Serving the High Plains
Serving the High Plains
A Tucumcari restaurant will be competing in next week’s annual Green Chile Cheeseburger Challenge at the New Mexico State Fair in Albuquerque.
Del’s Restaurant, which has operated along Route 66 in Tucumcari since 1956, is among 10 contestants in the event that will begin at noon on Sept. 9 in the fairgrounds’ Agriculture Building Courtyard.
Other green chile cheeseburger competitors will hail from Albuquerque, Belen, Questa, Rio Rancho, Hatch and Ruidoso.
Competitors will prepare their burgers on-site before they’re given to the judges.
Comprised of prominent members of the local community, the judges panel will determine the champion.
Fairgoers are invited to watch the event before a limited number can taste and rank the competitors. Participation is on a first-come, first-serve basis.
Once judging is completed, the Judges’ Choice Winner and People’s Choice Winner will be crowned.
Oso Grill of Capitan took home both the Judges’ Choice Award and People’s Choice Award in last year’s Green Chile Cheeseburger Challenge.
Although Oso Grill won’t participate this year, owner Brian Cleckler said the competition puts the spotlight on local restaurants and products in the best way possible.
“The Green Chile Cheeseburger Challenge has been great for business. It promotes beef and green chile in New Mexico and all over the world,” Cleckler said. “I had a writer from England come just to try our green chile cheeseburger.”
“The New Mexico Green Chile Cheeseburger Challenge at the New Mexico State Fair is a win-win in that exact way, because it gathers the community to celebrate the joy of eating locally, which keeps the spirit of the state’s ag industry going,” said New Mexico Agriculture Secretary Jeff Witte.