Mooseknuckles and Margaritas: Chope’s Bar & Cafe

Cruising through La Mesa, NM late on a Saturday afternoon, a local roadside stand owner recommended Chope’s Bar & Cafe a few miles down. He didn’t tell us it was a biker bar, packed to the hilt with members of the notorious Banditos biker gang. He did tell us, however, that Chope’s is famous for having the best chile rellenos in town, and that’s all the Spicy RV crew really needed to hear.

We drove through a massive grove of giant, uniform pecan trees to get to La Mesa. We parked the RV and walked along a long line of around fifty customized motorcycles and a few grizzled bikers smoking outside, eyeballing us warily. As the desert sun began its decline, the dusk colors gleamed upon the heavy tons of chrome.  It was as if we had transported through time and space, right into the middle of a  Tarantino flick. I could hear the muffled sounds of Bob Seger’s “Night Moves”, instantly answering my “Who still listens to Bob Seger?” question.

The bar was loud and packed, though the sun hadn’t gone down. At Chopes Bar, they don’t bother with 12 ounce bottles. You’re either buying a 32 ounce caguama of Tecate or Carta Blanca; or a 40 ounce bottle of Bud or Miller (vs. the standard 32 oz.) We squirmed through the leathery bikers and ordered up. We stayed there until the cafe opened at 5PM, and then we got a bite to eat.  I’ll be writing more about  Chope’s tremendous food on the GunsandTacos blog.

The Spicy RV crew just found the right place at the right time. Watch the video to meet some of the colorful characters at Chope’s Bar & Cafe, La Mesa, New Mexico, including Kat, who we’ve been jokingly referring to as “Mooseknuckle Girl”.

Posted by Jay on March 1, 2010. Filed under 1.0, Featured Posts. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.