With Peppe's Restaurant being small and the owners always present, I think the food will keep the consistency I found at the old Doniphan location of Griggs Restaurant. Of course the advantage of using recipes that are as old as the ones from the Griggs family is that they are time tested, but the disadvantage is that there will not be much innovation in the food. For me, I am happy to go with something I know and have enjoyed most of my life (since I was eating at Griggs with my relatives before I moved to El Paso). There are some things at Peppe's I am unable to find in other restaurants, such as the combinations of dishes offered on the combination plates. Even though I would not claim that every dish at Peppe's is the best I have ever tasted, for me it is the ultimate "comfort food," offering food that I really enjoy and that matches my early memories of it.

Half order of chile con queso

I know that other restaurants have good Chile con Queso, but I had to try it at Peppe's just to remember what it was like when I had it a Griggs, offereing one of the first and best examples I had experienced. The cheese at Peppe's is a little thicker than is usually found, offering the reason people will either like it or dislike it here (depending on your viewpoint), but I am glad it is more of a solid than a liquid. The green chiles were fresh and flavorful, but not of the ultra hot variety.

Combo plate with chile con carne, green enchilada, rolled taco, chile relleno, rice, beans, and slaw

The Combo Plate #3 on the dinner menu is a good way to sample some of the best dishes (there are also some lunch combinations that I particularly enjoy). Green Enchiladas may be the best item at Peppe's, using New Mexico chiles for a very flavorful blend of chile, cheese, tomato, and tortilla (but not as spicy as most of the ones in Las Cruces).

There is no question in my mind that the Chile Relleno is the other "best dish" at Peppe's (although I think one of the things that makes Peppe's unique is the combination of items that can be ordered together, making the sum sometimes more enjoyable than the individual parts). Peppe's serves the chiles rellenos New Mexico style, with no sauce on top. The chile, cheese, and batter are all much better than average, making it unnecessary to add a sauce (and in my mind it would be an adulteration of the dish to do so). The trick of the cheese is to cook it just right, and I had quite a few at the old east side Griggs that were either too runny or too hard, leading to an increasing infequency of my visits. I think Peppe's, though, has it just right.

Another notable item is the Chile con Carne, made with pork and red chile. This was one of the spicier items served, and I particularly like it on one of the lunch combinations where it is served on a crispy tortilla shell. As one of the main items on the dinner plate (shown in the picture), I thought the meat was better quality than I had remembered from before, but I did not like the chile as much. Even though Peppe's has its own unique food that may not be fair to compare to anyone else's, in this case I have had enough red chile in New Mexico to have developed opinions about the ones I like the best. Just because Peppe's does not have my favorite, though, does not mean I enjoy it any less.

The Rolled Taco is an item I often substitute because I am usually not a big fan of ground beef, but the one at Peppe's is quite good. It tasted as if it were mixed with potato, and everything was simple but prepared well.

Green enchiladas are New Mexico style

I think the best way to order Green Enchiladas is flat, since they seem to have more chile and more flavor (single enchiladas are usually served rolled, as it is on the combination plate). Stacked (flat) enchiladas seem to have more sauce, and I think this is the best way to enjoy one of the best versions of this dish I have tried in the El Paso area.

Red enchiladas with an egg on top

Red Enchiladas are also quite good, and are prepared New Mexico style (with more of the chile flavor coming through than in the El Paso style enchiladas). These enchiladas are spicier than the green ones, but mild compared to ones found in Las Cruces or northern New Mexico. Even though I like red enchiladas better than green in about ninety percent of New Mexico style restaurants, the green ones are still my favorite at Peppe's. To me the red enchiladas here are mainly good on a combination plate with other items, but when ordering them alone it is good to ask for an egg on top (as shown in the photo).

The Rice is excellent, with a good mixture of flavors. Its moisture content indicated that it had not been sitting around for a long time.

Peppe's serves whole beans by default. It is really hard to judge these compared to others, since preparing them is pretty straightforward. I prefer these, though, to just about any refried beans that are served in El Paso.

The Slaw is notable for being one of the best, although slaw in El Paso Mexican restaurants is still somewhat of a novelty, and there are few other examples with which to compare it.

Sopaipilla for dessert

Peppe's charges extra for a Sopaipilla, as did Griggs Restaurant. Although some restaurants serve sopaipillas for dessert, it is traditional with New Mexican food to eat the sopaipilla with the meal, especially if the food it spicy enough that a bread would be desired to cut the fire. In this case, though, I thought the sopaipilla was too thin and crumbly to be eaten successfully with the meal (especially if you like to use it to dip in the chile). It is good for dessert, though.

Flan

Other desserts are also available, such as Flan. I do not know if this is one of the items from the Griggs family recipes, but I was more impressed with it than the sopaipilla as a dessert.

One of the little things that I particularly enjoy about Peppe's, is the fresh Corn Tortillas that are served with the meal on request (that really substitute for ordering a sopaipilla with the meal). The tortillas are made fresh daily at a nearby tortilla factory, and I think are excellent.