Rancho de Chimayo, the Northern New Mexico landmark restaurant officially reopened Sunday October 18

Rancho de Chimayó, the Northern New Mexico landmark restaurant officially reopened Sunday October 18th after being closed for fourteen-months. The closure was due to a kitchen fire investigators determined to have been set. No one has been arrested.

The restaurant held an Open House Saturday October 17 from noon to four to showcase the newly renovated restaurant to the public. Holly Justice, manager at the eatery for ten years emphasizes that for the most part the restaurant is as it was. She says that people worried it would be different from the one they have loved for almost 45 years. She emphasized that it is almost as it was. The entire building was reproduced as it was before the fire. The only new things are a sparkling new kitchen with a computerized oven and a gift shop and a lot of infrastructure improvements. “No lasting memories were made in the kitchen, “ says Justice. Although, the food that emerged from the kitchen is definitely part of the memories. Janice Malcom, the chef for the last 17 years is back in the new kitchen with her entire crew intact and the menu unchanged.

The new gift shop, The Company Store located in what used to be a small dining room to the right of the restaurant’s entrance is Justice’s baby and she is very excited about it. Besides selling the Rancho de Chimayó souvenirs that used to be on offer in the restaurant’s entry, she is featuring handpicked items all made in New Mexico. Her mission is to promote local products and New Mexico artists. The restaurant’s jewelry and pottery galleries are reopened selling Native American jewelry and Native American pottery, much of which is museum quality.

To smooth out any kinks, there was a soft opening on September 26th. According to Justice, the opening was anything but soft. They had much more traffic than they expected. They were packed daily and it was all drop-ins and through word-of-mouth, they did no advertising. Luckily, things went smoothly as about 95% of the original staff is back.

The Open House was held in an 1,800 sq. tent erected in the front drive. Guests were served
chips, salsa, guacamole and cookies, including biscochitos, the official New Mexico State Cookie. To quench guests’ thirst, there was complimentary prickly-pear lemonade and bottled water and a cash bar. Entertainment was provided by guitarist, Ernesto Sánchez who performs in the restaurant on Friday and Saturday nights.

Susan Herrera and Amalio Madueño of Embudo, NM were early arrivals. She calls Rancho de Chimayó “The pride of New Mexico.” She notes that the closing really hurt the local economy. They really missed the restaurant especially when they had out-of-town visitors. In the past, they always brought them to the Rancho.

Florence Jaramillo, owner of the restaurant, is glad to be back. She missed her customers, may of whom have become friends and even family over the years. “I thought it would never happen,” she says referring to the opening. “I love how it all turned out.” She and her former husband started the restaurant in 1965 in what had been his child-hood home. The house dates to the 1890s and was built on land the family received in a land grant from Spain in the early 1700s.

Currently, Rancho de Chimayó serves lunch and dinner seven days a week, and breakfast on weekends.

Photos, Billie Frank