Favorite New Mexican Restaurants (Albuquerque, Santa Fe: school, dinner, places)

[jersey2nm]

Since you'll be at the tram, what about Sandiago's? It's right there at the tram base. I have been there with the in-laws and they loved it. On my second trip with my husband, he wasn't too thrilled with the bartender's lack of knowledge of tequila and margaritas but the food was good and the sunset terrific! I like the food and always like to take visitors to either El Pinto or Casa De Benavidez. Both on are 4th and both have websites. Also, there is a Garduno's on 4th that is much better than the Garduno's near the Cottonwood Mall. If you are near the Cottonwood Mall, perhaps a trip to Little Anitas (may be too casual and may only have a license to sell beer). Great food, where the locals go but not so much as to ambiance. The Little Anitas in Old Town Albuquerque is much nicer and the food is still great (this location has a full liquor license). Where ever you go, please come back and let us know where you went and what you thought! There are so many of us back east wishing we could get some/any kind of NM food.

[InTheDesert]

Thank you for the suggestions! Hubby wanted to take them out to Chinese food...LOL but I said no. We have tons of great NM food down here in Socorro so he always wants something different when we go to Abq. I've never seen that Sandiago's near the tram. Maybe we'll check that out.

[jersey2nm]

You're welcome. I hope you have a great meal and a great time. If you plan on being there near sunset, you may want to make a reservation. The place gets busy. Don't forget to update us. Also, I've been to a nice Chinese restaurant in Albuquerque....Chow's Chinese Bistro on Juan Tabo (in a small strip mall). I met a former high school classmate there. She just loves the place and I did too. If you want to humor the hubby, it's nice treat.

[jazzlover]

Originally Posted by tito

Come on! You find "Gorditas" all over Mexico because Mexicans invented them. There is no such a thing as "New Mexico cuisine", which is a bland, less spicy version of Mexican cuisine. All the New Mexican dishes are found in Mexico in their original form. A lady from Norway who writes in this forum and doest know the history of the Americas, insisted that the difference between the foods of New Mexico and Mexico were the same as the difference between German and Italian foods, which come from two different races. I would say that the difference between New Mexico and Mexican food is more likely between Norway's and Sweden's (both Vikings). It's funny, the American Indians from New Mexico prefer the original Mexican cuisine because and they know that the white men modified it to please their taste.

Sorry, tito, I have to disagree. "New Mexican" food, which I equate more to northern New Mexico is considerably different in many cases that what may be found in Mexico. The long geographical isolation of that region of New Mexico from Mexico, the difference in availability of ingredients (the absence of seafood, for example, which is common in many Mexican dishes south of the border), the local evolutions of the races of chiles--all combine to make northern New Mexico food unique. The bland, less spicy comment is especially amusing. Some northern New Mexican food that I have had would just about take my head off, and I'm used to hot, spicy chiles. I think you are referring more to that Americanized Tex-Mex slop that passes for Mexican food in most places these days. I think they probably even sell some of that in Albuquerque and Santa Fe.

I tend to frequent the "hole-in-the-wall" true northern New Mexico restaurants and cafes in places like Mora, Chama, Costilla, and Tierra Amarilla in New Mexico; and Antonito, Alamosa, and San Luis in Colorado. Check some of those places out and I think you'll find New Mexican cuisine that is indeed different and very tasty.

I've got some green chile stew in the fridge--think I'll heat up some tonight . . . Oh, and the recipe for that came from a fourth generation northern New Mexican.

[jersey2nm]

Jazzlover - You better eat all of your green chile stew because there are poor chile starved people in NJ who wish they had it. Enjoy!

[Towanda]

Jazzlover ~ I am still looking at about 8 months before we can move to northern NM ..... and you are truly making my mouth water with all this talk about New Mexican cuisine. Spicy works for me!

If you have favorite restaurants in the towns you mentioned, can you post them so I can make a list???

[Towanda]

jersey2nm ~ We sound desperate and pathetic, don't we? LOL

[EnjoyEP]

Originally Posted by tito

There is no such a thing as "New Mexico cuisine", which is a bland, less spicy version of Mexican cuisine. All the New Mexican dishes are found in Mexico in their original form.

This is inaccurate.

There is indeed a sizable difference between New Mexican cuisine and Mexican cuisine. Spend days eating at New Mexican restaurants in Albuquerque, Santa Fe, Taos, etc. and then spend days eating in Ciudad Juarez, El Paso TX, or Ciudad de Chihuahua...huge difference in the cuisines. Sure...there are many, many similarities.

However, things like breakfast burritos w/ green or red chile or sopapillas are distinctively New Mexican cuisine; you won't find these items on authentic Mexican menus.

Also, as a general rule, New Mexican cuisine is MUCH spicier than Mexican cuisine. This is a general misconception many people from the north of the U.S. has - that Mexican food is terribly spicy. While some Mexican food is spicy, much authentic Mexican cuisine isn't terribly spicy. Things like pico de gallo (Mexican) are used more than things like chile (New Mexican staple) - pico is not spicy, chiles assuredly are.

While you can find some items that aren't spicy in New Mexican cuisine, due to the liberal usage of chiles in New Mexican cuisine, New Mexican as a whole is far, far "hotter" than Mexican.

To say that New Mexican food is "bland" indicates not much experience eating it.

[domino]

I would argue that the New Mexican food from southern NM is just as New Mexican as northern NM food. The Hatch and Mesilla Valleys offer of no-holes-bared the best chiles in the state and make for some great food and is not at all Tex-Mex.

[tito]

I have eaten hamburgers in Mexico and I can assure you that they are true "Mexican Cuisine", because they have no resemblance at all with American Hamburgers, for one thing the beef comes from Mexican cattle and the ketchup is made from Mexican tomatoes.