Santa Fe｜Food Guide & Recommendations 🍽️🌮

I spent four days in Santa Fe and tried several highly recommended restaurants, but honestly, some were overrated. Here’s my honest take: 1. El Queretano (Food Truck) – 3.5/5 ⭐ On the first day, I visited this popular food truck and ordered beef tongue and shredded beef tacos. The flavor was decent, but the meat was a bit dry and lukewarm. 💨🐄 Pro tip: Grab a Mexican Coke (made with different sugar than the US version)! It’s cheap and refreshing. If you’re curious about beef tongue tacos, it’s worth a try—I didn’t see it elsewhere. 2. EL Chile (Food Truck) – 5/5 ⭐ After discovering how common food trucks are here, we found EL Chile—a highly-rated spot with two branches. This was the BEST food truck we tried! 🎉 They open at 7 AM, and even at breakfast, you can order their lunch taco set. I highly recommend skipping breakfast and going straight for the lunch set (breakfast is just standard potatoes, sausage, and eggs with tacos or burritos—good but basic). The lunch tacos are incredible: beef cheek, fried large intestine, pork skin tacos—perfect for offal lovers! 🐮❤️ The beef cheek was juicy and rich, the intestine was crispy and flavorful (though a bit dry), and the pork-pineapple taco with a hint of cumin and sweet-sour notes was amazing. We ate here three times—it’s affordable and delicious! 3. Cafe near Bandelier Gift Store – 4/5 ⭐ This cafe in the Bandelier area was a fun surprise! Since Bandelier is known for Indigenous cave dwellings, I expected “Indian Cafe” to refer to Native American culture… but it turned out to be fully Indian (from India! 😂). The owner, staff, food, and music were all Indian! 🇮🇳 I had the best Hot Chai here—spicy and not too sweet, just how I like it. Avoid the Thai Tea—it tasted like Hong Kong-style silk-stockings milk tea 😅. Their Indian Fry Bread is like Spanish churros but topped with powdered sugar and honey instead of chocolate—yum! 🍯✨ 4. EL Comal Restaurant – 4/5 ⭐ Came here because the Fish Taco sounded unique, but it was just okay (the fish was dry). However, the beef and pork tacos were fantastic! 🐄🐖 The beef was super juicy, and the pork had a strong cumin flavor that’s perfect for Asian taste buds. Ended with a dessert that tasted like Chinese fried dough sticks served with honey—a nostalgic treat! 🍯🥮 #SantaFe #SantaFeEats #FoodTruckLove #TacoTuesday #NewMexicoFood #LocalEats #HiddenGems #FoodReview #TravelFoodie #AuthenticFlavors #SpicyAndSweet #MustTry #StreetFood #CulturalMix