Valentina's ~ Santa Fe, New Mexico

Latest visit: Jun 2023

First visit: Apr 2022

Valentina's is a restaurant that I was very excited to revisit. Last year was our first try, and we had a great experience. We also knew that it would be a lot of food. Having eaten sensibly the night before at The Ranch House, and getting our 3 mile run in, we were ready to tackle the big breakfast that Valentina's offers. And I'm happy to report everything is just as it was in 2022. Incredible chips and salsa and a monster burrito smothered in red, which was blazing hot spicy as was the salsa. With a big ol' ham steak jammed in there too. Last year I mentioned the green was more typical, but Mrs. RJG persisted to try it again and this time it was better than I remembered. And honestly burying everything in the red is just too much of that one flavor. I'm going back to Christmas. Valentina's is currently one of our favorite Santa Fe restaurants. No trip can go without at least a visit here.

If you read at the bottom of the below review, neither Sunrise nor Tortilla Flats made it to the itinerary. Just too many great places to eat in Santa Fe!

---original 4/14/22 review

Despite going to a number of restaurants in Santa Fe this week, we had yet to try something new. Our Airbnb host left a sheet behind of recommend places to try. La Choza was on there for example, so we knew the recs were probably spot on. This was the only other New Mexican place on the list. 

Oh yes, this is definitely a great recommendation!

First off, Valentina's sits in a shopping center, so there's actually a place to park. In fact it's the same one that houses Pho Kim, a Vietnamese place we enjoy but haven't gone back to in some years (it's in the RJG). Walking in, you'll see a relatively large restaurant painted in bright colors with unique art. Very much an Hispanic atmosphere pervades. 

Open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, you'll be provided with a large menu. We ordered chips and salsa to start on this particular breakfast outing. Whoa! These are some of the best homemade corn chips we've had in sometime. And the salsa is very spicy and has an incredible chile flavor. In fact the taste experience reminded us of a place in Nampa, Idaho called El Rinconcito. It's a combination of a blazing salsa against the corn taste that just explodes in your mouth. We were regulars to that restaurant when the RJG had a consulting gig at Boise State in the latter half of 1998 and early 1999. On a return visit in 2014, it wasn't the same, and I see now it's out of business. What a shame. In any case - thank you Valentina's for ensuring that flavor still exists! Both Mrs. RJG and I remembered it exactly the same without leading the witness. Well that certainly set the mood right.

Now time for the main entries. I had the breakfast burrito with eggs, ham, and potatoes, smothered in Christmas. OK, these guys are just showing off now. This is larger than the others ones we've tried, and the ham is not just diced but rather cut slices from a fully cooked ham steak! Wow. The green was good, but rather non distinctive. It's the red that gets the shout out. A very dark variety loaded with flavor. I'll be sure to smother my next ham & eggs burrito in the red only on my next visit. Mrs. RJG went with her staple of Huevos Rancheros. Her experience was similar, though she was more favorable to the green, but preferred the red as well. She liked the refried beans, only lamenting she wished they were of a hotter temperature. We always want Abuelo's hot!

All in all, a super first encounter. With Tortilla Flats making a comeback, and now Valentina's, did Sunrise just get knocked out of contention? 

4/14/22 (new entry); 6/10/23