Where to eat in Santa Fe: 8 spots for breakfast burritos, blue corn doughnuts and green chile

Where to eat in Santa Fe, from the breakfast burrito said to have started it all to a rib-eye worth booking ahead for, plus a counter-serve tostada, blue corn doughnuts and centuries-old drinking chocolate.

I’ll be straight-up truthful: the food in Santa Fe is some of the best you can get your hands on. The city sits at the heart of New Mexican cooking, a cuisine all of its own, built on red and green chile, blue corn, posole and sopaipillas, with Spanish, Mexican and Native American roots.

I spent some time here in February, at the end of a road trip through New Mexico, and a good part of it was spent eating. There were chile-smothered breakfasts, a tostada I found completely off the cuff, doughnuts made with blue corn and a rib-eye that might just be the best steak I’ve ever had.

These are the places I’d send you to, from the first breakfast burrito of the day to a nightcap of local whiskey, with what to order, what it costs and what to know before you go.

Where to eat in Santa Fe

Order your breakfast burrito “Christmas” at Tia Sophia’s

If there’s one meal you should make sure you have when you’re in the city, it’s breakfast at Tia Sophia’s. It was the most epic breakfast, and it’s an absolute must.

This family-run New Mexican diner, a short walk west of the Plaza, has been serving breakfast burritos since 1975. The city claims to be the birthplace of the breakfast burrito, and they say this is where it was invented. The burritos get filled with scrambled eggs, potatoes, cheese and your choice of bacon, sausage or chorizo, then smothered in red or green chile.

Can’t decide? Order both. Asking for your chile “Christmas” style is now standard across New Mexico, and local legend credits a waitress at Tia Sophia’s with coining the phrase, telling undecided diners to have both because “it’s Christmas”. That’s how I had mine. It cost me around $14, the portions are HUGE, and I’m drooling as I’m writing this, just FYI. That is how you start your day.

If you’re not in a burrito mood, the menu runs through the classics: huevos rancheros, blue corn pancakes, green chile stew and sopaipillas.

Need to know: 210 West San Francisco Street. Monday to Saturday, 7am to 2pm; closed on Sundays. No reservations, and it fills up quickly, so get there early (a weekday mid-morning is your best bet for a short wait). Expect to pay about $10 to $20 a head.

Book ahead for the rib-eye at Radish & Rye

I’m going to take a moment to rave about dinner at Radish & Rye. Take my advice: it’s the best restaurant in town, and you should make a reservation if you know what’s good for you.

The kitchen calls its cooking farm-inspired with Southern sensibilities, built around local and regional produce, and the menu changes with the seasons, so you can always expect inventive and delicious dishes.

I had a rib-eye steak, and, not to be dramatic here, but I think it seriously might be the best steak I’ve ever had. If there’s a rib-eye on the menu when you visit, order it. The bar is just as serious, with a long list of bourbons and ryes and a menu of speciality cocktails.

Need to know: 505 Cerrillos Road, a short walk from the Railyard. Dinner only, Tuesday to Saturday, from 5pm. OpenTable puts it at $31 to $50 a head. Book online or by phone (the reservation line opens at 3pm). No children under eight, and groups of six or more pay a 22% service charge.

Grab a chicken tostada at Bumble Bee’s Baja Grill

You don’t see Bumble Bee’s in many recommendations for places to eat in town. Which, I think, is a real shame. I found it completely off the cuff, and it might just be the find of your life: this Mexican counter-serve spot dishes up fantastic food at a fraction of the price of some of the more hyped places nearby.

The menu runs through Baja-style tacos, burritos, quesadillas, salads and homemade salsas. The chicken tostada is elite (a mad tostada, honestly): a crisp corn tortilla piled with guacamole, cabbage, pico de gallo, Cotija cheese, pumpkin seeds and roasted corn. I very much recommend washing it down with a Jamaica agua fresca, an iced hibiscus drink.

It works like this: you order at the counter, get a number card and they bring your food over. I cannot recommend it enough.

Need to know: 301 Jefferson Street, the original downtown branch (the Cerrillos Road branch has closed). Open daily for lunch and early dinner, usually 11am to 8pm. The chicken tostada is about $10 on the current menu, and tacos are a few dollars each, so this is one of the best-value meals in town.

Taste Zacatecas in New Mexico at Zacatlán

If you’re at a loss for what to do, there’s always the option to eat good food. Zacatlán, on Aztec Street, about ten minutes’ walk from the Plaza, is one of the most exciting places to eat in the city.

Chef and owner Eduardo Rodriguez grew up in Zacatecas, in Mexico, and his menu blends the flavours of his roots with Southwestern ingredients, with plenty of seafood and dishes that change with the seasons. Think bone marrow with green chile, branzino al pastor and mole, with Mexican spirits, margaritas and a decent wine list at the bar. The James Beard Foundation has taken notice too, with nods for Best New Restaurant and for Rodriguez as Best Chef: Southwest.

Save room for dessert. The plates are as pretty as they are good, and the colourful, welcoming dining room makes it an excellent spot for dinner with friends.

Need to know: 317 Aztec Street. Dinner from 5pm and brunch from Thursday to Sunday (10.30am to 2.30pm). Its own website and OpenTable list slightly different dinner days, so check before you go. OpenTable puts it at $31 to $50 a head; the dress code is business casual. Book on OpenTable or by phone.

Fill up on chile-smothered plates at Palacio

The city is filled with so many cool spots to eat, but Palacio is right up there with my favourites. This relaxed café on East Palace Avenue, a couple of minutes’ walk from the Plaza, is an easy, unfussy stop when you’re sightseeing downtown.

I recommend it for its tantalising New Mexican breakfasts: think plates smothered in red or green chile and melted cheese, with warm tortillas on the side. Later in the day, the menu moves on to enchilada and tamale plates, burritos, soups, salads and deli-style sandwiches, with organic coffee and espresso if you need a pick-me-up between museums.

Need to know: 209 East Palace Avenue. Opens at 7.30am. Listings disagree on its closing time and whether it closes on Tuesdays, so check the day’s hours before you go.

Try a blue corn doughnut at Whoo’s Donuts

At Whoo’s Donuts, the doughnuts are so fresh you’ll swear they just jumped out of the fryer and into your mouth. These are epic doughnuts, with uniquely New Mexican flavours.

Want a little kick in your morning pastry? Try the green chile apple fritter. And the blueberry and blue corn doughnut? Chef’s kiss. It’s the stuff that dreams are made of. Other flavours rotate, with combinations such as blue corn maple pecan and blue corn lavender.

From Thursday to Saturday, the shop stays open into the evening and switches to sourdough pizza, with blue corn crusts and toppings like sausage and green chile.

Need to know: 851 Cerrillos Road, a short drive (or a 25-minute walk) from the Plaza. Opens daily at 7am, until 2pm from Sunday to Wednesday and until 7pm from Thursday to Saturday.

Warm up with centuries-old drinking chocolate at Kakawa Chocolate House

Kakawa Chocolate House is one of the city’s most unusual treats. It specialises in artisanal chocolate and, above all, drinking chocolate.

The stars of the show are its chocolate elixirs, rich drinking chocolates based on historic recipes. They’re grouped by era, from Mesoamerican drinks spiced with chile to 1600s European blends, alongside newer contemporary flavours. There are truffles, barks and bars too, if you want something to take home.

Yes, the weather can be chilly in winter, but you can warm up with a hot chocolate here, and the original shop sits near the bottom of Canyon Road, so it’s an easy add-on to an afternoon of gallery hopping (see my guide to things to do in Santa Fe).

Need to know: 1050 Paseo de Peralta, Monday to Saturday 11am to 6pm and Sunday noon to 6pm. A second shop at 851 West San Mateo Road opens Monday to Saturday, 10am to 5.30pm. The Rufina Street shop has closed.

End the night with local whiskey at Santa Fe Spirits

If you love going where locals go, the Santa Fe Spirits Read Street tasting room is the place to be. I stopped in for a cocktail one evening. Everything on the shelves is distilled by the company itself, in a line-up built to capture the flavours of northern New Mexico.

Look out for the Original Santa Fe Whiskey, Desert Bloom Gin, Expedition Vodka, Apple Brandy and Atapiño liqueur. Order a tasting flight if you want to compare, or go for one of the house cocktails, such as the Ortiz Mountain Gold Rush. On a cold winter evening, an apple brandy here is a very good way to warm up.

The tasting room doesn’t do food, so have dinner first.

Need to know: 308 Read Street, near the Railyard. Wednesday to Friday, 4pm to 9pm, and Saturday and Sunday, noon to 9pm; closed Mondays and Tuesdays. Distillery tours run at the production site on Mallard Way, on the south-west side of town (book online).

Red, green or Christmas? Tips for eating out in Santa Fe

• Know your chile: “Red or green?” is New Mexico’s official state question, and you’ll be asked it with almost every New Mexican dish. Green chile is roasted and chopped; red is made from dried, ripened pods. Heat varies from batch to batch, so ask which is hotter that day, or say “Christmas” and get both.
• Book dinner, not breakfast: reserve ahead for Radish & Rye and Zacatlán, especially at weekends. The breakfast spots don’t take bookings, so arrive early instead.
• Check opening hours: plenty of places close mid-afternoon or mid-week. Tia Sophia’s closes at 2pm and on Sundays, Radish & Rye is closed on Sundays and Mondays, and Santa Fe Spirits on Mondays and Tuesdays.
• Mind the altitude: the city sits at about 7,000 feet, so drink plenty of water, and go easy on the margaritas on your first night.
• Make a weekend of it: my Santa Fe weekend itinerary fits these meals around the city’s best sights.

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Read next

• The best things to do in Santa Fe
• How to spend a weekend in Santa Fe
• The best day trips from Santa Fe
• The best things to do in New Mexico
• Meow Wolf Santa Fe
• The best things to do in Albuquerque

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