Reality show being produced at El Pinto Restaurant in Albuquerque

A reality television show will be produced featuring the twin brothers who own El Pinto Restaurant and Salsa Co., which is located on an original alignment of Route 66 on the north side of Albuquerque, New Mexico.

According to the news release, Media Meld Studios and Smart Skirts Entertainment will produce the show about the Salsa Brothers, aka twin brothers John and Jim Thomas, who own the restaurant.

From the news release:

The unique location comprised of the largest New Mexican Restaurant in the world, engaging identical twin bachelor brother owners, coupled with a manufacturing facility producing 25,000 jars of salsa daily, makes for a dynamic opportunity. The backdrop is the inspirational beauty of New Mexico: from green chile fields to the south, to the white capped mountains in the north, to the blue summer skies of the North Valley of Albuquerque where El Pinto is located.

“Few understand until they see on TV the hard work of small business in America, from delivering organic food to the restaurant table to taking products to the grocery store shelf across the nation,” explains Salsa Twin John Thomas, co-owner.

Salsa Twin Jim Thomas explains, “El Pinto is a story of American ingenuity within a hispanic family with roots deep in the food business that stretch back 80 years to old Mexico.” The growth of El Pinto through the work of dedicated staff expanding from one small room with a few seats along original Route 66 in rural New Mexico to over 1,000 seats in addition to the manufacturing facility producing nationally distributed salsa is a study of determination that continues.

There’s no word on when the show will air, or on what network, although it would seem the Food Network would be an ideal landing spot.

The restaurant is at 10500 Fourth St., which was Route 66 from 1926 to 1937. It also used Google Street View to its advantage:


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(Image of El Pinto Restaurant by Mitch Wagner via Flickr)

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