Restaurants

People who live in Santa Fe are spoiled when it comes to good food. This community of 72,000 has more than 375 restaurants. Among them are many that have received national acclaim—Coyote Cafe, SantaCafe, Cafe Pasqual, La Casa Sena, Inn of the Anasazi Restaurant, Geronimo, and The Compound. Santa Fe consistently ranks in the top 25 culinary destinations in the United States as selected by both Playboy and Money magazines. Variety marks Santa Fe’s restaurant scene. You’ll find many places that specialize in the tasty regional cuisine, ranging from Tia Sophia’s, popular with politicos, and Maria’s New Mexico Kitchen, famous for its specialty tequila, to the Salvadoran-owned Tune Up Cafe, an authentic neighborhood restaurant whose unique stuffed pupusas and chile rellenos immediately won over die-hard fans of Dave’s Not Here, a longtime legendary restaurant at this location. If you decide you’d like to eat something that doesn’t have chile in it, Santa Fe can accommodate you with first-rate American cuisine from such deluxe dining places as The Old House to laid-back all-American joints as Zia Diner, Cowgirl Hall of Fame, and Josh’s Barbecue. A number of Santa Fe chefs, such as Geronimo’s Eric Distefano and Martin Rios and The Compound’s Mark Kiffin, are nationally recognized for their talent. It’s not unusual for top hotels and restaurants in Santa Fe to hire away the best-known chefs to reinvigorate the menu at newly refurbished dining rooms so frequently, it can seem like musical chairs. A handful, such as Boca’s James Caruso, formerly of El Farol, and David Sellars of Amavi, open their own establishments and succeed in creating eateries that outlast fickle Santa Fe tastes and the ups and downs of the tourism economy.

Santa Fe’s luster as a food town is reflected in the city’s many food-centered benefits and special events. The Wine and Chile Fiesta, a citywide celebration each September, brings nationally and internationally acclaimed chefs to town, along with thousands of eager gourmands (see our Annual Events and Festivals chapter). The city has a long-established, well-regarded cooking school, the Santa Fe School of Cooking, which frequently hosts guest chefs from around the country. The Taste of Santa Fe benefit honors local restaurants for the best selection in several categories.

Overview

This chapter offers some suggestions on where to eat. We mention only places unique to the area, figuring that you already know what to expect at the chains. We’ve organized the listings by style of food served. If you’re unfamiliar with the New Mexican style of cuisine, see our Close-up in this chapter, which explains and defines many of the foods and terms you’ll encounter when dining out in Santa Fe. And we’ve separated “Mexican and Latin American” and “New Mexican” because these cuisines are different.

Our advice on reservations is simple—make them whenever you can. Some places—like the perennially popular Tomasita’s and breakfast at Cafe Pasqual’s—don’t take reservations. Others take them only for large parties. If you call these places ahead of time, they will gladly give you an idea of when to come to minimize your wait. After all, it’s their business to make you happy.

Dress is casual here, although diners tend to dress better when they go to more expensive places. Nowhere in Santa Fe, however, is a coat and/or tie required for men. And if you want to eat outside in the summer—we recommend it—remember that you’re at 7,000 feet and the air cools when the sun sets. Even if the day’s high temperature has been in the 90s, you’ll probably welcome a jacket or sweater in the evening.

Unless otherwise noted, restaurants listed in this chapter accept major credit cards and are open daily. However, many restaurants close for Christmas, Thanksgiving, New Year’s Day, and other holidays—if you want to dine out on those days, please call ahead. Keep in mind that some places expand their hours during the summer or cut back during the winter.