Santa Fe Restaurants

This funky little place near the Santa Fe plaza has Mexican food, BBQ and steaks. We tried the BBQ chicken sausage which came with lots of extras including BBQ beans. Also good was the quesadillas. The waitstaff was friendly and adorned in the latest 'cowgirl' fashions.

The Santacafe Restaurant is tucked away inside the historic Padre Gallegos House near the Plaza. We sat in a beautiful room which had a large deer skull mounted on the wall above a mantle. In front of the skull was a lush bouquet of flowers, a little homage to Georgia O'Keeffe I suppose.

The food was ornately presented and each dish had a contemporary flair. Nice place for a romantic dinner. In warmer weather, they serve in their beautiful courtyard as well.

Favorite Dish: For an appetizer, the Shiitake & Cactus Spring Rolls are excellent. The Goat Cheese Stuffed Chicken Breast was very rich.

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I think this will always be our first stop when we land into Santa Fe. Del Charro is attached to Inn of the Governors and is, hand's down, the best place anywhere near the plaza to fill your tummy without breaking the bank. The menu is limited to about 15 items but the value is huge: $6 burgers (with fries!), $5 quesadillas, $4 soup, a trio of desserts... It's all good and nothing is over $7 unless you add some extras like chicken to your nachos ($1.50) or cheese and green chile to your burger (75 cents apiece). There's even a $6 salmon wrap for non-carnivorous types.

Wash it all down with a house margarita shaken with Sauza Gold tequila and tequila-marinated lime. For about $6, you get a big shaker that will fill your glass nearly 3 times - and they are really, really good. Really. Of course, this being a bar, they also have all the usual cocktails, wines and beers and all at reasonable (for Santa Fe) prices.

The front part of the saloon is sort of dark, rustic and, well, saloon-like with a bank of French doors that open onto the street in the warmer months. The pleasant back patio is covered but bright and warmed in the winter with a big fireplace and space heaters. There's a little overflow bar area here that was our chosen spot for a few VERY happy hours with our shakers and green chile chicken nachos.

Service is friendly, the place is usually happily, noisily packed (with locals and tourists alike) and you just gotta go!
Note: you have to be 21, or with someone who is, to grab a seat here.

Favorite Dish: Green chili cheeseburgers, chicken nachos and, oh lordy, the margaritas. I'm figuring the p.p. price with a shaker of those darn things.

The restaurant is fairly large. We had to wait about 30 minutes on a Saturday afternoon at 3:00 but it was worth it. Great green chile and the wait staff were very good.

Favorite Dish: Sopapillas and margaritas. Fried dough and alcohol-how can that be bad?!

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This was fun. Cowgirl BBQ is corralled in a 100 year-old building in the Guadalupe district and herds of hungry locals and tourists come for the platters of stick-to-your-ribs Southwest and Western fare. The menu includes appetizers, BBQ ribs, chicken and brisket, chili, sandwiches, quesadillas, fajitas, steaks and even a handful of tasty entrees for vegetarians.

No white tablecloths here: the dining areas are decked out in rough-and-tumble Wild West, and the waitstaff sport boots, Stetsons and pearl-buttoned shirts. There is a great outdoor patio in front and another one out back that's every parent's dream: enclosed, astroturfed and with play equipment so grownups with fidgety small fry can enjoy their meal without having to rope 'em in. Little buckaroos have their own menu, too.

There's also a bar and live music most nights of the week. Service can be a little slow but with a beer or margarita in hand, just kick back and enjoy the wait. See the website for hours, menus, music schedule and more fun stuff. Prices can vary greatly depending on if you're coming for chili ($7.50) or a T-bone steak ($20.00), and lunch is just a few bucks cheaper than the dinner menu.

Favorite Dish: It's hard to have a favorite when you've only eaten at a place once? I'd say go for the BBQ - anything BBQ

The decor was okay but not great. The food though was great! I had a seafood platter that had a wide variety of seafood and portions so large I had to take most of it to go. I definitely recommend this place for anyone that likes seafood.

Favorite Dish: Seafood Platter; well prepared and large portions.

I have heard the food served at The Guadelupe Cafe described as "Northern New Mexican" and later as "New Mexican," but I never did get an answer as to whether those phrases simply referred to the geography or whether it is meant to reflect some sort of "nouvelle cuisine Mexicano." It seemed to be a very good array of Mexican food, especially breakfast, and demonstrated some touches and approaches which were a bit off the standard fare for a typical Mexican restaurant. There was adobe (or stucco), sunshine, and umbrellas but no pretense nor sense of ostentation and, especially for Santa Fe, which I love dearly but consider rather expensive, the prices were not that bad. Owner, and chef, Isabelle Koomoa delivers generous portions of delicious Santa Fe style specialties.

Favorite Dish: My favorites here are both breakfast items, but breakfast is often my favorite meal wherever I am eating. The green enchilada breakfast and the blue corn pinon nut bread French toast are at opposite ends of the taste spectrum but they are both delicious and perhaps show the range of cuisine available at the excellent restaurant.

Good salads. Lots of the ingredients are local from her farm or other farms in the region.
Patio seating was perfect well into October.

Favorite Dish: Several different salads. You can add meat, chicken or tofu, or not.