By John LarsonA restaurant in San Antonio, N.M., has gained national attention since being featured on the Food Network’s “Throwdown with Bobby Flay” last week.
The program was taped at the Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge on May 14, when about 100 residents turned out to watch Flay, the popular TV chef, challenge the Buckhorn’s Bobby Olguin to a green chile cheeseburger cook-off.
Two judges, one from Las Cruces and one from Santa Fe, pronounced Olguin’s burger to be the best, but the outcome was kept secret until the program aired Wednesday, July 22.
In a press release, Gov. Bill Richardson congratulated the Buckhorn and cited Olguin’s national attention earned by defeating Flay in the battle for the best green chile cheeseburger.
In recognition of the victory, the governor declared Friday, July 24, 2009, as “Buckhorn Tavern Day.”
“Congratulations to the Buckhorn Tavern and its owner, Bobby Olguin, for the impressive victory over one of the world’s most recognized chefs,” Richardson said in the statement. “Through his win, Mr. Olguin did an excellent job of showcasing one of New Mexico’s culinary treasures, the green chile cheeseburger.”
Richardson visited the Buckhorn Tavern Friday afternoon to personally congratulate Olguin and his staff and to try one of the restaurant’s world-famous green chile cheeseburgers.
“We had to run everybody out at 3 p.m. to get ready for they governor’s visit Friday,” Olguin said. “People were waiting outside in the heat, standing in line to get in for a burger. This is overwhelming.”
“The governor said he was very proud of the way we have represented the state and especially the chile in New Mexico,” he said. “After he awarded me the plaque for Buckhorn Tavern Day, he came into the kitchen and flipped some burgers.”
The gubernatorial proclamation cited the Buckhorn’s growing reputation nationwide.
“The Buckhorn Tavern has earned many accolades in recent years,” the proclamation read, “including being rated as the No. 7 burger in America by Gentlemen’s Quarterly in 2005 and the No. 3 “Baddest Burger in the Land” on the Marlboro.com Nightlife Flavor Roundup earlier this year.”
In the press release, Richardson also announced a statewide competition to determine the best commercial green chile cheeseburger in the state will take place during the 2009 New Mexico State Fair.
“There are so many great green chile cheeseburgers in New Mexico and since everyone has a favorite, the debate over the best is always a passionate one,” Richardson stated. “This friendly competition will put those favorites to the test as they face off head to head.”
Olguin said the Buckhorn will probably opt out of the proposed statewide contest.
“He wants us to challenge everybody in the state, but that’s not going to happen,” he said.
Olguin told the Mountain Mail he will continue doing business as usual.
“I don’t know what’s going to happen since all this” he said. “I shouldn’t say this, but I have to admit the producers (of the Throwdown) really put a nice piece together. They made me look better than I am. So, yeah, I was pleased with the way we (of the Buckhorn) looked.”
Olguin said he was correctly quoted on Albuquerque television when he was asked what a good burger should be.
“I said, ‘a green chile cheeseburger should be like going to heaven and being married to someone you love for the rest of eternity’,” Olguin said.
Photo caption: Bobby Olguin checks on Gov. Bill Richardson as the governor digs into a Buckhorn Burger at Olguin’s Buckhorn Tavern in San Antonio, N.M., last Friday, July 24. Richardson came to the restaurant to congratulate Olguin for his victory on the Food Network’s “Throwdown With Bobby Flay.” Courtesy photo
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