First visit: Feb 2021
We first tried to go to our favorite Santa Fe restaurant, that of La Choza (see labels for our review). We kind of knew it was a futile effort. The governor had just lifted the restaurant lockdowns. Which meant only 25% capacity. And it was on a Friday late afternoon (a little before 5). Let's see - super popular restaurant, just opened after a few months of being closed, on a Friday night. Yep - two hour wait. Probably more, but that's what they told us. Next.
We didn't really have a backup plan as it seemed all of our favorites were either closed for renovations, not willing to open yet, served only breakfast and lunch, or were maybe closed for good. However I did research other New Mexican restaurants prior to leaving Colorado. And I did recall someone - who, I don't know - mentioning we should try this place on the outskirts of town. I figured it might be our best bet, without knowing its popularity either. We raced over. Almost no one there. That can be a good thing or a bad thing, but we were hungry, so let's give it a shot.
First of all, it's a spacious place, just the kind of restaurant that is more welcoming in this environment. I saw a bar when we came in, so things were looking up. Friendly service followed. "Do you guys serve alcohol?" we asked. Not yet, was the response. Not sure if that meant they used to and will again, or they just applied for a license. OK fine, water it is. We ordered chips and salsa to get rolling. Not bad at all, good crispy corn chips and a very chunky salsa with a lot of flavor and a decent amount of spice. We would have preferred the sauce to be a bit more pureed, and hotter (always hotter it seems), but definitely worth the expense. We then proceeded to order our test dishes, though in this case, it was the same thing. Smothered chicken enchiladas with rice and beans. Christmas of course. The chicken was excellent, pollo asado style, and the corn tortillas were light and easy to digest. The sliced green chiles sauce proved to be the hotter and more flavorful of the two. The red, not so much. Similar to our Little Anita's recent venture, I tackled these in the wrong order. The rice and beans were very good, though not exceptional. They left the sopapillas at the same time as delivering the order, so they weren't hot by the time we got to them (they may have not been at the beginning either, we just waited to eat them as dessert). Kraft packaged honey was the condiment. Light and fluffy - well done for sure.
So where do we stand here? We liked it. A good reliable option for any lengthy stay in Santa Fe. For quick visits, there are just too many others ahead in the line. If there's a favorite dish we should be trying instead, please do feel free to opine.
We do want to say Thank You to Pecos Trail Cafe for being the first restaurant in New Mexico to allow the RJG back. And it was a pleasurable experience with excellent service. I'm sure we'll be coming back at some point.
2/12/21 (new entry)
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