La Choza ~ Santa Fe, New Mexico

Latest visit: Nov 2024

First visit: Sep 2014

For the first time since we started going to New Mexico, we didn't spend a night in Santa Fe, rather focusing more on Albuquerque. I had originally wanted to spend one night after our dinner, but the hotels were double the usual price. There didn't seem to be any one reason for this, but we made the decision to eat at La Choza for dinner and then drive to ABQ afterward. To underscore that point, if I know I'm only getting one dinner in Santa Fe, then it's highly likely to be La Choza. We followed our recent ritual as noted below. After doing some thrifting in the late afternoon, we arrived at La Choza not long after 4 PM. Put our name on the list, and wait for them to open at 4:30. This time we weren't seated in the private room overlooking the street, but rather right by the bar which is an entirely different atmosphere. We dived right in for two margaritas (and ordered another two later), a basket of chips, and salsa. The chips seemed a little more salty than usual and it also seems they changed their recipe for the salsa (more chunky, more spicy). We ordered our usual blue corn chicken adovada enchiladas smothered in red with rice and beans (we have to remember to substitute posole for rice). Hard to imagine anything being better! We use the sopaipillas for dessert, though we should have had them bring that after our meal, as they were not hot by the time we got to them.

Only bummer is that they charged us $4 for extra salsa. That kind of nickel and diming is rather insulting considering the popularity of the restaurant. And the fact that the salsa is more chunky makes it go faster. That's their first demerit in 10 years of going here. All the same, La Choza remains one of only a handful of RJG annual rotation restaurants outside of Colorado Springs.

---5/30/23 update

You had to see this coming. And what's more is that we are here to celebrate Mrs. RJG's 50th birthday! It is her favorite restaurant in the country. It is, as it turns out, my favorite restaurant in the country too. Neat how that works. What isn't revealed anywhere below is that I went here for my 50th birthday too! Way back in 2014, when we first discovered La Choza, I made the decision to come back for my birthday. It was the second visit on the same trip, something we never do. Now no trip to Santa Fe is possible without a visit to La Choza. If we can't come here, we don't want to come to the city. It's that simple.

We've also learned to time our visit perfectly. Just as last year, we got here 20 minutes before opening, found easy parking, got our name on the list, and were seated promptly at 4:30. I wish they would open up the bar again like they used to. What we didn't know is that La Choza isn't as packed as every other time we'd been for the last 9 years, including last year. Perhaps the ultimate example that inflation is destroying the restaurant industry. When we left, there was nobody waiting. I've never seen that before. Still, I wouldn't want to chance it. And besides we like to eat dinner early anyway.

You can read below on what we had for dinner and drinks. I made one mistake though. Since it was Mrs. RJG's birthday I thought it would be nice to upgrade our margaritas from the usual House to a Premium choice. Not a great plan. Too boozy for us. We like the cheap stuff! lol. I finished her first one, and she ordered a House and was happy again. The other diversion this time is that they buried everything in red chile. That includes the beans, rice, and lettuce. I prefer that they leave those plain. But it's hard to complain about having too much of the greatest red sauce we've ever had. So not a demerit, but an anomaly. We think it was something we said. Something akin to "bury it in red". Haha.

Still the greatest restaurant in the country for our tastes.

--- 4/13/22 update

Back for our first visit since 2019. 2020 was closed and we tried in 2021 twice but the lines were insane due to social distancing laws. Though things are back to normal for the most part, we decided to arrive at about 4:20, 10 minutes prior to open. Oh wow, look at that, a place to park! They take names at the door, and then proceed to wait for your name to be called starting at 4:30. Planning ahead works again. We were about 6th in order, and were promptly seated at a quiet table by the window. Started right off with a couple of house margaritas, delicious as ever. Amazing how much better a margarita is when they actually put tequila in it. We proceeded to get the chips and salsa, as delicious as we remember it. The salsa packs a pretty mean punch. I went with my staple of 2 chicken adovada enchiladas, rice (substituted for the posole), whole pinto beans, and lettuce. Buried in red chile. Meal came out blazing hot and stayed that way through the duration. Perfectly cooked, perfectly spicy. Mrs. RJG had almost exactly the same thing except she stayed with the posole (instead of rice), which isn't soupy, but rather fully cooked hominy with small chunks of pork. We were completely silent as we devoured our meal, leaving nothing on the plate as we were both scraping the last vestiges of chile off the plate. Sopaipillas make the perfect dessert as we added honey to each bite. Did I mention we had a second margarita each? Absolutely no downturn in quality or service, unlike just about everywhere else. Simply the best restaurant there is.

---original 9/10/15 review

Unlike the other restaurants we've reported on so far in Santa Fe, La Choza is consistently rated as one of the top dining spots in the area, and is very well known. Is it tourist hype and group think? Not at all. In fact, the RJG is close to rating La Choza as our favorite restaurant in Santa Fe as well. We've now been 5 times in a four year period, and it gets our coveted 5 star rating!

La Choza has to be considered one of the gold standards for New Mexican cooking. We've smothered a few items in their famous chile's, and never have we left without huge smiles of happiness. In general, regarding the chile, I've stuck with the Christmas standard. Their green is slightly spicy and I would consider it good to very good in flavor. Their red chile is quite simply the best I've ever had - and one of the best food items I've ever had. It's so velvety in texture with flavors that continue to explode as time goes on. It's not particularly spicy either (though hotter than the green on average - it's seasonal). Remember my comment on the Horseman's Haven review about "It's not about the heat, it's about the flavor"? I think they can't get La Choza out of their head. And, yea, I can understand that too. Chips and salsa are an extra purchase, which we've done in the past (recall being excellent but too long ago), but eschewed this time around. All meals come with a sopaipilla (or garlic bread or a tortilla - c'mon get the sopaipilla), that they deliver steaming hot at the end of the meal. I darn near burned my face opening it up this time! Can't really recommend anything beyond this: You must order something that is buried in the red chile. I'm salivating as I write this.

For drinks they have tequila, margaritas, wine, and even craft beer on tap. Like a total dope, I ordered the frozen margarita. When will I ever learn that no one does frozen margs better than what we have in Texas? Of course, it was watered down. My fault. I knew better. Mrs. RJG, on the other hand, being the smart one in the marriage, ordered a house margarita on the rocks. I had one sip and was envious all night. Delicious, and plenty of tequila in there too!

As mentioned at the top, La Choza's reputation is well earned, is featured in every magazine imaginable, and as such, it fills up quickly. Reservations are recommended (2022 update: which they don't take anymore), or you can do what the RJG does and show up not long after opening (we always go for dinner). As well, it seems that all great New Mexican restaurants in Santa Fe come with difficult-at-first parking. The restaurant is hidden behind the Santa Fe Railyard at the mobbed intersection of St. Francis and Cerrillos. Get your trusty Google Map App out, and wind your way to the back roads. There is a parking lot behind the restaurant and through the fenced area. Like the restaurant, it fills up quick.  If you go early, easy breezy. Otherwise, it's street parking. The restaurant itself is the old headquarters of a former ranch. It has many rooms, and outside seating as well. And a bar area, which you can dine in as well. Very comfortable surroundings. La Choza first opened in 1983, and has been gathering awards ever since.

9/9/14; 9/10/15 (new entry); 8/4/16; 4/22/17; 10/21/18; 3/22/19; 4/13/22; 5/30/23; 11/14/24