Cruise into Big D’s Downtown Dive if you’re hungry in Roswell!

Not only were we looking for aliens in all the right places, we were searching for food, too — in downtown Roswell, New Mexico. (Click here for our blog on UFO Museum.)

TripAdvisor ranked Big D’s Downtown Dive #1, so Big D’s it was.

The sidewalk chalkboard offered clue number one: this just might be a funky, sense-of-humor kinda place.

And then we walked in the door. A blend of automotive cast-offs and schoolroom lockers let us know that someone had fun finding the funk and using it wisely.

We noted tire rims on one wall. License plates on another.

Tables covered with maps took center stage as diners piled into the middle and dived in to the dive!

Even the necessities (napkins, straws, etc.) held their own in a re-purposed primitive piece straight out of someone’s garage. And the casual, rusted truck art appealed to the country in both of us.

But aside from the junkyard metals, we wondered if they really had good food in here or just great taste in automotive chic. We didn’t wonder long.

The menu offers enough for dining out each weekday without ever eating “just average.” Sounding downright tempting were these almost-lunch enticements with descriptions straight from the menu.

Good-sounding Menu Items from Big D’s

Snack Attack: Bangkok Chicken Wings (in Roswell?) with garlic, lime, cilantro, sesame & siracha with chipotle dressing and Popcorn Dusted Shrimp with creamy horseradish spiked orange marmalade
Salads: Poached Pear with mixed greens, blue cheese, spiced walnuts and port wine vinaigrette and Fresh Mozzarella with sliced tomatoes, red onions, toasted pine nuts and balsamic reduction on fresh greens
Sandwiches: Crispy Monte Cristo with ham, turkey & Swiss — pancake battered, deep fried, dusted with powdered sugar and served with raspberry preserves
Famous Bergs: Green Chili Cheeseburger — a New Mexico autumn roast with traditional setup — and Jalapeno Ranch Berg with marinated soy jalapenos, Swiss cheese and bacon ranch slaw.

(Given these choices, what would you have ordered?)

My choice? A West Coast Taco with crispy shrimp and chipotle sauce topped with Latin Asian slaw with lime dressing! It couldn’t have been more tasty or unusual or welcome! Home-made chips snuggled up, but only for a minute.

And Bert’s lunch? The Green Chile Cheeseburger — juicy, spicy, and not-to-be-found in our home state of Tennessee. Worth the drive, for sure!

We didn’t get a photo of the Crispy Shrimp Po-Boy that a man next to us was devouring, so you’ll have to take our word. If you’re hungry, get that po-boy: crisp bread, tender shrimp, and a sauce that makes the whole thing fall apart in your mouth!

They must be pretty proud of the Bleu Burger, too: melted bleu cheese, tomato, marinated red onions and bleu cheese bacon slaw. Mmm.

If all that research on the “Roswell Incident” leaves you hungry, head to Big D’s Downtown Dive for cut-above burgers and piled-high salads. (We never even got to dessert!)