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Eating out is a major pastime in Santa Fe and it's well worth coming here with a mind to join in on the fun. Restaurants with high-profile chefs stand beside low-key joints, many offering unique and intriguing variations on regional and international cuisine. You'll find restaurants full of locals and tourists alike all over the
Eating out is a major pastime in Santa Fe and it's well worth coming here with a mind to join in on the fun. Restaurants with high-profile chefs stand beside low-key joints, many offering unique and intriguing variations on regional and international cuisine. You'll fin
Eating out is a major pastime in Santa Fe and it's well worth coming here with a mind to join in on the fun. Restaurants
Eating out is a major pastime in Santa Fe and it's well worth coming here with a mind to join in on the fun. Restaurants with high-profile chefs stand beside low-key joints, many offering unique and intriguing variations on regional and international cuisine. You'll find restaurants full of locals and tourists alike all over the Downtown and surrounding areas. Although Santa Fe does have some high-end restaurants where dinner for two can exceed $200, the city also has plenty of reasonably priced dining options.
Waits for tables are very common during the busy summer season, so it's a good idea to call ahead even when reservations aren't accepted, if only to get a sense of the waiting time. Reservations for dinner at the better restaurants are a must in summer and on weekends the rest of the year.
So-called Santa Fe–style cuisine has so many influences that the term has become virtually meaningless, especially with many of the city’s top eateries embracing a more international approach to cuisine, albeit all the while sourcing more and more from local farms and ranches. At many top spots in town, you’ll detect Latin American, Mediterranean, and East Asian influences. Yet plenty of traditional, old-style Santa Fe restaurants still serve authentic New Mexican fare, which combines both Native American and Hispanic traditions and is quite different from Americanized as well as regional Mexican cooking.
Santa Fe's culinary reputation continues to grow not just in terms of restaurants but also in businesses that produce or sell specialty foods and beverages, from fine chocolates and local honeys and jams to increasingly acclaimed New Mexico wines, beers, and spirits. Don't miss Santa Fe Farmers' Market, one of the best in the Southwest.
This bastion of sophisticated contemporary cuisine occupies the historic Borrego House, built in 1756 by Geronimo Lopez, a massive-walled Canyon Road adobe with intimate white dining rooms, beamed ceilings, wood floors, fireplaces, and cushioned bancos (banquettes). It's a popular destination for a special meal, perhaps local rack of lamb with roasted leeks and a Merlot–natural jus reduction or mesquite grilled Maine lobster tails with a creamy garlic chile sauce. Desserts are artful and rich and the wine list is extensive. The restaurant is known for both its cuisine and its highly refined service, along with steep prices to match. In summer you can dine under the front portal; in winter the bar with fireplace has a sexier, less formal vibe.
Owner Quinn Stephenson (who also owns fine dining institution Coyote Cafe) now runs this long-acclaimed member of Santa Fe's culinary vanguard with a lighter menu focused on fresh, fusion cuisine, and it remains one of Santa Fe's must-eat destinations. The minimalist, elegant restaurant is located two blocks north of the Plaza in the historic Padre Gallegos House and offers inventive dishes from chef Dale Kester. The playful bronze animal sculptures found both indoors and out add an earthy-yet-ethereal atmosphere. The inviting shaded patio is pretty, quiet, and the place to see-and-be-seen during warm weather while the private dining room seats about 12 and can be rented out for special occasions.
231 Washington Ave., Santa Fe, New Mexico, 87501, USA
Chef-restauranteur Joseph Wrede has garnered countless accolades since the 1990s at various restaurants in Taos and then Santa Fe, and his current eatery—a stylish gastropub set in a vintage adobe with low beamed ceilings, slate floors, and a cozy patio—continues to showcase his considerable talents, featuring a menu of deliciously updated comfort fare. Dishes you're already familiar with receive novel twists, including caviar-topped duck fat-fried potato chips with crème fraîche, pickled onion, and cured egg yolk; and posole verde with chicken, a farm egg, tomatillos, and avocado. The steak au poivre is one of the best in town, and Joseph's doesn't skimp on the desserts either—save some space or you may miss out on a very sweet ending.
428 Agua Fria St., Santa Fe, New Mexico, 87501, USA
Set in a rustic yet modern space, Radish & Rye stands out both for its deftly crafted American food and one of the best small-batch bourbon selections in the Southwest. The kitchen focuses on "farm-inspired" victuals—seasonally rotating dishes like roasted beets and labneh cheese with piñon vinaigrette, and grilled local pork chops with bacon, polenta, and wild mushrooms. Be sure to choose one or two of the tasty sides, such as duck-fat fingerling potatoes, bourbon-pickled jalapeños, or green chile corn bake. Already eaten dinner elsewhere? Stop in for a slice of bourbon pecan pie with crème Anglaise and chantilly or an Abuelito cocktail (Buffalo Trace bourbon, smoked dark tobacco, Carpano Antica, and bitters).
505 Cerillos Rd., Santa Fe, New Mexico, 87501, USA
Having cooked at some of the best restaurants in town (Geronimo, the Old House, Anasazi), acclaimed James Beard–nominated chef Martín Rios now flexes his culinary muscles in his own simple, elegant restaurant with a gorgeous patio. Rios prepares progressive American cuisine, which is heavily influenced by his French culinary training. Dinner entrées include a delicious vegetarian-tasting plate, maple leaf duck breast, and New Zealand lamb.
526 Galisteo St., Santa Fe, New Mexico, 87501, USA
This romantic restaurant with hardwood floors, soft lighting, and stone walls has a menu that presents upscale versions of classic fare such as steak, fish, and chicken. For a less formal vibe, have dinner and cocktails at the convivial bar or enjoy breakfast on the lively street-side patio. A tasting table in the center of the space is available for reserved private tequila tastings.
113 Washington Ave., Santa Fe, New Mexico, 87501, USA
This folk-art-filled restaurant, with decor by famed designer Alexander Girard, is one of the most well-known dining spots in town. The oft-changing menu is devoted to seasonal and local ingredients with a variety of meats, fish, and pastas. The extensive, and expensive, wine list will please the most discerning oenophile. Lunch is as popular as dinner with the chicken schnitzel a popular favorite. In warm weather, enjoy the charming patio while younger folks prefer sitting at the u-shaped bar that has a more social atmosphere than the dining room.
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