Pink Rethink

The Pink Adobe starts anew with old owners

 The Pink Adobe, a trademark in the Santa Fe dining and bar scene, closed in early November. It officially reopened on Friday Dec. 17, with an eye to what has worked for the staple for more than six decades.---

"It's classic Pink Adobe," Joe Hoback, grandson of the original owner, says. "We're going back to what our roots are and what made us successful in the past."

The iconic Pink, housed in a 300-year-old adobe, was founded by Rosalea Murphy in 1944. Murphy's family sold the 66-year-old business three years ago to out-of-state owners, who included executives David Garrett and Wayland Hicks. Garrett/Hicks filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in June. The business is now back in the hands of the original family, the Hobacks.

"We're just returning to the old, really, back to the basics—what everyone wants," Hoback says. The Pink has been open for a week with a limited menu, but expands to its full menu tonight.

That includes all the old menu items—steak Dunigan, fried shrimp, spaghetti, apple pie—as well as old prices.

Under the interim ownership, Hoback says, prices soared to where many of the items priced in the mid-$30 range. The Pink returns to its 2007 prices, with nothing over $30. For example, apple pie: $6, steak Dunigan: $28, New Mexico combo plate: $18.

The menu had also been upended under the Garrett/Hicks ownership, who only retained the steak Dunigan and apple pie from the original.

Now everything is back, including lunch hours and much of the old staff who had left under Garrett/Hicks. Some of the staff had worked at the Pink for 20-30 years, Hoback says. Additionally, the famed Dragon Room has gone back to its old, late-night hours, closing at 1 am. That's not to mention the popcorn machine, painted tables and portraits of Murphy, which have all been reinstated.

Lunch Monday-Friday
Dinner daily

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