The Pantry is a family owned restaurant in Santa Fe that has been serving up North New Mexico diner food for almost 75 years.
Established in 1948 by George Myers, the restaurant is currently co-owned and operated by Michael Singley and his father.
"[The Pantry's] been through about seven or eight different owners along the line," Michael told New Mexico Sun. "The original guy kind of lived in the back room and he worked in the front. Then it slowly started adding on and became what it is now. They put the diner counter in around the 1970s and it kind of morphed into what it is today."
Michael said that one of the most unique things about The Pantry was the longtime staff, some of whom have worked for the restaurant for over twenty years, and patrons the restaurant has built up over the decades.
"When you walk through our door, you're family," according to a Sept. 16 Facebook post by The Pantry.
Like many restaurants, The Pantry was financially impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, but was able to come up with solutions to bring diners back by opening its backdoor patio for outdoor dining and focusing on takeout orders.
"It was rough for awhile before the patio was opened up," Michael told New Mexico Sun. "It was kind of touch and go, but once we were able to serve people outside... We built a tent in our back patio and did a lot of to-go orders and we barely survived, but we made it through."
Michael also credited relief funding from the federal Payroll Protection Program and the hard work of his employees for help getting the restaurant through a difficult time.
"Everyone worked as a team to come in and do whatever job was necessary," Michael told New Mexico Sun. "Bussers became servers and vice-versa and we just kind of shared the workload and we were able to keep it open with a skeleton crew until we got busier."
Besides serving food, The Pantry also works with community partner Meow Wolf, an arts collective based out of Santa Fe since 2008.