Sandra’s Place - Leslie Farrell

SANDRA’S PLACE

(Old Plaza Cafe)

By Leslie Farrell

The Plaza Cafe located at 1501 West Route 66 may have a new name, but it feels as if it has been a part of Gallup forever. Now called Sandra’s Place, the quaint cafe feels just like home. As soon as you enter, you are hit with how familiar the place feels, even if you have never been there! This is helped by the extremely friendly wait staff that greets you right away and are always willing to help, even if they are extremely busy. The place is small, and usually crowded, but it never seems overwhelming, just extremely cozy. This is helped by the fun signs and decorations on the walls. You will never get bored reading all of the clever sayings lining the wall, or, for that matter, the backs of the waiter’s shirts, which were asked about so much they had to put it on the backs of their table menus. It reads:

Customer Rules

1. I am not your Wife, Mother or Maid... and who is Ma’am 2. Touching your server may result in injury! 3. Massages are not given (but good try)! 4. Tips and chocolates make us happy! 5. Feeding your server is allowed! 6. If your order is wrong, we can fix it! 7. Make friends with the other customers! 8. No camping allowed when it’s busy! 9. No pictures without permission! 10. Your server may be BOSSY (but she knows best) 11. You may be asked to pitch in. 12. Rules are subject to change at any time (and may be broken)! 13. P.S. There are No rules for the Server!

These rules are a good example of how fun and laid back the atmosphere is. I was fortunate enough to get a seat with my

mom and sister, and everyone was extremely helpful in accommodating us. The place was crowded with Gallup locals. We were able to see many familiar faces which made the whole experience fun and comfortable. We were all very excited to try their breakfast, and it did not disappoint! My mom had the sausage omelet which was loaded with delicious sausage and cheese. We were pleasantly surprised by how much meat came in the omelet, since normally you can expect a lot of egg and very little meat when ordering an omelet at a restaurant. I got the Katy’s Special which was hash browns smothered in gravy and topped with your choice of eggs. I had never before seen this unique dish. It all tasted great, and I tried it all (yes, I took SEVERAL bites off of my mom’s and sister’s plates; I just couldn’t help it!).

Our favorite was what my sister ordered. My mom was born and raised in the Midwest and that is where I attended college. So the one dish we always look for is biscuits and gravy, which is not easy to find out here. Not only did they serve it, but it was one of the best renditions we have ever had! Biscuits were homemade and amazingly good, and the gravy was thick and not over seasoned (a fault I find when ordering biscuits and gravy from other places).

Even though the restaurant was full to the brim with customers, we never felt neglected. They took our order quickly and the food came out at a surprisingly fast rate. Sandra herself waited on us along with many others and all were fun, helpful and very accommodating.

Second only to the atmosphere is the coffee. Many of their fun sayings and signs are about the importance of coffee and they certainly backed that up. Not only was the coffee good (strong but not too strong) it was piping hot every time they re-filled my cup, which was often.

Our visit was one of the best food experiences I’ve had. Sandra’s Place is one of those Gallup treasures that is a staple in our community. They are open Monday through Friday from 6:00am to 1:00pm and Saturday and Sunday from 7:00am to 1:00pm. I highly recommend visiting them if you have not done so already!