It’s been a busy month as students returned to school, parents adjusted to new schedules, and restaurants continued to take shape to provide more dining options in El Paso.
Crave’s owners are still going strong, having opened their fifth restaurant in El Paso, the newest on the far West Side, and offering some classics like chicken and waffles and the Nashville-style hot honey chicken sandwich.
The owners of La Madeleine opened their fourth restaurant in El Paso this week, the first with a drive-thru. Since the pandemic, many new franchise restaurants have emphasized their drive-thru nature to meet demand from customers who prefer to take their food home.
The QuikTrip travel center at 10300 Gateway Blvd. East, which opened in late June, is busy as travelers on the El Paso and Interstate 10 routes familiarize themselves with the service station and its full kitchen with tea and coffee counter and grab-and-go food.
Here’s a closer look at this new restaurant roundup.
New Crave store opens in West Towne Marketplace
West Side El Paso residents now have a new Crave Kitchen and Bar across from Flix Brewhouse in the West Towne Marketplace at 6470 Desert Blvd. North. This is the fifth location and the largest at 2,400 square feet.
The restaurant, which opened on August 12, is owned by partners Rudy Valdes, Octavio Gomez and Nick Salgado.
Valdes believes the restaurant has been able to expand thanks to its loyal clientele and its specialties.
“It’s El Paso. We have loyal Crave customers who like chilaquiles and chicken and waffles. We put a lot of heart and thought into everything we do and stay true to what Crave is,” Valdes said.
Popular dishes include huevos rancheros and chilaquiles, as well as pancakes for breakfast. The restaurant was named the best pancake place in Texas in 2022 by Eat This, Not That.
“At Crave Kitchen and Bar, they make chorizo pancakes. The pancakes are studded with spicy chorizo and served with two eggs, bacon and sausage for a meat-lover’s breakfast,” the article said.
For lunch and dinner, guests can continue to count on favorites like chicken and waffles, tuna ceviche, burgers and chicken pesto sandwiches.
Opening hours: Sunday to Thursday from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m., Friday and Saturday from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m.
La Madeleine opens on the East Side with drive-thru
French restaurant La Madeleine officially opened its fourth cafe and bakery location in El Paso on August 20 at 13395 W. Gateway Blvd. in the Eastlake Marketplace Center.
The new café offers 4,500 square feet of space for nearly 150 guests and is the first La Madeleine in El Paso with a drive-in, making it the second drive-in location in the entire system.
“The new El Paso Eastlake cafe offers locals another opportunity to take a little trip to France with classic French pastries and breads, as well as La Madeleine’s famous French comfort food,” said Kerri McLeroy, La Madeleine’s vice president of marketing, in a press release. “We have seen so much excitement throughout the community about our new location and look forward to serving the area for years to come.”
The French café was founded in Dallas in 1983 and now has more than 80 locations across the United States.
All-day breakfast options, sandwiches, soups, salads, entrees and traditional French baked goods and retail items are available for dine-in, take-out or delivery. The cafe is open daily from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m.
Rib Hut expands its offering with a third restaurant
The owners of Rib Hut, 2612 N. Mesa St., announced on their Facebook page that they are opening a third restaurant, with an opening tentatively scheduled for mid-September.
Longtime El Paso barbecue restaurant will open a restaurant in the West Towne Marketplace at 6470 Desert Blvd. North. A sign for the restaurant appeared at the former Salata Restaurant location.
The restaurant, which offered salads to order, struggled from the start and was only able to open in October 2020 after delays during the pandemic.
Denny’s on the East Side closed for a week
A manager at Denny’s at 11315 Montwood Drive said on social media that the restaurant would be temporarily closed while the kitchen was being renovated.
The opening is planned for August 27th.
The QuikTrip Travel Center offers various teas, hot sandwiches
El Pasoans are still getting to know the QuikTrip travel center, which opened in June near Eastlake Boulevard and Interstate 10, and its well-equipped kitchen. The hot food area features a roller grill with multiple grills that cook hot dogs and rolled tacos that are ready early in the morning. Currently, they offer 2 meals for $4.
There is also a grab-and-go warming station with breakfast sandwiches, breakfast pizza in the morning, and brisket sandwiches in the afternoon. Tastier dishes include the brisket sandwich (not chicken sandwiches like in other states) and the breakfast pizza with eggs cooked with bacon and sausage over a layer of gravy.
The travel center also has a good tea beverage counter with 12 different types of tea, including raspberry black tea, black mango, pineapple papaya unsweetened tea and passion fruit.
More: National Bacon Lovers Day is August 20: Here’s how to celebrate in Texas and New Mexico
Reach María Cortés González at 915-546-6150; [email protected], @EPTMaria on Twitter; Subscribe on Instagram, eptmariacg on TikTok.
