Family feast: Cervantes offers traditional New Mexican cuisine made from recipes passed down through generations
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In 1976, Roberta Finley followed her family鈥檚 entrepreneurial footsteps and opened Cervantes Restaurant & Lounge.
鈥淚t all started with a big dream of wanting to be your own owner,鈥� Finley said. 鈥淢y father was (an) entrepreneur, and my brothers, my twin brother and my oldest brother. So, you know, it runs in the family. You want to be your own boss.鈥�
Family feast: Cervantes offers traditional New Mexican cuisine made from recipes passed down through generations
Finley ran the restaurant while raising four children, and Cervantes remains a family affair. Finley鈥檚 daughter, Iris Metzgar, is the general manager of the restaurant. Metzgar鈥檚 daughter, Savanah Salazar, works as a server and Metzgar鈥檚 son, Kyle Baird, takes on serving, bartending and other duties at the restaurant. Finley鈥檚 oldest son, Richard Gonzales, runs Cervantes Food Products, which bottles the restaurant鈥檚 salsas and chile sauces for retail sales.
Cervantes is an sa国际传媒官网网页入口 staple with a loyal customer fan base.
鈥淚 think it鈥檚 mainly because of wanting to serve the best possible New Mexican food you can serve with the best products that you can that are available and use no animal fats,鈥� Finley said. 鈥淢y food has never had animal fats.鈥�
Cervantes鈥� red chile is flavorful with a nice kick of heat.
鈥淲e learned to do red chile from my grandmother and it鈥檚 strictly made from the pods,鈥� Finley said. 鈥淢y oldest son brings in all the pods, and then we buy so many bags a month from him, and the chile comes from Adams (Produce) farm (in southern New Mexico).鈥�
A popular menu item that is marinated in its red chile overnight is Cervantes鈥� carne adovada. The carne adovada is then baked for several hours until it is 鈥渘ice and tender.鈥�
鈥淭he top three (requests), I would say, would be the carne adovada, the chicken enchiladas and anything made with chicken because we do not order chicken already shredded,鈥� Finley said. 鈥淲e boil our own chickens and we shred them ourselves. And I would say our chile rellenos are really popular.鈥�
Everything but the corn tortillas are made in-house using Finley鈥檚 recipes.
鈥淚 think we do have the best (New Mexican food) in town,鈥� Metzgar said. 鈥淵ou could go to all those other New Mexican restaurants in sa国际传媒官网网页入口, but you鈥檙e not going to get the quality of food that鈥檚 put out by (our) restaurant through her recipes. You鈥檙e just not going to get it.鈥�
In addition to its cuisine, patrons come for the margaritas.
鈥淭he house margarita goes all the way back to when we started, because they鈥檙e using the same recipe,鈥� Finley said. 鈥淲e sell a lot of them. We also sell a lot of the handshaken ones too.鈥�
Patrons pack the lounge side for their fill of Cervantes鈥� food and drink during its happy hour from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m.
鈥淚 think what鈥檚 made that bar, in that lounge, so much fun, is that Kyle鈥檚 a lot of fun,鈥� Metzgar added.
Cervantes also has a rustic but festive vibe with decorations for every big and small holiday, including Mardi Gras and St. Patrick鈥檚 Day. However, its Halloween decorations are a must-see.
The restaurant鈥檚 walls are covered with original paintings that Finley has purchased, except for a painting that hangs above the dining room鈥檚 fireplace. The painting was already there when Finley took over the building and opened her restaurant.
鈥淪ome of the swords were there when we got there, the tapestries were there, so it鈥檚 kind of an Old World atmosphere,鈥� Metzgar said. 鈥淎nd then, (Finley) bought from local artists here in sa国际传媒官网网页入口, the rest of the paintings. She鈥檚 had them for many years, all local.鈥�
One standout, is a large, painted portrait of Finley that hangs in a corner of the lounge.
鈥淚 was 40 years old,鈥� Finley said of how old she was when the portrait was done. 鈥淚鈥檓 pushing 84 now, so it鈥檚 been 44 years.鈥�
Patrons can bring the flavor of Cervantes into their own kitchens with the restaurant鈥檚 bottled line of salsas and chile sauces that are made without animal fats or preservatives. The products can be purchased at .
鈥淭hey have a few different ones,鈥� Metzgar said. 鈥淭hey have a chopped green, they have an extra hot green chile sauce, and then they have a medium green chile sauce, and then extra hot red (chile sauce) and hot red (chile sauce). And then the salsa, they have a mild, medium and a hot.鈥�
The product line also includes a green chile salsa.
鈥淭he chile products are made just right there, right across from our restaurant,鈥� Finley said. 鈥淎nd those are also my recipes that my son has been able to perfect.鈥�
