Pig & Calf Lunch

Now home to a sushi shop, this building was constructed in 1935 for the restaurant Pig & Calf Lunch. Two years after the new building was completed, U.S. Highway 66 ("Route 66") was rerouted to pass through Albuquerque from east to west along Central Avenue. In the years that followed, the building has been home to several restaurants as well as laundromats given its proximity to the University of New Mexico campus. The Pig & Calf Lunch Building became a National Register of Historic Places listing in 1993. Similar to the nearby Cottage Bakery building, both structures are well-preserved examples of pre-World War II businesses that served diners along Route 66. Restored detailing on the front reads "PIG & CALF" flanked by an image of a pig or a calf.

In 1926, Charles Ellis opened Pig and Calf Restaurant in Albuquerque, serving barbecued meats, in a 1924 building in this location on Central Ave., across from the University of New Mexico campus. "Charlie" moved this building to the rear of the lot while the current building was being constructed. The Pig & Calf Lunch opened in the new, Streamline Moderne style building in May 1935. Opening celebrations offered free beer for men, flowers for ladies, and candy for kids. The restaurant featured private booths and a horseshoe-shaped counter.

White ceramic tile decorated the exterior and interior of the one-story brick building with a flat roof. Bands of black ceramic tile set off the business name lettering and an image of a pig or a calf. The restaurant benefited from extra road traffic when Route 66 was rerouted in 1937; instead of passing through Albuquerque from north to south along 4th St., Rt. 66 was shortened to travel east to west across New Mexico (eliminating the segments that passed through Santa Fe). The new alignment of Rt. 66 followed Central Ave. through town.

Charlie Ellis became ill and retired from the business before his death in 1941 at age 56. He was survived by a son at Fort Bliss, a daughter in Albuquerque, and several siblings in Greece. By 1941, the restaurant was being called the "Pig Stand," and the name was highlighted in a neon sign attached to the front facade, along with "Drive In Cafe." Lettering along the west facade of the building, above a side entrance and adjacent to a parking lot, read "Dinners Lunches Steaks Chops." The business remained in this spot until the mid-1950s, when the University Cafe moved in.

The Pig & Calf Lunch building held Campus Laundromat by the early 1990s when the National Register documentation was made; it later held Lobo Laundry. Starting in 2006, the building contained a Greek/Mediterranean restaurant, The Pita Pit, but they have been replaced with a sushi takeout and delivery shop, Sushibucks.

Athanatos. Memorial for Charles Ellis (1886-1941), Find a Grave. April 12th, 2010. Accessed October 19th, 2023. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/51012343/charles-ellis.

Hinckley, Jim. The Route 66 Encyclopedia. New York, NY. Voyageur Press, 2012.

Kammer, David J. NRHP nomination of Pig & Calf Lunch, Albuquerque, Bernalillo County, N.M.. National Register. Washington, DC. National Park Service, 1993.

Phelan, John. New Mexico: Pig & Calf Lunch, National Park Service: Places. June 6th, 2022. Accessed October 19th, 2023. https://www.nps.gov/places/pig-and-calf-lunch.htm.

Sonderman, Joe. Route 66 in New Mexico. Images of America. Charleston, SC. Arcadia Publishing, 2010.