Kokopelli's Café — Restaurant in Elephant Butte

I stopped in here with a friend on a weekday morning the week after the 4th of July holiday. A lot of people were waiting inside for their drink order to be ready. The seating area is really small, just two tables, I think, so it was really crowded in there. There was only one person working, so it took a long time before the worker could even take our orders. All to say, depending on when you're here, you might need to be patient.

My friend and I took our coffees and sat out on the front porch. It was lovely. It was shaded, and not too hot to be outside in the desert in the morning shade. To me, the real draw was sitting on that porch. No one hurried us or made us feel like we should leave.

I did see something shocking while my friend and I relaxed outside. A man and a woman walked up with a large (at least 40 pounds), unleashed dog. The dog wasn't wearing a harness of any kind. I don't remember if it had a collar on, but it definitely was unleashed and was not wearing a harness. The dog walked into the coffee shop with the people, and they stayed in there at least half an hour. There was zero way this was a service dog. I guess it's a dog...

I really wanted to like this place, but unfortunately, my visit to Kokopelli Cafe was a lesson in frustration and poor service.

We ordered three simple breakfast sandwiches — nothing complicated — yet it somehow took 30 minutes for them to arrive. We were the only customers in the cafe, so there was no excuse for such a long wait.

To make matters worse, we also ordered a cinnamon roll that took 25 minutes to come out, and when it did, it was still cold in the middle. When I politely asked about it, the female worker responded with attitude and told me it would be “two more minutes.” That kind of dismissiveness was disappointing and unprofessional.

There was a man who seemed to be new or in training, and while he was friendly, he was moving at a very slow pace. He did his best, but it was obvious the staff wasn’t being supported or managed well.

With such a long wait, cold food, and a side of bad attitude — all while being the only ones there — I can’t say I’ll be returning anytime soon. Hopefully, they can sort things out, but for now, I’d recommend grabbing breakfast...

We ordered 2 different slices of quiches. One had onions, ham, cheese. The other had spinach and bacon. They looked amazing, but when we bit into them, they both tasted salty. I thought maybe it was just the piece I cut off - so I continued to eat it. It did not get any better. When the second one with spinach and bacon came out, I asked my fiancé to taste mine. He said it was very salty. We hoped the second one would be ok, however it was not. It was so salty. The only reason I didn’t return it was because I’m diabetic and my sugar level was very low and I had to get something in my stomach. We also bought a toasted everything bagel with cream cheese and that was good. The espresso was great! Also-some people might think it’s a restaurant because it’s called Kokopelli Cafe, however it is not. It is a coffee shop that has breakfast sandwiches, quiche, bagels, pastries, and bottled drinks like orange juice, coconut water, etc. Disappointing because through the glass, the quiche looked amazing. I took a picture of the quiche but could not figure out how...