When San Antonio, N.M.'s Buckhorn Tavern last week won a televised green chile cheeseburger cook-off with Food Network chef Bobby Flay, Gov. Bill Richardson proclaimed July 24 "Buckhorn Tavern Day." In the same news release, Richardson called for a statewide contest at the state fair to determine who makes the best commercial green chile cheeseburger.
But according to the Socorro Defensor Chieftain , Buckhorn owner Bobby Olguin says he's got nothing more to prove and won't be taking part in the state fair contest.
"... but I'll help them find the second best burger in New Mexico," Olguin told the paper, saying he'd be happy to participate in the contest as a judge.
The Defensor Chieftain pointed out that Gentleman's Quarterly named the Buckhorn's green chile cheeseburger the 7th best burger in the U.S. in 2005, and the Buckhorn was rated the "Baddest Burger in the Land" on the Marlboro.com Web site. (I wanted to provide a link to that, but the Marlboro site has an intense registration process requiring your driver's license number, etc. This is to protect the children I suppose.)
In his call for a contest, Richardson quite correctly pointed out that there are lots of great green chile cheeseburgers in out great state, including the Owl Cafe, just across the street from the Buckhorn.
The episode of Throwdown with Bobby Flay in which the Buckhorn Taven won will be shown again on The Food Network at 9 pm Sunday.
UPDATE: A Santa reader justly chastised me for not mentioning that our own Bobcat Bite has won a whole bunch of burger awards and honors, including, apparently Bon Appetit's "Best Burger in America." (I'm not sure which year.) Plus, it's the only New Mexico burger den to ever have a song written about it by ex-Angry Samoan Greg Turner.
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