Jesus Rivera still remembers the distinct flavors and aroma of his mother's chicken soup and tamales from his boyhood on a farm in El Salvador.

"The best food I ever tasted was from my mom," said Rivera, 39, who with his wife, Charlotte, 42, owns and runs the Tune-Up Cafe, the funky off-the-beaten-tourist-path diner on Hickox Street.

"Maria Elana Landaverde Rivera used all the fresh ingredients from the farm — the basil, the onions, peppers and their farm-raised chickens and other livestock," Rivera said.

After years of farm work, cooking and then driving a taxi in San Salvador, Rivera found himself in Santa Fe with his two brothers, Pablo and Daniel. He worked as a cook for several years at Harry's Roadhouse and then at Cafe Pasqual's, where he met Charlotte, who was waiting tables there.

Charlotte said another worker there told her "you should be with a Salvadoran man, so we kind of got fixed up."

By that time, Jesus Rivera said, "I was ready to open my own business."

Charlotte recalls the rush of events.

"We got married one year, had a child the next year, and then opened the restaurant [in 2008] with a 1-year-old."

They set up operations in what used to be Dave's Not Here at
1115 Hickox St., expanding it from a capacity of 30 to 50 diners, with another 30 chairs at tables outside when weather permits.

Charlotte said the restaurant has become a neighborhood hangout that tends to attract a younger crowd. "Santa Fe isn't a youthful town," she said, so the Tune-Up tends to get noticed.

"It's nice to have become kind of a quick-welcome, with its casualness," Charlotte said. "Santa Fe was ripe for something with a casual good feeling. It's not really known for that."

Eating at the Tune-Up is not for the shy or those who want to find a big, vinyl booth in a corner to sip rosé and whisper into someone's ear.

At breakfast, for instance, you are likely to end up at a communal table sharing elbow space with folks whose conversation you are more likely than not to become part of — an artist passes on views of the deficit crisis to another woman whose marriage you soon discover is "finally on the right path."

It's akin to dining at a family reunion, but here, everyone seems to like each other, so there's much less chance of getting punched in the ego, or anywhere else for that matter.

"We kind of encourage people to know each other, to make a friend," Charlotte said.

She said tourists began finding the Tune-Up soon after the place opened when the restaurant wound up on Guy Fieri's Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives, accidentally — The Food Network thought it was calling Dave's Not Here.

The Tune-Up's decor runs the gamut of early attic.

"It's all recycled material, nothing new," Charlotte said. "Everything is from recycled lumber ... or thrift stores. It's super hecho a mano. ... It's intentionally shabby chic."

The two at first were concerned that the place might be a little too funky for Santa Fe, but they also had sense of "what's missing here," Charlotte said.

Now, neighbors looking to rent their homes make a big point that they can walk to the Tune-Up.

The food — breakfast, lunch and dinner — certainly has a New Mexico flavor (huevos rancheros, house-made guacamole and chips) but with a Salvadoran twist. For example, the pupusa, a Salvadoran version of a tortilla, only thicker and stuffed with veggies or flank steak, is served with curtido (a Salvadoran cabbage salad) and roasted tomato salsa.

The place is also known for its many pies, especially the rhubarb, and other bakery treats, many of which are gluten-free.

"My plan is to have food for everyone," said Jesus.

The Tune-Up is open 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.

ON THE WEB

• http://tuneupcafe.com/Default.aspx