1408 first street (highway 60)
magdalena, new mexico 87825
CALL OR TEXT US 575.418.7537
Photo by Kate Russell
HOURS OF OPERATION
Wednesday: 11am- 7pm
Thursday: 11am- 7pm
Friday: 11am- 7pm
Saturday: 11am- 7pm
Sunday: 11am- 5pm
Monday: closed
Tuesday: closed
CLOSED DATES 2025:
January 1-10: Holiday Break, Maintenance Reset Week
April 20: Easter Sunday
TBD
DISCLAIMER + IMPORTANT INFORMATION + FAQs:
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Please call ahead if you are traveling far to eat here to make sure we can accommodate your group and to ensure we have menu items available, and to ensure everything is running smoothly.
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Call ahead to make sure we are OPEN! We are sometimes surprised with power outages, extreme winds, risky road conditions, pipe bursts, all sorts of fun stuff, etc. that cause technical difficulties.
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Reservations during Friday - Sunday for 4 or more are highly recommended and required for 6 or more. We are a small establishment and have seating for 32 indoors, 10 outdoors. We never like to turn people away when they are with a big group or have them wait. People think because we are in the middle of nowhere we won't be busy, but that is rarely the case. Groups of 15 or more we can only split tickets 2 ways. Doing individual tickets for a big group during lunch or dinner rush backs up the server who is also the cashier, etc. It can take up to 20-30 minutes splitting tickets as such.
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If there is a big event or festival in the village we do not do reservations and may or may not switch to counter service, depending on how busy we are. This is to ensure a smoother faster service and higher turn over. That way we can serve everyone. No reservations on following event dates; VLA Open House for fall or spring, or during ART Magdalena, Frontier Festival.
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There are many factors that affect our hours of operation having a restaurant in the middle of nowhere. We are in every form a mom n' pop shop, owned and operated by a husband and wife team. We are a small team and are trying our best! We take great pride in our product, quality, and service. Thanks for understanding and we look forward to serving you!
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Please note that big groups (or if you reserve the entire restaurant during business hours for your party) will incur a 20% service fee to your tab (not the same as gratuity) and we ask that the bill only be split by 5 cards / forms of payment maximum. Big groups will be allowed 2 hours maximum for dine in. People can always inquire about booking entire restaurant and what the minimum cost would be.
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Parties of 6 or more will incur a service fee 10% if they bring in an outside dessert, decorations, birthday party, etc.
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We recently received our liquor license and will be local NM spirits, beer, wine, and cider. Note that customers will no longer be able to carry firearms into the establishment. There will also be house policies on drink limits so we can legally stay within the 40% drink 60% food ratio. We are a restaurant, not a bar.
Write us a Google Review!
https://g.page/r/CSFUbdvHZ_DDEB0/review
contact information
Phone: 575.418.7537
Address: 1408 Highway 60 West . Magdalena, NM 87825
Email: info@tumbleweedsnm.com
Follow: @tumbleweedsnm on Facebook & Instagram
Please call or text number above during hours of operation. If we do not pick up the first time, send us a text and we will get back to you as soon as we can. For parties of 4 or more please contact us to make sure we can accommodate your group.
We are open for limited indoor dining, outdoor dining, and take out. We also offer the following services; catering for events (weddings, retreats, fundraisers), private chef services for retreats and outfitters, boxed meals, you name it. If you have a dietary restriction, let us know and we will do our best to meet your needs.
ABOUT
Tumbleweeds Diner sits on the west end of Magdalena, New Mexico, just off historic Highway 60. The building, once home to the Big Bear Café, had been abandoned for over a decade—until fate intervened. In January 2020, husband and wife duo Michal Gola and Osiris Navarro took a road trip through the Southwest and happened upon the vacant café while heading back home to the Pacific Northwest. A month later, the world changed—COVID-19 upended lives everywhere, forcing them to shut down their thriving catering and event planning business as a year’s worth of bookings vanished overnight. By April, the abandoned café was no longer just a passing memory but a vision of possibility. They did their due diligence, and by July 2020, the Golas had packed up and moved to Magdalena, ready to breathe life back into the space. With the support of family, friends, and the local community, Tumbleweeds Diner officially opened its doors in March 2021.
A True Southwest Experience
The diner offers more than just food—it’s a full high desert experience, surrounded by sweeping mountain views, crisp blue skies, and fiery sunsets. The décor reflects Magdalena’s rich culture and history, featuring contributions from locals: taxidermy mounts from hunters, dusty saddles and well-worn cowboy hats from ranchers, paintings and dreamcatchers from Navajo artisans of the Alamo Reservation, and ristras from nearby chile farms. During the warmer months, Tumbleweeds Diner transforms into a community hub, hosting flea markets on its acreage and welcoming musicians for open-circle jam sessions.
Made With Love & Intention
Tumbleweeds is a casual eatery serving homemade comfort food with a Southwestern twist. Signature dishes include green chile cheeseburgers, spicy buttermilk fried chicken, smothered rice bowls with chile, hearty salads, and house-made soups.
Every morning, the team grinds their own burger patties fresh, makes sauces, dressings, and pickles from scratch, and—when possible—features locally sourced ingredients from neighboring ranches and farms, such as The Good Steward Beef and Dunhill Ranch. Honoring the deep roots of the land, they even incorporate recipes from the village elders. For drinks, you’ll find a curated selection of natural and organic wines from PM Wines Distributors (Santa Fe), local brews from Santa Fe Brewing, Bosque, and Sandia Cider, as well as craft cocktails made with New Mexico spirits from Santa Fe Spirits, Red River Distillery, and 505 Spirits.
Community at Its Core
Tumbleweeds Diner is deeply committed to supporting the Village of Magdalena. Co-owner Osiris Navarro serves on the Magdalena Chamber of Commerce and the Magdalena Food Co-operative, working to strengthen local businesses and food sustainability. The diner also helps facilitate fundraisers for students, donates meals to those in need during the holidays, and actively gives back to the village.
Pay It Forward
Want to help? You can contribute to our Pay It Forward system by purchasing a $20 meal credit. Your donation goes toward a running tab that provides meals for veterans, public servants, law enforcement, fundraisers, volunteers, or simply someone in need.
Thank you for being part of our story.
Read story by the DC Chieftan here to learn more about the background of Tumbleweeds
Photo by Kate Russell
LUNCH & DINNER MENU
For weekly specials please visit our Facebook page for updates.
DISCOVER MAGDALENA
Magdalena, New Mexico is a small but mighty village off the historic Highway 60. "The Lady on the Mountain" is a rock formation on Magdalena Peak overlooking Magdalena. Spanish soldiers saw the profile of a woman on the west face of the peak. A priest with them was reminded of a similar peak in Spain called "La Sierra de Maria Magdalena", so he called the New Mexico one "La Sierra de Magdalena". The pass to the south of the peak became known as Magdalena Gap, and when a town grew up it received the same name.
Magdalena continues to be a ranching and hunting community while strengthening its art, astronomy and geology venues. The reopening of the Magdalena Hall Hotel (circa 1917) and the renovation of other historical buildings allow visitors to connect to the past. The Magdalena Public Library and Boxcar Museum are housed in the old railroad depot. Several rock and mineral shops have been around since the mining boom days.
The ghost town of Kelly and two festivals, the "Open Studio and Gallery Tour" and the "Old Timers Reunion and Rodeo", bring tourists to the area. The "Enchanted Skies Star Party" in early fall brings astronomers and astro-photographers together under its very dark skies.
The Very Large Array lies 24 miles due west of the community. The Magdalena Ridge Observatory lies 25 miles southeast at an elevation of 10,600 feet. Magdalena is located 26 miles west of Socorro.
For more information visit the following links:
Magdalena Chamber of Commerce website
New Mexico True featuring Magdalena
Travel Guide New Mexico You Tube
SUPPORT LOCAL
Galleries, Shopping, Retail, Activities
Ol School' House Gallery & BnB
Main Street . Magdalena, NM 87825
La Posada Art Gallery
local woven pieces, paintings, photography
1006 West 1st Street (Highway 60) . Magdalena, NM 87825
www.laposadademariamagdalena.com/art-gallery
The Marketplace
antiques, Pendleton, Navajo made goods
105 North Main Street, Magdalena, NM 87825
Kind of Small Array
art gallery and intimate event space
106 North Main Street . Magdalena, NM 87825
www.facebook.com/kindofasmallarray
Warehouse 110
art gallery and event space
110 N Main St, Magdalena, NM 87825
Food, Drinks, Gas, Grocery
Golden Spur Saloon
bar, packaged liquor, cigarettes, pizza, burgers, patio
505 First Avenue . Magdalena, NM 87825
Evett's Cafe
coffee, milkshakes, sandwiches, gallery
501 1st St, Magdalena, NM 87825
www.facebook.com/maghighdesert
Steer Stop Gas & Grocery
produce, homemade burritos
705 East 1st Street . Magdalena, NM 87825
www.facebook.com/SteerStopMagdalena
Village Farmers Market
Every Saturday 10am - 12pm
outside La Posada
Lodging and Stay
La Posada Bed & Breakfast
11180 West Highway 60 . Magdalena, NM 87825
www.laposadademariamagdalena.com
Western Motel
404 1st Street . Magdalena, NM 87825
High Country Lodge
303 1st Street . Magdalena, NM 87825
Magdalena Hall Hotel
404 2nd Street . Magdalena, NM 87825
Concho Hills Dude Ranch
1522 Remuda Trail . Magdalena, NM 87825
PRESS & MEDIA
New Home, Sweet Home
Tumbleweeds Caters to Community & Beyond
Story by Candolin Cook, Edible New Mexico Late Summer 2021 | July 1, 2021
On a sleepy Tuesday afternoon in Magdalena, Eddie Tsosie—a Navajo artist and bit of a local legend—pulls off of historic Route 60 and into Tumbleweeds Diner’s dusty parking lot. Having just opened in March 2021, the restaurant’s freshly painted white-and-turquoise exterior gleams against the muted high-desert landscape and unobstructed blue skies. A cow’s skull has been fastened to a front post and an eponymous tumbleweed lies dormant near the entrance. It is a classic roadside diner, straight out of central casting.
As Tsosie begins to pull a series of colorful, Native- and western-themed paintings from the trunk of his car, he is met by Tumbleweeds co-owner Osiris Navarro. She purchases a handful of Tsosie’s works on this visit, to go with several others already on display in the dining room. The diner’s walls are, in fact, covered with fine arts and crafts made by local artists, along with taxidermy and antiques gifted from community members or left over from the restaurant’s last incarnation as the Big Bear Cafe a dozen years ago.
Just as inviting as the decor are the aromas of green chile cheeseburgers, fried chicken, and mac-and-cheese filtering in from the kitchen. From grinding their own locally sourced beef to pickling their own veggies to creating their own dressings and sauces, most everything at Tumbleweeds is made from scratch, using quality, fresh ingredients.
Tumbleweeds Brings New Life to Magdalena’s West End
Those driving Highway 60 into Magdalena from the west in the last several weeks have noticed a flurry of activity in and around a building that has been vacant for well over a dozen years. It’s the transformation of the former Big Bear restaurant into the Tumbleweeds Diner.
As the name implies, the restaurant will feature New Mexican cuisine, as well as offering cuisine from different countries and cultures.
Owners Osiris Navarro, originally from The Philippines and Michal Goila, who hails from the Czech Republic will be offering cuisine to please all palates. Besides New Mexico favorites such as green chile burgers, enchiladas, rotisserie chicken, et al. they will eventually be hosting monthly “pop up” events featuring food from all over the world.
Osiris and Michal came to Magdalena from Seattle, where they ran a catering business called Gola’s Kitchen. Their migration from the Great Northwest to Socorro County took root one year ago this month.
“One of my best friends lives here. I came to visit her in January and we just fell in love with the place,” Osiris said. “We could see ourselves living in a small town. City life was so stressful. We just wanted a change of scenery.”
KOAT 7 - Celebrate New Mexico Feature
Story by Todd Kurtz | December 16, 2021
MAGDALENA, N.M. —
In this week's Celebrate New Mexico, Todd Kurtz heads to Magdalena where more and more people from big cities are moving to rural New Mexico to make a living. Watch the video above as he talks with a couple who recently left their successful catering business in Seattle, to enjoy the quieter pace of Magdalena.
Watch video segment below:
https://www.koat.com/article/celebrate-new-mexico-tumbleweeds-diner/38541956
New Mexico Magazine - Old West Disguise
Story by Kate Nelson, New Mexico Magazine | May 18, 2022
"Last year, Kapraun met Osiris Navarro and her husband, Michal Gola, who had driven from Seattle, Washington, to visit friends. The pandemic had stalled out their catering business, and when Kapraun showed them an empty restaurant to the west of town, Gola sold his apartment in the Czech Republic to buy it. The Tumbleweeds Diner specializes in fried chicken and house-cured bacon, but also dabbles in kimchi-topped hamburgers, curries, and lumpia (spring rolls), from Navarro’s Filipino heritage. “We didn’t want to gentrify Magdalena or be city slickers,” Navarro says, as a mount of a fedora-wearing mule deer gazes across her 10-table dining space. “It’s almost like a living room vibe.”"
"Adding a bit of rustic Americana to the diner’s Southwestern theme, the American Flag is proudly stretched out in its full glory across the length of the cashier counter; a cowhide covered footstool next to it on one side, a vintage metal beer cooler on top of a rattan table on the other.
The most extraordinary feature of Tumbleweeds Diner is found beyond its interior decor. Positioned above the village, the diner has unobstructed views of the desertscape for miles in every direction. With multiple, large square windows directly facing to the east and west, the sun provides a magnificent light show against the backdrop of the sky, bathing every corner of the diner in brilliant white during the day and showering it in dazzling gold at dusk. There’s also acreage on the side of the restaurant overlooking the mountains that opens during the warmer months to patrons and for special events." read full story here
"The food was hot, fresh and amazing! The homemade sauces and pickles really stood out, and the flavor on the chicken sandwich was perfect, not too hot but very tasty. The fries were perfectly cooked and went great with all their sauces! They serve beer and wine as well. My junior foodie got a chance to talk to Chef Michal and his wife Osiris gave us the tour. The murals on the outside of the building were all painted by Chef Michal." read the full story here
"I had a cheeseburger, which was the freshest and most flavorful burger I think I've ever eaten. All food is made on the premises. The menu isn't extensive but there are plenty of burger choices, and other dishes include the awesome Teriyaki, with rice and salad and a very good-sounding macaroni and cheese. I'll add for dog-people that Osirus is a true dog lover. They have homemade dog treats that they make at the cafe. Our dog-treat-picky hounds loved these and Osirus and Michael have a Maltese who does, too." read full story here
Dinner & A Drive - Road trip to the Southwest lead to "thunderstruck" moment
Story by Russell Huffman | July 22, 2024 | Read Story Here
EVENTS
We plan and host events! If you are having a wedding, retreat, etc. and need help planning visit our sister company Golas Kitchen - Catering & Events to learn more about how we can help you! We have over 10 years experience planning events form weddings, fundraisers, flea markets, pop ups, festivals, and more. Below; photos of events we hosted at Tumbleweeds Diner and around the village.
We plan and host events! If you are having a wedding, retreat, etc. and need help planning visit our sister company Golas Kitchen - Catering & Events to learn more about how we can help you! We have over 10 years experience planning events form weddings, fundraisers, flea markets, pop ups, festivals, and more. Below; photos of events we hosted at Tumbleweeds Diner and around the village.
camp at tumbleweeds
Book a camping trip with us with one of our partners below. Harvest Host or Hip Camp. Camp on our Tumbleweeds Diner property and enjoy sweeping views of the high country mountains, breathtaking sunsets, crisp blue skies. Located along historic Highway 60 in Magdalena, New Mexico. Best suited for camper vans, road trek vehicles, car tents, RVs, car camping. Tent camping is suitable, but beware of winds! Toilets are available for guests to use during open business hours. We can also hook you up with any water with a heads up. Our sites have rustic picnic tables and we are just minutes away from outdoor activities and the village down town area. Feel free to stop by our diner for lunch or dinner where we serve burgers, fried chicken, enchiladas, you name it. If you arrive after we are closed, let us know and we can make arrangements to prepare you a meal.
CATERING
We offer full service catering via our sister company Golas Kitchen. From weeklong production shoots for movies and sets, intimate seated dinners for 10, or buffet fundraiser for over 100.
EVENT PLANNING
Weddings, company retreats, galas and fundraisers, production shoots, and more.
EXPERIENCES & RETREATS
We design and plan custom retreats for you and your group. Whether its a company leadership retreat, yoga or wellness retreat, a hunt, etc.