Big Splurge. Big Bargains. Big Bend

The Trans-Pecos country of Texas isn’t exactly known for its posh side, although it does exist. Still, the essence of the region is earthy, more in touch with the soil than with putting on airs. You can find high-end lodging and dining, of course, but you’re more likely to find affordable quarters and inexpensive food. Best of all, the limitless landscapes and spacious skies here are always free.

EL PASO, EXPENSIVE AND AFFORDABLE

Texas boasts not one, but two royal roads, or caminos reales. One took Spanish explorers, traders, and missionaries between Mexico City and Natchitoches, Louisiana. The other, older camino joined Mexico City with Santa Fe, New Mexico. This western road ran through the heart of El Paso and gave a landmark hotel its mellifluous name. Since it was built in 1912, the Hotel Camino Real has provided El Pasoans and visitors to the city with plush lodgings and elegant dining. El Paso’s most famous architect, Henry C. Trost, designed the original brick structure, which is listed in the National Register of Historic Places. Over the course of his career in El Paso (1903-1933), Trost designed hundreds of buildings, including what is now the International Museum of Art at 1205 Montana, and the Bhutanese-inspired original buildings at the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP), including Old Main. (The new Hilton Garden Inn, in the university area, fits right in with UTEP’s Bhutanese architecture—see Up Front in the print issue for more information.)

Besides its architectural pedigree, the Camino Real boasts the Dome Bar, set under a glowing, 25-foot-diameter Tiffany stained-glass dome. Next door, the Dome Restaurant promises an elegant dining experience, topped off with desserts like a creamy cheesecake infused with liqueur and a delicious crème brûlée. Nearby, the hotel’s Azulejos Restaurant offers breakfast buffets with omelets, Belgian waffles, sausage, and fresh pastries. Azulejos also serves one of the city’s best Sunday brunches, with offerings of shrimp, oysters, smoked salmon, carved beef, and freshly baked desserts.

Last October, Hispanic Magazine named Café Central one of the top 50 Hispanic restaurants in the United States. Harking back to a restaurant of the same name that opened in 1918 in Juárez, the bistro moved to El Paso after Prohibition ended. Today, the restaurant blends Continental, Southwestern, and Asian flavors in swanky digs accented with modern art and a gated courtyard that would fit right in in New Orleans’ French Quarter. Café Central offers appetizers like baked escargots in herbed citrus-Parmesan butter, a signature cream-of-green-chile soup, seafood like seared sesame-crusted ahi tuna on a crab risotto cake, and meat entrées that include puntas de filete with jalapeño and green chile, and grilled Newport pork chop with applewood-smoked bacon and sautéed spinach with roasted brandied apples.

Some other restaurants should be included in El Paso’s highs and lows. At the upper end, and just east of town, you’ll find Indian Cliffs Ranch—part mini-zoo, part movie set, and part desert outpost—which cooks up savory steaks, seafood, and barbecue. At the ranch’s Cattleman’s Steakhouse, you can get everything from a six-ouncer called a Lady’s Filet to a thick, two-pound T-bone sure to satisfy the heartiest appetite. The desserts—apple pie, pecan pie, cheesecake, and chocolate mousse—are rewarding as well.

On the cheaper side is Chico’s Tacos. Go for the famous flauta-style tacos made with corn tortillas tightly wrapped around ground beef and fried to a crisp golden color. These tasty taquitos swim in a tomato-chile broth and are covered with melted yellow cheese.

See the full article in the September 2006 issue.

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