Eating Out in New Mexico - It's All About the Chili

Are you hungry? Well, are you?

We were a time or two and we knew that we had to eat New Mexican food and share the tales of some of our dining experiences. First, you need to know (if you don't know already) that New Mexican food is not Mexican food. It is nothing like TexMex. It IS a beautiful thing* and we sampled what we could. Here is a "taste" of our food experiences, but first....

THE RULES

These meals are all out of chronological order.

We are not going to say who ate what.

This is a judgment-free zone.

THE OWL CAFE, Albuquerque - Some of DH's friends recommended this diner and we ate there twice. Once was when we were famished, maybe after the museums? The second was breakfast before we headed to the airport and home. The food was really good. The staff was fabulous. DJ and Chris took great care of us. We will definitely go back.

Lunch

As we poured over the menu we were given a sample of pinto beans and green chili. It was wonderful, but didn't fit with the rest of our meal. [We did eat every bit of the sample.}

It was a malt...and huge...they served what didn't fit in the glass in the mixing cup.

California Burger...it was recommended.

Inside the California Burger - bacon/lettuce/tomato/guacamole/green chili - YUM!

Quesadillas

Cheese Enchiladas

Breakfast

Oatmeal and eggs

 Scrambled eggs, bacon, cottage fries (with peppers and onions) and a biscuit. My eggs were cold. This might be the only complaint about food for the entire week, except there was too much of it.

Breakfast sandwich and hash browns

SOFIA'S, Socorro - After a trip to Fort Craig and Bosque del Apache we stopped for lunch/dinner in Socorro at the recommendation of Travis (gas station) and Bob (Bosque). Good recommendations.

Beef Taco plate.

"Flat" Cheese Enchiladas

Red sauce and tortillas

Chicken Enchilada Casserole with green chili - This was like cornbread dressing with chunks of chicken and peppers. It was the special for the day and not bad.

OMG...dessert. SOPAPILLAS!

 Empty bowl - it WAS a bowl of corn chowder.

ECONO LODGE - There was always food at the lodge. Breakfast was pretty good (bacon every day, my weakness). We had to get DH plain oatmeal as the rest was sweetened. Otherwise we were good. And there was always fresh fruit and bagels to fortify us on the road or after a hike. They serve Posole in the afternoon. We were never around to try it, but saw lots of folks with bowls of it.

I found the raisin bread late in the game. Coffee was good and always ready.

MUSEUM CAFE, Santa Fe - After a visit to the International Folk Art Museum we sat down for lunch at the (very nice) cafe there on museum hill. Some folks were enjoying wine with their meals. It was probably a good thing we didn't drink as navigating the streets in Santa Fe was no fun.

Patty melt and fries

Corn Chowder and half sandwich (Caprese sandwich)

MONROE'S RESTAURANT - Recommended by Daniel (the guy at the car rental) we were in the neighborhood when hunger hit.They had the best salsa - hands down. It was so good we bought a jar to take home. It traveled back to Texas in safety. The food at Monroe's was great as was the service.

We got a lot of recommendations for places to eat, but only received one recommendation for places NOT to eat. The waiter at Monroe's advised us, "Do not eat Chinese food in Albuquerque!!!" But then, why would we?

Chicken enchiladas

Cheese enchiladas with red chili sauce

Dessert (temptation) - no the chili was not for the sopapillas. It was how they brought it "on the side."

CONFESSION: There might have been a couple of trips to the nearby Subway. Sometimes you need a simple sandwich.


NOTES:

*https://www.npr.org/2011/07/31/138805258/chile-pepper-capital-seeks-to-preserve-roots
 https://www.newmexico.org/nmmagazine/articles/post/best-new-mexico-foods/