In US border towns, influx of troops brings a boom

Yuma, Ariz., is one beneficiary as 6,000 National Guard troops have been added to the Mexican border.

from the March 20, 2007 edition

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Buffalo Wild Wings, for example, is a popular watering hole for the troops. It features large-screen TVs for sports viewing (even in the rest rooms). Business has definitely picked up since the National Guard has come to town, according to Sara Farmer, a manager. It has added both longer hours for serving food and more staff.

"This seems to be the hangout for them," she says, adding, "Lots of them come from Virginia, Washington," and other faraway places.

Management has added a "blazing challenge," she says, where the challenger, often a military type, must eat 12 chicken wings in the restaurant's "hottest" sauce. "About 75 percent of them are able to accomplish it: They have all their friends cheering them on," she says.

The winners, often red-eyed, with noses running as they finish, are awarded T-shirts, and their photos are posted on the wall.

Other restaurants, as well, have rolled out the welcome mat for the National Guard. Ernesto Santos, manager at the Outback Steakhouse, says that as soon as the National Guard troops were deployed to the border, his restaurant offered them a 20-ounce rib-eye steak for the same price as its regular 14-ounce rib-eye steak.

"I try to talk to each and every one of them that comes in," Mr. Santos says. "The conversation piece is that rib-eye: I challenge them to finish it [nobody so far has been able to] and tell them it gives them extra protein to protect the country."

But in all seriousness, he says, both management and other customers appreciate the National Guard presence. "We especially appreciate that most of them are far away from their families. They come in here to eat, go home to sleep, and do it all over again," he says.

Meanwhile, several national chains are opening new restaurants here, according to Mr. Ingram of the visitors bureau. And 1,600 more hotel rooms are being built and will be available by 2008, according to Rhea of the hotel association.

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