Contact Us

Except for perhaps Louisiana, no state can boast a cuisine as unique as New Mexico. Santa Fe, with a selection of more than 200 restaurants, allows visitors to readily explore the different variations of New Mexican food.

When people think of New Mexican food, they automatically think of Mexican, but often those "Mexican" dishes are really New Mexican. They evolved from traditional Native American recipes, and are based on three basic ingredients: corn, chile, and beans.

New Mexico takes chile seriously. New Mexico State University’s agricultural school located in the southern part of the State in Las Cruces, has helped to perfect several strains of tasty and unique peppers that contribute to the unique flavor of New Mexican food. High in vitamins A and C, the chile plant, related to the tomato and potato plants, originated south of Mexico.

In the 1500s Spanish explorers found the plant being cultivated in New Mexico, which now boasts more acreage dedicated to this tasty delight than any other state in the union. Many New Mexican families cultivate their own varieties of chile, harvesting the chile and saving the seeds to plant next year because the particular flavor suits their family's tastes. The southern part of New Mexico, near the Hatch/Las Cruces area, is particularly well known for growing chile. New Mexico State University in Las Cruces has developed many new flavors and degrees of hotness in the pepper for commercial uses.

Yes, New Mexico takes chile very seriously, and you've never tasted chile until you've had it freshly prepared.

"Red or green?" is now recognized as the official state question of New Mexico. Of course it refers to the color of chile one prefers. Which would you prefer?

Red and green chile the same vegetable. Green chile is picked when green, these chiles are roasted, peeled, and generally made into a tasty sauce or sprinkled fresh on almost everything for a biting, toe-tingling effect.

When green chile is left on the plant to ripen it turns red. After picking, red chiles are hung to dry in ristras. These colorful red ristras are often seen as decorations, but they are quite more than that. With the seeds and veins removed, the dried red chile pods are crushed into a powder and made into tasty red chile sauce. As well as having a surprising heat, studies have indicated that an element of the chile is indeed mildly addictive.

To sample both red and green chile and to learn the subtle differences between New Mexican and related types of food, consider visiting these restaurants when you visit Santa Fe.

To sample the excellent flavor of red chile, you might consider a visit to either The Shed or La Choza restaurants in Santa Fe. Local favorites, each year the owner of these two establishments visits the same chile farmers in Hatch and purchases the entire output of two specific fields and mixes them together to achieve a unique flavor.

Green chile is especially tasty at Maria's New Mexican Kitchen, Tia Sophia's Restaurant, and Tecolote Cafe. Maria's is also indisputably the Margarita Capital of the World (the owner, Al Lucero, literally wrote the book on the subject with a forward by Robert Redford) and also has a very creative and extensive menu including first-class steaks. Call ahead for reservations, and enjoy a margarita or two while you wait.

One of Santa Fe’s long-term local hangouts, The Pantry, features superb red and green chile and is another place not to be missed. The owners of this fine restaurant recently opened another one on the south end of town, colorfully named The Flying Tortilla. Both restaurants boast a large following of locals.

Green chile at breakfast is quite an experience and one not to be missed, and two restaurants in Santa Fe prepare green chile for breakfast especially well. Tia Sophia's is located right downtown and it's rumored that the owner of the restaurant invented the breakfast burrito - it's not hard to believe. Packed with locals (important business and political decisions are made there every morning) don't miss this for breakfast at least once to sample the excellent green chile.

And elbow your way in past the locals at Tecolote Cafe (Owl Cafe). Tecolate is one of those soul-satisfying home-owned breakfast places that every city has...a full, wonderful breakfast menu, with the added attraction of very tasty green chile.

Now, contrast New Mexican food with excellent Mexican food at Santa Fe's Mucho Gusto Restaurant, located downtown. One entrée not to be missed is the chicken breast stuffed with sun-dried tomatoes and nutty cheeses, topped with a smoky chipotle chile/mushroom cream sauce.

Contrast Mexican and New Mexican food with Spanish food at El Farol, one of Santa Fe's oldest restaurants. Enjoy lamb, seafood, curry dishes, hot and cold tapas, and probably the best selection of Spanish wines in the US. Another place to find excellent Spanish food is El Meson, and go on a Friday night to hear jazz standards performed by Brian Lewis and his Three Faces of Jazz, a local jazz legend.

A totally unique dining experience – one that combines the best of Mexican, Spanish, and New Mexican cuisine – can be found at Los Mayas. There is a wonderful emphasis on seafood here and some of the best made-to-order guacamole that goes down just right with cold Mexican beer. All this is served in an an open, convivial atmosphere, so bring the kids.

The quality of New Mexican cuisine in Santa Fe is also reflected in the wide variety of other types of food available in the City. For example, Italian restaurants such as Andiamo, Osteria, Il Piatto and Julian's are among the finest in the world. Creative continental cuisine with a southwestern flavor is available at a wide variety of first class restaurants, establishments which rival the best restaurants in the world for food quality and preparation, as well as in service.

Santa Fe makes a strong bid to lay claim to the title as "gastronomic capital of North America", and, measured on a per capita basis, Santa Fe wins this title hands-down. Incidentally, no promotional fee was paid by any of these restaurants - we want you to enjoy your first experience with real red and green chile.

No reservations unless otherwise noted:
• El Farol, 808 Canyon Road, 505-983-9912. Reservations.
• La Choza, 905 Alarid Street, 505-982-0909.
• Maria's New Mexican Kitchen, 555 West Cordova Road, 505-983-7929. Reservations.
• Mucho Gusto, 2434 Cerrillos Road, 505-473-0338. Reservations.
• The Shed, 113 1/2 Palace Avenue, 505-982-9030.
• Tecolote Cafe, 1203 Cerrillos Road, 505-988-1362.
• Tia Sophia's, 210 West San Francisco, 505-983-9880.
• The Pantry, 1820 Cerrillos Road, 505-986-0022
• The Flying Tortilla, 4250 Cerrillos Road, 505-424-1680
• El Meson, 213 Washington Avenue, 505-983-6756
• Los Mayas, 409 W. Water St, 505-986-9930. Reservations.