The Owl Bar and Cafe, in

San Antonio, New Mexico San Antonio is a census-designated place in Socorro County, New Mexico, United States, roughly in the center of the state, on the Rio Grande. The entire population of the county is approximately 18,000. Description San Antonio is partly agricu ...

was opened in 1945 by Frank and Dee Chavez as an expansion to J.E. Miera's grocery store business. Founded to serve the Manhattan Project workers at the Trinity site, it known for its green chile cheeseburgers.

Background

In 1939, through his grocery store, Miera began renting out cabins, selling gasoline, and providing telephone phone service. His only other competitor at the time was the A.H. Hilton Mercantile. In 1945, seeing an opportunity to serve the

Manhattan Project The Manhattan Project was a research and development undertaking during World War II that produced the first nuclear weapons. It was led by the United States with the support of the United Kingdom and Canada. From 1942 to 1946, the project w ...

workers at the

Trinity site Trinity was the code name of the first detonation of a nuclear weapon. It was conducted by the United States Army at 5:29 a.m. on July 16, 1945, as part of the Manhattan Project. The test was conducted in the Jornada del Muerto desert abo ...

, Miera's son-in-law Chavez opened the bar and café adjacent to the store. Inside the Owl Bar is a mahogany bar built by the Brunswick-Balke-Collender Company, now known as the

Brunswick Corporation Brunswick Corporation, formerly known as the Brunswick-Balke-Collender Company, is an American corporation that has been developing, manufacturing and marketing a wide variety of products since 1845. Today, Brunswick has more than 13,000 employ ...

. It was originally part of the A.H. Hilton Mercantile, owned by Augustus Halvorsen Hilton, patriarch of the

Hilton family The Hilton family is an American family that originally comes from San Antonio, New Mexico, and spans over four generations from New York City and Los Angeles. The family members hold varying degrees of power, wealth and status as socialites in t ...

. After a fire destroyed the mercantile in 1940, the Brunswick bar was salvaged from the wreckage and installed in back of the grocery store to create the first iteration of the Owl Bar and Café. It is said that proprietors of the bar and cafe were tipped off to be outside at 5:30 am the next day but didn't tell them why. The next morning they were among the only witnesses to the first atomic blast. It is known throughout the United States for its green chile cheeseburgers. It is also known for its wall of dollars, pinned there by customers, and donated to charity once a year. It is said that the name of the establishment came from the "night owls" who spent their time in the back of the bar gambling.

References

{{reflist Buildings and structures in Socorro County, New Mexico Restaurants in New Mexico 1945 establishments in New Mexico Restaurants established in 1945