Red and green chile (Christmas) is a signature dish of United States; we have verified places to eat it in Santa Fe. The defining choice on every New Mexican menu: red or green chile, or both, Christmas. Start with where to eat Red and green chile (Christmas) in Santa Fe.

Red and green chile (Christmas) · Santa Fe

The defining choice on every New Mexican menu: red or green chile, or both, Christmas. Red is dried, smoky and often deeper; green is bright, vegetal and hotter when young.

Spanish colonists brought the chile pepper north from Mexico in 1598, and the long-pod cultivars stabilised in the Rio Grande Valley around Hatch (south) and Chimayo (north). By the early 20th century, the red-or-green question had become the state's edible identity; New Mexico made it the official state question in 1996. Christmas, ordering both, dates from the late 1980s as restaurants tracked tourist indecision.

Where to eat in Santa Fe:

Where to eat Red and green chile (Christmas) in Santa Fe: the editor picks