[Demon Deacon]

I realize this is only "roughly" in the Big Bend region, but two friends and I will be tacking on a quick trip to the caverns after leaving BBNP in January.  We will be arriving at the caverns in the mid-afternoon, and will be heading on from there to Alamogordo for the night.

Can anyone recommend somewhere that we should eat between the Caverns and Alamogordo? Looks like we will head north through Carlsbad, NM and turn west at Artesia, NM, but no clue what, if anything, should be consumed in either place.  We will likely be arriving too late into Alamogordo to partake of dinner there.

[Lance]

When we went to Carlsbad Caverns in November we ate at Chili's a couple of nights. We also stopped and ate at Becky's Drive Inn burger joint on the north side of town when we headed over to Dog Canyon.  I thought it was better than your typical fast food joint.

[RichardM]

http://www.nowhinerdiner.com/

[House Made of Dawn]

There's a local, family-run Mexican food restaurant, can't remember the name, but it's relatively large and nice and is on the west side of the main drag downtown. I took my kids there each time I climbed Guadalupe Peak or visited Carlsbad Caverns with them. We all enjoyed the meals a lot.

[gmonroe]

Try La Fonda in Artesia...I've eaten there since the 80's and is generally pretty good...it's on the west side of town on Main Street...

Sent from my HTC6525LVW using Big Bend Chat mobile app

[ds9writer]

The Red Chimney is a great BBQ place!  It's on the main street through town...

http://www.redchimneybbq.com/

[House Made of Dawn]

+1 on Red Chimney. Stick to the ribs, they stick to the ribs.

[Jonathan Sadow]

Danny's Place in Carlsbad.  It used to be a Dairy Queen that sold barbecue on the side, but the barbecue became so popular that the ice cream sales dropped below what DQ wanted, and so the restaurant went independent.

[presidio]

We will be arriving at the caverns in the mid-afternoon, and will be heading on from there to Alamogordo for the night.

Can anyone recommend somewhere that we should eat between the Caverns and Alamogordo? We will likely be arriving too late into Alamogordo to partake of dinner there.

Carlsbad:

Red Chimney (closed on Sunday)
No Whiner Diner
both of above on US285 (main north/south street)

Rojas (now called La Juanita Mexican Cuisine and Grill, but locals still call it Rojas)
2704 San Jose Blvd
0.3 mi west of NPS admin bldg on Pecan & US 285, then 0.6 mi north on San Jose
Be forewarned that the chile (not 'chili') may be a bit much for delicate Texan palates; it's not tourist food.

There are the usual chain eateries if you want consistency of bland food.

There are equivalent places in Artesia.

Depending upon when you cross the mountain, Cloudcroft has an eatery or two that are local gigs (no corporate chains there). Worth a stop if it's daylight just to walk the short main drag of a genuine mountain town.

Just west of Cloudcroft is the preserved railroad trestle from 1800s timber industry; very impressive. Just a little farther west is the only highway tunnel in NM (there's another north of Albuquerque that was a train tunnel, but it's on a backcountry state road north of Jemez Pueblo.

Alamogordo is an Air Force town. You'll probably find something unless it's 2 am.

[Demon Deacon]

Thanks for all of the input everyone. Good to know that there seems to be plenty of good spots.