Eat in Downtown / The Plaza, Santa Fe

Cafe Pasqual's

• ★ 4.8
• $$$

Chef Katharine Kagel has cooked seasonal Pueblo-meets-Mexico-meets-Mediterranean at Cafe Pasqual's just off the Plaza in Santa Fe since 1979.

The Shed

• ★ 4.7
• $$

The Shed's red chile, grown out at the family farm and ground in-house, has anchored a Santa Fe lunch line since 1953. Sister room of La Choza.

Sazon

• ★ 4.8
• Contemporary Mexican
• $$$$

Fernando Olea, 2022 James Beard Best Chef Southwest, has cooked in Santa Fe since 1991; Sazon opened on Shelby Street in 2015 with a Degustacion menu.

Restaurant Martin

• ★ 4.7
• New American
• $$$$

Chef Martin Rios, a ten-time James Beard nominee, cooks seasonal progressive-American tasting menus at Restaurant Martin, in a quiet downtown garden.

Coyote Cafe

• ★ 4.5
• American
• $$$$

Coyote Cafe pioneered modern Southwestern under Mark Miller in 1987; today the downtown room serves elk and tellicherry ribeye, with a rooftop cantina.

La Boca

• ★ 4.6
• Spanish Tapas
• $$$

Chef James Campbell Caruso, an eight-time James Beard nominee, opened La Boca in 2006; modern Spanish tapas, an all-Spanish wine list and deep sherries.

Anasazi Restaurant at Rosewood Inn of the Anasazi

• ★ 4.5
• New American
• $$$$

Cristian Pontiggia, 2023 New Mexico Chef of the Year, leads the Anasazi kitchen at Rosewood with a contemporary-American menu on Washington Avenue.

El Rincon Cafe

• ★ 4.4
• $$$

Family-owned El Rincon Cafe upstairs in Hotel Chimayo on Washington Avenue Santa Fe, a Northern New Mexican kitchen with French technique, farm-to-table.

Dr. Field Goods Kitchen

• ★ 4.3
• $$

Chef Josh Gerwin's Dr. Field Goods centres on a butcher and bakery; the Devargas-mall kitchen turns own meats and bread into chile-laced burgers and pizza.

Atrisco Cafe & Bar

• ★ 4.3
• $$

Atrisco builds family-recipe red chile from sun-dried whole pods at Devargas Center, served with local Santa Fe lamb, beef and honey-glazed sopaipillas.

Casa Chimayo

• ★ 4.4
• $$

Casa Chimayo cooks family Chimayo red and green chile and Dine accents downtown; Guy Fieri filmed Diners, Drive-Ins for the blue corn enchiladas.

Bumble Bee's Baja Grill

• ★ 4.1
• Mexican
• $

Bumble Bee's counter-service Baja-style tacos, burritos and tortilla soup feed a casual lunch and dinner crowd at Jefferson Street near the Plaza.

Plaza Cafe Downtown

• ★ 4.1
• $$

Plaza Cafe Downtown bills itself as Santa Fe's oldest restaurant, serving on the Plaza since 1905 and owned by the Razatos family since 1947.

Palacio Cafe

• ★ 4.2
• $$

Damian and Maria Munoz opened Palacio Cafe on East Palace Avenue in 2012; the breakfast burritos are among the biggest and chile-hottest near the Plaza.

Tulsi

• ★ 4.4
• Indian
• $$

Chef Pramod Paddy Rawal, a 2016 Chopped competitor and 2020 Beat Bobby Flay winner, opened Tulsi in late 2024 with Indian and Southeast Asian plates.

35 North Coffee

• ★ 4.3
• Café
• $

Order Single-origin pour-over and the Santa Fe latte

35 North sits in the Plaza arcade and is the city's main hangover-cure morning room for tourists and locals who want a proper third-wave espresso.

Dolina Bakery & Cafe

• ★ 4.5
• Café
• $

Order Cardamom latte and Eastern European brunch

Chef Annamaria O'Brien named Dolina for the Slavic word for valley; her cafe pulls espresso, pastries and a Slovak-leaning brunch most mornings.

Kakawa Chocolate House

• ★ 4.8
• Café
• $

Order Mesoamerican and European historic drinking chocolates

Kakawa pours historically researched drinking chocolates (Mesoamerican, European) plus chile and goat-cheese truffles on Paseo de Peralta in Santa Fe.

Dr. Field Goods Butcher Shop & Bakery

• ★ 4.0
• Bakery
• $

Order Naturally leavened pan loaves and house bacon

Chef Josh Gerwin's relocated Dr Field Goods Butcher Shop at DeVargas Center in Santa Fe runs a working butcher, charcuterie counter and naturally leavened.

VARA Vinoteca Santa Fe

• ★ 4.4
• Wine bar
• $$$

VARA Vinoteca is the Santa Fe branch of the Albuquerque winery; wines from California, Spain and New Mexico, plus vermouth and chicken croquetas.

Secreto Lounge at Hotel St. Francis

• ★ 4.6
• Garden-to-glass cocktail bar
• $$$

Drink Smoked sage margarita

Secreto Lounge is Santa Fe's most awarded cocktail room; the smoked sage margarita and garden-to-glass program live inside Hotel St. Francis one block off.

Tonic

• ★ 4.5
• Art deco craft cocktail bar
• $$$

Drink Seasonal craft cocktail menu

Tonic is the city's serious-cocktail room, an art deco intimate space pouring liquor-and-house-syrup seasonal classics on East Water Street.

Coyote Rooftop Cantina

• ★ 4.3
• Seasonal rooftop bar
• $$$

Drink Margaritas and Mexican beer

Coyote Cafe's seasonal rooftop runs April through October above the downtown dining room; tacos, tequila and the city's most visible Plaza-edge sunset.

Santa Fe Spirits Downtown Tasting Room

• ★ 4.4
• Distillery tasting room
• $$$

Drink Colkegan Single Malt and Wheeler's Dry Gin cocktails

Santa Fe Spirits, founded 2010 by Colin Keegan, pours locally distilled Colkegan single malt and Wheeler's dry gin in a tasting room off Galisteo on Read.

CAVA Santa Fe at Eldorado Hotel

• ★ 4.2
• Hotel craft cocktail lounge
• $$$

Drink Seasonal mezcal cocktails

CAVA functions as the Eldorado Hotel's living-room bar, with craft cocktails and live music six blocks west of the Plaza on San Francisco Street.

Bang Bite Filling Station

• ★ 4.6
• Street food
• $

Try Certified Angus Beef burgers and sammies

Enrique Guerrero's Bang Bite truck sits in the Brakeroom garden behind Santa Fe Brewing's downtown taproom; Food Network named it one of America's 26 best.

Santa Fe Brewing The Brakeroom

• ★ 4.3
• Brewery
• $$

The Brakeroom is Santa Fe Brewing's downtown taproom on Galisteo, with a garden Bang Bite food truck out back; smaller and more central than the HQ Beer.

SWAIA Santa Fe Indian Market

• ★ 4.8
• Market
• $

SWAIA's market draws 1,000-plus Native artists from 200 Tribal Nations to the Santa Fe Plaza each August (since 1922); food vendors run frybread and corn.

Traditional Spanish Market

• ★ 4.5
• Market
• $

Held every July on the Plaza for over a century, Spanish Market features 160 Hispanic artists in colonial styles plus regional food booths heavy on tamales.

Wander New Mexico: Sip and Savor the Historic Plaza

• ★ 4.8

Wander New Mexico's Sip and Savor is the operator's premium walk around the historic Plaza neighborhood; restaurant tastings paired with cultural context.

Santa Fe School of Cooking

• ★ 4.6

Santa Fe School of Cooking has run a three-hour Restaurant Walking Tour for over 20 years; four downtown stops, 16-person cap, chef meet-and-greets included.

Wander New Mexico: The Official Santa Fe Margarita Trail Tour

• ★ 4.4

Wander New Mexico runs the official Margarita Trail Tour with passport tastings at downtown Santa Fe bars plus the history of New Mexico's signature cocktail.

Heritage Inspirations

• ★ 4.2

Heritage Inspirations pairs a downtown Santa Fe architecture walk with wine tasting at Gruet; the operator runs a Loretto travel hub year-round NM tours.

Santa Fe Wine and Chile Fiesta

• ★ 4.8

In its 35th year, the Wine and Chile Fiesta pairs New Mexican, national and international vintners with Santa Fe's chefs across five days of tasting.

Santa Fe Indian Market Food Vendors

• ★ 4.7

SWAIA's August Indian Market on the Santa Fe Plaza features food vendors serving frybread, roasted corn, Pueblo bread and other Native staples alongside art.

Burning of Zozobra

• ★ 4.6

Old Man Gloom has burned annually since 1924; the 50-foot marionette goes up at Fort Marcy with food vendors lining the field and 60,000 watching live.

Fiesta de Santa Fe Food Booths

• ★ 4.4

Fiesta de Santa Fe has run since 1712; the Plaza turns over to food booths over Labor Day weekend with chicharron burritos, frybread with honey and green.

Santa Fe Restaurant Week

• ★ 4.4

In its 15th-plus year, Santa Fe Restaurant Week runs around 50 restaurants on prix-fixe menus, $25 to $70 per person.

Las Cosas Kitchen Shoppe Cooking School

• ★ 4.2

Las Cosas at DeVargas Center pairs chef-led demonstration classes with a working retail kitchen-supply shop in Santa Fe; heavy on technique each session.

Santa Fe School of Cooking Tamale Workshop

• ★ 4.6

The Tamale Workshop at Santa Fe School of Cooking covers masa preparation, fillings, and the wrap; you assemble, steam and take home a dozen.

Santa Fe School of Cooking Mole and Mexican Sauces

• ★ 4.4

The Mole class at Santa Fe School of Cooking demonstrates Oaxacan and Pueblan mole technique; chiles are toasted, ground and built into a dinner plate.

Santa Fe School of Cooking Cocktail Class

• ★ 4.0

The cocktail program at Santa Fe School of Cooking covers margarita technique plus tequila and mezcal sourcing; you build three to four drinks per session.

Tia Sophia's

• ★ 4.5
• Brunch
• $

Try Breakfast burrito with red or green chile

Tia Sophia's lays claim to coining the term "breakfast burrito" on a menu; the Plaza counter has fed Santa Fe under-budget breakfasts since 1975.

Boxcar SF

• ★ 4.2
• British gastropub
• $$

Try Late-night gastropub burgers and wings

Boxcar is the city's second-story late-night gastropub on Water Street; live music Friday-Saturday, gastropub plates from the kitchen until 01:30 nightly.

The Matador

• ★ 4.2
• New Mexican
• $$

Try Cash-only stiff drinks (no kitchen)

The Matador is a Santa Fe basement dive bar pouring stiff drinks until 02:00 most nights; punk on the speakers, cash only, no kitchen, no menu.

Eldorado Hotel Rooftop Pool Bar

• ★ 4.2

The Eldorado's seasonal rooftop pool and bar runs one of the city's most coveted sunset terraces; pool club access for guests, bar open to walk-ins in season.

Secreto Lounge

• ★ 4.6

Secreto Lounge at Hotel St. Francis hides in plain sight behind the lobby; garden-to-glass cocktails, smoked sage margarita, seasonal loggia patio.