___________________________________________________________________________________________
Click on the Tournament for Bracket & Game Stories
Recent Tournaments…
Welcome to Bernalillo, where ultimate tournament success has been achieved a couple of times with state titles on the diamond.
But there is this other thing…called basketball – and fans around New Mexico are pretty familiar with Spartan prowess in that area.
Check out the roll call of championships below…
Boys Basketball
2005…Bernalillo claims back-to-back titles by beating Portales 53-43
2004…Spartans win 3A title for first time since 80s after knocking off Lovington 75-62 in finale
1987…Battle of heated rivals in championship goes to Spartans. Final: Bernalillo 71, Grants 58
1979…Bernalillo nips Lovington 66-63 for second title in school history
1977…Coach Henry Sanchez leads the Spartans to 3A crown as Bernalillo squeezes by St. Pius 79-78
Baseball
1956…Three years after N.M. splits into two classes, Bernalillo grabs only baseball title in Class B
Softball
2003…Spartans miss graduation for state tourney; it’s all worth it after beating Lovington for crown
____________________________________________________________________________________
And now, a word from our Sponsor…
“Ole!” greets drive-through customers from the speaker box.
If that’s the case, it can only be one business: Taco Box.
From frijole burritos to Spanish fries to pig-in-a-panchos, and quite nearly everything in-between, the restaurant has been serving up its eclectic menu for 40 years.
According to owner Tom Martin, the number one seller is the simple-and-tasty frijole burrito while tacos, chalupas and cheese sticks follow closely in popularity.
A popular side item are Spanish fries, a Taco Box-invented title for another potato-based munchie (any guesses?). Martin says his restaurant has only occasionally ventured into making regular french fries and the attempts have ultimately always been futile with the Taco Box customer base.
“I always joke that I don’t make french fries so I can help keep McDonald’s in business,” Martin says.
Other items also remain popular to an extent even though not officially on the menu board anymore – a testament to the loyalty of the typical Taco Box consumer.
The Mexi-Burger was on the menu back in the early 1980s and still gets ordered today. By those in the know, at any rate.
“There’s probably at least a dozen different items over the years like that,” Martin says. “We took it off, just because of space, but we still make ‘em. We probably sell as many as we did when they were on the menu.”
Martin lists breakfast tacos, frijole tacos, guacamole tacos as other such “underground” items. And that’s not to mention the vast array of drink combinations, utilizing the different soft drinks and flavorings, that have actually never been listed on the big board at Taco Box.
Martin, raised in Cleveland and a graduate from Cornell University in New York, ventured west after college and tried his hand with the Taco Box brand. He took over Taco Box on June 1, 1970.
Remembering his first foray into Mexican food, Martin has an oft-repeated story with some variation or another.
“I never had a taco until I was 21. I remember having a mild green chile taco and I thought I was going to die,” Martin recalls.
After having a tastebud-adjustment and following countless tacos served to his customers at Taco Box, it’s safe to say one thing about the guy who originally thought he’d be in the Land of Enchantment for “a couple of years.”
Well Tom, you’re a New Mexican now.
