And To High Noon
- Michael Jay Tucker's explosive-cargo
- May 15
- 5 min read
Hello, hello! So, last time, I had just gotten us through the Turquoise Museum in Albuquerque, New Mexico. And now, we’re off to Old Town and the High Noon.
High Noon is our fav restaurant in Old Town.(1) I’ve written about it before and I’ve already gone into detail about how the food is remarkably good--particularly given its circumstances. It is, you see, a restaurant in a tourist district. Restaurants in popular tourist destinations actually face serious pressure to *not* be good.
That sounds counterintuitive, but its true. Consider: most tourist districts have high rental costs. So they’re always under pressure to cut costs to the bone. Second, most of the time, tourists are only going to visit a tourist district once or twice. Moreover, if the district is popular, there’s always more. Today you have a bus tour from Byrdsville, Ind. Tomorrow, it’ll be a crowd from Mellonballs, Tenn. Which means if you alienate a customer, well, okay, that’s a shame, but you’ll probably weren’t ever going to see that person again anyway. And there’s always another one to take their place.
Which means further that the restauranteur has to let food quality slide toward zilch...because otherwise the costs and *time* of food prep will...forgive the pun...eat your lunch. And if your customers come away thinking that was the worst meal they’d ever eaten, well...honestly...who cares? Or, more precisely, you can’t afford to care.
Somehow, High Noon has been able to avoid that fate. I’m guessing they own their own building, but I’m not sure. However it would give them a certain freedom from the ever rising rent problem. Also, they do attract tourists (viz., Martha and me), but they also have appeal to locals. I’ve watched while area residents show up at the bar and the dining room and kibbitz with the staff and the owners (or, at least, people I thought were the owners). That, too, I suspect, drives the restaurant toward a certain excellence. They have repeat customers, and would like to keep them happy.
And, finally, maybe the owners and staff just want to do a good job.
About the photos: First, a shot of the interior of High Noon. I took this on our most recent trip to Albuquerque. Second, here’s a shot of Christmas at High Noon. This is from 2018. And yes, that’s an upside down Christmas tree. It’s very cool. And, finally, a shot of Martha having lunch and looking sophisticated at High Noon. This is also 2018.
Anyway, we’ve been going there for years. Even before we moved to New Mexico, when we were only visiting my parents in New Mexico, we would try to get there at least once a year, usually around Christmas. Then, when we were living in Albuquerque, we would get there once every few weeks. I was and am a great fan of their Green Chile Stew.
I’ll confess, when we lived there, and were more regular customers, I always wondered if one day the staff would eventually get to know us, the way they did the Old Town residents who came to the bar after work, or ate there on at least a weekly basis. But, alas, it didn’t happen. We were never there often enough to force our way into the consciousness of the staff...that is, to stop being just another set of faces among the dozens that flow in and out of a restaurant every day. We understood. That is the way of things.
But, that day, we arrived at the restaurant and were seated promptly. We sat, read the menus, and ordered from a very pleasant waitress. Then we waited. As we did, we started watching the people around us and listening to their conversations, as you will in such situations. And then we started hearing things. Curious things. Like: “The first time we’ve been back...” “So glad you’re open again...” “We didn’t know if...”
And then we remembered. There’d been a fire here. We had read about it on the web and been shocked. It wasn’t clear to us what happened. Apparently, it may have been arson, and it was quite serious, causing over $20,000 in damages. It also caused the restaurant to shut down for two and a half, long, unprofitable months.(2)
In fact, if we’d arrived at High Noon just a few days earlier, we wouldn’t have gotten in. We would have faced a closed door and a sad little sign reading “Watch For Grand Reopening.”
But our timing had been, for once, perfect. The restaurant had returned to operation just the day before. We spoke to the waitress about it, and to another woman who...I suspect...was the owner.(3) They told us how difficult it had been, and how glad they were that things were getting back to normal.
We congratulated them. They thanked us. And, honestly, I felt kind of honored to be among the first of High Noon’s customers to return. It felt a bit, in a small way, like we shared their triumph.
Anyway, we ordered and had a great dinner. Then, we headed back to the Casita. We needed, we knew, a rest. Between the Turquoise and the High Noon, it had been quite a day.
And we still had two more days in New Mexico.
More to come.
Footnotes:
1. Which, admittedly, isn’t difficult since most of the restaurants in Old Town are dreadful. But, still, even so, High Noon is pretty darn good.
2. According to news reports, an individual has been charged with causing the blaze. In any case, you can see some accounts on the following sites:
“High Noon Restaurant fully reopens after fire forces closure,” by Fallon Fischer, Oct 9, 2024, KRQE, https://www.krqe.com/news/albuquerque-metro/high-noon-restaurant-fully-reopens-after-fire-forces-closure/
“’Very, very lucky today': Owner of popular Old Town restaurant appreciative fire was not worse,” by Gregory R.C. Hasman / Journal Staff Writer May 21, 2024 Updated May 21, 2024. Albuquerque Journal, https://www.abqjournal.com/news/very-very-lucky-today-owner-of-popular-old-town-restaurant-appreciative-fire-was-not-worse/article_9f66b38a-17a4-11ef-b1c9-1f2ac638cb29.html
“Criminal complaint: Suspect walks away from officers after seeing High Noon fire footage,” by Laila Freeman, KRQE, https://www.krqe.com/news/albuquerque-metro/criminal-complaint-suspect-walks-away-from-officers-after-seeing-high-noon-fire-footage/
“High Noon arsonist suspect to appear in court Monday,” by KOB staff, June 9, 2024, KOB, https://www.kob.com/new-mexico/high-noon-arsonist-suspect-to-appear-in-court-monday/
3. I’m guessing she was Carla Villa, but I don’t know for sure. So, Ms. Villa, if that was you, and if you should see this, Hi! And btw, love your restaurant.
Copyright©2025 Michael Jay Tucker
Wanna Hangout?
I’ve decided to launch a newsletter to keep you in the loop with everything I’m working on--new blog posts (“The Martha Plus Michael Chronicles”), books, short stories, videos, and all my other projects.
Just go to the following webpage and enter your email address in the space provided:
I’ll keep you updated on all my newest projects! And, to sweeten the deal, I’ll be posting some exclusive content that can only be accessed by subscribers to this newsletter.
So, type in your email address now! And let’s get things moving!
~mjt
Comments