Bayard - If you're traveling and it’s mealtime when you hit Bayard, a good place for great Mexican food is Little Nisha’s, tucked away just around the corner from A.I.R. Coffee at 106 Hurley Avenue.
http://sonewmex.com/images/littlenishas.jpg
Stella and Frankie Legarda opened the restaurant in early September and were busy from the start. People knew Stella from other restaurants she’d worked at. “They knew me by the taste of the food, and by how much I give,” says Stella. “Everybody goes out either with a ‘to go’ box or goes out stuffed.”
The couple named their place after their smiling 4-year-old daughter Tanisha, who has a Dora the Explorer haircut and is already helping out at the restaurant. Little Nisha can't quite run the place alone, yet. But she's getting closer every day. Their 19-year-old daughter Robin waits on tables. There’s a definite family atmosphere.
You walk down a ramp into the small, very cozy dining area with a large fieldstone fireplace they plan to heat up in the winter with gas logs. Local artist Fortunato Torres was painting a winter scene on their windows during my visit. They have room to expand and will do so early next year.
Especially popular are the dishes labeled “chunky.” That means they have “steak-cut pieces of meat with green chile and potatoes,” according to Stella. She’s proud of the red chile they “make the hard way with chile pods.” Most restaurants just use chile powder, but “we boil them, blend them, strain them, and then fry them.” Besides burritos, enchiladas and the usual Mexican fare, they have sandwiches and hamburgers.
From Friday to Sunday they have empanadas, cake and pie they make on the premises, and hot chocolate with whipped cream will be on hand for the winter months.
“For Christmas we go all out. We have lights and a big old Christmas tree in here,” says Stella. Plan to stop by at Little Nisha’s this winter.
Mon-Thu 8am-8pm; Fri, Sat 7am-8pm; Sun 7am-7pm (505) 537-3526, fslegarda@aol.com (fslegarda@aol.com).
By Marjorie Lilly - Steppin’ Out Southwest Region Rep
© 2006 Marjorie Lilly - Permission To Reprint Granted
Bayard - If you're traveling and it’s mealtime when you hit Bayard, a good place for great Mexican food is Little Nisha’s, tucked away just around the corner from A.I.R. Coffee at 106 Hurley Avenue.
http://sonewmex.com/images/littlenishas.jpg
Stella and Frankie Legarda opened the restaurant in early September and were busy from the start. People knew Stella from other restaurants she’d worked at. “They knew me by the taste of the food, and by how much I give,” says Stella. “Everybody goes out either with a ‘to go’ box or goes out stuffed.”
The couple named their place after their smiling 4-year-old daughter Tanisha, who has a Dora the Explorer haircut and is already helping out at the restaurant. Little Nisha can't quite run the place alone, yet. But she's getting closer every day. Their 19-year-old daughter Robin waits on tables. There’s a definite family atmosphere.
You walk down a ramp into the small, very cozy dining area with a large fieldstone fireplace they plan to heat up in the winter with gas logs. Local artist Fortunato Torres was painting a winter scene on their windows during my visit. They have room to expand and will do so early next year.
Especially popular are the dishes labeled “chunky.” That means they have “steak-cut pieces of meat with green chile and potatoes,” according to Stella. She’s proud of the red chile they “make the hard way with chile pods.” Most restaurants just use chile powder, but “we boil them, blend them, strain them, and then fry them.” Besides burritos, enchiladas and the usual Mexican fare, they have sandwiches and hamburgers.
From Friday to Sunday they have empanadas, cake and pie they make on the premises, and hot chocolate with whipped cream will be on hand for the winter months.
“For Christmas we go all out. We have lights and a big old Christmas tree in here,” says Stella. Plan to stop by at Little Nisha’s this winter.
Mon-Thu 8am-8pm; Fri, Sat 7am-8pm; Sun 7am-7pm (505) 537-3526, fslegarda@aol.com (fslegarda@aol.com).