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Take a bite of 罢辞尘补蝉颈迟补鈥檚 New Mexican food and you will unlock the secret to its success.

The restaurant, which is celebrating 50 years of operation this month, was built on traditional recipes and hard work. It all began in sa国际传媒官网网页入口鈥檚 Atrisco barrio where 罢辞尘补蝉颈迟补鈥檚 founder, Georgia Maryol, grew up during the 1940s-1950s.

鈥淲e had this neighbor, Mrs. Sanchez, and her niece was really good friends with my sister,鈥� Maryol explained. 鈥淎fter school, we鈥檇 go over, and she鈥檇 fix us red chile and homemade tortillas, and it was so good. And I said, 鈥楤oy, if I ever open a restaurant, this is what I鈥檓 going to serve,鈥� and that鈥檚 what happened.鈥�

Taste of enchantment: Tomasita's celebrates a half-century of New Mexican flavor

Fast-forward to the early 1970s, when Maryol and her young son James walked into a little caf茅 on Hickox Street in Santa Fe, according to the restaurant鈥檚 website. Maryol was taken back to her childhood in the Atrisco barrio after biting into the caf茅鈥檚 bean burrito with red chile and went to the kitchen to meet the cook. There she met Tomasita Leyba, a woman in her 70s, with a cigarette in one hand and stirring a pot with the other.

Maryol became a frequent guest of the caf茅 and learned the owner was unable to continue running the business. It was fate.

In 1974, Maryol offered to take on all debts in exchange for the caf茅 despite being unemployed and raising two young sons, James and George. Leyba did not skip a beat and continued on in the kitchen making quality food while Maryol navigated being the owner of a restaurant working with a skeleton crew and outdated equipment, according to the website. Maryol would pitch in where needed in the caf茅 and hit the pavement, placing flyers advertising the restaurant on cars. Little by little, business began to grow and people would wait outside on the steps until there was an open table in the 30 seat caf茅.

The opportunity to lease a larger space arose in 1979 and the caf茅 relocated to its current space at 500 S. Guadalupe St. in Santa Fe. The building first served as a passenger station and later a receiving office for the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad.

鈥淲e added a kitchen, two patios, new bathrooms, liquor storage and expanded the place,鈥� Maryol said. 鈥淲e have a lot of good parking. It works out.鈥�

The South Guadalupe Street location followed in its previous location鈥檚 footsteps and became a popular spot for tourists and New Mexicans. So much so that many sa国际传媒官网网页入口 residents would frequently make the trek up to Santa Fe for a meal. Due to popular demand, 罢辞尘补蝉颈迟补鈥檚 opened its second location in sa国际传媒官网网页入口 in 2017 off Interstate 25 at 4949 Pan American Freeway NE.

鈥淲e just had a lot of customers that came up on a regular basis,鈥� said George Gundrey, Maryol鈥檚 youngest son who took over ownership in 2011. 鈥渟a国际传媒官网网页入口 is a big city with a lot of customers. There鈥檚 great New Mexican food there, but for a city that size, there鈥檚 not enough. When I took over, I didn鈥檛 want to just take over my mother鈥檚 restaurant, I wanted to expand and grow (and) serve more customers. Get some of the benefits from being larger.鈥�

Tomasita Leyba has since passed away but left behind a lifetime of memories, including the restaurant with her namesake. The restaurant鈥檚 menu is also reminiscent of its original offerings and has not changed drastically over the years.

鈥淲e don鈥檛 change the menu much, although we do specials,鈥� Gundrey said. 鈥淚t has evolved over the years, but it鈥檚 red and green chile, it鈥檚 enchiladas, tacos, burritos, and then a bunch of different things you can make with all those. We鈥檝e got tamales and we make those. We have chile rellenos. The menu has definitely gotten bigger, but it鈥檚 all from the same core, New Mexican ingredients, chicken and chile, rice and beans.鈥�

罢辞尘补蝉颈迟补鈥檚 boasts making its red chile from pods, not powder. Gundrey said his family has been buying red chile from the same family in Hatch for more than 30 years. He added, keeping recipes simple and where and how you source ingredients is important to the restaurant鈥檚 success.

鈥淎nother thing that we鈥檙e really happy about is we get all of our corn tortillas, all of those products from La Mexicana (Tortilla Company in Downtown sa国际传媒官网网页入口),鈥� he said 鈥淭hey are master craft people, the corn, the tortillas, the chips, the posole, the masa for the tamales, are very important ingredients. They鈥檙e from the old school, and that鈥檚 how we try to do everything, from the old school.鈥�

The road has not been easy but nothing worthwhile ever is. It is a lesson that Maryol has passed on to people wanting to open a restaurant.

鈥淎nyone that goes into the restaurant business has got to realize how difficult it is,鈥� she said. 鈥淭here are a million details and it鈥檚 not a 9-to-5 job. This is hard work and perseverance is part of the characteristics of opening any business, especially the restaurant business. Anyone that wants to open a restaurant and comes to me for advice, I tell them, 鈥楤e ready to work 80 hours a week.鈥� If you鈥檙e not, you鈥檙e gonna have a problem.鈥�

Maryol remembers many nights when she was stuck at the restaurant past midnight because the dishwasher did not show up. Her young sons would fall asleep in one of the restaurant鈥檚 booths as Maryol worked through the night.

鈥淵ou make a lot of sacrifices,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a tough business and people need to know that.鈥�