Cafe serves up New Mexican, Native staples
For Fabby EspitiaArchuleta, opening her restaurant, The EL ROI Cafe, alongside her husband was a dream several years in the making.
However, like many hopeful restaurateurs, her dream took a little bit longer to be realized thanks to the pandemic.
Now, however, her Downtown cafe is open — one year after it was originally slated to launch.
Espitia-Archuleta opened The EL ROI Cafe with husband Joshua Archuleta in late May at 616 Lomas NW.
She said that the cafe is already gaining momentum with Downtown office workers in the few weeks since opening.
“I think that we opened up at the right time in some sense because everything was opening back up, and now everything’s opened back up 100%,” EspitiaArchuleta said.
Espitia-Archuleta, a lifelong New Mexican, said she and her husband, who is half Native American from Ohkay Owingeh, combined their backgrounds to create a menu that includes traditional New Mexican foods like enchiladas and Pueblo staples like fry bread and mutton stew.
“We took just a few of both of the staple dishes of each genre of New Mexican and Native American (foods) and put it on the menu,” she said.
She said popular menu items include the fry bread green chile cheeseburger and the Indian taco. Prices range from $6 to $15.
The EL ROI Cafe also offers breakfast items like breakfast burritos, huevos rancheros and blue corn mush.
Espitia-Archuleta said she hopes to grow the restaurant so that it eventually has several locations in the city and in central New Mexico. She wants the restaurant to be a job creator for the community and an Albuquerque staple.
“My goal is that you have the best possible experience coming in and eating with us,” she said. “I don’t want anybody leaving here unhappy or unsatisfied.”
The EL ROI Cafe is open from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday.
New Nob Hill eats
Nob Hill’s restaurant line-up will get a little bit bigger in early August with the opening of Mesa Provisions.
The eatery, at 3120 Central SE, specializes in New American cuisine with a Southwest flair, according to owner and executive chef Steve Riley. It’s slated to open Aug. 3.
“The things I want to do are going to be a little bit different and a little bit unique,” he said.
Riley, whose culinary résumé dates back several decades, was last in the kitchen as executive chef at Farm & Table in northwest Albuquerque, but even then his goal was to open a restaurant in the Nob Hill neighborhood.
“I grew up in this area and spent a lot of time here in my younger years and Nob Hill’s always just kind of had a certain appeal to me,” he said. “I think it’s the right place for the clientele that I would like to attract.”
Much like Riley’s previous employer, Mesa Provisions will feature a menu centered around local foods and that changes seasonally.
Riley said he is working with several local farms, including Silverleaf Farms and Vida Verde Farms, as well as smaller food producers to source ingredients.
“Our goal is quality,” he said. “We are a qualitydriven restaurant. We want to use the best quality produce that we can find, the best quality products, organic where we can.”
Menu items will include year-round staples like green chile cheese biscuits, a smoked half chicken with a red chile honey marinade and duck fat tortillas, and seasonal items like a peach salad.
“I think that we’ll be a little bit different than some of the places that are here,” he said. “But I think we’ll add some freshness and some local vegetables and some unique dishes that I think you won’t see anywhere.”
Riley said he is still hiring for several positions. Wages range from $8 to $10 an hour with tips for servers and beer tenders, $13 an hour and up for dishwashers, and $15 an hour and up for line cooks. All positions include medical, paid vacation, profit sharing and a staff meal.