(note the black horse hitching posts in front of the hotel)
A notable restaurant to visit when in the desert of northern Nevada is the Martin Hotel, situated in Winnemucca at 94 W. Railroad St. The town is about a 2 1/2 hour drive northeast of Reno.
The original building at the site was Roman Tavern and restaurant which opened around 1900 to serve the Basque shepherds working in the mountain ranges around Winnemucca. In 1913, Mr. and Mrs. Martin (both from France) bought the building and named it the Martin Hotel. A fire damaged the structure and in 1920 a reconstructed Martin Hotel was opened featuring 25 boarding/hotel rooms and a restaurant. The place remained very popular with the local Basque community and those who worked with the railroad. The Martins owned and ran the hotel until they passed, and the hotel was bought by Basque families who run it in the traditional manner. It now has a reputation as being the best Basque restaurant around, perhaps even the best in the entire state of Nevada.
Rooms are no longer available to rent at the hotel, but the dining room and bar remain open and are busy. Dinner is still served in the hotel’s dining room in the Basque family style and the menu hasn’t changed much over the years. Meals include wine, soup, beans, mashed potatoes, homemade bread and house bread pudding.
The interior is covered with original tin walls and ceilings, and old photos and clippings about the hotel. The hotel is listed in the National Register of Historic Places.
Is ‘No Bacon’ their policy – or had they just run out of it?
That’s a good question, professor. I would assume that they just ran out, I know of no restrictions for bacon consumption by the Basque. But I posed the question to Grok, an AI associated with X. Here is the response:
“Yes, Basque people do eat bacon. In Basque cuisine, bacon—often referred to as “txerri urdaiazpikoa” or similar terms in the Basque language—is used in various dishes. It’s commonly incorporated into hearty stews, soups like porrusalda (leek soup), or served alongside eggs, vegetables, or beans. The Basque region, spanning parts of northern Spain and southwestern France, has a rich culinary tradition that includes pork products, with bacon being a flavorful component in many recipes. However, dietary preferences vary, and not all Basques eat bacon due to personal, religious, or health reasons.”