. https://www.onlyinyourstate.com/new-mexico/hillsboro-general-store-cafe-historic-nm/.