Tina's Family Cafe ~ Walsenburg, Colorado

First visit: Feb 2023

One week after visiting Westcliffe, we were fortunate to have another beautiful warm Saturday, so we decided to head to La Veta for the day. La Veta is much less developed than Westcliffe, so for lunch and antiquing we started in Walsenburg, which is essentially the supply center for both La Veta and Cuchara. Walsenburg sits just west of I-25, forty minutes south of Pueblo. It's a well situated town whose glory days are well behind them. If looking for anything affordable in Colorado, and not needing to commute to an office or an airport, one could do worse than settling here. It's a bit depressed, nothing that couldn't be solved by a new generation of innovative people.

Having never eaten in Walsenburg prior, I checked a few online sources and settled on Tina's before leaving the house. 90 minutes later we're here, and the location seems perfect. A classic old wood diner with murals adorning the building itself. Once inside, it was clear to both of us that this would be a great place to eat. I started with coffee since they have flavored creamers, and we were offered a small cup of green chile to try. It's of the gravy variety, more of what I'm used to seeing in northern Colorado. Flavorful with a really nice backend kick. Mrs. RJG enjoyed it more than I and she had another cup with her meal. For lunch, I went with what one could call a breakfast burger, layered with ham and a fried egg. I asked for my egg over-medium and that's what I got. I forget though that Mrs. RJG gets kind of grossed out with any kind of egg that might run, so that was my mistake (should have had over hard). I have to say the burger was delicious - and the meat was the hottest temperature hamburger I've had in ages! Hooray. We each had waffle fries which were also great. Mrs. RJG had a green chile cheeseburger. They offer two kinds, one smothered with the aforementioned chile. And the other with green chile strips. Mrs. RJG does not like a sloppy burger, so she went with the latter. She loved everything but the bun (which I thought was delicious). For her, even though they toasted it, it wasn't crispy enough. She doesn't like doughy bread of any sort. But they cooked the meat well done - and that's their default too. Perfect.

Tina's possesses a wonderful cozy setting and is very bright inside from natural sunlight. Definite recommendation from the RJG! If traveling on I-25 to and from New Mexico, have a stop by Walsenburg - it's only 5 minutes from the freeway. And grab a bite at Tina's.

From here we visited 3 different antique malls and shops in the main city center, and Mrs. RJG came home with a couple of goodies. Nothing for me, but plenty to go through.

2/11/23 (new entry)