Barelas Coffee House is in the Barelas neighborhood which Route 66 passes through.  It has been serving New Mexican food for 40+ years, starting in 1978 in a somewhat run-down part of town.  Revitalization has since changed that and now the guests include people like Presidents Clinton and Obama to governors and other notables.  It’s a large winding place(as it’s been added onto) with a very small parking lot.  Street parking is available but a sign on the door cautions you about using a fast food’s parking lot across the street where you’ll be towed.  Having incorporated some adjacent buildings they were able to open a central patio for additional seating.  As you enter you pass the check-out window piled with more snacks and candies and wait at the sign to be seated.  From there you’re quickly seated and your order taken.  They only serve breakfast and lunch, with most dishes created from family recipes of the Gonzales (owner) family.  Mike Gonzales with his brother opened the place while studying at UNM, on the advice of his father who owned a nearby grocery store.   Some of the rooms looked like they hadn’t been modernized but it all adds to the ambiance.  Light green walls with lots of plants in our ‘sunroom’ and no music in the background.  Service was friendly and super efficient and the food was solid versions of New Mexico specialties.  Visit and enjoy some history.

Set-up

Food

Huevos Rancheros Deluxe contains two eggs, hash browns, beans, chile, and cheese and is served on a corn tortilla. The eggs were cooked as ordered, and my husband got it “Christmas style,” which means both red and green sauces. The red sauce was spicy but topped by the green sauce. Both blended together nicely. His main objection was that the tortilla below made it hard to cut. It was a good plate.

Carne Adovada and egg are made with “mouth watering tender pork” marinated in red chile and served with two eggs, hash browns and a flour tortilla.   There was a ton of pork on this plate and it was tender and moist.  I also got it Christmas style and the sauces melded so much that it was hard to tell them apart.  Both were also wonderful with the hashbrowns that had a good crisp on some of them.  The over-easy eggs maintained their runnyness despite being covered with the hot sauces.  It was very good and very heavy.

The flour tortillas were large and thick and almost seemed not quite cooked through.  Nevertheless, they were tasty and a good way to eat some of the spicy sauce on its own.