About 50 miles west of Albuquerque, a red-and-white checkered diner sits beside a small gas station along the historic Route 66.
Around lunchtime, the dining room fills with travelers, truck drivers and local families waiting for one of New Mexico’s best-known burgers, the Laguna Burger. A half-pound burger stacked with melted cheese and roasted green chile, balanced by crisp lettuce, tomato, red onion, and pickles. This order is not complete without the crispy, fresh hand-cut fries.
For many visitors, it’s simply a memorable meal on a classic American road trip. For the Pueblo of Laguna, it’s something much deeper.
“Laguna Burger represents something powerful,” says Ryan Riley, a corporate director for Laguna Development Corporation, which owns and operates the restaurant. “It demonstrates that Indigenous communities are not simply part of America’s past. We are active participants in its present and future.”…