The Crane Cafe

Had the special, a smothered burrito, with ground beef, and red chile sauce, served with rice, and beans.

The red sauce is delicious. However, unexplainably there was none coating the ground beef inside the burrito.

I've never understood, or appreciated the New Mexico tradition of ground versus shredded beef, and I believe this meal would be several levels higher with shredded beef.

That aside, the burrito was delicious, with a generous amount of beef, and plenty of sauce, and cheese smothering the burrito.

The rice was meh, the beans were okay. The pile of shredded lettuce, and diced tomatoes, would probably be a welcome addition for most, I was not interested.

This truck stop is easy to get in and out of, with plenty of parking, so if you're here, try the food.

Driving from Ruidoso to Albuquerque we stumbled upon Crane.  What a find!!  The eight of us San Diegans/Seattlites filled 1/2 the restaurant and the other patrons welcomed us warmly.  The staff were graceful and joined in our humour and frivolity (we were very excited to find this place).  Our eyes were bigger than our stomachs as they serve large servings.  Not only were they large, but completely homemade, fresh, authentic and tasty!  Between the 8 of us we had a couple orders of tostados, bowl of beans, chile rellanos, enchilads and for my daughter a chimichanga with fries and cheese (!) and for my son, a cheeseburger and fries, of course, which we all inhaled.
Special mention goes to the owner/cook; she is a beautiful women who exudes confidence, groundedness, grace, ease, contentment and has great energy.  
Not sure when I will be in that part of the world again, but if  you are ever nearby, it is worth a meal!