Sopaipilla Cafe — Restaurant in Santa Fe

I am a Santa Fe native and I think I know something about New Mexican food. I cook it all the time and go to all of the famous places (and no so famous) on a regular basis. This restaurant is a hidden gem! To evaluate a place I usually order chicken enchiladas with both green and red chile (the Anglos call this Christmas style). The green chile at the Sopaipilla Cafe might be the best in Santa Fe ... certainly it is in the running. Fruity, redolent of green NM chile taste, and a little hot. Seriously it is the bomb. The red is different, I liked it but it doesn't have the earthiness that I look for in the very best red. Personal taste. I talked to them about it and they assured me that it is 100% red New Mexican chile and I believe them. The people running the place are super friendly and eager to please and seem to be the nicest people on earth. When I went in, they had an Ash Wednesday special going on with different fish dishes. I really like to try those sometime. The sopapilla served was large and neither too thick nor too thin ... perfect in other words. Do yourself a favor and try this place. It's in the Days Inn motel for god's sake and so I think locals don't even know about it. I would rather get enchiladas here than at La Choza or Tomasitas or any of the other famous places that are swamped...

The Sopapilla restaurant in Española, located on North Riverside Drive, is not affiliated with the Sopapilla restaurant in Pojoaque. The interior boasts a simple, retro local eatery aesthetic, enhanced by paintings from local artists. This unpretentious atmosphere was a definite plus.

My server was exceptionally personable and attentive. I chose the Plato Mixto, but unfortunately, the beans tasted like they were from a can rather than fresh. On a brighter note, the Spanish rice and tacos were very good. The green chile, however, was a letdown, being very mild with almost no spicy heat.

Overall, while it's a decent restaurant, considering Española's high standards for local eateries, I'd rate the Sopapilla restaurant as middle-of-the-road in terms of food quality...

We are from out of town and we stopped here while we waited for our scheduled time to go to the nearby museum. This is one of the best restaurants we went to in the Santa fe area, the food came out no longer than 10 minutes and our waitress was very nice and a hard worker. She told us she runs the business with her cousin and brother, and that they had been there a couple of years. When I go out of town I enjoy eating at more of the local and authentic restaurants, and this food was beyond delicious. She brought us sopaipillas to go along with our meal, and they were absolutely delicious. We were a bit weery of it being located inside the motel, but it was great nonetheless....