In the Land of Enchantment, the ubiquitous green chile cheeseburger can be found in restaurants, drive-ins, diners, dives, joints, cafes, roadside stands and bowling alleys. It’s the centerpiece of many a party and social function. It’s our favorite fast, casual food. The list below includes my very favorite green chile cheeseburgers, some of which are not on the New Mexico Green Chile Cheeseburger Trail, but all of which are visit worthy. By clicking on the name of the restaurant for which you wish to know my opinion, you will be magically transported directly to my review of that restaurant.
| RESTAURANT | CITY | WHY IT’S ON THE LIST |
| Bobcat Bite | Santa Fe | Selected by Bon Appetit Magazine as America’s best burger in 2007 and by Roadfood.com as best green chile cheeseburger in America. Ten ounces of the very best beef on any burger anywhere. |
| Sparky’s Burgers, Barbecue & Espresso |
Hatch | New Mexico Magazine’s “best eats” award winner for 2011 denoting the state’s best green chile cheeseburger. Most piquant green chile of any green chile cheeseburger on this list. |
| The Owl Bar & Cafe | San Antonio | One of the top ten burgers in America according to Epicurious.com. Likely inventor of the green chile cheeseburger, serving it since 1945. Double-meat, double-cheese, double-green chile is the best. |
| The Buckhorn Tavern | San Antonio |
Rated America’s seventh best burger by GQ Magazine. Proprietor Bobby Olguin won green chile cheeseburger throwdown over Food Network glitterati Bobby Flay. |
| El Farolito | El Rito |
Featured on Gourmet Magazine, Sunset Magazine, Rand McNally’s “best of the road” and many other publications. Charming setting in bucolic village draws in guests from throughout the world. |
| Sugar’s BBQ & Burgers | Embudo | One of America’s top ten drive-ins according to Gourmet Magazine serves one of New Mexico’s very best green chile cheeseburger as well as some of the best barbecue in the state. |
| Benny’s Mexican Kitchen |
Bosque Farms |
New Mexico’s best green chile cheeseburger according to Frommer’s Budget Travel Magazine. The “Benny King” burger marries green chile and guacamole in an incomparable manner. |
| Willard Cantina & Cafe |
Willard |
Located near the geographical center of New Mexico, this cafe offers “chile with an attitude” and a green chile cheeseburger worth driving for from anywhere in New Mexico. |
| The Frontier Restaurant |
Albuquerque |
The Adam Bonanza (named for Man Vs. Food Nation host Adam Richman) is a double meat, double American cheese, double green chile, double bacon extravaganza. |
| Bode’s General Mercandise Deli & Bakery |
Abiquiui |
Saveur wrote “Bode’s may make the world’s best cheeseburger: a half pound of ground steak smothered in fresh New Mexico green chiles.” |
| El Parasol |
Española | Quite possibly the best green chile cheeseburger in Rio Arriba county. Green chile actually bites back. Best with double meat, double cheese. |
| Home of the Laguna Burger |
Albuquerque | Cooked to order from 100 percent, never frozen ground beef (an 80/20 blend), it is a half-pound of pure deliciousness. Three locations of burger greatness. |
| Rex’s Hamburgers |
Albuquerque | 85 percent lean and 15 percent fat, the time-tested optimum balance for optimum flavor. Real meat, never frozen, formed into a ball and flattened on the griddle with a spatula then allowed to cook slowly to retain the beef’s natural juiciness |
| Harry’s Roadhouse |
Santa Fe |
Harry’s has such a vast and diverse menu that it’s not known for its green chile cheeseburger, but perhaps it should be. It’s one of the very best in Santa Fe. |
| Five Star Burgers |
Taos, Santa Fe, Albuquerque |
All natural, antibiotic free 100 percent Angus beef fresh ground daily and char-grilled to order with an intriguing selection of condiments to adorn each burger. |
| Spinn’s Burgers & Beer | Albuquerque | Third-pound of fresh ground Angus beef that’s never been frozen cooked medium-well unless otherwise requested, it’s a multi-napkin mound of juiciness and flavor. |
| Perea’s Tijuana Bar & Restaurant | Corrales | Charming old-world New Mexican restaurant crafts one of the very best burgers in the metropolitan Duke City area, a juicy behemoth with pleasantly piquant green chile. |