About Us

In 1964 Mr. and Mrs. Gallegos decided to go into the business of serving delicious Mexican food to the residents of Las Cruces and the surrounding area. Their first restaurant was located at 226 S. Campo street in a small adobe house on the corner of Campo and Amador about where the US Bank building stands today. The small restaurant quickly outgrew it’s size as word of the great food and famous green chile got out.

In 1968 Mr. and Mrs. Gallegos purchased the building where they met while attending the baptist church, located at 310 South Mesquite. After some remodeling the old church became the new restaurant, now a much larger and growing business.

In 1974 as Business continued to grow, they expanded with a Second Nopalito’s restaurant at 2605 Missouri. Built by the Gallegos’ construction company along with a new office plaza at the corner of Missouri and Delano Drive, Missouri was a dirt road at the time and the restaurant was located almost at the outskirts of town.

The Gallegos Family opened the Nopalito’s Galería in May of 2010 next door to our restaurant in a historic adobe home built in the late 1800’s. Located on the Old Camino Real, the oldest commerce trail in the Americas linking Mexico City to Santa Fe. We opened the Galería with the vision of providing the community with cultural enrichment through the exposure of all types of regional art. We believe strong art and cultural movements on historic Mesquite street strengthens our economy and community.

The Bottom line to our success is that none of this could have been possible without you – our friends and customers. We extend a BIG THANK YOU! for your patronage and look forward to serving you for many years to come. Nopalitos is proud to be a family owned and operated restaurant and we look forward to serving your family!

Nopalitos First Restaurant

The Original Nopalito Restaurant
– 1964 –

Our first restaurant was a converted adobe house on the corner of Amador and south Campo street near downtown Las Cruces, New Mexico where the U.S. bank is located today . . .

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Nopalitos on Mesquite

The Templo Bautista Becomes The New Nopalito Restaurant
– 1968 –

Located right around the corner from their first restaurant was the Templo Bautista church where Mr. and Mrs. Gallegos first met . . .

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Restaurant #2

Nopalito Builds a New Restaurant on Missouri Street
– 1974 –

Nopalito's builds a new restaurant on Missouri Street which was at that time a dirt road . . .

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