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Red Ball Cafe

1303 SW 4th St., Albuquerque, NM
Phone:

East < GO > West

The Red Ball Cafe opened in 1922, it closed in 1979 as a neighborhood cafe, opened again in 1998, closed again in 2014 and opened again in 2018. It's a little cafe that keeps on trying.

Business picked up after 4th Street was named as part of Route 66 in 1926, but when 66 was realigned in 1937 the business suffered. But wait, there's more to the story!

The comic strip characters Popeye the Sailor and his pal J. Wellington Wimpy came along the the late 20s and struck a cord with Nestor Padilla the cafe's proprietor. Wimpy was apparently a notorious cheapskate whose cheapskateness inspired the creation of the Wimpy Burger at the Red Ball Cafe. At 5 cents, the little Wimpy was a popular bite size burger, perhaps partly because those were the depression years.

Check out the big round windows on the front of the cafe.

This cool sign was painted on the north side of the building. I'm guessing that "Wimpy Cafe" was a nickname based on the tasty little burger.

Photo(s): 2019