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Restaurants Overview

Eating out is a major pastime in Santa Fe. Several high-profile chefs run restaurants here, but quite a few divey joints also serve highly acclaimed food. People sometimes complain about the steep restaurant prices (often as much as what you pay in New York or San Francisco), and although most of the high-end restaurants are worth it, you can find some great bargains if you look around a bit. Eateries frequented by locals and that serve great cuisine are often outside of downtown and away from the Plaza. 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.

So-called Santa Fe-style cuisine has so many influences that the term is virtually meaningless. Traditional, old-style Santa Fe restaurants serve New Mexican fare, which combines both Native American and Hispanic traditions and differs markedly from Americanized or even authentic Mexican cooking. Many of the better restaurants in town serve a contemporary regional style of cooking that blends New Mexican ingredients and preparations with those of interior and coastal Mexico, Latin America, the Mediterranean, East Asia, and varied parts of the United States. There are a few respected Italian restaurants in town, and a growing number of commendable Asian eateries, but all in all the city's ethnic culinary diversity is a bit limited.