Michael's Kitchen Restaurant & Bakery

A Taos Landmark for 36 years and still cooking! The history of Michael's Kitchen goes back quite a few years. A man named Mike Spivey had the Red Arrow Cafe, currently Fred's Place, on the main thoroughfare for many years. His wife worked at the El Chico Court Motel on the north end of town and the family lived at the motel. In 1957 Enos Garcia built the building that is currently Michael's Kitchen. The Spiveys thought that business would be better closer to the plaza, so they arranged to lease the new building and Spivey's Cafe was born. The family had living quarters constructed in the basement (now the bakery), and it was there that the family lived for many years. The restaurant was then sold to Mr Ragland who ran the place for eleven years until Mike Spivey bought it back. By 1969 Mike Spivey had emphysema and needed to move for health reasons. Cal Loving, who also owned La Cocina on the plaza bought Spivey's Cafe. He had a manager run the cafe for almost 5 years. It was just about then that I showed up in Taos on vacation. While on that trip, I bought a small "some day" home in Des Montes on the north side of town. We had to return to Taos to close on the house purchase and it was on this trip that I discovered Spivey's. I'll try to condense the rest of the story. My home, family, and business were in California and I was ready for a change. I called Spivey's, asked to speak to the owner, and was referred to Mr. Loving. After an extensive discussion, he sent me financial reports and other business stuff. Shortly thereafter we flew to Taos and that very day I arranged to buy the restaurant from Mr. Loving. My friends and my accountant in California thought that I was "Nuts." For about a year and a half I spent 5 work days a month in California helping our manager at our International House of Pancakes. We sold that, and as of February 1, 1974, it's been 25 fun-filled years. I've never regretted coming to Taos. About 3 years after we bought Spivey's we changed the name to Michael's Kitchen and bought the La Fiesta Bakery from Ira Green. We usually have between 72-80 people working and still have many of the employees that came with the business when we bought it. Many of their children have worked, or currently work, here. My wife Pat and I still work, and all of our children have spent varying periods of time in their lives helping us run the restaurant. Our daughter Gina and her husband Derek have decided to make the restaurant their livelihood. Taos and the restaurant have provided me with an interesting and sometimes frantic life. I wouldn't trade it for anything else. Thank you to the thousands of you who have made us a success and to our Staff and Friends who have always been there over all the years.