Taking my wife for our first anniversary. soon. Neither of us have ever been and I'm looking for recommendations for a great dinner experience. We like pretty much anything, but she has dairy issues so Italian usually isn't a great choice.

Appreciate any dinner recs as well as anything awesome/fun to do or see in the downtown area. Thank you!

Do a search, there are lots of threads.

Restaurants, La Fonda on the square is a great choice due to the location and history. Others will have recs for better places, I'm sure.

100% recommend Clafoutis for breakfast or bakery goods. Authentic French pastries and Croissants. Always busy.

If you're willing to get out of town, we like Gabriel's on 285 north of town. Even further out is Ranchos de Chimayo in Chimayo.

The drive up to Los Alamos is spectacular, the Manhattan Project sites are cool, and Valles Caldera is the most beautiful place in the area, IMO. Not much for restaurants in that area, pack a lunch.

Never went to Meow Wolf, but it is highly recommend by all who have been. Pecos monument is cool, Pecos Wilderness is pretty.

Driving or flying? If driving, from where?

https://texags.com/forums/54/topics/3508264/replies/69045964

And according to this thread

https://texags.com/forums/54/topics/3457341/replies/67476754

Quote:

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Bishop's Lodge in Santa Fe

https://aubergeresorts.com/bishopslodge



Ten Thousand Waves in Santa Fe.
Checks all the boxes.

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There are many outstanding restaurants in Santa Fe. For a nice anniversary dinner I would go to El Farol on Canyon Road. The Shed is a great local place a block or so off the square with outstanding margaritas. Rancho de Chimayo (as mentioned above) is very authentic Mexican food and definitely worth the drive and also see the Chimayo mission, but not for a fancy anniversary dinner.

Geronimo for a nice dinner

2wealfth Man said:

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Geronimo for a nice dinner

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This is the correct answer

Spa day at 10,000 waves.

We have a place in Santa Fe and all of the recs above are spot on.

Some personal faves:
La Fonda
Gabriel's
The Shed
Casa Sena
The Parlor at La Posada is great for before/after dinner drinks and lounging.
10,000 waves spa. Spend a day there and their restaurant is great too.

walton91 said:

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2wealfth Man said:

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Geronimo for a nice dinner

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This is the correct answer

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I concur. Elk backstrap.

No love for Pasquals? It's been a favorite of mine for 30 years or so.

whasty said:

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No love for Pasquals? It's been a favorite of mine for 30 years or so.

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Pasqual's breakfast is the best!

I used to go up to SF every other week. These are all great recommendations.

Some staples for us.

Dinner. Geronimos, Market Steer
Lunch. Shed
Breakfast/Brunch. Tia Sophias (very good, but very very hot), Chocolate Maven

Tons of good food in SF. Really cannot go wrong anywhere.

Things to Do...go to Bandelier National Monument.

We stayed at the La Fonda and loved it. Walking distance to a lot of great places.

We had reservations at Sazon for one night, but had to miss it unfortunately.

Our other dinners were at Estevan, Coyote Cafe and La Plazuela (inside the La Fonda). None of them rate as high as Geronimo but they are within walking distance of the plaza and are good choices for local cuisine.

But as others have said, don't miss The Shed. Great food. We had lunch there twice.

Loretto Chapel is a must-see. Canyon Road -- tons of art galleries and jewelry shops. Lots of shopping around the plaza. We were a little disappointed in the Georgia O'Keefe Museum but there was construction going on so a good portion of it was closed down.

We loved the Herve Wine Bar off the plaza. Very nice place and local wine from the Lescombes family.

https://lescombeswinery.com/locations/santa-fe-herve/

We did a glassmaking class at Prairie Dog Glass that was a lot of fun.

https://www.prairiedogglass.com/

Mostly we just walked, shopped and had food and drinks. My kinda trip.

Don't forget the bug and reptile museum

https://www.bugandreptile.org/

Radish & Rye is a GREAT spot outside of the downtown footprint.
Coyote Cafe (Not the Cantina) is another great spot in the plaza area.
Sazon is another of my favorites in the plaza area.

(I think the Shed is overrated, but if you want to check it off your list. There are a number of other New Mexican places that are just as good (Casa Chimayo or The Pantry Rio for instance)

Clafoutis for breakfast.

Some cool galleries in the plaza: Pop Gallery, Keep Contemporary, Antieau Gallery. Canyon Road, obviously, is loaded with galleries too.


Pay the few bucks to see the Loretto Chapel interior. The Basillica out there is nice to see as well.

Liquid Light Glass if you've never seen glassblowing (the Jackalope has a place too. (Edit: It's called Prairie Dog Glass as indicated above))

The original Meow Wolf is in Santa Fe and is a must visit. I've done them all and it's still my favorite (1a with Denver 1b).

Quick Side Trips:
Tent Rocks (If it's open)
Bandelier National Monument
Los Alamos is a beautiful drive, a beautiful and fascinating city, and has viewpoints and hiking trails around the canyon rim.

Y'all are awesome. Thanks everyone!

Pink Adobe is (or at least was) good. Steak Dunnigan.

El Parisol in Los Alamos for lunch. In particular the crispy tacos.

Tobias Funke said:

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Y'all are awesome. Thanks everyone!

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Just be careful walking along Canyon Road. There are a lot of places where the sidewalk is crumbling or missing and you have to walk in the street. Very easy to trip and fall and break a foot (don't ask me how I know).

ETA ... after I posted this, I did a little googling and found this nugget on a "Tips for Visiting Canyon Road" website:


"Canyon Road is a historic district, which means that it's super charming, but it's not the most accessible area of Santa Fe. Sidewalks are often cracked and uneven. There are stretches of dirt and gravel instead of cement, and there are a few spots where the sidewalk all but disappears. Many of the galleries have steps and stairs, but no ramps or elevators. If there is a gallery that you really want to visit and you have mobility concerns, we recommend calling ahead to ensure that you will be able to access the gallery."

I see Sazon has already been mentioned. I came here to recommend it as well.

La Fonda and The Shed were our favorites. And of course Pasqual's for breakfast is a must!

To close the loop here, we did The Shed for a fun dinner and Geronimo for the anniversary dinner, and both recs were spot on. Appreciate you all!

Bishops lodge is one you can probably miss, its an auberge property. I have been and its definetly cool, but IMO not uniquely Santa Fe.

I know its not a dinner place, but one of the best food experiences we've ever had was at Casa Culinaria.

Its a B&B and had the best breakfast/brunch. The owners are a chef trained at the International Le Cordon Bleu and an experiences sommelier.

I'd say the rooms and hotel was good, not great, but the food experience will bring us back.

Funny enough, only ever been to the cantina! I think its solid if you need a quicker lunch or are just looking for drinks.

If you want to get the blood pumping a bit, take hike up Atalaya Mountain. I'd suggest doing in the morning. Then, treating yourself to some good food and margs for lunch.