Pow Wow Restaurant & Lounge

I found myself staying in Tucumcari recently and dropped in for dinner since my options were pretty limited.  I liked the murals on the walls, which were a little cheesy, but definitely added to the mood of the place.

I ordered a chicken fried steak, along with sweet potato fries.  Dinner items come with a trip to the soup & salad bar.  The salad wasn't impressive and the dressing was really watery, but it was pretty close to closing time so I'm sure the salad bar would've been fresher if I'd come in earlier.  I enjoyed the green chile stew, and it was probably the highlight of my meal.  The sweet potato waffle fries were nice, but needed salt.  The chicken fried steak was pretty disappointing, but not terrible - the meat was very thin and the breading was on the soggy side.

My server said it was only her second day on the job, but I would've never known  because she did a great job.

If I ever visit Tucumcari again, which I probably won't, I'll definitely stop by again.

Friendly staff/service.
Carnitas were delicious, salad bar and salad entrees were OK, but I wasn't really there for salad anyway!
Drink prices were fair, and the large size tap beer helped everything go down easy.
They have music some nights--though not when we were there--and the bar and restaurant open up into each other for one large space. You can eat on either side depending on your disposition.
The mural of the people painted into the booths was a particularly nice touch in the land of murals!
If you're staying at the Blue Swallow, make sure you get the discount coupon for the Pow Wow and save a few bucks to put in your tank for the trip on down the road.

I remember this place from a long ago cross country move, which I was doing by myself.  I was getting lonely and a little tired of the travelling grind, so I walked across Route 66 from my hotel to check out this little bar with weird paintings on the side.  Turned out to be really cool.  I was one of the last customers and the bartender was a really friendly, sweet woman in her 40s.  She made me feel really comfortable and she gave me my first shot ever of mescal.  I really liked this place and it stood out in my memory, so I thought I'd write it up.