Mesilla mayor named restaurateur of the year

LAS CRUCES — Russell Hernandez’s experience shaking hands and learning names began long before he was elected as the town of Mesilla’s mayor in 2023.

Just across the town line on Avenida de Mesilla, he has owned and operated Salud de Mesilla, a popular restaurant and bar, for nearly 10 years, welcoming friends old and new, community members and out-of-towners and, yes, local politicians.

On Sept. 29, Salud’s success as well as Hernandez’s efforts to unify local businesses in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic and years of industry advocacy were recognized at the New Mexico Restaurant Association’s Hospitality Industry Awards in Albuquerque, when Hernandez was named 2025’s Restaurateur of the Year.

On Friday, Hernandez could be found at the 200-seat restaurant — divided among outdoor patios, dining rooms and a full bar — wearing the same black polo with the restaurant’s logo as his 25 employees.

“It’s an adult playground,” he said in an interview, speaking of collaborating with his staff on menus, wine dinners, tastings and other special events. “You get to have a little bit of fun and do a little bit of mini-development and training. Hopefully we provide a culture that gets people motivated and happy to be doing what they’re doing.”

“His team thrives in a culture of mentorship and pride, while his advocacy work with the National Restaurant Association helps shape policies that protect and uplift the industry,” the NMRA said in a news release. “Hernandez’s philosophy is simple: Take care of your people, and they’ll take care of the guests. His work is a testament to what hospitality can achieve when it’s powered by inclusion, opportunity and heart.”

Hernandez earned a bachelor degree in agricultural economics and agricultural business from New Mexico State University, but he said he missed the hospitality industry, where he started as a high school intern working at the now-defunct Eddie’s Bar and Grill in Las Cruces. “I missed the people-interaction,” he said.

Hernandez opened Salud de Mesilla in April 2016, aiming for a friendly casual-dining atmosphere with a menu best known for its tapas and unique burgers, as well as a selection of over 120 wines, whiskeys and beers, and a service approach intended to make patrons feel at home: “We’re not a fast food restaurant or a grocery store — you’re not a customer; you’re a guest,” Hernandez said.

His husband, Christopher Schaljo-Hernandez, pitches in as a floor manager and the house sommelier. He, too, is active in politics, elected to the Doña Ana Board of County Commissioners in 2022.

NMRA CEO Carol Wight said Hernandez “has tirelessly championed our industry — not only through his outstanding work at Salud de Mesilla, but also as a strong advocate representing restaurants before state and federal leaders. We are proud to honor him as Restaurateur of the Year, a recognition he has truly earned through his leadership, dedication and passion.”

Preceding his mayoral run in his tight-knit community of 1,800 people, Hernandez was an active volunteer and community advocate, co-founding the Experience Mesilla coalition of businesses that he said proved crucial to their survival through the pandemic’s emergency public health orders. He has served on numerous community and industry boards as well as the Mesilla Planning, Zoning and Historical Appropriateness Commission. As he puts it, “I can’t sit still.”

These coalitions could be important in navigating the volatile economy heading into 2026, he mused, as consumer uncertainty and rising prices might cut into many customers’ spending on a night out.

“We are seeing the ups and downs. There’s nothing consistent. It is extremely challenging all the way around,” he said. Even so, he said he was considering additional hires and looking even further into the future to welcome new generations to work in hospitality.

“Now that I own my own business, I work with the schools as well as the college to have internships and create, hopefully, that vibrancy that energizes people to want to be in the industry,” he said.