Mesilla's Double Eagle restaurant might be haunted by young lovers. Photograph courtesy of Double Eagle.
Longtime US 60 favorite the Gatherin’ Place reopened in January as Pie Town Pies, part of the Pie Town Homestead complex that includes a general store. Hewing to the mountain village’s moniker, owner Sarah Chaves serves up New Mexico apple, buttermilk, and strawberry-rhubarb pies using the previous owners’ recipes, while reimagining the café’s larger menu to reflect a “simpler time.” The site of an old Sinclair station, Pie Town Pies is also home to “a shadow of a cowboy who comes in from time to time,” says Chaves. (We don’t know what he longs for but urge you to try Aunt Mildred’s Pecan Pie Muffins.) 5603 US 60, Pie Town; 575-772-2909
Near Las Cruces, Mesilla’s Double Eagle has earned fame for expertly aged steaks, massive green chile cheeseburgers, and award-winning margaritas. Built in 1849, the adobe building, once a hacienda, features beautiful, ornate dining rooms—and the specters of Armando and Inez, ill-fated young lovers forever destined to roam the halls. “We have two velvet chairs, and each one has worn into the body shape of the ghosts,” says owner Buddy Ritter. 2355 Calle de Guadalupe, Mesilla; 575-523-6700
Head to Albuquerque’s Old Town for delectable New Mexico cuisine at the Church Street Cafe, an establishment housed in the Casa de Ruiz, built in the early 1700s, that spills out onto a lushly landscaped “secret” patio. “The ghost that haunts the cafe is Sarah Ruiz,” says owner Marie Coleman. “She’s believed to still reside here.” A curandera, or healer, Ruiz reportedly rearranges the dolls in a china cabinet up front or perhaps simply drops by to ensure that patrons enjoy the restaurant’s carne adovada and blue corn enchiladas. 2111 Church St. NW, Albuquerque; 505-247-8522