New Mexican food is best when it’s home-cooked. Enchiladas, posole, chicos, and other standard dishes are my region’s basic comfort food and both my mom and my wife are experts in dishing out these favorite foods. But even experts need a break sometimes.
Those of us lucky enough to live in Santa Fe, NM, have a wealth of New Mexican restaurants from which we can choose to visit when our resident New Mexican home-chefs want to get out of the kitchen. There are two (2) places that I think seem to represent the best of New Mexican cuisine: 1) Tomasitas; and, 2) La Choza. While these two (2) places are frequented by both locals and tourists alike and with great reason, the problem is that the wait for a table is simply prohibitive. Because they are generally accepted as the best Santa Fe New Mexican restaurants, they are both way too busy and I am way too impatient to wait more than thirty (30) minutes for a table.
Here’s the good news, though: I now have a new “go-to” joint when I want a high-grade New Mexican meal without a wait that’ll pass me way beyond my “grump” point, Atrisco’s Cafe & Bar.
Located within the DeVargas Mall, Atrisco’s Cafe & Bar is a sister joint to the famous Tomasita’s, which means the chile is basically the same. For New Mexican food to be high-grade, it’s the chile that makes all the difference and the chile at Atrisco’s, both red and green, is spicy, tasty, and serves as a worthy foundation to any of the items it accentuates. Furthermore, the sopaipillas (a type of fried bread), are simply my favorite in Santa Fe.
While I usually opt for the green chile chicken enchiladas, during a recent visit, I chose Huevos Rancheros and I wan’t disappointed. The eggs were cooked perfectly (over medium) and the green chile was hot enough to awaken my tongue, yet mild enough so that I didn’t break out in a sweat that would make me look like I’d just returned from the gym. My meal was flavorful and filling and didn’t make me miss its more famous cousin (Tomasitas) or competitor (La Choza).
Now, the only think I can knock at Atrisco’s is that its salsa is a bit bland. As my wife pointed out, “Once the onions are gone, I lose interest in the salsa.” I agree that without the onions, the salsa tastes more like a spicy tomato sauce than salsa. However, this is remedied my adding onions, as my wife is apt to do.
Therefore, I figure that I don’t even need to drive to Tomasita’s or La Choza when my chef-wife needs a break. I can simply put my car on auto-pilot and head straight for Atrisco’s as I know the food will be good, the service fine, and I won’t have to wait all that long for a table.
