Favorite New Mexican Restaurants (Albuquerque, Santa Fe: housing, hotel, travel)

[Chaparral]

Originally Posted by friardave

what is the diff between new mexican and mexican food?...and is there regular mexican food available in alb?

To me, the main differences between the two are that it seems that "mexican" food utilizes more jalapeno type peppers (vs. anaheim types used in "new mexican") and NM style dishes seem to have more "body" to them. That is, mexican dishes seem to lean more toward the liquid/runny side. Kind of hard to describe I guess. Bottom line: For me, New Mexican food just tastes better and is more satisfying. I suppose you just need to sample the style yourself to see the differences.

p.s. yes, you can get traditional mexican food in abq, but there are far fewer establishment that specialize in this.

[nmnative505]

"what is the diff between new mexican and mexican food?...and is there regular mexican food available in alb?"

Friardave....I agree with Chaparral about the texture of the food, both New Mexican and Mexican. Here is how I view it being that I grew up eating Mexican food while living in New Mexico!

Authentic Mexican food will have less chili in the recipe or plate, they tend to use salsas more than actual say red or green chili. Think of pico de gallo (also sometimes referred to as Mexican salsa) or even guacamole (sometimes blended and served in very liquid form) being served with tacos. This type of food in Abq is not as common as say New Mexican food, but there are a few on the west side and lower valley with true, authentic mexican food you just have to find them.

As for New Mexican food, think of your typical plate of stuffed sopapillas smothered with red/green chili. Also anything gordita or tostada-ish I consider New Mexican food. As for sopapillas, they are truly New Mexican because you cannot find them south of the El Paso/Juarez border or anywhere else in Mexico or even in South Texas where I am now, most people have never even heard of sopapillas (what a shame!). Also, bean burritos are truly New Mexican because a typical Mexican burrito would most likely be made with some kind of meat stuffing.

Hope this helps, its making me hungry....

[MissNM]

We moved to Florida because of my job. But we miss NM and its food so much that we opened a breakfast burrito stand in Jacksonville, FL.

So if you are far away from home and need a green or red chile fix - stop by Santa Fe Sunrise at the corner of Philips and Bowden.

And please let us know of any other New Mexican restaraunts east of the Mississippi!

[lawburro]

Tell me about missing great NM food nmnative505! I used to live in Las Vegas...Kocina de Raphael is to DIE for! Their chicken fajitas.....Chicken burritos...green chile sauce...huevos rancheros...I am KILLING myself remembering it all.
I have lived in Columbus since 2000, and regret leaving New Mexico. This thread is right. No one has a clue as to what a sopaipilla is...You order one and get a FLAT, FRIED FLOUR TORTILLA sprinkled with cinnamon When I try and tell my friends out here what one really is, they look at me like I am making up some sort of bizarre concoction...My husband ordered a chile relleno once and about cried when they brought out a stuffed bell pepper...
This is sad, but we consider Chipotle really good now. Generally we do not eat in mexican restaurants to avoid disappointment these days. But there is a New Mexican restaurant on Bethel Road in Northwest Columbus called Chile Verde, that is pretty good. They get their chile in "little green and white containers" according to a waiter, so I am assuming it is Bueno. If you are out this way, stop in, it is the best you will find out here besides my kitchen!

[nmnative505]

Lawburro...you are so right about Kocina de Raphael. I used to eat there every chance I got and I went to LV this summer and unfortunately did not have enough time to stop by. My favorite are their stuffed sopapillas with red chili! People are always so amazed by the portion size so you have to prepare them before eating there.

Ah yes, sopapillas. Nobody east of NM has ever heard of them, at least nobody here in Texas. I even called my mom for her recipe and made some a while back, everyone loved them! My mom even sends my sister in DC chili by mail because she isn't able to find any over there. As for Chipotle, well sorry to say but I haven't acquired the taste for it yet. There's not that much here where I live, but I have seen a few restaurants in San Antonio that serve it.

As for LV...I lived there back in 2004 and enjoyed my time there, small town living is not that bad. You really do appreciate those kind of things once you are gone....

[lawburro]

Hah! Here is one for you! My mother-in-law sends us care packages of chile as well, both frozen and fresh. Well, this year, apparently the fresh chile alerted the post office, I guess it smelled too good or something. Anyways, the post office got scared of this package (which cost my poor mom-in-law $72 to mail overnight so it would get to us fresh...) and called in the haz-mat team. The haz mat team, from what we assume, the post office would not tell us anything, could not figure out why the package smelled the way it did, so they sprayed it down with some kind of chemical spray or water....Once the package was deemed harmless, it was left in the post office for three days before we received a yellow slip in the mailbox notifying us of a package waiting for pickup.....When we went to go pick up our delicious chile, they could not find it! It took 20 minutes and a major attitude match before someone recalled a "destroyed" box from NM "out in the back somewhere." And since my mother in law does not realize the importance of insuring things, she did not do so, so the entire thing was a huge loss!



I totally miss living in a small town at times...rush hour...ice storms at rush hour...election day...but what I miss the absolute most is the beautiful clear NM nighttime sky. There are no stars to see out here, it is so bright.

[Towanda]

I am from out of state, but I visit Santa Fe every year. My two favorite restaurants there are La Choza and Maria's New Mexican Kitchen. I love them both equally, but my husband is partial to La Choza. Harry's Roadhouse comes in a close third. Yum!

[Chaparral]

My wife's favorite restaurant in The City Different is Tomasita's. Very good food and very popular with locals & visitors alike, so you may have a short wait for a table. Their blue corn chicken enchiladas are awesome!

[ontheroad]

In Taos, near the El Prado line, you can find excellent, reasonably priced New Mexican food at "Orlando's" -- it's among the best I've had in all of New Mexico.

[ex_swappage]

Little Anitas!!! I lived in Denver for a while and they found their way there the last few years (two the last time i was there)...Called "new Mexican food" on the sign!