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Thursday, November 1, 2007

Blue Ribbon Expanding

By Laura Nesbitt
Mountain View Telegraph
    The family-run Blue Ribbon Bar in Estancia has been expanding and becoming more of a family-oriented establishment.
    Owner Daniel Ortiz took over running the historic bar in 1993. It had been owned by his father, Delfinio, and uncle, Ray, since 1974.
    The expansion should be done by this week. Ortiz hopes to have a grand opening soon but is not sure yet of the date.
    The Blue Ribbon sold its full-service liquor license and now operates with a restaurant license and can sell only beer and wine.
    "And food, of course," Ortiz said in a phone interview last week.
    Ortiz bought the building next door to the Blue Ribbon about five years ago. To prepare for changing the emphasis from bar to restaurant, he knocked out the wall separating the two buildings. He built a ramp leading into the enlarged room, installed new carpeting and put in a big-screen television. He also built new restrooms on either side and added another pool table.
    The expansion increased seating by about 40 customers.
    Ortiz is actively bringing more young people to the restaurant by calling schools, coaches and teachers and inviting them to stop by.
    The menu includes grilled chicken, fish, burgers, chicken wings and fries. The grill will be open from 7 a.m. until 9 p.m., although he said none of the hours are "written in stone."
    Beginning this week, Ortiz plans to serve breakfast from 7 to 11 a.m. Monday through Saturday. He hopes to have steak nights, too, and he just purchased a salad bar.
    "A lot of the ladies around here say that the hamburgers are killing their hips," Ortiz said.
    The Blue Ribbon Bar, originally built in 1903 as the Valley Hotel, is one of the two oldest business buildings in Estancia— the other is Hughes Mercantile, now a vacant building at the corner of Fifth Street and Highland, according to Morrow Hall, a former Estancia mayor and current executive director of Enchantment Legacy.
    The other original buildings in town all burned down at some point, Hall said.
    "In 1912 there was a fire on the block to the south," Hall said in a phone interview Friday. "John Berkshire got on top of the (hotel) roof and started pouring water on the roof. People across the street were saying that they needed to dynamite the building to stop the fire, when he got out his rifle and said he'd shoot them, so they didn't."
    Berkshire, who later bought the Valley Hotel, saved the building, Hall said.
    More recently, the Blue Ribbon became "a watering hole" for the people filming "Convoy," a 1978 film directed by Sam Peckinpah, according to Hall.
    "I got a call one day from the state film commission. They were coming out to look at the place," Hall said. "They said that Sam Peckinpah called and said 'Where's the bar?' ''
    The film "White Sands," the miniseries "Lost Room" and the soon-to-be-released film "Tennessee" all shot footage using the bar for scenery, according to Daniel Ortiz.
    "My daughter's birthday was Feb. 2," Ortiz said. "Mariah Carey spent 45 minutes to an hour with my daughter" when they were filming "Tennessee."
    The Blue Ribbon is truly a family-run business— Ortiz's mom, Barbara Solano, is the chief bartender, and Anna Marie Ortiz, Daniel's wife, is the cook.
    "And however many years it's been, my kids have been my only employees," Ortiz said. "They still help me out in the bar," although he also hopes to start hiring more employees.
    His oldest son, Daniel, 18, attends Eastern New Mexico University. David, 17, is a senior at Estancia High School, and daughter Desirae, 14, is a freshman at the high school.
    Ortiz had hoped to have the expansion completed at least a month ago, but problems with state approval of the sale of his liquor license delayed the process.
    In November 2006 Ortiz sold the Blue Ribbon's full dispenser's license to an Albuquerque adult entertainment establishment called All Fours. Due in part to opposition from neighbors of the Albuquerque business, it took until mid-September for state approval of the transfer.