10 Best Restaurants in Santa Fe Plaza

Visiting downtown Santa Fe, or what some people call “The City Different”? You’ll quickly find out that the heart of town lies in the historic Santa Fe Plaza. So, if you’re looking for the best restaurants in Santa Fe, NM, concentrate your efforts there.

In the plaza, you’ll have tons of good food, amazing local art, and the city’s rich history all at your fingertips.

Established in 1610, Santa Fe is the oldest capital city in the United States, and many of the original structures still stand. So, in between eating at the best Santa Fe Plaza restaurants, be sure to tour some of the oldest buildings in America.

In the 1800’s, the Old Santa Fe Trail was America’s major trading route, spanning some 900 miles across the Great Plains, with its eastern end point in Missouri. Although today, hints of the Wild West abound in Santa Fe, the city now has foodie trails that are much more fun to travel and far less arduous.

Consider tasting your way through the Santa Fe Chocolate Trail or sipping along the Santa Fe Margarita Trail. After all, Santa Fe claims to be the margarita capital of the world! I’ve certainly drained far too many margarita glasses there to argue the point.

But exploring the local cuisine is always my first priority! Does that mean Frito Pie? If you wish. As a Santa Fe invention, it deserves its due. However, it doesn’t possess the tradition and authentic style of other New Mexican specialties.

Classic New Mexican cuisine combines flavors and ingredients from the southwest with traditional Mexican food dishes. For example, in Santa Fe Plaza breakfast restaurants, you’ll most often see breakfast burritos with a New Mexican twist—chile sauce.

In New Mexico, chiles and chile sauces often take on predominant roles in meals.

The best Santa Fe restaurants specializing in New Mexican food prepare both homemade red chile sauce and green chile sauce. When ordering at breakfast, lunch, or dinner, you’ll be asked which sauce you’d like, red or green. If you want both, you can ask for Christmas, like New Mexicans do.

An authentic taste of New Mexico: a burrito covered in Christmas chile—red and green—with a side of pozole. Yum!

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Read on to find out the 10 best restaurants in Santa Fe Plaza—or, at the farthest, within a tortilla toss away.

Best Restaurants Santa Fe Plaza and Nearby

Tia Sophia’s

A Santa Fe institution for almost 50 years, Tia Sophia’s consistently ranks as one of the best restaurants in old town Santa Fe. I first ate at Tia Sophia’s over 20 years ago, and not much has changed since.

This family-run Santa Fe restaurant is the perfect place to try the traditional dishes of New Mexico. Known for their breakfast burritos and huevos rancheros, Tia Sophia’s is touted by many locals as the best spot for breakfast in Santa Fe.

However, the restaurant serves great food for lunch too! For me, at lunch time, it’s all about the sopaipillas. I would be happy with just a couple of the plain fluffy-puffy sopaipillas that accompany the meals. But I also swoon over the ground-beef-stuffed sopaipillas smothered in red and green chile.

Or try my husband’s favorite dish, the Atrisco Plate—a heaping portion of green chile stew and enchiladas served with beans and pozole. An incredible value for $12.00!

The only downside: Tia Sophia’s only does breakfast and lunch.

Address: 210 West San Francisco Street, Santa Fe, NM 87501

Hours: Monday through Saturday: 7:00 am–2:00 pm; Sunday: 8:00 am–1:00 pm

Sopaipilla Heaven: The Atrisco Plate, a beef-stuffed sopaipilla, and a side of sopaipillas at one of the best restaurants in Old Town Santa Fe, Tia Sophia’s

Coyote Cafe and Rooftop Cantina

Coyote Cafe catapulted to fame shortly after opening in The City Different over 30 years ago. It is still one of the most famous downtown Santa Fe restaurants, renowned for using indigenous ingredients to create inventive Southwestern cuisine.

If you can’t get a reservation at the fine-dining restaurant, head upstairs to the Rooftop Cantina. It’s a great place for happy hour or an afternoon snack.

And the cantina happens to have the best margaritas in Santa Fe! Order their Frozen Prickly Pear or a Turquoise Trail, their house margarita, or both! Just be warned, these yummy beverages do pack a punch.

Ask for a seat at the counter—it’s the ideal spot for people watching from the rooftop!

On the way out, consider purchasing the Coyote Cafe cookbook, or it is available online here.

Address: 132 West Water Street, Santa Fe, NM 87501

Hours: Coyote Cafe: Daily: 5:00 pm–Close; Rooftop Cantina: Daily: 11:30 am–Close

Enjoying a couple of the best margaritas in Santa Fe during happy hour at the Coyote Cafe’s Rooftop Cantina

Sazón

If you’re looking for fine dining in Santa Fe, you must eat at Sazón, the restaurant of the 2022 James Beard Award winner for Best Chef of the Southwest.

Chef Fernando Olea has created one of the best restaurants in Santa Fe by sourcing ingredients from local farms and transforming them into Mexican-influenced dishes unlike any you’ve ever tasted.

Trust me, this is different from any Mexican restaurant you’ve ever been to.

What a pleasure it was to meet and chat with James-Beard-Award-winning chef Fernando Olea after enjoying a magnificent meal at his Sazón restaurant in downtown Santa Fe.

We started our meal with an amuse-bouche of 7 moles, and our assignment was to choose which moles we would like to accompany our chosen entrées. Our knowledgeable server, Jordan, helped us make our selections with some wonderful insights and suggestions.

Each course, from foie gras to duck, lamb chops to dessert, was exquisitely presented and delighted our taste buds. Even a side dish of what appeared to be simple sweet potatoes wound up being the best sweet potato dish ever.

Likewise, the chef’s signature dessert, Dulce Sinfonia, looks like a pretty ice cream, but it’s actually so special it requires a server’s guidance to fully enjoy it. I can’t tell you more than that or I’ll ruin it for you!

Address: 221 Shelby Street, Santa Fe, NM 87501

Hours: Monday through Saturday: 5:00 pm–8:00 pm; Sunday: CLOSED

The amazing duck mole at Chef Fernando Olea’s Sazón restaurant

Plaza Café

Santa Fe’s oldest restaurant, the Plaza Café, dates back to 1905, and has been owned and operated by the same family since 1947.

The Plaza Café offers a large menu that includes a variety of New Mexican specialties, as well as American favorites. You’ll see quite a mix of meals coming out of the kitchen—everything from tacos, burritos, and Santa Fe Frito pies to burgers, sandwiches, and salads.

Our favorite dish, the Blue Corn Enchiladas with chicken and green chile, came with rice, beans, and a sopaipilla. Quite a hardy plate!

The Hatch Green Chile Cheeseburger is the café’s most popular burger and can also be prepared with an Impossible™ patty. In fact, most dishes have vegetarian options.

It’s one of the only restaurants on the plaza in Santa Fe that has a patio on the plaza.

In addition to the downtown café, there is a second location called Plaza Café Southside on Zafarano Drive.

Addresses: Plaza Café: 54 Lincoln Avenue, Santa Fe, NM 87501; Plaza Café Southside: 3466 Zafarano Drive, Santa Fe, NM 87507

Hours: Plaza Café: Daily: 7 am–9:00 pm; Plaza Café Southside: Monday through Thursday: 10:00 am–9:00 pm; Friday through Sunday: 8:00 am–9:00 pm

Delicious blue corn enchiladas smothered under chile and cheese, accompanied by my beloved sopaipilla and a tasty margarita—all on the patio of the Plaza Café in the historic Santa Fe Plaza

La Plazuela Restaurant

Among all the restaurants in the Plaza Santa Fe, I especially love the dining room at La Plazuela at La Fonda Hotel. With expansive skylights within the high ceiling, a fountain in the middle, and lit trees indoors, it provides a great atmosphere for any meal.

Chef Lane has created breakfast, lunch, and dinner menus filled with innovative dishes based on traditional New Mexican cuisine.

Sure, you’ll find traditional choices such as French toast and oatmeal on the breakfast menu, but most of the standouts have New Mexican flare. These include the blue corn pancakes, biscuits with green chile sausage gravy, and eggs Benedict with grilled tomatillos.

If you’ve read our San Francisco itinerary, you’ll know my husband Mike considers himself an eggs Benedict connoisseur, and he loved the La Fonda Benedict!

On the dinner menu, I recommend the chef’s specialties. The Scallop & Bison Risotto Cake, Campfire Trout, and Kurobuta Pork were all absolutely superb.

If you have to wait for a table, hop over to La Fiesta Lounge across the lobby for a margarita. The lounge is an official stop along the Santa Fe Margarita Trail!

Address: 100 East San Francisco Street, Santa Fe, NM 87501

Hours: Breakfast: Daily: 7 am–10:30 am; Lunch: Monday through Friday: 11:00 am–2:00 pm; Saturday & Sunday: 11:00 am–3:00 pm; Dinner: Daily: 5 pm–10:00 pm

Eggs Benedict and Blue Corn Pancakes in the charming La Plazuela Restaurant in La Fonda Hotel, located right on the historic Santa Fe Plaza

The Shed

A list of the best Santa Fe restaurants would be incomplete without The Shed, a perennial favorite for classic New Mexican cuisine at reasonable prices.

Before this popular restaurant opens, there’s often a line waiting to get in. So, if you’re going for lunch, it’s a good idea to get there early.

Even with a crowd all descending and ordering at the same time, meals come out quickly and the service is great.

Housed in a hacienda from the 1600’s, The Shed is a warm space with bright colors and terrific food.

Tamale lovers, do not hesitate to order them here—the meat to masa ratio is perfect. Most entrees come with pozole and beans. I like the pozole so much, I ask for double the portion and skip the beans. Yum!

If you’re in Santa Fe when The Shed is closed, try its sister restaurant, La Choza, a little over a mile off the historic plaza.

Address: 113 1/2 East Palace Avenue, Santa Fe, NM 87501

Hours: Lunch: Monday through Saturday: 11:00 am–2:30 pm; Sunday: CLOSED; Dinner: Monday through Saturday: 5:00 pm–9:00 pm; Sunday: CLOSED

Lunch on the colorful patio at The Shed, one of the most popular Santa Fe restaurants for traditional New Mexican cuisine

Palacio Café

The unassuming breakfast and lunch spot, Palacio Café, can easily fall through the cracks if you don’t know it’s there. But if you want hearty portions of New Mexican comfort foods, head on over, and you will not be disappointed.

Restaurants in Santa Fe Plaza certainly cater to their fair share of tourists. But the Palacio Café is the real deal where locals come to feast on Green Chile Stew and all of the authentic New Mexican dishes they wish they could make at home. And that’s why Palacio Café has received great reviews for so long.

My favorite menu item, the Chile Rellenos plate, comes with two large cheese-stuffed battered peppers smothered in your choice of red or green chile sauce. I choose Christmas—both the red and green.

Enjoy your meal in the small cozy dining room with the large window, or outside on the colorful back patio.

Address: 209 East Palace Avenue, Santa Fe, NM 87501

Hours: Wednesday through Monday: 7:30 am–4:00 pm; Tuesday: CLOSED

Chile Rellenos with Pozole and Beans at Palacio Café, a locals’ favorite in Old Town Santa Fe

La Casa Sena

The only one of the Santa Fe Plaza restaurants specializing in Mediterranean cuisine, La Casa Sena is beloved for its outdoor patio, as well as for its food.

Tucked away in the Sena Plaza, La Casa Sena may be the most romantic restaurant in Santa Fe. Unlike anywhere else on the plaza, here you’ll find tables placed in private nooks and crannies set among lush plants, trellises, and fountains.

Although the menu is inspired by Italian, French, and other Mediterranean cuisines, as with many of Santa Fe’s top restaurants, sourcing and utilizing local ingredients is a priority.

For lunch, expect to see foods like Moroccan Kebabs, Stuffed Squash Blossoms, and the specialty from Nice, Niçoise Salad.

Dinner highlights include an array of delicious dishes. Among them are lemon-caper Branzino, mussels with chorizo, lobster risotto, pistachio-crusted lamb, and a perhaps surprising Santa Fe favorite, grilled elk tenderloin.

Address: 125 East Palace Avenue, Santa Fe, NM 87501

Hours: Daily: 11:30 am–9:00 pm

A cozy corner on the lovely outdoor patio at La Casa Sena, a Santa Fe favorite for the flavors of the Mediterranean

La Boca Santa Fe

Started by Chef James Campbell Caruso—a multiple James Beard Award nominee—La Boca provides a warm atmosphere, live music, and scrumptious Spanish tapas that make it one of the best Santa Fe restaurants near the plaza.

There are actually two La Bocas with almost the same location. The original La Boca restaurant is long and narrow with a small outdoor patio on the sidewalk. The newer location is the taberna, which is around the back by Bull Ring restaurant.

The menu is identical at both locations, but I prefer the taberna. Inside feels like a European wine bar, and the outdoor patio is larger and more private than the sidewalk.

A local favorite restaurant for date nights and for friends to gather, La Boca encourages sharing 2 to 4 tapas per person, depending on which you choose and how hungry you are. Boquerones (anchovies), Roman Artichokes, Grilled Eggplant, and Paella (for 1) worked deliciously for us. Having seen all the other mouth-watering options being served to fellow diners nearby, I know there’s plenty of additional delights in store for us upon our return.

Watch out for yet another new location, La Boca Bodega, coming soon.

Address: 72 West Marcy Street, Santa Fe, NM 87501

Hours: Wednesday through Sunday: 11:30 am–9:00 pm; Monday & Tuesday: CLOSED

La Boca Santa Fe is a local favorite for the transporting tastes of Spain it serves, just steps away from Santa Fe Plaza.

Cafe Pasqual’s

As one of the best casual restaurants that Santa Fe offers, Cafe Pasqual’s is always jam-packed. Open the door to the modest brown adobe on the corner of Don Gaspar Avenue and Water Street, and you’ll discover a lively, friendly atmosphere inside.

Menu items showcase authentic Southwestern culinary traditions in an often creative way. A great example for breakfast is Smoked Trout Hash with Gruyere potato pancake. For later in the day, the inventive Blue Lady Layered Enchilada is available with a multitude of veggie and meat choices.

Many of the recipes for the culinary creations served can be found in one of the restaurant’s two cookbooks. Menu items starred with one asterisk appear in "Spirited Recipes from Santa Fe." Menu items starred with two asterisks appear in "Cooking with Cafe Pasqual’s."

Whatever the dish, great attention is payed to its ingredients. Pasqual’s Cafe prides itself on sourcing from local farmers who employ organic and sustainable practices.

When you’re done with your feast for the palate, feast your eyes on the offerings at Cafe Pasqual’s Art Gallery next door!

Address: 121 Don Gaspar Avenue, Santa Fe, NM 87501

Hours: Breakfast: Daily: 8 am–3:00 pm; Lunch: Daily: 11:00 am–3:00 pm; Dinner: Sunday through Thursday: 5:30 pm–10:00 pm; Friday & Saturday: 5:30 pm–10:30 pm

A lively lunch crowd at the color-filled, character-rich, and always popular Cafe Pasqual’s, one of the best casual restaurants in Santa Fe

The Best Santa Fe Restaurants

Our list provides what we consider to be the best restaurants in Santa Fe, NM, on or near the plaza. It’s up to you to decide which is the very best Santa Fe restaurant for you.

One of the most important things I learned as a personal chef is that everyone has different tastes and needs. If you’re a traveling vegan, you’ll probably pick a different best restaurant than a meat lover, no matter what the awards and reviews say.

Additionally, I would like to give two alternatives to complicate your dining decisions. Both are are a short drive from the plaza. First, El Farol is one of the oldest restaurants in Santa Fe, and it is popular for its happy hour and live entertainment.

Second, in a charming old adobe house on Canyon Road, Geronimo is one of Santa Fe’s best restaurants for fine dining. The home is authentic New Mexican, but the menu exudes fancy food, with items like mesquite-grilled Maine lobster tails and 72-hour Sous Vide Short Ribs.

Finally, if you don’t have time for a restaurant by the Santa Fe Plaza, try the city’s most popular food truck, El Molero Fajitas food cart. It sets up daily at the plaza.

El Molero Fajitas food cart is an inexpensive, tasty option for a quick bite on Santa Fe Plaza.

Where To Stay in Santa Fe

If you’re going to eat on the plaza, you should stay on the plaza! And La Fonda on the Plaza is the only hotel on the Santa Fe Plaza!

Celebrating its centennial in 2022, this hotel is steeped in history. From the lobby to the rooms, authentic New Mexican style meets modern elegance and conveniences.

Best of all for foodies, their restaurant, La Plazuela, rates as one of our top 10 best Santa Fe restaurants!

Check rates and availability at La Fonda Hotel.