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| El Paso-owned and proud |
Aug. 29 - Sep. 4
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All in the family
By David Sokolec |
When Jennifer Montes took over as the new owner of Pike Street Market last Monday, she was keeping alive a 15-year family tradition.
Jennifer is the niece of Rosie Tate, the indefatigable owner who had operated the Downtown restaurant since the mid 1990s.
“I am really excited about keeping this in the family and working to keep up the quality,” Montes said.
Until recently a regional marketing manager for Papa John’s Pizza, Montes had worked at various times in the restaurant. Once she heard her aunt wanted to sell it, she knew she had to own it and keep it in the family.
Tate originally opened a little place in Sunland Park Mall called Cafe Montes. One day she was short on help when her mom, Rosa Montes, happened to be shopping, stopped in and decided to help. She continued to pitch in until her death about five years ago.
Tate wanted to relocate and took over the Pike Street Market, which had opened a year earlier. The original owner, Anthony Duncan, sold it because he was running a number of other restaurants in the area.
“I fell in love with the place and the location,” Tate said. “The only reason I’m selling it is because we now have three children at home and I just don’t have the time.”
At first, Tate was willing to sell it to anyone, but then her niece entered the picture.
“She said, ‘You’ve got to sell it to me,’ and now that I’m training her, I realize that had I sold it to someone outside the family, I would be very depressed,” Tate said.
Jennifer Montes definitely has plans for Pike Street. First, she says she will bring back the cookies. Rosa Montes used to make cookies from scratch, and was particularly proud of her snickerdoodles.
Tate stopped making them when her mom died, but people have been asking for them ever since, and Jennifer Montes has said she is going to make them the same way.
She also plans to increase some of the offerings – adding more salads and soups – and she’s already expanded the restaurant’s hours of operation. At the moment it is closed on weekends.
Rosie Tate proudly points to the wide variety of clientele she has attracted over the years. When President George W. Bush was governor of Texas and running for the White House, she got a call to provide 100 sandwiches for an event he was having in town.
“So we served him, and I’ve also served Nancy Pelosi, so we have the whole range here,” Tate said. “But one of the things my mom pointed to, and that I have always liked, is was that we have CEOs in here as well as the homeless and they both feel comfortable. And that is something I have always tried to maintain.”
And indeed, the small restaurant seems to be the kind of place that generates a special loyalty among its clientele.
“People come in and say they remember where they sat when they met and what they ate,” Tate said. “And this can be years later.”
Jennifer Montes is happy to be taking over the family tradition. She points to the picture of Rosie’s mom on the counter, saying she feels Rosa is watching, making sure everything’s done right.
Pike Street Market
207 Mills St., Downtown
(915) 545-1010
Open Monday-Friday 7 a.m.-3 p.m.
Comments or questions about this story? E-mail news@elpasoinc.com
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