la paloma

“If someone’s from the [Gila] Valley, they know La Paloma,” owner Nick Tellez says. “I would say something about La Paloma, and someone would go, ‘Hey, I’m from Safford,’ or ‘I’m from Pima,’ or ‘I’m from Thatcher, and we love La Paloma.’ It’s been one of those things that has connected people when they leave here.”

For the rest of us, La Paloma feels like a hidden treasure, tucked away on a side street in the tiny, largely Hispanic community of Solomon, near Safford.