New Mexican cuisine is as unique to the region as its people. Most people tend to lump it in with Mexican cuisine but the similarities between the two styles are usually a result of similarly-named dishes. The chile is the dominant ingredient in most New Mexican dishes and even in most condiments. The chiles used in New Mexican cuisine are local to several of the communities throughout the state and found nowhere else. A bowl of chile will be either red or green in color and most restaurants serve both. It will likely contain bits of pork instead of beef and it will not have any tomato base to it. Do not ask which is hotter of the red or green as it all depends on the region and the growing season. The server will know for a particular day which batch is hotter. And do not make the mistake of comparing New Mexican chile to the chili con carne or Tex-Mex style chili found in the rest of the country. You just may get run out of town.
Besides the heavy use of chiles, New Mexican cuisine is noted for the use of pinto beans as opposed to the heavier use of black beans found in Mexican and Tex-Mex styles. The influence of the pueblo cultures introduced vegetables such as pinto beans, squash, corn and cinnamon into the style. It is very common to be served a side portion of calibacitas with your meal, which is a steamed or lightly sauteed mixture of these items.
Santa Fe has a surprising number of wonderful and unique restaurants. In fact, there are far too many to list here and the local arts rag, The Santa Fe Reporter, does a much better job of collecting the best of them every year. You can download their Restaurant Guide 2007-2008 before you come and get an idea of what to expect. Page 53 of the Guide has a terrific glossary of food items that you are bound to see on menus around town. If anything read the guide for that information alone.
With that said, there are a number of places we enjoy regularly or have been to at least once so that we can recommend them. We list these below.
Items marked with the Zia symbol (
)
denote places serving traditional New Mexican cuisine.
Coffee
Downtown Subscription
376 Garcia St., Santa Fe · (505) 983-3085
This is a notable coffee house for its huge selection of magazines for sale including several international journals. It is located in the heart of the historic Canyon Rd. area, the oldest section of Santa Fe. After your morning cup of joseph enjoy the many art galleries in the area.
PD Bean 
2411 Cerrillos Rd., Santa Fe · (505) 473-9092
A good coffee shop with great wireless and plenty of table space and outlets.
Java Joe's
2801 Rodeo Rd., Santa Fe · (505) 474-5282
5 Bisbee Ct., Santa Fe · (505) 474-8188
Java Joe's has always been David's favorite coffee shop for its great coffee and free wireless internet. The Rodeo Rd. location is just down the road from the Santa Fe Suites and close to the restaurants and shopping at the south end of town. The newer location on Bisbee Ct. is located along Guadalupe St. in the same parking lot as the Albertson's Supermarket on the north side of town. They always have a good assortment of pastries and small breakfast items in the display case.
Breakfast
Tecolote Cafe
1203 Cerrillos Rd., Santa Fe · (505) 988-1362
Tecolote is our favorite place to go for a traditional New Mexican style breakfast. They also serve typical American style platters. The customers are a great mix of local residents as well as a few tourists. Service is always fast and pleasant and prices are very reasonable.
Santa Fe Baking Company
504 W. Córdova Rd., Santa Fe · (505) 988-4292
We've listed this one in the breakfast restaurants despite it being open for lunch and dinner because breakfast is what they do well. Portions are big and the service is very casual and family friendly. It is a huge hit with the locals in Santa Fe and often crowded on weekend mornings. They do serve good lunch and great coffee and there is free wireless here, so it is a great place to spend an afternoon working outside the office.
Lunch & Dinner
Baja Tacos
2621 Cerrillos Rd., Santa Fe · (505) 471-8762
This is the only fast-food stand on the list but it is outstanding food. Everything is prepared daily and the ingredients are bought locally. This is also a very vegetarian friendly restaurant. Half of the menu consists of non-meat dishes.
Maria’s New Mexican Kitchen
555 W. Córdova Rd., Santa Fe · (505) 983-7929
Maria's is one of a few places on our list to get real authentic New Mexican food. It would make our list for that fact alone but it also has the largest margarita menu of any place else in the southwest — over 100 by their admission.
Castro's Restaurante Comidas
3904 Rodeo Rd., Santa Fe · (505) 438-0146
2811 Cerrillos Rd., Santa Fe · (505) 473-5800
Castro's is true New Mexican cuisine in a family-friendly setting at a reasonable price. It is a great place for lunch or dinner. The Rodeo Rd. location is close to Java Joe's (see above) and just down the road from the Santa Fe Suites.
The Cowgirl BBQ
319 S. Guadalupe St., Santa Fe · (505) 982-2565
The Cowgirl is one of the more famous and successful Santa Fe restaurants. BBQ is the main theme here and Tex-Mex style cooking seems to out perform the typical New Mexican dishes on the menu but everything is good here. There are always large crowds and good music in the evenings. The mix of locals to tourists is about 50/50. We liked their food so much we hired their catering servcie for the wedding reception, so that should be some indication of their quality.
Kohnami Restaurant
313 S. Guadalupe St., Santa Fe · (505) 984-2002
Kohnami is a great Japanese sushi restaurant which may seem weird for being located so far away from any major body of water. You can sit at the bar and watch the chefs prepare the sushi or sit in the main dining area. There are even a few side rooms with traditional japanese style seating arrangments for small groups.
The Zia Diner
326 S. Guadalupe St., Santa Fe · (505) 989-4629
The Zia Diner is a local dining favorite in Santa Fe. The atmosphere is very family friendly and the food is always good. Its location along S. Guadalupe St. puts it within walking distance of several nice shops near the Sanbusco Market Center.
The Atomic Grill
103 E Water St., Santa Fe · (505) 820-2866
The Atomic Grill stands out for one thing: Good food late at night. They are open until 3am and serve a mix of burgers and really great tasting pizzas. They also have a great beer selection.
Late Night Burger
1201 Cerrillos Rd., Santa Fe · (505) 820-0365
Though not open as late as the Atomic Grill this restaurant serves up great hamburgers and sandwiches until 11pm — a rare thing in a town the size of Santa Fe. And they are good. The beef is freshly ground in-house daily and the condiments bar has nothing but fresh produce and salsas. For the vegetarians out there, they serve one of the best grilled portabella mushroom sandwiches.
Catamount Bar & Grille
125 E. Water St., Santa Fe · (505) 988-7222
This restaurant is on the list for one simple reason: Pool. The pool tables in the second floor bar rent by the hour and are the larger billiard regulation sized tables. They are very well maintained and playing on them is always fun. Of course the food is very good, too, in the main restaurant. The best thing about eating here is sitting on the upstairs balcony area that overlooks Water St. and the eastern half of the downtown area. Despite the Bar in the name it is a very family-friendly place.
The Shed
113-½ E. Palace Ave., Santa Fe · (505) 982-9030
This restaurant is a hidden gem just off the main Plaza as you walk east along Palace Avenue. The entrance looks like many others among the shops along the avenue but once inside it opens up into a very private courtyard dining area and then into the old adobe restaurant interior. There are tables to accomodate just about any group size and reservations are recommended.
This restaurant stands out among our favorites because it is also where we first met.
Harry's Roadhouse
96 Old Las Vegas Hwy, Santa Fe · (505) 988-7008
Harry's Roadhouse is on the northeast side along the edge of Santa Fe. Take Rodeo Rd. north where it merges into the Old Las Vegas Highway. It'll be about a mile passed the junction on the left side of the road. There is a good mix of traditional New Mexican and American cuisine, good wines and beer to choose from and a great assortment of in-house deserts that you really should leave some room to try. Indoor and outdoor seating - try to sit in the back patio if you can. It's usually busy around dinner time so call ahead to put your name on the list.
India Palace
227 Don Gaspar Ave., Santa Fe · (505) 986-5859
This is a wonderful, traditional Indian restaurant located just off Water St. and Don Gaspar Ave. Their entrance is in the Municipal Parking lot on the corner there. They have a great lunch buffet and reasonably priced dinners.
El Paragua
603 Santa Cruz Rd., Española · (505) 753-3211
This restaurant is another that features truly authentic New Mexican cuisine in a great setting. It is further out than the others here – 24 miles north of Santa Fe in Española. It is located 1 mile from the wedding church, along SR 76 (see maps). If you are going to venture up to Taos or into the northern mountains this restaurant would be a great place to stop for lunch or dinner. El Parasol, the small taco stand adjacent to El Paragua, is run by the same owners and serves great fast food with a New Mexian flare.
Rancho de Chimayó Restaurante
County Road 98, Chimayó · (505) 351-4444 or (505) 984-2100 (Santa Fe)
Rancho de Chimayó is one of the best restaurants on the list and the furthest outside of Santa Fe. They serve truly authentic, wonderful New Mexican cuisine nestled in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains in the historic village of Chimayó. In addition to being located near the famous Santuario it also has the distinction of being a mear 3 miles from Sonya's and David's home in Córdova. The drive from Santa Fe to Chimayó is worth taking for the beauty of the landscape. Why not stop and get some great food while you're there? Definitely make reservations before heading up.
Brew Pubs
Second Street Brewery
1814 2nd St., Santa Fe · (505) 982-3030
One of our all time favorite destinations. Second Street Brewery has a combination of factors that makes it the perfect spot to sit, relax, enjoy a good beer and a meal. First, they brew some high quality beer here and the tap selection is outstanding most nights. The food is varied a little from the more traditional New Mexican style restaurants and covers a wide range of flavors. There is always good live music to listen to just about any day of the week. Lastly, the location: Second Street is a bit removed from the downtown tourist scene and tucked back away along the railroad tracks that cross 2nd St a few blocks off Cerrillos. The large crowds that do pack the place around happy hour are mostly locals and they cover a large spectrum of the people who live and work here. In short, great place, great beer.
Santa Fe Brewing Company
35 Fire Place, Santa Fe · (505) 424-3333
The Santa Fe Brewing Company started off as just that - a brewery. Their beers have done quite well and are found in many of the other restaurants around New Mexico as well as available in bottles in the local grocery and liquor stores. As far back as 2002 their "pub" consisted of nothing more than a side tasting room to the brewery operations. There was no kitchen so if patrons wanted food, they would often take up a collection and phone in a pizza order.
Today that has all changed. They have a much larger brewing facility and a remodeled restaurant along NM 14 just east of I-25. They hired a terrific chef who is constantly working to improve their menu and they bring in some of the best music acts to town on a weekly basis. It's our favorite place to go and watch a live band performance. The food is good but not great and not too varied. The beer is always amazing.
Blue Corn Cafe & Brewery
4056 Cerrillos Rd., Santa Fe · (505) 438-1800
133 W. Water St., Santa Fe · (505) 984-1800
The Blue Corn Cafes are a successful mix of outstanding brewery with traditional New Mexican cuisine. The beers tend to do well in the yearly beer festivals held in the state and around the country and the menu does a fairly good job of offering the most popular and well-known New Mexican dishes. While the beer is indeed very yummy the food quality seems to be lacking lately. Hamburgers, steaks and typical American fare are consistently good, however. Of the two locations the downtown one is a bit more charming and has a nice outdoor patio balcony dining area. The Cerrillos Rd. location is a bit more accessible to shopping and the newer theatres on the southside of town.
Fine Dining
La Boca
72 W. Marcy St., Santa Fe · (505) 982-3433
La Boca is a fairly new tapas restaurant that has rapidly developed a huge following. You won't be overwhelmed with traditional New Mexican dishes here but you will be presented with some of the best nuvo-Spanish style cuisine to emerge anywhere in the US in the last few years. Complementing the tapas menu is a wonderful and varied wine list. If you are unsure of what wine to try, ask the server. We haven't been mislead yet. The restaurant is small and popular, meaning that you will have to make reservations just about any night of the week if you plan to eat there.
Cafe Pasqual's
121 Don Gaspar Ave., Santa Fe · (505) 983-9340
Pasqual's is an eclectic place. The food is of New Mexican origin with a modern twist and many outside influences. This restaurant also offers the largest vegetarian selection of any of the others on our list. They are open for breakfast and lunch but we haven't been there at any of those times.
This is a small restaurant and there is always a long line of people waiting to be seated. Call ahead to put your name on a list or be prepared for up to a 40 minute wait. If you get tired of waiting, head to the Atomic Grill next door (see above).
The Compound
653 Canyon Rd., Santa Fe · (505) 982-4353
The Compound is one of the most elegant and beautifully located haute cuisine restaurants in Santa Fe. It is situated in the center of the art scene along Canyon Road in a collection of old and restored adobe homes. The food mimics the art surrounding it in both taste and presentation. It is one of the most expensive places to dine. Reservations are required.
