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On June 10 the Socorro County Commission issued a proclamation in celebration of The Owl Bar & Café, a beloved San Antonio landmark that turns 80 this year. The proclamation highlights the establishment’s legacy as a testament to “the enduring values of family, tradition, and community service”, as well as its historical significance as a gathering place for “prospectors,” as the atomic scientists involved in the Trinity Site test were sometimes called.
“My great-grandfather, JE Miera, started the business in the ‘30s, but it was a mercantile store,” said owner Janice Argabright, who took over the Owl in 2018 from her parents Rowena and Adolph Baca. “He’s the one that hosted the ‘prospectors.’ They hung out here, and they wanted whiskey and food to eat. So when my grandfather (Frank Chavez) came back from the Navy he opened up for them.”
It was Frank Chavez who established a bar inside the mercantile and gave the place its iconic name. As the story goes, a sign painter was charging by the letter in the 1940s, and the word “owl” came to Chavez’s mind because he and his wife Dee were night owls. The frugal Frank didn’t mind only paying for three letters to be painted, either. Not only did the name stick, it has inspired a decades-long collection of owl memorabilia donated by customers from all over the world.
To commemorate eight decades of serving up world famous food, Argabright is planning a celebration worthy of four generations of family ownership.
The celebration is set for Saturday, July 19, which was also Chavez’s birthday. Events will begin inside the café from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., before moving outdoors for live music, games for kids, a beer garden for adults, and plenty of giveaways—including miniature green chile cheeseburgers. A special hamburger piñata and a band playing from 5 to 9 p.m. will cap off the festivities.
Leading up to the party, the café is holding a “Bring an Owl” contest to add to the collection. “The most unique Owl wins a prize,” said Argabright. The café is also challenging the public to guess how many owls are inside.
The Owl Bar has long been famous for its green chile cheeseburger, a dish that Argabright says her family invented in 1948 and has remained unchanged ever since.
“There was one day that the dishwasher didn’t show up. Frank used to give a side of chile with the burger on the side, and he said, ‘You know, we’re running out of dishes.’ So he said, ‘I’m just going to throw the chile under the cheese and melt the cheese and put all the vegetables on.’ And there it is.”
That legendary burger has garnered many accolades, most recently winning “Best Green Chile Cheeseburger” in the 2024 KOB Channel 13’s Best of the Land of Enchantment Awards. The café uses grass-fed beef ground fresh every morning and sources its chile locally.
Argabright recalls growing up at the café—peeling potatoes in the back as a kid, delivering beers to tables at 10 years old, and serving Saturday motorcycle crowds alongside her grandfather. Today, it’s the familiar faces that keep her going. “We have customers who’ve been coming for 40 years. There’s a couple that come every Monday—we know their order as soon as their car pulls up.”
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Some of the staff have been at the Owl for over 40 years, and Leo Murphy retired after 60 years there and she still shows up to read the paper at the bar and lend a hand if things get busy.
While Janice is now the fourth generation to run the café, she’s already eyeing the sixth. Her 9-year-old granddaughter, Madison Parra, is a frequent weekend helper. “She comes in, puts on her apron, grabs her straws and order pad, and starts waiting tables,” said Argabright. “She tells me, ‘Grammy, you’re kind of getting old, so I think I might need to take over soon.’”
As the Owl Bar celebrates eight decades of burgers, beer, and community, Argabright sees the anniversary as more than a party. “It’s customer appreciation too,” she said. “This is for all the people who’ve supported us all these years. We’re still here because of them.”
And with Parra already waiting in the wings, it looks like the legacy of the Owl Bar & Café is far from over.
