Tomasita’s , a well-established New Mexican restaurant, is celebrating 50 years this year. “It’s been a great ride. I mean, I have really enjoyed the restaurant business. I enjoyed all of the people I have met … I know half the town. It’s been great,” says Georgia Maryol, the founder of Tomasita’s.

You might say Georgia Maryol was destined to be a successful restaurant owner. The business has always been a part of her story, dating all the way back to her childhood here in Albuquerque. “My mother ran a restaurant on West Central. It was in the Atrisco barrio. And the food in the Atrisco barrio was original New Mexican food,” said Maryol. But it wasn’t until years later, when Maryol and her oldest son, Jimmy, started serving authentic New Mexican food at a tiny restaurant, that the story starts to take shape.

“There was a little restaurant called ‘Tomasita’s’, on Hickox Street. So, Jimmy and I went to Tomasita’s to have a meal, because I heard they have great red and green there,” said Maryol. “And I was really impressed, and I was like, ‘Who’s the cook?’ and they said, ‘Oh, Tomasita.’ So, I went and met her, and she was this little wiry lady, chain smoker. She was a riot, and I told her how good her food was, and she would say the same thing: ‘If you like it, tell your friends. If you don’t, tell me.”

Maryol and Tomasita became fast friends – a friendship that would turn into a future opportunity for the both of them. “I really was fond of her, and then, I found out it was for sale,” said Maryol.

The man who owned Tomasitas at the time had had an accident and needed to sell the restaurant. So, Maryol purchased the original Tomasita’s down on Hickox Street and never looked back. The pair stayed in that original location for five more years with Tomasita herself at the helm of the kitchen.

Their success only continued to grow until it was time to expand. “And then I had the opportunity. This location here came up,” said Maryol. “I said, ‘This would be a great location,’ because, when I was really young, in high school, we used to drive down this street, and I would see this red brick building, and I always thought this was the greatest building. And I thought, ‘That would be a great Tomasitas.’”

Maryol is talking about the red brick building on South Guadalupe Street in Santa Fe. She and two other people had their eyes on the property, but the banker who owned to property at the time gave the lease to Maryol, much to her surprise.

“The banker calls me a week later and he says, ‘Why don’t you come over here and let me interview you a minute?’ So, I went in and he said he had decided who is going to take over the building, and I said, ‘Well, I guess it’s going to be,’ and he says, ‘It’s going to be you,’ and I said, ‘Me. Are you kidding?’ and he says, ‘You have them lined up at the door, and I want this to be a success,'” said Maryol.

Maryol will be the first to tell you that there was some hesitancy about whether or not the restaurant would make it in Santa Fe, but Tomasita never had a doubt. And Tomasita manned that kitchen in the new location for another decade. “She passed away about 10 years after we moved here. In fact, I was with her when she passed away. But she was great. She was a real professional,” said Maryol.

They have now been in that Santa Fe building for 45 years. Adding in their five years down at the Hickox Street location, Tomasita’s has been proudly serving New Mexico-true food for 50 years.

“You know, because it’s about red and green, I knew it would be a success,” said Maryol. The red and green chile Tomasita’s serves up is the backbone of their food; it’s what they are known for.

“Red chile was actually made from your red chile pods, no powder. We don’t use powder, we use red chile pods,” said Maryol. “Green chile is pure green chile, and that’s New Mexico. Red and green New Mexico.”

Maryol’s youngest son, George Gundrey, is now in charge, and he says the chile has been the same for generations. “One thing, the red chile pods, they come from a southern town called Salem, and she bought those pods from the old man, and the daughter took over the farm, and I get them from the daughter now,” said Gundrey. “We’re multi-generational, and those chile pods are multi-generational too.”

The food is the star at Tomasita’s, letting their simple, yet, well-crafted meals, speak for themselves. “One of the things with our food is it’s very simple. It’s probably 12 ingredients put together in different ways,” said Gundrey. “It’s the ingredients. We don’t mess with the chile. It’s very simple recipes, but focusing on getting the best ingredients you can and putting them together simply.”

50 years of serving the community comes with its fair share of highs and lows, but for Tomasita’s, it also comes with a handful of more-than-memorable stories, like how two brothers, born on opposite sides of the country, ran into each other at Tomasita’s, meeting each other for the very first time.

“The father had a child in California, he left, moved to the east coast and had a child and then years later when they became adults, they found out about each other. And there they were…they found each other in here,” says Maryol.

“Leroy Petree is a congressional medal of honor recipient,” said Maryol. “So, he was coming to Santa Fe; they were giving him a big honor at the state building. They asked him where they could take him for lunch, ‘Where would you like to go?’ He said, ‘Tomasita’s,’ cause he grew up here.”

“A person who lived here was a spy for the Russian government, and the last place he was seen was in here,” said Maryol. “So, the FBI was all over the place, ‘Did you see this guy?’ blah, blah, blah. Well, he came in and had his dinner, and he left, you know, I don’t know, whatever, he was a regular customer.”

“I remember one customer telling me, ‘Oh, you must be honored to have Linda Ronstadt come in here,’ and I said, ‘I’m honored to have you come in here. Are you kidding? I see you all of the time,’” said Maryol.

Maryol’s commitment to, and appreciation for, her customers and employees has played a huge role in the success of Tomasita’s for half a century now. “First of all, I believe in treating all employees equally. They are all important. The dishwasher to the manager. Everybody is important,” said Maryol.

“I think that my mom wasn’t thinking about being an iconic restaurant so much as just taking care of every single customer, making sure that all of the food is prepared correctly, that every plate comes out correctly, that the service is smiling and that’s, you just do that for a long time, and you get good at it,” said Gundrey.

“It’s been a lot of fun. I enjoyed it a lot. But it’s time to turn it over to the younger generation,” said Maryol. From humble beginnings to now being the name synonymous with true New Mexican food, Tomasita’s is the gold standard. They celebrate 50 years this year with decades more to go.

To find out more about Tomasita’s, click here .

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