Mary's Bar

Well worth a stop--there's a small petting zoo north of Mary's, and a junk shop full of junk. That's about it, other than Mary's. We stopped in for a cold drink (Cokes were pretty cold) and Mary proceeded to give us her life story, including the fact that "God won't have me and neither would the devil, so I'm stickin' around." Kitties were all over, boxes of stuff piled to the ceiling and a general air of neglect around the place. Mary complained about the drunks across the road who get drunk and then want to come over to her place to use the restroom. She won't let them in. The place is a classic, and so is the proprietor.

Good lord, can't believe this gem has not been reviewed!  Unless I missed it...!!!

If you are in the Santa Fe area, Mary's Bar is a MUST SEE.  My motorcycle buddy took me here for an afternoon beer.  We pulled up to the wooden, deserted-looking bar and I was like, uh, really??  But the sign said "ABIERTO", so my friend smiled, pushed the door open for me, and thus the adventure began.

The bar is basically a large room full of stuff.  Crap.  Boxes.  A covered pool table.  Covered with cats.  The actual bar was a small thing on the right side of the room.  Also covered with cats.  I love cats, so I was okay with this.  :)

A woman ambled out from the back, eyeing us warily (we were the only ones there), then got us our beer and water and sat behind the tiny bar to keep tabs on us.  Once she started talking, man, we got some local stories that were pretty amazing.  She turned out to be Mary's granddaughter;  Mary (who just turned 95!!!) was in back taking a nap.  My friend was disappointed Mary was not around, as apparently she is a real firecracker.  It was Mary's parents who started the bar in the late 1800's (although I read it started as a general store) and it's still going... not strong, as the town of Cerrillos is pretty much a ghost town, but it's going.

A must see if in the area.  You won't be disappointed!