Atrisco Cafe & Bar — Restaurant in Santa Fe

We LOVED Atrisco's Cafe! We visited Santa Fe from Southern California and we were really looking forward to some fantastic New Mexican cuisine. The problem is that we are vegetarian, and we've had a really difficult time finding suitable New Mexican food, since almost all restaurants do not offer vegetarian options--until we found Atrisco's.

Not only did Atrisco's offer vegetarian options, but their offerings were mouth watering and prepared expertly. This was one of the best New/Mexican experiences we've ever had.

We ordered 2 beers, chips and salsa, sopaipillas, the vegetarian especial enchilada, vegetarian especial stuffed sopaipilla and a kid's cheese enchilada with a side of beans. What a meal!

The veggies especial included mushrooms, zucchini, yellow squash, red pepper and green pepper, and they were busting with flavor and still tender crisp. We've had vegetarian Mexican food that tasted like stewed vegetables because they were so overcooked, and they included broccoli and cauliflower for Pete's sake! These are not veggies that say Mexico or New Mexico.

Even the tortilla chips were extraordinary. They weren't oily, and were a bit thicker than your normal chips. The corn flavor in them was remarkable. The salsa was medium spicy, chunky and oh so delicious! YUM!

We had the sopaipillas with local honey that was on our table. The cinnamon flavor really came through without being overpowering. The honey was so thick and flavorful that you could taste the wildflowers that it was made from.

This was a top notch experience and I highly recommend you try Atrisco's. You won't be...

Sunday night it was packed when we arrived at 8PM (closes at 9PM) but there were 2 places left at the bar, where we received very attentive, friendly service from Daniel. Aside from the service, we were very disappointed. Our excitement from last year's visit quickly disappeared. My "Silver Coin" margarita was mostly mixer but I was told it was restaurant policy not to serve shots of tequila when I wanted to correct my drink. My husband and I shared a combination of a chile relleno, a blue corn chicken enchilada and chicken taco with whole, pinto beans and rice substituted for the posole, since we don't eat pork. The taco (simply chicken with a bit of lettuce in a hard shell) was served on a separate plate and the rest on a platter with intermingled sauces. The chile relleno was a small, tubular shape with a greasy, hard crust and topped with chopped Hatch chiles, which reminded me of the ones in jars I get at Costco. The enchilada was made with a hard, blue corn tortilla not even softened by the pile of sauce. The enchilada and taco were both filled generously with chunks of dry, unmarinated chicken breast. Most restaurants serve complimentary chips and salsa and add a side of quacamole on the plate of combo dinners. We were charged for a modest amount of chips and salsa. A small side of guacamole, since my husband does not like spicy salsa, contained an ingredient besides avocado. For a restaurant that claims to take much pride in ingredients and authenticity, our experience was lacking both. We would give it a zero except for the nice bartender, even so, we do not...

We just had the most wonderful experience in Santa Fe today! Atriscos was recommended to us by a friend who is a local. The food that came out was some of the best food I have eaten! We are from Houston and are fans of the Tex Mex style, but our friend told us that New Mexican food was different. We ordered the green chile stew, a Durango omelet, and the menudo. Our waiter, Angel, was so attentive, smiling all the time, and gracious to us the whole meal. I guess he saw how happy we were that he sent over Diana, the manager, to chat. She said that everyone noticed how happy we were, and I told her that she was WRONG. We were JOYFUL eating this food. She actually stayed and chatted for about 10 minutes as we discussed how great the food tasted.

Don’t be fooled by the fact that it is in a strip center. We almost left to go find a more “local” place…somewhere off the beaten path. We decided to go in, on our friend’s recommendation, and found a restaurant that could have been in the mountains of Taos…far off the regular route. This place is the definition of “local”! Glad we decided to stay and try it!

I remember green chile stew from past trips to New Mexico, but this just had a spectacular, home-style, deep flavor. And the portion to price was more than fair. The prices were very reasonable, but the portions were large. We were blown away at how friendly this restaurant is. I swear that I don’t work here…just a tourist on a visit…but we felt like family! 10/10 would recommend Atriscos to anyone who asks me where to eat...