Check Out Chope’s Bar This Weekend – They’ve Opened Back Up

If you've never been to the legendary Chope's Town Cafe and Bar, or just Chope's as everyone calls it, you need to get in your car this weekend and make the trip to La Mesa, New Mexico. Chope's is the place on the left that looks like it's been there forever between Las Cruces and El Paso, and it has been. Chope's has been around in one way or another for a century. I mean if that doesn't make you want to go there I don't know what will.

NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
On May 26th of 2015, Chope’s Town Cafe and Bar was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The designation was accomplished by an NMSU student as part of her student project. Seriously, how fantastic is that? Check this out.

IT'S A FAMIY THING
Longina Benavides started feeding residents and others in 1915 in her home and then when her son, José “Chope” Benavides and his wife Guadalupe took over the cafe that Longina began they built the bar next door. Chope's is now run by José and Guadalupe's daughter, and that, kids, is how you get a restaurant that has been around for over 100 years.

....THEN COVID CAME ALONG
Of course, everything closed down last year because of COVID-19. Chope's closed, the bar and the restaurant went dark and it everyone who loves their food and bar wondered when they would reopen. It has taken a while but while the bar has come back it will take a little longer for the restaurant to come back. Be patient, though, because we don't want to rush the Benavides family or their amazing food. Yay Chope's!