Gabriel’s Restaurant

Best place to get table-​side made guac to order
Beautiful outdoor seating
Always fantastic :)

A friend could not say enough good things about Gabriel’s so my husband and I decided to try it. We have been to Santa Fe many times but had never even heard of it. Well, our friend was right. It is an adorable restaurant with delicious food. We did have the quacamole made table-​side and it was wonderful — too much for two people, however. We wish that they had given us a smaller option. I read reviews and decided on the crab enchiladas. They were marvelous and the corn and black bean sides were perfect with it. However, the enchiladas were rich and there was a lot of food. You might consider sharing. My husband got the fajitas and he said they were fabulous — again, a lot of food. We left full and ready for a nap!

Fun place. Margaritas are good and table guacamole. Fajitas needed a bit more flavor. Service seemed annoyed.

My wife and I ate here after searching Unilocal for ideas. We really enjoyed our meals. I had the Carne Adovada, and she had Mesquite grilled tacos. We also had the combination appetizer, and the tableside guacamole. We had margaritas as well, which were excellent.
I found the chips to be warm and tasted homemade, and the salsa was very good. I wished it was a little hotter, but it had really great flavor. The guacamole was excellent, and I can’t believe we ate all of it, there must have been enough there for four people.
The Combinacion appetizer had nachos, quesadillas, and blue corn flautas. All very good.
The carne adovada was delicious, tender and with plenty of sauce. It came with rice, beans, corn, and tortillas. The rice was good, and the corn excellent, and after a few bites, I decided it needed to get mixed in with the leftover sauce. The tortillas were warm and soft, and probably fresh. My only complaint was that the beans were a bit bland.
Her tacos had a delicious grilled flavor, with plenty of rice and beans, and the charro beans that came on her plate were amazing.
I would definitely eat here again.
Also, the service was excellent. I hate being pestered, but I want to see them at least once or twice. Our drinks were kept full, and that’s all I really needed.

I would have given a better review, if it wasn’t for the subpar service that we received while dining at this establishment. We saw our waiter a total of three times over the course of our hour and a half dining experience. The first time was when he took our order, the second was when he brought our food, and the third is when we had to hunt him down for the check. Our drinks were empty for ¾ of stay. We were there for an hr and half. We were never offered another drink. Had our waiter come by, this may have been discovered. The food was good but this experience made our stay less than enjoyable. My husband and I both got a beef taco that was drenched in chili and it was mushy. We couldn’t pick it up and was literally a pile of mush. The beef was flavorful but not really what you are expecting when you order a taco. The tamales were very good. Overall, very disappointing!

The food was good but the service was horribly slow. Many times my water glass was empty for a long time. Very disappointed with the service this time.

I live in Santa Fe but have always considered Gabriel’s a treat since it is quite a drive out to the restaurant. The outside seating area is excellent, parking is ample, reservations accepted, table side guacamole is the best. However… the last several times I have been there, at all times of day, the service has been not so good. A long time to take the order, a long time to deliver the food (which this last time was only warm because the plate was super heated), a long time to replenish drinks or chips, a long time to bring the check and bring back your credit card or change. Yesterday they were busy outside and not so busy inside, where we were sitting, so possibly our waiter was working both inside and out, but that is really no excuse. Other than this issue, I would say the food is just ok (other than the table side guacamole, thumbs up) and there are better places to eat Mexican food in Santa Fe.

I went with two other people for Mother’s Day. We had a reservation for 1 PM. The waitress said we would be seated in 20 minutes. We didn’t get a table until an hour later. It was ridiculous. The margaritas were watered down, overpriced and the service was horrible. We weren’t even finished eating and they were already trying to take our food off the table. The food itself was actually decent but the whole experience was very very very bad. I used to go to this restaurant for many years and it was always good. But I think management has done a horrible job with this place.

Friendly staff and good service, but bland, unremarkable food. Not worth the drive.

This is the third time I came to Gabriel’s, but the first time with my wife, so I thought I should review this place. Their chicken rellenos and the beef tacos and burritos were excellent. We also thought their complimentary chips and salsa were excellent; the salsa had the right level of spiciness. The pinto beans were so good that we finished them even though we were stuffed by that point!

We met our friends for dinner. They’ve been to Gabriel’s a number of times; this was our first. We found the food to be OK and the service excellent. We started with guacamole made at the table. It was good, but lacked great guacamole flavor. For dinner, I had carne adovada and my wife had crab enchiladas. The adovada was definitely the better of the two dishes – the chucks of pork were tender, but the sauce was missing something. My wife thought her enchiladas were ordinary and did not finish them.
With so many great restaurants in Santa Fe, I don’t know if we would visit Gabriel’s again.

Four of us were traveling throughout the Santa Fe area for 5 nights. We ate in many restaurants while we were here, Most wetr very good, but Gabrielle was in a class by itself. it’s a large space north of Santa Fe, and very beautifully decorated. You have to get that tableside guacamole to start. The menu is large and has a separate vegetarian section which worked for our one vegetarian of the group. I had a combination plate with a beef enchilada and a chicken enchilada cover with red. It had just the right amount of heat and was amazing. Without question the best enchiladas I have on the Tripp Two people got vegetarian enchilada dishes which had sweet potato poblano pepper with tomatillo sauce and cheese. Our certified vegetarian proclaimed it the best vegetarian meals she has had in a long time. The other diner for the pork dish then came with torttillas, guacamole and things. If you only have one meal north of Santa Fe this is the place to have it

Visited here when I stayed at Buffalo Thunder on business and glad I made the very short drive over.
Very quaint looking as you’ll see when you walk in.
I had what I think was the best tamale I’ve ever had. They make them every morning. The bartender was very nice and made me feel comfortable, which is nice when you’re there alone.
My only regret is I didn’t have the guacamole everyone is raving about. :(
Definitely come here if you’re in the area.

This is one of the few restaurants between Los Alamos and Santa Fe and this is a good one and it’s a big restaurant. I’ve only been when it’s cold outside, so I haven’t been able to enjoy their outdoor seating, but they have a nice patio with tables outside.
The service was really good and we had a large group of 14 and I felt like there were always servers around to fill our drinks or bring more chips.
The food was very tasty and great New Mexican food. They do table side guacamole which is really good and fresh, although it’s a bit pricey at $ 11.95. But we sprung for 3 orders of it for our table and ate every bit of it. I had enchiladas and tacos and they were super tasty and I opted for the chile on the side since I’m not one for too much spice. The margaritas were very good and our table seemed to really enjoy that.
This is a great restaurant for a big groups. The service was great and the food came out pretty fast for the number of people we had. Definitely recommend this if you’re in New Mexico looking for a good New Mexican place to eat. Can’t wait to come here in the summer when I can enjoy a table outside.

Great New Mexican food in a spacious restaurant. The table side guacamole is worth the money. All of us enjoyed our meals and margaritas were very good.

I usually don’t like guacamole. Too bland, or too salty, I usually head straight for the salsa. But the fresh, table-​side prepared guacamole at Gabriel’s was outstanding, as was the salsa. I had 2 recommendations to eat dinner at Gabriel’s from co-​workers who occasionally visit Santa Fe. I stopped in on a Wednesday evening while in town for business. We were seated promptly and service was excellent from start to finish. This is certainly one of the best Mexican restaurants I have ever been to. They have ample outdoor seating in the beautiful courtyard. I had a burrito and it was excellent with super fresh ingredients and just the right amount of seasoning. The fresh sangria was perfect, not too sweet. Highly recommended!

Blue corn is so special — everything just tasted like a home cooked meal prepared by someone’s grandma. Came in with my Dad and his Sister on our second road trip to Santa Fe in less than 2 months, so checking out a few more restaurants! We made reservations for 515p and beat the throngs of starving people!
Gabriel’s is on the way to the Buffalo Thunder Casino — on the same frontage road right next to highway 285. When you turn into the street (driveway), it’s the Adobe on the right with parking in the back.
The staff is super friendly and efficient.
We were less fortunate at the Buffalo, however, where the AC nearly froze us and our money disappeared faster than my enchilada. Sigh. Only remedy is to go to another restaurant and eat something. La Choza is on our bucket list for tomorrow as is Mike’s Kitchen in Taos for blue corn pancakes with pinion on Thursday as we head for home.

Best guacamole I’ve had since I can remember. Went around 3pm after hiking in Bandelier National Park and just wanted guacamole. We were allowed to sit wherever we wanted on the patio which was very spacious and had a beautiful view nearby (see pics).
Free chips and salsa just for sitting down. Salsa is spicy and tasted great. Chips were on the thicker side and very corn-​like but still decent and I could tell they were homemade.
NOW FOR THE MAIN REASON WHY I CAME: the guacamole. A lady came with a cart designated specifically for making table-​side guacamole and fixed it in front of us. She added: 3 avocados (cut up right on the spot), onions, tomatoes, cilantro, garlic, fresh jalapeños, salt/​pepper, and juice from ½ lime. Then she mashed it up to the perfect consistency and kept it in this big bowl so my sister and I could eat directly from it.
After scarfing it down, my sister wanted to try to tres leches cake. It came out quickly and she said it was really moist and had great texture/​flavors. She said she wishes it was sitting in the milk like a lot of traditional tres leches cakes do, but said it was still very delicious.
Overall, I HIGHLY recommend the guacamole. So worth the price!!! The sangria looked so good, but I didn’t try it. Bathrooms were very clean as well, which I can appreciate. This place seems to be a great place for anyone even someone just stopping in for some chips and guacamole like we did!

Great choice for a lovely spot for dinner.
My friend highly recommended Gabriel’s and then when I saw my fellow Unilocalers also loved it, well I knew it was a no-​brainer.
This is north of Santa Fe and we stayed at the Buffalo Thunder Hilton so it was the best location for us.
Early August and it was lovely on the patio with shade.
I love the mango margaritas! The menu said $ 7.50 but we were charged $ 9.00 for each. The dinner was so good, we let it go.
My husband and I resisted the urge to get the famous table side gua because we could see the portion was huge! Instead we split the combination fajitas with chicken, shrimp and scallops. So delish!!! The sizzling veggies were the perfect compliment and it was the right amount for us to share.
Quick, friendly service. Great flavor — pretty view from the back.
Did I say I loved the mango margarita?

On our last of three nights in Santa Fe, I was looking around for something casual for our family to enjoy. There were a lot of good options in Santa Fe, but the kids wanted to relax and I didn’t want to spend too much. I noticed some good reviews and some mixed ones, but decided to give this place a shot. I made a reservation for 6PM on a Friday night. It was a 15 minute from our hotel, the Eldorado, and were seated as soon as we arrived.
We got the guacamole and can unequivocally concur with others — this was the best guacamole I’ve had. They make it table side and while it is pricey, it was a hearty portion, sufficient for the five of us. My wife had a sangria that was ok — we’ve travelled in Spain and had far better — and I had a fabulous Mango Margarita with a chile rim. After this beginning, I was fully ready for a great main course.
Oh, we couldn’t have been more disappointed. My dish, Cochinita Pibil, an achiote marinated pork dish was fairly bland and the pork not nearly as tender for something that was supposed to be slow roasted. My wife had the chicken mole and once again it was far from inspiring and not even one of the better moles we’ve had. Our son liked his fajitas, the Los Cabos, in particular the tiger shrimp. We came to Santa Fe from Sedona and my fajitas there were far better with a lot better seasoning than these. Our daughter had a tamale/​enchilada combo and our other son the beef tacos.
I noticed a Zagat best of from 2001 and assume that at one point, Gabriel’s was a fresh restaurant with a great reputation in the Santa Fe restaurant scene. It is hard to say great for a long period of time and my experience is that it is past its prime. The food was average and with all the other great options in Santa Fe, there are far better options for a great meal. The service was fairly slow, enough for our oldest to comment on how long it was taking despite the large number of staff for the number of people there. Unless you are heading here for just some chips and guacamole along with drinks, do yourself a favor and go somewhere else.