A Soup-er Place
Mesilla's recently relocated Paisano Cafe's menu ranges from sandwiches to rabbit ravioli to pecan pie. But there's this soup, see. . .
Is it sick to love a bowl of soup? Not, perhaps, if the soup is as thick, creamy and yet piquant as the green chile-potato soup ladled up at Paisano Cafe. Each time we've ventured to the cafe's charming new location at 1740 Calle de Mercado in Mesilla—an airy, high-ceilinged eatery with ceiling fans and a buttery-gold interior—we've succumbed to the soup. Who knew a potato soup could be this good?
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Fortunately, Paisano Cafe has plenty of choices to go with our soup, so we're not completely stuck in a rut. Sandwich-wise, you'll find all the standards—Reuben, Philly, Club, roast beef—as well as such intriguing options as Portobello mushroom and pecan-crusted chicken. Any of the half-dozen inventive wraps ($6.95) would go pretty well with our favorite soup, too. Next time we might even branch out to sample the lengthy salad list, such as Southwest Cobb, Chicken Fajita (yes, a salad!) or Chicken Caesar.
If you simply must try something else in a bowl, there's a Chile Bowl, available in (of course) red or green. We recommend washing it down with the raspberry iced tea, the first we've ever seen that has real raspberries floating in the glass. (Other than an occasional tendency to stick in the straw, a delightful touch.)
But despite our tendency to think of the new Paisano Cafe as a soup-and-sandwich place, the fact is it also offers a huge breakfast menu. You can order either traditional favorites along the French toast or bacon-and-egg line, croissants ($3.95-$5.50) or hearty Southwestern fare like burritos ($2.50-$4.75) until 4 in the afternoon.
Beginning at 4:30 p.m. (except for Sunday and Monday), the focus shifts to a concise but unexpectedly daring dinner menu. (Early-bird dinner specials are offered from 4:30-6:30 p.m.) Light eaters can opt for a range of dinner salads ($4.90-$7.95), while heartier appetites might begin with such starters as house-smoked salmon, beef brochettes or grilled quail ($6.90-$8.95). Entrees appeal to vegetarians—eggplant parmesan, vegetarian lasagna—as well as carnivores—grilled salmon, pork loin. What especially caught our eye, though, was the Roasted Rabbit Ravioli, surely a unique entree hereabouts. Entree prices range from about $10 to $17.
Don't fill up on rabbit ravioli so much that you don't have room for dessert, however. The glass dessert case will tempt you throughout the meal with its row upon row of German chocolate cake, strawberry cheesecake, pumpkin cheesecake, various unidentifiable but delicious-looking chocolate-covered things, and Uncle Pete's Famous Pecan Pie.
Service is efficient but friendly, fitting right in with Paisano Cafe's welcoming feel. Here's a casual eatery where you can nonetheless eat as high-class as you'd like, the sort of place that poor lost souls whose cars head automatically for Applebee's or Chili's need to detour and discover. The food is plenty sophisticated, but no coat and tie are required or even recommended.
Besides, you might spill green chile-potato soup on your tie.
—David A. Fryxell
Paisano Cafe, 1740 Calle de Mercado (just off Avenida de Mesilla) in Mesilla, 524-0211, is open Tuesday-Saturday 7:30 a.m.-9 p.m., Sunday-Monday 7:30 a.m.-4 p.m.