Best Restaurants in Santa Fe area (costs, to eat, friendly)

[Dancingearth]

Gabriel's is only worth going to for the guacamole anyway. Never thought the food was outstanding. My son wouldn't eat guacamole before going there--he's loved it ever since. All in the presentation. They should be treating locals better--tourism is down. Remember the place in Lamy? I took my kids out there one time and walked in to an empty restaurant and bar and was told they didn't have room for us! When I asked ahhh....what's with all the empty tables...they replied the train was bringing people down. I asked if we could sit at the bar and they said no. I never went back and it wasn't long before they closed. I heard they sold that marvelous wooden bar.

[Vinegaroon]

Originally Posted by Dancingearth

Gabriel's is only worth going to for the guacamole anyway. Never thought the food was outstanding. My son wouldn't eat guacamole before going there--he's loved it ever since. All in the presentation. They should be treating locals better--tourism is down. Remember the place in Lamy? I took my kids out there one time and walked in to an empty restaurant and bar and was told they didn't have room for us! When I asked ahhh....what's with all the empty tables...they replied the train was bringing people down. I asked if we could sit at the bar and they said no. I never went back and it wasn't long before they closed. I heard they sold that marvelous wooden bar.

Well, that is Lame...y

[Ria Rhodes]

Although I like favorite local places and good cheap eats as much as the next person, when I'm in SF I always make a special trip or two to my favorite Santa Fe restaurant on Washington Avenue - Santacafe. Dining alone? They have a bar that's conducive to solo dining. You're welcome.

[Towanda]

Hi Ria:

Our realtors when we bought our house were in the building next to Santa Cafe .. and they told us what a wonderful restaurant it is...and how popular with locals and visitors.

[Ria Rhodes]

Originally Posted by Towanda

Hi Ria:

Our realtors when we bought our house were in the building next to Santa Cafe .. and they told us what a wonderful restaurant it is...and how popular with locals and visitors.

Lucky you. I can only dream of living in that location. p.s. the native music performers who sometimes play at the farmers market in railroad area are wonderful! I tell friends of friends visiting for first time to try to catch that bit of NM/SF local color.

[Devin Bent]

Originally Posted by Towanda

Hi Ria:

Our realtors when we bought our house were in the building next to Santa Cafe .. and they told us what a wonderful restaurant it is...and how popular with locals and visitors.

You had the same firm we did. Our agent also took us there.

[Towanda]

They didn't take us to Santa Safe, because we only met them there at the office one time.

At other times, they took us to Harry's Roadhouse for breakfast (awesome!) and to Rio Chama just last week to celebrate our move.

So Santa Cafe is still on our list.

[Cathy4017]

Originally Posted by Towanda

I like many restaurants in Santa Fe.

I have never been to any of the expensive ones.

My favorites ~ all affordable ~ are:

La Choza.....

I was going through some of my cookbooks, and ran across an old one from 1988...The Pink Adobe Cookbook.

The original owner is dead by now, but I wondered if the restaurant were still in Santa Fe, run by family..? The original location was opened in 1944 in the Barrio de Analco, across the street from the San Miguel mission.

There are quite a few interesting recipes in the book, and this restaurant was apparently very well known at one time.

[Towanda]

Oh yeah, the Pink Adobe is still there. It's a Santa Fe institution, probably one of the most famous and popular restaurants in Santa Fe.

I personally didn't care for it the one time we went there some years ago. I didn't care for their menu - no enchiladas with green chile. I got something with red chile and I am not a huge red chile fan. The waitress was unbelievably snooty and we were paying A LOT to eat there for my husband's birthday.

There are so many fine restaurants in Santa Fe, I just probably would never go back there.

Rio Chama, where we went last week, is right next door to the Pink Adobe and is awesome. And I know the Governor eats there because we saw him. The service and atmosphere there and the menu were all fabulous.

[Cathy4017]

The waitress was unbelievably snooty and we were paying A LOT to eat there for my husband's birthday.

Ugh. One of those....I will remember that, thanks!!

It surprises me that there are no green chile enchiladas, since so many of the recipes in the book contain green chile!