Interesting article in the El Paso Times about the 1949 Texas State Baseball Champions from the famous Bowie High School in El Paso. They endured and became champions in spite of the oppressive discrimination and prejudice in Texas. Many of our Eastside families have roots in El Paso/Juarez and for many years several bus loads of LA Eastside residents would head back to El Paso for the Bowie High School Reunions. The area of El Paso where Bowie High School is located is called by many “Little East LA.” And every time I’m in El Paso I visit friends in this area and I’m amazed at how similar it is to the LA Eastside, although on a much smaller scale. Great food to be found there too.
Bowie ’49 title team rooting for Socorro – By Bill Knight / El Paso Times
EL PASO — They got off the bus, one by one. A small crowd waited for them at the bus station. View Full Story
I wish I would have read this yesterday when I was in El Paso!
I’m in Southern AZ and NM searching for my roots (post coming soon!)
Now time for my green chile enchiladas…
And if you get the chance Chimatli, stop in for a green chile cheeseburger and a beer in the little town of San Antonio NM where the Hilton Family of the Hilton Hotels and Paris Hilton fame started out (near Soccoro), or some chile culture in Hatch NM aka “The Chile Capital of the World”.
Or raices all Chicano’s share in Columbus NM/Palomas Chihuahua were Pancho Villa made his attack on the US Army and then was chased unsuccessfully by President Wilson, Gen Black Jack Pershing and his officers, future generals Douglas McArthur and George Patton.
They have a great museum in the old railroad station which the last time I was there was managed by an old Chicano originally from the LA Eastside.
DQ- Very interesting!, when I was growing up, my best friend just moved to ELA from El Paso Texas, we were about 10 & 12 years old at the time.
His mom was an excellent cook, I remember, I mean just killer food for dinner everyday, just like going to a good restaurant everyday!! Home made tortillas almost everyday!! His Mom’s cooking was the only thing that came close to my Mom’s cooking- my Mom is from Tucson Arizona, and they get down in cooking there also!!
Good point Vince, about the food in other areas of the Southwest. I dig Tucson and the comida is great there too, but unlike in LA where there are a million good places to eat, I have observed that in Texas, NM, Colorado and Arizona the restraunts are usually mediocre at best but the home cooked meals are the bomb, I have embarassed myself a number of times while eating at a friends family table where the food is so damn good I couldn’t stop eating.
Hey Vince, Tucson (the old original Tucson varrio downtown), is really almost totally gentrified now.
But I dig Tucson and it’s old authentic culture that it kept intact whereas Phoenix ended up just shithole of suburban track homes that are starting to rot and fall apart in general.
DQ- You are right again! The old Tucson is long gone, damn gentrification is everywhere! There is some old restaurant (well known) they’ve been there since the 30’s I believe, the name just slipped my mind, I saw it on the net a while back, asked my Mom about it, and she told me when she was a little girl in the 30’s her Mom worked there, and would let my Mom stir things or help in the kitchen.
On a different note, the Italian Restaurant “Caruso’s” is still there I believe, I was there in the late 70’s and in the 60’s the food was always authentic Italian.
Back to the El Paso side, My buddy I grew up with had a cousin in El Paso, a little younger than us, and he would come to ELA once in a while, turns out he was in the same class with Richard Ramirez, aka The Night Stalker, said he was kind of “weird, and nerdy, but had a dark side”, wow that sure turned out to be true! He was not so amazed that the Night Stalker got caught in ELA. Oh, one more thing, I couldn’t log off without mentioning the fact that the Green Chile Cheeseburger you mentioned above, sounds deeeelicious!!! Does anybody do one on this side of town??
Dq- I finally got the name of that “well known” restaurant in Tucson. “El Charro” is the name, it’s been around for ages I think it’s still there! Have you ever eaten there?
Yes I have Vince, I ate there a few years ago with a local Tucson architect who’s office is just around the corner from El Charro. This part of Tucson has been almost totally restored and gentrified and El Charro feels like your eating in somebody’s old adobe home that has been slicked up as a restraunt. It supposedly was an old varrio corner market when this part of Tucson was the Chicano neighborhood. The architect I ate with had has office all beautifully restored because it too was an old adobe house at one time. Nice.
I also had one of the best Italian dinner experiences in a long time in Tucson. Somebody recommended “Stopani’s” and it turned out to be more than just a meal it was an experience. It is one of those old time Italian Restaurants that are almost extinct nowadays, red leather booths, candles on the table, Frank Sinatra or Tony Bennett singing as background,great, great, southern Italian and Sicilian food with a good selection of wines, the owner was a true gentleman who made you think you were eating in Manhattans Little Italy.
If you dig Italian food in the old classic style visit this place when your in Tucson next time, it’s kind of a drive from downtown but well worth it.
Stopani’s on the 5700 block of 22nd St.
Tucson is a great city!
DQ- Thanks! You are always positive, and so knowledgeable! I’ll look “Stopanis” up next time I’m there.