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Charlie's Radiator Service & Star Cafe

1308-1310 W Santa Fe Ave., Grants, NM
Phone:

East < GO > West

The Charlie's Radiator Service building was built by the then 29 year old Charles Diaz assisted by his maternal grandfather, Joseph Capelli, an Italian immigrant stone mason. Together they used pumice block to construct the garage. Charlie opened his Automotive Service in 1943 with two gas pumps, a garage and body repair. In the early days he sold Mobil gas. By the mid 1950s when Route 66 was widened the gas pumps were long gone and he had quit selling gas and began to specialize in radiator repair. He continued working until 1995 when he died of a heart attack.

The Star Cafe next to the garage was built in 1949 by Charley Diaz's great uncle, Salome. It once served as a stop for the bus that took workers to the uranium mines. The taller section at the back was added in 1954. The name of the business was painted above the windows on each side of the door, "STAR" above one window and "CAFE" above the other, all in letters that looked to be about three feet tall

After closing it served as a used tire store for a time. The cafe originally consisted of a tiny space holding a kitchen and counter. After 1954 an addition was added to the west and the rear. The bump-out to the west held the bathrooms. Later it became the Star Drive-In. It closed in 1985 and later became a tire shop which also closed at some point. .

The Diaz home faces the street behind the garage and cafe. In 2011 a proposed restoration of the garage included the possibility of turning it into an automotive museum and meeting spaces. As part of the same proposed project turning the cafe into a Route 66 gift shop was considered. That didn't happen and the entire complex looked abandoned when we snapped the photos.

The complex was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2017.

Photo(s): 2015