Oasis Restaurant ~ Raton, New Mexico

Latest visit: Apr 2022

First visit: Oct 2009

For the first couple of years that we had the summer townhome in Denver, we would stop in at the Oasis on our way back home from our annual visits to New Mexico. But we didn't go in 2011, and then Raton became nothing more to us than a landmark town before crossing the pass to Colorado (or vice versa). On this trip, we'd originally planned to go to Horsemen's Haven for our final Santa Fe visit, but we weren't really that hungry and just wanted to "get on the road" back home. So by the time we did get to Raton we were starving. "Remember that Place...?" Well sure - the Oasis. It's only been here since 1954, so it'll probably last long beyond us as well. And the Motel is still functioning with apparently refurbished rooms.

There was a time when restaurants like Oasis were the only place little RJG got to eat at. My Pop loved these kind of places. He'd smoke the whole time, putting down the cigarette only for coffee and bites of eggs and toast. He could sit here for 2 hours puffing away on ciggies and getting more coffee. If you're my age or older, the Oasis brings back all the good memories, while of course eliminating the nasty smoke element. The menu is predictably large and it's a full mix of American breakfast and lunch standards, with a healthy amount of New Mexican as well. I used to enjoy getting their taco plate here - old fashioned crunchy tacos with ground beef and a standard red sauce. Nothing extraordinary, just fun to revisit an old classic when all diners had "taa-kos". On this visit, I decided to try their New Mexican offering of a smothered breakfast burrito in Christmas. Hey - not bad at all! Their green chile is somewhat similar to what you can get "down south", maybe lacking distinction. The red is definitely different, but more spicy (than their green that is to say) and excellent if evaluating on its own versus the competition in Santa Fe. Mrs. RJG stuck with an American breakfast. We enjoyed the coffee - and though they were out of flavored creamers, the waitress allowed us her "private stash". All in all a good roadside stop if hungry on either side of the Raton Pass.

As an aside, it seems to us that Raton should be a major tourist / real estate destination. It sits in a beautiful area. But the town is mostly rundown. Might be a good real estate play, though I'm sure many have died thinking the same thing for the last 40 years...

10/4/09; 5/29/10; 4/20/22 (new entry)