Ardovino's Desert Crossing — Restaurant in Sunland Park

Desert Oasis! We were staying in El Paso and this was a great place to go to add New Mexico to the list. 20 min drive from downtown El Paso. I was completely surprised by the level of service and attention to detail. I must admit that my city-slicker, urban mentality led me to not expect the amazing dining experience that my party of 5 and I received during a Sunday brunch.

It was door to door great service, beginning with being welcomed graciously by the host. We waited briefly while a table was set to suit our party size.

We were dressed semi casual but we did not feel uncomfortable as some other patrons were in shorts. Fine dining experience with a relaxed small town atmosphere.

The host handed out each menu to each person. We were greeted promptly by our server Linda. Chilled water was poured out for everyone at the table.

We ordered kids banana bread French toast for an appetizer. Two slices banana nut bread toast covered with Mascarpone banana and strawberry. Nicest French toast I've eaten.

I ordered a mimosa and Linda recommended I try their prickly pear mimosa. It was unique and very fit for the desert mountainous area. I had an excellently made Manhattan. My friend ordered a cucumber mint Moscow Mule also a great recommendation from Linda.

The main course took a longer amount of time to be served but it was as if building suspense. I ordered the Eggs Benedict and I remembered after my first bite it takes time to build a masterpiece. The crispness of the English muffin. The house smoked salmon is a must! Go have ham on your eggs Benedict somewhere else. The eggs were cooked perfectly. I asked for the hollandaise on the side to be health conscious and my request was executed perfectly. Was served with spinach and potato cakes.

My friend ordered a burger and asked for an egg but the kitchen did not execute that correctly but Linda promptly fixed the situation.

We drank and ate dessert in the desert. We enjoyed a very well made Tiramisu and we shared a Choclatini. The glass was decorated on the inside with cholocate syrup.

The attention to detail really impressed me. From start to finish a great experience. They have a beautifully designed website. The owner came by and checked on our table and told us a little bit of the story of the restaurant. At the end I asked for another copy of the itemized receipt and it was promptly given to me. Also clean restrooms. And the garnish on the hollandaise I asked for on the side.

Looks like a great venue. I would love to host my event there or attend an event there.

I will long remember my trip into New Mexico for the first time just to go to Ardovino's Desert Cafe. It's gonna be a must every time I'm in the area. And I'll tell everyone I know that's going to El Paso.

And I still can't believe 5 people drank And ate 3 course meal for $125 pretip. I'm not sure if that is unique to their brunch menu

Someone should write a song about...

We made reservations to eat there a week ago to celebrate my girl friend's birthday,i told the person on the phone this because i wanted it to be special. When we arrived again i was asked if we were celebrating anything special and i said yes it's my girlfriends birthday. We were then seated and our waiter arrived promptly.we ordered the house salad,the oso buco ravioli, the pasta with meatballs and calamari for an appetizer. Unfortunately the salad was the only good part of the meal.The calamari was ok but the ravioli and pasta with meatballs was heavy handed. Rule of thumb when making good ravioli is you should be able to see filling through the pasta,not taste mostly pasta,the portion was awfully small for 24$!, we ordered dessert after we saw the table next to us receive a birthday dessert, we got nothing in spite of telling them twice it was my girlfriends birthday, apparently she didn't miss much,the table next to us passed the tiramisu around after the birthday boy didn't care for it,niether did anyone else because it was left on the table. We ordered the carrot cake that tasted like it had come from the Walmart bakery (no offense Walmart) and the pumpkin tart,now I'm not a pastry chef but i do know you should be able to cut through a tart easily with a fork and not with a chisel, the crust was salty which i found strange, this works with caramel not pumpkin, the filling itself was flavorless as well as the carrot cake which questions me to believe the pastry chef is either inexperienced or has corona because it has no taste at all like myself for bringing my girlfriend here.the tab came out to 130. I did tip the waiter 18% because its through no fault of his that the food here as as bland as watching the three hours of Cspan on a loop. I felt so bad because i wanted this dinner to be special, i could have taken her to fogo de Chao (if we had one here),Maggianos little Italy ( if we had one here)Ruth chris (we have one but i F**d up!) for the same price. We just came back from vacation and i took her to fogo and phillps ,a Brazilian steakhouse and well known seafood eatery in Baltimore for the same price and the food was outstanding, money well spent,here i felt culinarily molested as in i felt like something truly dirty was done to us in the course of a meal,we had not been here in 10 years,last two times we came the food was actually good ,unfortunately, it will be another 10 or more years before we will come back, hopefully to a new cooking and...

Nearby Staycation Recharge Transported us to the ‘50’s

My husband & I stayed at the “Vintage Travel Trailers – Chaparral ‘53” for a quick getaway from our “teenage roommates” and to give ourselves a nearby “couples retreat” treat! It was exactly what we needed. The experience was amazing. While we were just 15 minutes from our home in El Paso, we felt like we were transported to a different time and place. When we arrived near sunset on a Saturday night the adjoining restaurant, Ardovino’s Desert Crossing had a full and bustling patio with safely distanced tables and small fireplaces next to the tables that created a visual feast as we passed by. We met the host, Robert who led us to the trailer where we were going to stay. He has restored the trailer to perfection and equipped and decorated it with old-school games (cards, a mini shuffleboard table, the Dr. Ruth board game, and tons of other cool kitschy games). The trailer is meticulously restored with 50’s-era regalia including the little Dixie range (I know it’s just there for looks and doesn’t actually work, but it offers so much authenticity). We ate a delicious dinner from the restaurant (duck confit with homemade pasta, yes please!) built a fire in the great little sitting area and just enjoyed each other’s company. Later in the evening we retired to the soft tub which was a perfect temperature (about 102 degrees) and listened to the wild sounds of Mexico on the horizon. Speaking of Mexico, this is a very active place for border crossing and the Border Patrol is usually patrolling in the area. It’s kind of a strange scene when you see trucks and quads in the foreground patrolling the desert, but to us it was part of the unique experience. We never felt unsafe and it offered us an opportunity to discuss issues around immigration and about the world and our place in it. It led to discussions we wouldn’t have had in our own backyard and that was part of why the experience was so special. We did stay in one of the other amazing trailers a few years ago and our only regret this time around was that we didn’t stay on a Friday night. When you stay on Friday night you get to wake up to a bustling Farmer’s Market, walk out of your trailer to buy a cup of coffee and some great breakfast options and people watch your Saturday...