You can tell when it’s lunchtime just by driving by the Bobcat Bite on Old Las Vegas Highway–the parking lot is jammed, no matter what day of the week. And they don’t take reservations. “It’s always packed out here,” says one long-time customer about the familiar landmark mom and pop diner, “and a crowd’s always waiting outside to get in, but no one minds!” She’s right.
With the ambiance of a small town joint, Bobcat Bite is like an old friend you might not see too often but, the next time you do, you just pick up where you left off last time, and a good time is had by all. Strangers mingle talking together on the porch; some end up sitting side by side at the long counter once inside. In addition, there are three tables out on the porch and five inside.
The menu is relatively simple: burgers, steaks, pork chops and a few sandwich selections, with side orders of various salads, home fries and grilled onions, and coffee, tea, soft drinks and milk to drink. What is it exactly about the place that attracts such a fiercely loyal following?
“They’ve got the best burgers I’ve ever had in Santa Fe!” one 13-year-old attests, and the rest of his family readily agrees.
“Our beef is ground fresh every day from choice whole boneless chuck,” says Bonnie Eckre, co-owner with her husband John, “and we cut our steaks from USDA Choice. All our meat is organic–no pesticides, no hormones, no nitrates. And we cook everything on the old time cast iron grill that was originally here. It makes a big difference–and you can’t get them anymore.”
Family owned and operated since 1953, the diner started out as a trading post and gun shop along what was then Route 66. It was made into a restaurant by René Clayton and was first operated by her daughter, Mitzi Panzer, back in the days before I-25 was built, when bobcats would come down from the nearby hills. Bobcat Bite was one of the few local restaurants that was friendly to the wildcats. It’s been through a whole series of owners in the ensuing years and was most recently bought by the Eckres in 2001. Bonnie tends the customers and her brother works in the kitchen alongside John, the cook.
“We don’t work shifts,” Bonnie explains, “so we’re here Wednesdays through Sundays from 7:30 in the morning to 10:30 at night.” They keep it small on purpose for quality control–“You can hire other people and try to tell them how you want things done but they won’t always do it,” she says.
“We have customers who used to come in here with their families–I sat them in the high chairs,” Bonnie, who used to work here for the previous owners, remembers. “Now they’re back, bringing their own kids in. And we have the old timers who say to me, ‘I’ve sat here at this same counter all these years, and the view out the window’s still the same. I remember feeding bobcats out the back door.’”
One woman, sitting beside her friend at the counter, says what she appreciates about Bobcat Bite’s hamburgers and steaks is that they’re one hundred percent beef. “They’re just tasty, they’re fabulous, they’re thick and juicy!” she raves. “I’ve been coming here since 1982, driving all the way up from Albuquerque and that’s 60 miles–but it’s worth it!”
Bobcat Bite is located at 420 Old Las Vegas Hwy in Santa Fe. They’re open Wednesday through Saturday from 11am to 7:50pm. 505.983.5319.
