Blake's Lotaburger (often shortened to either Blake's or Lotaburger) is a

fast food Fast food is a type of mass-produced food designed for commercial resale, with a strong priority placed on speed of service. It is a commercial term, limited to food sold in a restaurant or store with frozen, preheated or precooked ingredie ...

restaurant chain, based in

Albuquerque Albuquerque ( ; ), ; kee, Arawageeki; tow, Vakêêke; zun, Alo:ke:k'ya; apj, Gołgéeki'yé. abbreviated ABQ, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Mexico. Its nicknames, The Duke City and Burque, both reference its founding i ...

New Mexico ) , population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano) , seat = Santa Fe, New Mexico, Santa Fe , LargestCity = Albuquerque, New Mexico, Albuquerque , LargestMetro = Albuquerque metropolitan area, Tiguex , Offi ...

, with 75 locations in the

Southwestern United States The Southwestern United States, also known as the American Southwest or simply the Southwest, is a geographic and cultural region of the United States that generally includes Arizona, New Mexico, and adjacent portions of California, Colorado, N ...

, mostly located in New Mexico, as well as

Tucson, Arizona , "(at the) base of the black

ill ILL may refer to: * ''I Love Lucy'', a landmark American television sitcom * Illorsuit Heliport (location identifier: ILL), a heliport in Illorsuit, Greenland * Institut Laue–Langevin, an internationally financed scientific facility * Interlibrar ...

, nicknames = "The Old Pueblo", "Optics Valley", "America's biggest small town" , image_map = , mapsize = 260px , map_caption = Interactive ...

, and

El Paso, Texas El Paso (; "the pass") is a city in and the seat of El Paso County in the western corner of the U.S. state of Texas. The 2020 population of the city from the U.S. Census Bureau was 678,815, making it the 23rd-largest city in the U.S., the ...

. Their menu focuses on New Mexico green chile topped

hamburgers A hamburger, or simply burger, is a food consisting of fillings—usually a patty of ground meat, typically beef—placed inside a sliced bun or bread roll. Hamburgers are often served with cheese, lettuce, tomato, onion, pickles, bacon, ...

and

french fries French fries ( North American English), chips ( British English), finger chips (Indian English), french-fried potatoes, or simply fries, are '' batonnet'' or '' allumette''-cut deep-fried potatoes of disputed origin from Belgium and France ...

, as well as New Mexican foods such as

breakfast burrito The breakfast burrito, sometimes referred to as a breakfast wrap outside of the American Southwest, is a variety of American breakfast composed of breakfast items wrapped inside a flour tortilla burrito. This style was invented and popularize ...

s. All Lotaburger restaurants are company-owned. Blake's Lotaburger also owns the majority of the property that its stores are built on and the company's construction division oversees the development of all new stores. Blake's owns and operates its own sheet metal shop, refrigeration shop, cabinet shop, vehicle shop, maintenance fleet, and commissary. The traditional signage out front is the "Blake's Man", a man with blue poles for legs, a blue hat and bowtie, and a jacket with white and red stripes. It holds a sign bearing the Blake's name.

History

Blake's Lotaburger was founded by World War II Navy veteran Blake Chanslor, who moved from

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

to Albuquerque, New Mexico, after

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. Chanslor opened his first "Lota Burger" stand on July 9, 1952. His initial investment in the business was $5,300, and his stand was , on the corner of San Mateo and Southern, in southeast Albuquerque. In 1953, he opened two more stores. Chanslor expanded Lotaburger to 23 cities in New Mexico, with 7 stores in the Four Corners Area and 35 stores in Albuquerque. Chanslor remained the owner until 2003, when he sold his interest to the father-son team of Ronald C. and Brian Rule. As of 2018, the company owns and operates 75 stores. In the 1990s, the company featured television commercial personality Ernest P. Worrell, played by

Jim Varney James Albert Varney Jr. (June 15, 1949 – February 10, 2000) was an American actor and comedian. He is best known for his broadly comedic role as Ernest P. Worrell, for which he won a Daytime Emmy Award, as well as appearing in films and n ...

, in many of its television ads. According to the ''

Albuquerque Journal The ''Albuquerque Journal'' is the largest newspaper in the U.S. state of New Mexico. History The ''Golden Gate'' newspaper was founded in June 1880. In the fall of 1880, the owner of the ''Golden Gate'' died and Journal Publishing Company was ...

'' in 1994, Lotaburger helped popularize the use of

green chile Green is the color between cyan and yellow on the visible spectrum. It is evoked by light which has a dominant wavelength of roughly 495570 nm. In subtractive color systems, used in painting and color printing, it is created by a combin ...

, statewide staples of New Mexican food, as a condiment on hamburgers. In 2006, the company was recognized by '' National Geographic'' for the “Best Green Chile Cheeseburger in the World". In 2009, the New Mexico Tourism Department listed the restaurants as one of the state's destinations on the Green Chile Cheeseburger Trail. In June 2013, the company announced that its first Texas location would open that fall on El Paso's west side. A second El Paso location opened in June 2014 on the city's east side. As of 2018, there are currently 3 locations in El Paso. The company announced plans in early 2015 to expand to

Tucson, Arizona , "(at the) base of the black

, nicknames = "The Old Pueblo", "Optics Valley", "America's biggest small town" , image_map = , mapsize = 260px , map_caption = Interactive ...

. Two locations opened in April and June 2017, followed by a third location in January 2018. In 2017, Blake's Lotaburger became the first New Mexico True Certified Business in the state of New Mexico.

Fare

Blake's signature menu items are the LOTA and ITSA Burgers, served with

, but the burgers and fries can be topped with cheese and Hatch green chile; they serve other

New Mexican cuisine New Mexican cuisine is the cuisine of the Southwestern US state of New Mexico. The region is primarily known for its fusion of Pueblo Native American cuisine with Hispano Spanish and Mexican cuisine originating in Nuevo México. This cuisi ...

food items as well, such as

s and

biscochito Biscochitos or bizcochitos (diminutive of the Spanish ''bizcocho'') are a New Mexican cuisine crisp butter cookie, flavored with sugar, cinnamon, and anise. The dough is rolled thin and cut into the shape of fleur-de-lis, or sometimes crosses, ...

flavored

milkshake A milkshake (sometimes simply called a shake) is a sweet beverage made by blending milk, ice cream, and flavorings or sweeteners such as butterscotch, caramel sauce, chocolate syrup, fruit syrup, or whole fruit into a thick, sweet, cold mix ...

s. The ITSA Burger is smaller in size to the namesake LOTA Burger, but is otherwise identical. In 2006 it was named the best burger in the world by '' National Geographic''. Blake's also serves a variety of other foods, including: Nathan's Famous hot dogs, chili con carne, and chicken sandwiches. There are also rotating seasonal menu items, such as the Fish Basket and Fish Sandwich. Both are offered in the late winter-early spring during the Lenten season (Ash Wednesday through Easter Sunday). Blake's is also known for its unique, limited-time, featured shakes and malts including Pumpkin Pie, Birthday Cake, Cherry White Chocolate, Green Chile Lime, and others.

Community relations

Blake's Lotaburger is a long-time supporter of the

Special Olympics Special Olympics is the world's largest sports organization for children and adults with intellectual disabilities and physical disabilities, providing year-round training and activities to 5 million participants and Unified Sports partners in 1 ...

in New Mexico. The 2018 season marks a 22-year history with the organization. They also participate in KOAT Channel 7's “KOATS for Kids” program which has donated over 300,000 coats to children and families in need. During the late-fall, customers are encouraged to donate their new and used coats in stores throughout the state of New Mexico.

Awards

*In 2009, Blake's Lotaburger was awarded "Best Burger" and "Best French Fries" in the

Weekly Alibi ''Weekly Alibi'', commonly referred to as ''The Alibi'', was a free weekly news, arts, culture, and entertainment newspaper and website in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The main features were the website's award-winning news section, featuring cultur ...

. *'' National Geographic'' in 2006, considered Blake's as having the “Best Green Chile Cheeseburger in the World". In June 2012, it also ranked Blake's Lotaburger fourth on its 10 Best Hamburgers list. *In 2009, Blake's Lotaburger was awarded “Best Burger” and “Best French Fries” in the Weekly Alibi's “Best of Burque” Awards. Blake's was again voted “Best Burger,” “Best French Fries” and “Best Green Chile Cheeseburger” in 2017. *In 2016, Blake's was voted “Best Green Chile Cheeseburger in New Mexico” in the USA Today's 10 Best Readers’ Choice contest. *In 2016, Blake's was voted “Best Green Chile Cheeseburger,” “Best French Fries” and “ Best Breakfast Burrito” in the Albuquerque Journal's Annual Readers’ Choice Awards. *In 2016, Blake's was voted “Best Green Chile Cheeseburger” and “Best French Fries” in Albuquerque Magazine's annual Best of City contest. *In 2016, Blake's Lotaburger was voted “Best Burger” and “Best Green Chile Cheeseburger” in the University of New Mexico Daily Lobo Lo Mejor Survey. *In 2017, Blake's Lotaburger was voted “Best Burger” and “Best Green Chile Cheeseburger” in the Albuquerque Journal's Annual Readers’ Choice Awards. *In 2017, Blake's was voted “Best Green Chile Cheeseburger” and “Best Breakfast Burrito” in Albuquerque Magazine's annual Best of City contest. *In 2017, Blake's Lotaburger was voted “Best Breakfast Burrito” in The Gallup Journey's Best of Gallup Contest. *In 2017, Blake's Lotaburger was voted “Best Burger” and “Best Green Chile Cheeseburger” in the University of New Mexico Daily Lobo Lo Mejor Survey. *In 2017, Blake's was voted “Best Green Chile Cheeseburger,” “Best Burger” and “Best French Fries” in The Weekly Alibi's Best of Burque Restaurants. *In 2017, Blake's was voted one of Santa Fe's “Best Breakfast Burritos” and “Best Burgers” in the SF Reporter's “Best of Santa Fe” *In 2017, Blake's was voted “Best Breakfast Burrito” in the Valencia County News Bulletin's Best of Valencia County 2017.

References

External links