8 Best Restaurants in Day Trips from Santa Fe, New Mexico

Sure, it looks like a dusty old cowboy bar and it is set right in the heart of a village that's appeared in several Western movies, but the extensive menu of creative breakfast plates, sandwiches, and grills reveals a locavore-minded approach to food that you might not expect from the setting. You might start the day with the Saloon Scramble, a hefty plate of feathery eggs served with green onions, venison-blueberry sausage, and jalapeño hot sauce; or later in the day, consider the thinly roasted lamb with vegetables, Manchego cheese, and a refreshing yogurt sauce atop naan flatbread.

Reasonably priced, cheerfully decorated, and offering some of the tastiest food in the Rio Chama Valley, this adobe café-bakery run by the former tour manager of the nearby Georgia O'Keeffe Home & Studio. The eclectic made-from-scratch cooking here runs the gamut from New Mexican (green chile cheeseburgers, roasted and stuffed poblanos) to international (red lentil dal, roasted-turkey crepes with cheddar and cranberry sauce). There's a nice selection of wines, mostly from Spain and Italy, and you'll always find a variety of tantalizing house-made desserts.

A rollicking old bar and restaurant adjacent to the Old Coal Mine Museum, this boisterous place—there's live music many nights—was a miners' commissary back in the day. Today it serves impressive burgers (available with Angus beef, Wagyu beef, buffalo, or mushroom-veggie), along pizzas, tacos, and other comfort fare. There's a fine selection of local craft beers on tap, plus first-rate margaritas. 

You can't miss the vivid murals on the building in sleepy Peñasco that houses both a vintage theater and an intimate restaurant where acclaimed chef-owners Kai Harper Leah and Ki Holste serve up tantalizing farm-to-table fare, from bountiful salads and juicy burgers to triple-layer chocolate cake. This is the best restaurant on the High Road, hands down. Espresso drinks and dessert also hit the spot. You can dine on the side patio in warm weather.

This endearingly modest hole-in-the-wall on the tree-shaded main drag of tiny El Rito doesn't look like much from the outside, but devotees drive for miles to taste the stick-to-your-ribs classic New Mexican specialties, including a rich, smoky green chile stew that's garnered numerous awards and accolades. The drive here—it's about 20 minutes from both Abiquiú and Ojo Caliente—offers stunning views back east toward the Sangre de Cristo mountains.

Seasoned hippies, youthful hipsters, and everyone in between congregate at Java Junction for lattes, chai, sandwiches, breakfast burritos, bagels, pastries, and other treats. You can also pick up a number of house-made gourmet goods, from hot sauces to jalapeño-raspberry preserves. Upstairs there's a pleasantly decorated suite available for overnight stays.

This simple, cheerful spot in the center of town serves mostly authentic New Mexico fare along with a few Mediterranean-inspired dishes. You might start your day off with a stick-to-your-ribs breakfast of chile-smothered huevos rancheros, while enchiladas, burritos, and other local favorites are good bets for lunch or an early dinner (the restaurant closes at 6 pm).