AS LOCAL AS IT GETS
Perea’s in Corrales offers superb New Mexican fare
Perea’s Tijuana Bar in Corrales is a bar first, restaurant second.
Still in the same family, Perea’s opened its doors in 1934, the year after Prohibition was repealed, the same year Hitler took power. During this momentous year, the Dust Bowl raged while the worst drought in U.S. history wiped out homes and crops as farmers were dispossessed.
People in this little farming community astride the Rio Grande undoubtedly wanted a drink. The Tijuana Bar, named for the spot where T.C. Perea Sr. honeymooned with his wife, became an enduring watering hole.
But it wasn’t until Valentine’s Day 1995, when Stella Perea retired from US West, formerly Mountain Bell, that they started serving food. Stella’s grandmother Andrea taught her to cook, and she brought those recipes into the kitchen, where, to this day, she continues to “cook with love,” the way her grandmother taught her. Everything — including fresh tortillas and sopaipillas — is made by hand.
Meanwhile, Stella’s son, John, tends the bar. How sweet to sit by the fire in winter or on the patio in summer and order one of his expertly blended margaritas. There is also a good selection of local craft beer and wine on hand.
The style of cooking and the local-friendly atmosphere go well with the uneven floors. Earthen bricks were dug by hand from the riverbanks to build the place more than two centuries ago. According to Stella, they still provide good insulation, keeping the place cool in summer and warm in winter.
In my ongoing odyssey to discover the best New Mexican fare, I’ve found Perea’s serves some of the best. The No. 1 enchilada casserole, deeply creamy and cheesy, with its piquant green chile playing counterpoint, is one of my favorite local dishes ever: simple, straightforward,
and soul-satisfying. But it’s all good — the searing-hot green chile stew brings tears, and the Frito pie, ordered with succulent carne adovada, is pure delight. All dishes come with posole and beans.
Perea’s makes it easy by charging $8 a plate for the entire menu of bedrock homecooked New Mexican dishes. Before there was farm to table, there was local, and Perea’s is as local as it gets. John purchases as much chile as possible from Corrales, supplementing his Wagner’s Farm supply from down the road with green and red from Hatch, Belen and San Antonio, N.M.
“There are some people who come in every day,” Stella says, “so we don’t need to take their order. We just bring them their lunch.” These customers are blessed, indeed.
Perea’s serves only lunch, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Why is that? “My son is lazy,” Stella jokes. “He says he’ll open for supper sometime, but you know, it’s hard to find good help.”
But as long as Stella Perea is in the kitchen, all is right with the world.