- High Desert Brewing Company
- El Patio Cantina in Old Mesilla
- Las Alturas House Concerts
- Mesilla Valley Jazz and Blues Society
Your family want you to get the best education possible, but good students are those who balance mind, spirit, and fun effectively. The studying is up to you, and the Unitarian Universalist Church of Las Cruces is always happy to foster your spirituality, but here are a few things that are just plain fun. Of course, fun is subjective.
There isn’t room to list all of the great delicatessens, restaurants, and cafes in Las Cruces and nearby Mesilla, so we’ll just list a few that are within walking distance of the University. These will get you by until you discover all the other great places around town. Be sure to check out our web page, “Will You Be Moving To or Visiting Las Cruces?”.
The Roundup
NMSU’s twice weekly student newpaper in print and on-line. You source for information about sports, music, other events, and much, much more.
New Mexico State University Pan Am Center
The Pan American Center is a 13,000 seat multi-purpose arena located on the grounds of New Mexico State University in Las Cruces, New Mexico. The Center is the home court for the men and women’s basketball teams and women’s volleyball team of New Mexico State University. Additionally, some of the biggest names in the entertainment industry have graced the Pan American Center’s stage. These names include Elton John, Garth Brooks, Janet Jackson, and George Strait. In the year 2000, the Pan American Center was named the sixth busiest university event facility in the country by Amusement Business Magazine.
Eats
We can only guess that you’d like to know where close-by delicatessens, restaurants, and coffee shops are located. A good
sandwich can fuel hours of study, right?
Keep in mind that the main entrances to the university are on, what else, E University Blvd. Ok, here are the nearby eateries.
Metropolitan Deli
1001 E University Blvd.
Sandwiches, salads, grill items, and a wide variety of deli meats sold by the pound. The required soft drinks and chips are
also found here. Be sure to try their Santa Fe with fresh green New Mexico chile on top. A little piece of heaven.
The Mix
1001 E University Blvd.
Sushi and sashimi headline the menu, which includes Korean specialties as well. The miso soup is very good and should be included in any order.
DG’s University Deli
1305 E University Blvd.
Another darn good deli, practically at your doorstep. 150 different types of sandwiches. Awesome.
Lemon Grass
2540 El Paseo
Good Thai food in a nice atmosphere. This might be the place to take your family, or a date, for a nice dinner. Here’s a
review from Frommer’s.
- This addition to the Las Cruces dining scene offers delicious flavors in a comfortably elegant atmosphere. It’s set in an open room accented with Thai tapestries on the tables and Thai village scenes on the walls. Service is congenial, though be prepared to wait a bit for the food. The chef uses very fresh ingredients and brings a special touch to traditional Thai dishes such as pad Thai — rice noodles with egg, bean sprouts, tofu, tamarind sauce, and shrimp or chicken. Unique to this Thai restaurant, the chef is open to dialing the spice way down so even tender stomachs can enjoy eating here. There is a Saturday night all-you-can-eat Mongolian barbecue that is reasonably priced.
Lorenzo’s Italian Restaurant
1753 E University Blvd.
Perhaps not up to New York or Chicago standards, we still think this is a nice little Italian restaurant and quite reasonably priced. They have the usual compliment of beloved Italian dishes, some very nice salads and, of course, pizza. A word to non-Southwesterners, um, those not from around here. In Las Cruces, green pepper often doesn’t mean green bell peppers, nope, it means New Mexico “greens.” That would be green chile peppers. So when ordering your pizza, you might want to specify green bell peppers…or not.
Caffeine
Starbucks
945 E University Blvd.
Brand new. We don’t need to tell you about Starbucks.
Milagro Coffee and Espresso
1733 E University Blvd.
This cafe is an instution beloved by town and gown. Milagro displays good art by students and local artists, serves top grade coffees, good pastries and muffins, and other eats. Instructors and students can be found at tables inside and outside enjoying the weather, a newspaper and good coffee. Of course, The Bean is wi-fi enabled.
Flicks
Allen Theaters–Teleshor Cinema 12
Allen Theaters–Cinema 4, Mesilla Valley Mall
Allen Theaters–133 Wyatt Drive
Fountain Theatre–Mesilla, showing independent, foreign, and alternative films
Cavalcade of Schlock, enjoy a good BAD movie. Learn how to throw themed B-movie parties and have a blast at home with friends. This site tells you how and even rates the movies for you. Like, can a bad movie actually be rated?
Live Music
Hmmm…we are not advocating that you spend your college years drinking beer in seedy bars, but these are venues for live music, and they’re not seedy. In fact, a few of them are local favorites where you’re likely to find families and people of all ages. If you must drink, don’t drive, assign a friend as “designated driver.”
If you must drink, drink responsibly, don’t be stupid. Your system can only handle a given amount of alcohol, then you die. It’s happened before, don’t let it happen to YOU.”
High Desert Brewing Company
El Patio Cantina in Mesilla
Now this bar has a history, it’s a music venue as well and home, more or less, to Bofus — an outstanding, home-grown band. Check this out:
Bofus
Angela Simental writing for the Las Cruces Sun News
Rock/soul band Bofus has inevitably become a part of Las Cruces, serving as an inspiration for other local bands who wish to capture, as they have, national attention while maintaining their own identity.
“We’ve learned we are not a modern day rock band,” said Jason Reed, Bofus’ bass player. “We are kind of sheltered here in Las Cruces – it’s got its own niche.”
The five-piece band, which includes Reed, Oliver Charity (vocals), Steve Valenzuela (guitar, vocals), Scott Guthrie (guitar) and Myki Box (drums), has twice made it to the finals of national battle of the bands competitions.
In late 2007, Bofus competed in the Bodog Battle of the Bands, where they were voted No. 1 out of nearly 4,500 bands in an online competition and took second place in the national finals. History repeated itself a year later, when in early November, Bofus headed to Anaheim, Calif., to participate in the national finals of the Global Battle of the Bands.
“We took second place,” Valenzuela said. “We were out-youthed!”
Bofus is not your typical I-wanna-be-Green-Day-type of band. Drawing their inspiration from The Beatles, Muddy Waters and Guns-n-Roses, the band has now turned its attention to recording a new album and giving a hell of a live show. The upcoming CD will be a compilation of old songs with a new mix and will be out in March. It will include 12 songs, that as Charity described, “did not feel right” the first time they were recorded, plus some new tunes.
“All I’ve wanted is that I can listen to the stuff (years from now) and like it,” said Valenzuela. “I know we have written tunes that would sell a million.”
Las Alturas House Concerts
Mesilla Valley Jazz and Blues Society
The society meets once a month, usually on the first Sunday, at the Mastery In Life Center on the downtown mall. We warn you in advance, it’s full of people well over age 30, but it’s a great
opportunity to hear really, really good live jazz and blues. Contact the society if you’d like to play there yourself since it pulls musicians from all age groups and frequently features players from the university. There is
a small entrance fee and music is on stage from 7-9 pm. There are usually light snacks and non-alcoholic beveredges served at 6:30 pm.
Newspapers
The first question you’re probably going to ask is why newspaper links are on this page. Well, newpapers are good places to check out movie reviews, fashion styles, music and what’s on the latest must-read book list. They’re also handy as resources for your poli-sci homework. Some of these papers are known all over the world and generally feature good reporting and writing. Our local newspapers aren’t known all over the world and we won’t express an opinion about their reporting and writing, but you need to be aware of what’s going on locally.
The Washington Post is widely considered to be one of the most important newspapers in the United States due to its particular emphasis on national politics, and international affairs, and being a newspaper of public record. The Post has won 47 Pulitzers. This includes six separate Pulitzers given in 2008, the second-highest record of Pulitzers ever given to a single newspaper in one year. The Post has also received 18 Nieman Fellowships, and 368 White House News Photographers Association awards, among others.
The New York Times is the largest metropolitan newspaper in the United States, “The Gray Lady”—named for its staid appearance and style—is regarded as a national newspaper of record. Founded in 1851, the newspaper has won 98 Pulitzer Prizes, more than any other newspaper.
The Los Angeles Times (also known as the LA Times) is the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in the United States and the fourth-most widely distributed newspaper in the United States. The Times has won 38 Pulitzer Prizes through 2007. In 2004, the paper won five prizes, which is the third-most by any paper in one year (behind The New York Times in 2002 (7) and The Washington Post in 2008 (6)).
The Times reporting has received seven Pulitzer Prizes and has an international reputation for its investigative journalism.
The Kansas City Star is a McClatchy newspaper based in Kansas City, Missouri. The paper is the recipient of eight Pulitzer Prizes. The Star is most notable for its influence on the career of President Harry Truman, and for being central to government-mandated divestiture of radio and television outlets by newspaper concerns in the late 1950s.
South Florida Sun-Sentinal
The Sun Sentinel emphasizes providing local news, through its Community News and Local sections. Although it has not won a Pulitzer Prize, it has been a “nominated finalist” numerous times, including its 2006 coverage of Hurricane Wilma and an investigation into the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s mismanagement of hurricane aid.
Our local newspaper is now part of the Texas-New Mexico Newspapers Partnership, a joint venture formed in 2003 between MediaNews Group and Gannett, with MediaNews Group the managing partner.
Another local newpaper. The Bulletin holds professional memberships in National Newspaper Association (NNA), New Mexico Press Association (NMPA), Las Cruces Area Chamber of Commerce, the Hispano Chamber of Commerce, the Las Cruces Advertising Federation and Leadership New Mexico. Bulletin employees are active in civic and charitable organizations throughout southern New Mexico. Some of these organizations include Rotary International, March of Dimes, Salvation Army, United Way.
The new kid on the block. Founded in May, 2003, Grassroots Press is a print and online alternative newspaper, blog and community resource. It presents a progressive, alternative source of ideas, information and a networking nexus for southern New Mexico and beyond. The print version is published bi-monthly in Las Cruces, New Mexico. Our focuses include peace/nonviolence, environment, civil liberties, foreign policy, social justice, global awareness, fair trade, localism and sustainability, as well as an abiding appreciation for music and art as a force for change. We maintain a commitment to outreach, education and peaceful dialogues within our communities.
Now don’t you feel better about going to college in Las Cruces? You know a few places where you can find good sandwiches, pizza, coffee, music, AND improve your mind. What could be better?
