Originally founded in 1940, La Cita Restaurant in Tucumcari, New Mexico, is one of the oldest Mexican restaurants on Route 66. La Cita’s current location, which it has occupied since 1961, beckons hungry travelers to come enjoy some tamales, enchiladas, or New Mexico-style chile rellenos.

After a brief closure in the early 2000s, current owner Jerry Mares took on the restaurant in 2006. He has since brought the historic establishment back to life, despite the challenges that his hometown faces.

Tucumcari, like many small towns along Route 66, has suffered economically in the decades since the Interstate Highway System introduced faster and more efficient routes across the country, resulting in Route 66’s decommissioning in 1985. Mares said Tucumcari lost many of its residents, businesses, and restaurants.

But La Cita continues to hang on. In fact, business is better than ever—Mares said he's putting out about 10 times the volume of orders compared to when he first took over the restaurant. He now employs 34 people, up from six employees when he first bought the business.

In 2024, La Cita was selected to receive a grant through Backing Historic Small Restaurants, a program run in partnership between American Express and the National Trust for Historic Preservation. This allowed Mares to make some much-needed repairs to the restaurant’s exterior.

“I don’t how to express my gratitude for the grant,” Mares said. “It was really, really helpful.”

We talked to Mares about growing up in Tucumcari, how the town has changed, and the impact La Cita has on locals and travelers alike.

Tell me about your background and how you got involved with La Cita.

I was born and raised here. Back in the ’70s, ’80s, Tucumcari was a booming little town. It was great. Every major truck line had a hub here.

I was in construction for many years. Right out of high school I acquired a small little restaurant, ran it for a while, ended up selling it. I stayed in construction for quite a while. [In 2006], myself, my brother, and another gentleman, we partnered into [this] restaurant.

[In 2022] the two other partners, including my brother, they did not want to be in the restaurant business [anymore], so I took the restaurant on by myself. Since 2022, I’ve had La Cita by myself and brought it to the level that it’s at today.

Tell me about La Cita’s history and your early memories of visiting the restaurant when you were a kid. Did you eat at La Cita often growing up?

[La Cita was started] back in the ’40s. It’s [one of] the oldest Mexican food restaurants on Route 66.

It was a bright green, mint-colored building, with bright red carpet on the inside.

I bet [we ate there] once a month. But you have to remember, in the ’70s, ’80s, there was probably 20 different restaurants to go to eat at. Right now, in Tucumcari there’s maybe four or five sit-down restaurants, and that’s it. A lot of these smaller [Route 66] towns, they’re just hanging on for dear life.

How have you seen Tucumcari change in your lifetime?

I want to say late ’80s, early ’90s, everybody pulled out of here. Just up and left. The economy took a slump, jobs took a slump. The biggest employer would’ve been the city, and then there was a couple construction companies. One big construction company, they moved out in the ’90s to Albuquerque. Right now, Tucumcari is really in a depressed economy. We’re down to one grocery store, we used to have five grocery stores.

A lot of people blame it on the Interstate, the bypass. I’m sure that didn’t help, but I don’t think that’s totally to blame.

The big box stores, like your Walmarts, your Dollar Tree, Tractor Supply, Amazon—it's killed the mom-and-pop. The mom-and-pop stores are, I think, what’s keeping the route alive, but they need some type of help or lifeline.

How did receiving the Backing Historic Small Restaurants grant impact La Cita?

We were able to attain the grant, and that helped us work on the outside. We were able to repair the [entrance]. We were able to repair some of the murals on the exterior of the building that needed it. It was a grant that really came along at a great time.

The sombrero had a bunch of spots that were falling apart. I was afraid it was structurally not sound. I hired a company to go in there, and we tightened [it] up, repatched a lot of the places, made it waterproof again.

If I had a dollar for every person who has taken a picture of [the restaurant], I could probably stop working. I sit there some mornings, and I just watch people drive up—license plates from New York, everywhere. It’s amazing.

We [also] used the grant to work on the doors and the exterior trim, and we used it to do some repairs to the parking lot on the south side of the building.

What do your longtime customers say about La Cita today?

They just love the change that [the restaurant] is going through. The parking lot, the exterior of the building, the patio we built, repairing the [entrance]—all of those.

I think we’re extremely vital to the community.

What is a customer-favorite item on your menu?

I would say probably the combination plate. That gives you a little bit of everything. On the plate itself you get a tamale, a chile relleno, and an enchilada. Then it comes with a side plate with a taco and a sopapilla.

You’re pretty much trying the menu.

Tell me about your employees at La Cita. Who has been with you the longest?

That would be Adrian. Adrian has probably been there since the start, and he’s still there with me now, so 17 or 18 years. I also had Jesus. He's no longer with [La Cita], but not by choice, his health has not let him return back to work. I have Luis, who’s been there since the beginning. I have Michael. Really, they’ve all been there from the beginning. I don’t have a very high turnover.