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History of Santa Fe Grill in Las Cruces

Santa Fe Grill is a family-owned Las Cruces business best known for turning gas-station kitchens into some of the city’s most popular places for breakfast burritos, green chile dishes and quick New Mexican food.

The early years

The restaurant’s history goes back to a former Santa Fe Grill on Foster Road, which reportedly opened around 1989. Juan Morales, a lifelong Mesilla Valley resident, helped develop that original operation before creating the version of Santa Fe Grill that most Las Cruces residents recognize today.

The Pic Quik partnership

In 1997, Morales opened the first Santa Fe Grill kitchen inside a Pic Quik convenience store with assistance from Pic Quik owner Oscar Andrade. The concept worked because customers could get freshly prepared burritos, burgers, Mexican plates and breakfast food quickly without visiting a traditional sit-down restaurant.

The business expanded rapidly. Within one year, Morales was operating three grills. At its height, Santa Fe Grill reportedly operated 11 locations across southern New Mexico, including Las Cruces and Hatch.

This unusual arrangement became a major part of the brand’s identity. For many Las Cruces residents, “Santa Fe Grill” meant stopping at a Pic Quik for a breakfast burrito, chile relleno, brisket burrito, steak-and-potato burrito or another freshly cooked meal.

More than a burrito business

Although the gas-station grills made the company famous, Juan Morales also developed a substantial catering operation. Santa Fe Grill & Catering Co. handled everything from backyard barbecues to formal dinners and prepared Mexican, Italian and American dishes for local events. Morales has also been involved in community events and local food traditions, including programs about making traditional red chile tamales from his family recipe.

Changes to the Pic Quik locations

The company faced a setback in 2019 when road construction and restricted access contributed to the closing of the Pic Quik and Santa Fe Grill location on Avenida de Mesilla. Morales said customer traffic and staffing at that location had declined substantially during construction.

Additional uncertainty arrived when several Pic Quik stores began converting to Circle K. The Morales family initially arranged to continue leasing kitchen space, but several Santa Fe Grill locations eventually closed. By the end of 2022, reports indicated that only two of the original gas-station locations remained open.

Transition to a full-service restaurant

In 2023, the family began a new chapter by moving beyond the convenience-store format. Juan Morales and his daughter, Mariah Baeza, converted the former Forghedaboudit restaurant in Picacho Hills into Santa Fe Restaurant.

The Picacho Hills restaurant held its soft opening on February 1, 2023. Baeza became the restaurant’s owner after learning the business through her father’s catering company. The expanded menu included enchiladas, breakfast plates, soups, fried fish, brisket, pasta and rotating specials in addition to the burritos and New Mexican dishes associated with Santa Fe Grill.

The family also announced plans for another standalone restaurant in the former Jake’s Cafe location on Lohman Avenue, although the sources I found do not clearly document the final outcome of that particular location.

Santa Fe Grill’s Las Cruces legacy

Santa Fe Grill’s importance comes from how closely it became connected to everyday life in Las Cruces. It took fresh, locally familiar New Mexican food and served it in a fast, affordable format long before gas-station restaurants became fashionable. What began with a small Foster Road restaurant developed into a network of convenience-store grills, a catering company and eventually a full-service family restaurant operated across two generations.