Category: Taos County

AmericanBarbecueBurgersNew MexicanNew MexicoRating: N/R (Not Rated)Taos County

The Alley Cantina – Taos, New Mexico

Gil Garduno2:04 AM

In April, 2014, Gallup conducted a poll to determine state pride across the United States. More precisely, the Gallup poll surveyed people in all 50 states to find out what percentage of residents say their state was the very best or one of the best places to live. Sadly, New Mexico was rated the six worst state to live with only 28 percent of respondents indicating the Land of Enchantment was one of the best places to live. New Mexico was the only state among the bottom ten either not bordering or not East of the Mississippi River. In recent…

AmericanNew MexicoNew Mexico Green Chile Cheeseburger Trail: 2011Rating: N/R (Not Rated)Taos County

Stray Dog Cantina – Taos Ski Valley, New Mexico

Gil Garduno2:55 PM

There’s a rather ominous sign on the base of the Taos Ski Valley. In bold red uppercase print, the sign reads “DON’T PANIC!,” a preface for somewhat more reassuring text: “YOU’RE LOOKING AT ONLY 1/30 OF TAOS SKI VALLEY. WE HAVE MANY EASY RUNS TOO!” To novice skiers, the steepness of the ski runs visible from the base may as well be the “I’d turn back if I were you” sign Dorothy and her friends encountered when they entered the Haunted Forest on the way to the castle of the Wicked Witch of the West. No doubt the less skilled…

Food Network Eats New MexicoNew MexicanNew MexicoRating: ExcellentTaos County

Orlando’s New Mexican Cafe – Taos, New Mexico

Gil Garduno12:07 AM

During his 2005 visit to Taos for the taping of the Food Network’s Food Nation program, über-celebrity chef Bobby Flay, likely the best known grill chef in the world, probably didn’t do as much to put Orlando’s New Mexican restaurant on the culinary map as you might think. Ditto for all the many first place awards hanging on the restaurant’s walls–“Best Mexican Food in Taos County” every year since 2005, best red chile, best green chile, and more than 25 other awards.  Flay’s visit and the accolades on the wall are merely validation of what locals and visitors in the…

AmericanBakeryClosed in 2014Food Network Eats New MexicoGone But Not ForgottenIndianTaos County

Dragonfly Cafe & Bakery – Taos, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno10:29 PM

In 1989, the tarantula hawk wasp was designated the official state insect of New Mexico, joining the roadrunner (state bird), whiptail lizard (state reptile),  spadefoot (state amphibian), Sandia Hairstreak (state butterfly),  Rio Grande Cutthroat Trout (state fish) and the black bear (state animal) as official symbols of our great state.  Ostensibly the state legislature put aside partisan politics and selected these symbols after carefully weighing all options.  A case could certainly have been made for the dragonfly to represent New Mexico.  Not only is the dragonfly a ubiquitous presence–flitting fluidly and gracefully like tiny fairies attired in wardrobes of many…

AmericanBreakfastBrunchClosed in 2013Gone But Not ForgottenTaos County

Graham’s Grille by Lesley B. Fay – Taos, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno9:25 PM

While it may be true that you only have one chance to make a good first impression, history has shown that bad first impressions can be overcome.  Further,  given a second chance, someone making a bad first impression may go on to  make a lasting positive impression.   In 1988, a charismatic  young governor was widely jeered during the Democratic National Convention, his first national stage.  After an uninspiring 32-minute-long opening night address, political pundits predicted the demise of the man heretofore considered a rising star in the party.  Four years later Bill Clinton was elected the 42nd President of the…

New MexicoPizzaRating: N/R (Not Rated)Taos County

Taos Pizza Out Back – Taos, New Mexico

Gil Garduno10:46 PM

“Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.” – Matthew 11:28 It’s unlikely the Taos Chamber of Commerce ever used that New Testament passage to lure visitors to Taos, but it would have made an excellent tourism slogan.  Taos, New Mexico seems to have a mollifying effect on weary souls.  It has been easing burdens and removing the yoke of the heavily laden for more than a millennium. Taos calls its visitors to spiritual odysseys, to commune with incomparable beauty and serenity, to imbibe the exotic melting pot of cultures.  It has inspired…

BakeryBreakfastNew MexicanNew MexicoRating: Very GoodTaos County

Michael’s Kitchen – Taos, New Mexico

Gil Garduno5:56 PM

Murphy’s Law postulates that “if anything can go wrong, it will.” This rather pessimistic and oft-quoted expression has become a catch-all when everything seems to go askew. Murphy’s Law is blamed when you’re in the slowest line at a grocery store behind people who can’t find their checkbooks. It’s the reason the toast you accidentally drop off the table lands butter side down. It’s why the loudest and rudest people always sit in front of you at a movie theater. Murphy’s Law is also the reason the restaurant you brag most about will invariably have an “off night” on the…

Closed in 2017ContinentalGone But Not ForgottenTaos County

The Trading Post Cafe – Ranchos de Taos, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno10:13 PM

There’s an old Lebanese proverb that says, “some men build a wine cellar after only finding one grape.” That proverb aptly describes the many rags to riches success stories among Lebanese immigrants to the Land of Enchantment, primarily to our state’s northern villages. Some of the state’s most prominent names in business–Maloof, Bellamah, Hanosh and Sahd–embody the spirit of that proverb. The progenitors of many of New Mexico’s Lebanese immigrants left Lebanon during the repressive Ottoman Empire, the main exodus occurring in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Escaping persecution and poverty, some arrived with nothing but aspirations, dreams…

Closed in 2024Fine DiningGone But Not ForgottenNew MexicoNew Mexico Culinary Treasures TrailTaos County

Sabroso – Arroyo Seco, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno3:01 AM

We’ve all heard the expressions from a jack to a king, from a moth to a butterfly, from a lump of coal to a diamond, but who’s ever heard…from a chicken coup to an elegant gourmet restaurant?  That sounds like more than a bit of a stretch, yet that’s the metamorphosis that transpired decades ago at what is currently the site of Sabroso, one of Taos county’s swankiest dining establishments. Local lore posits that in 1960, entrepreneurs started a restaurant not just on the site in which a chicken coup stood, but from its very walls.  That restaurant was christened…

AmericanClosed in 2008Gone But Not ForgottenNew MexicoTaos County

Altitudes Restaurant & Wine Bar – Red River, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno8:42 AM

No place is so dear to my childhood, As the little brown church in the vale. Step out of Altitudes Restaurant & Wine Bar on a dark moonlit night and the first thing you see is a large, illuminated alabaster cross atop a wooden church steeple. Directly beneath the cross is a colorful stained glass window depicting Christ, the Good Sheppard. It’s no wonder the popular gospel standard “The Church In The Wildwoods” is on our mind after each and every wonderful meal at what has long been the site of one of Red River’s dining treasures. Before the blue,…

AmericanClosed in 2010Gone But Not ForgottenNew MexicoTaos County

Gypsy 360 Cafe & Espresso Bar – Arroyo Seco, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno7:16 PM

Whether bathed by the sunshine of a dazzling daytime sun or illuminated by the shimmering glow of a starry moonlit night, the 360 degree views from the village of Arroyo Seco are enticing enough to convince any weary sojourner, wandering vagabond or peripatetic gypsy to end their nomadic ways and settle down. Your vantage points to the immediate north and distant south include sacred snow capped Tiwa mountains reaching majestically for New Mexico’s incomparable cobalt skies. Verdant fields present a dramatic east facing panorama while prominent vast expanses of stark terrain seem to go on forever on your western perspective.…