TUCKED BETWEEN THE CAPITÁN and Sacramento mountains, the tiny village of Capitán takes just four minutes to drive through on US 380—unless the aroma of sizzling green chile and seared beef stops you in your tracks.
On a sun-drenched afternoon in the hometown of Smokey Bear, Oso Grill hums with life. The 1910 brick bank building sat dormant for years, until 2014, when Brian Cleckler and his wife, Pam, a fifth-generation Lincoln County resident, suddenly found themselves empty nesters with time on their hands. “We drove by this old building and just loved it,” says Brian, a longtime restaurant manager. “We said, ‘That needs to be something instead of just sitting there—it needs to be a restaurant.’ ”
Since opening in August 2015, Oso Grill has become more than a place to eat—it’s a source of local pride, a culinary destination, and the village’s de facto living room. “People walk in and go from table to table,” Brian says. “Everybody knows everybody.”
But it’s not just the warm hospitality that draws visitors from across the state. It’s the burger that packs them in—a four-time winner of the New Mexico State Fair’s Green Chile Cheeseburger Challenge.
“We treat our burgers like a steak,” says Brian, whose creation was the first to ever win both the People’s Choice and Judges’ awards back-to-back, in 2018 and 2019. Oso Grill did it again in 2021 and 2023—securing green chile cheeseburger legend status. “We season the meat 24 hours in advance, so the flavor has time to soak in,” he says. “Always fresh. Never frozen.”
Served on a Zia-branded bun, the half-pound patty gets topped with American cheese, lettuce, tomato, onion, and a house-made chipotle ranch dressing. But what really makes it a winner are the crunchy buttermilk-and-flour-battered fried green chile strips on top. “You need to know it’s New Mexico green chile when you bite into the burger—it has to be hot,” Brian says. “And the batter adds nice texture.”
Brian recalls telling someone that Oso Grill served the number-one green chile cheeseburger in the state. “She kinda said, ‘Well, it’s just a burger,’ ” he says. “But there was a chef at the table who stopped her and said, ‘If you’re number one in green chile anything in New Mexico, that means you’re number one in the world.’ ”
Beyond the burgers, Oso serves up house-made fries, hand-breaded catfish, and rotating specials that often earn a permanent spot on the menu—such as the Oso Egg Rolls, stuffed with brisket and green chile. Next door, a gift shop stocks local hot honey, Smokey Bear souvenirs, and Pam’s homemade fudge and ice cream. “Two ladies came in for the first time last week,” Brian says. “Then they came back the next day and said, ‘We didn’t know this was here.’ It makes me feel good when people return—they treat us like family.”
Despite the outside accolades, Brian is most proud of what Oso Grill means to Capitán. “We saw this old building falling down, and now it’s a community hub and brings in tourists to help our economy,” he says. “It’s a hidden gem.”
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100 Lincoln Ave., Capitán; 575-354-2327