Maria’s New Mexican Kitchen

I’m a native New Mexican and so I expected this «touristy» restaurant to be blah and run-​of –the-​mill bland «Mexican» food. I was wrong and it was so kick ass that we have driven up here from Albuquerque 2 times since just to eat here. Just writing this review has my mouth watering and my eyes on I-​25 Northbound.

Carne adovada and sopapillas were super spicy and delicious. Very friendly service.

My family has been eating at Maria’s for years and the last year the food and service has gone down hill. The easiest thing to get right, the temperature, they can’t get right. The food the past few times has been barely warm. The service is also poor these days. We waited 20 minutes after we got water to order drinks (no they weren’t busy). I’d recommend La Choza if you are looking for a good New Mexican food.

The ONLY reason I am giving this restaurant two stars is for the savory and delicious green chile.
We have been coming to Santa Fe for over 10 years. A few years ago we ordered take out from Maria’s during our trip and we were pleasantly surprised.
We decided to revisit Maria’s on our most recent trip and it was terrible! Worst food we’ve had in our 10 years coming to Santa Fe. We started off our meal with a round of the «world famous» margaritas. My frozen peach marg was flavorless– frozen tequila smoothly with too-​little artificial peach syrup. I drank half and switched to wine. My sister ordered the «Dirty Old Man.» It was inedible– it tasted far worse than a dirty old man. We sent it back.
On to the food… All of our meals were so-​so; food we could get at any Mexican chain restaurant across the country. The refried beans lacked flavor and needed so much salt to make them remotely edible. The red chile tasted like it was made from a powder mixed with water (also lacked flavor and salt). The sopapillas were lackluster, and again, an item we could get a non-​authentic Mexican chain.
We were so disappointed :(. We walked away feeling like it was a waste of one of our culinary nights out as well as a waste of calories.

We were recommended by numerous friends and by the local coffee shop Iconick to have dinner at Marias — and it did not disappoint!
The margaritas should be watched out for as we both felt a little tipsy after one!
We ordered a lot of food, but I would say hands down the best two things we tried were the sopaipillas and honey and the chicken stew… wow wow woooooow wish we had just gotten that! Next time were in New Mexico, we’ll do it up right and order bowls of that chili stew :)

You have got to try the «Bringing Sexy Back» margarita. It lives up to its name, after just one you start feeling and looking sexy. After two, so does the old bald dude at the bar. I DO NOT recommend a third, it ruins your sexy streak, and you’ll be on the side of the road spewing Christmas everywhere. In case you’re wondering my fellow Unilocalers, that is not sexy. They’re not the best New Mexican food around, but that’s not why I come here. Plus, by the time one margarita is down, everything tastes amazing.

Maria’s came highly recommended to me by locals and tourists alike, so when my fiancé and I stopped in for a night of authentic Santa Fe Mexican, I expected to be dazzled by Maria’s dishes. (Bring on the red chile, the green, and those famous frijoles!) Unfortunately, what I ended up experiencing was a mediocre meal that left a lot to be desired in terms of taste, price, and ambiance alike.
Shortly after being greeted at the hostess stand, my fiancé and I were lead back into a dark and dingy bar room, empty save for two tables of patrons. At 7:00 PM in the evening, you’d think this was because Maria’s was bustling; however, this was not the case. We would much rather have joined the joyful patrons in the main dining room, but alas. We were seated at a table so close to drunken neighboring diners that I could not so much as lift a fork without knocking elbows with a stranger.
On top of this discomfort, being seated in a desolate desert of a bar area caused issues with our service. We were Tom Hanks in Castaway, hopelessly trying to call the attention of our server who was perpetually preoccupied.
Knowing that this experience at Maria’s was starting to head south for me, I ordered the staple plate on the menu — the blue corn enchiladas. While waiting, I tried out the chips and salsa. Though the salsa was spicy, the chips were extremely bland and did not taste homemade – eek! The plate of red chile smothered enchiladas arrived, and I immediately dug in. I soon discovered that while the enchiladas were tasty, (can’t go wrong with that hot, hot red chile) the rice and beans were just lacking a LOT of luster. Somehow they were quite tasteless, which was to my utter surprise given that this pairing is the essential side of any Mexican restaurant. It’s great that the rice was prepared vegetarian, but it tasted very much like it was prepared with tooo much water to retain any flavor. I stuck to the enchiladas only until the sopapillas arrived.
Let me let you in on something, Unilocalers. One of these stars is dedicated just to those fluffy little pockets of goodness. Drizzling some honey on top of a hot sopapilla is the choice way to end any authentic Mexican meal, and Maria’s sopapillas are especially good. All in all, they left a better taste in my mouth upon ending the previously two-​star experience.
Not so sure if i will return to Maria’s, but if so I’m crossing my fingers for a better dining experience all around!

I’ve come here several times before and the food is always consistent. And spicy, just like I like it. Thanks Maria! (wherever you are).
Large restaurant seating, but you still should call ahead for dinner, otherwise plan on waiting. Locals and visitors alike agree this is one great restaurant! I walked in once without reservations and it was an hour and half wait!

Atmosphere– lots and lots of seating, a comfortable amount of space for people waiting (8 pm), clean, busy, lots of waitstaff, friendly waitresses and hostesses
Prices– average pricing at $ 10+
Food– portions were enough to fill you up
We ordered the Don Pedro Grande. It came with one tamale, one chile relleno, ribs, enchiladas, rice, and beans. The ribs are worth 5 stars. They had a lot of sauce (if you like that) that had a bit of sweetness. The meat was falling off of the bone, tender, and juicy. The tamale was filled with flavorful meat and had a lot of masa (dough). I’d give the tamale 4 stars. The enchilada was just a blue corn tortilla with cheese rolled inside. Nothing too incredible but it was good. The chile relleno was delicious. The batter was perfect, and it was filled with plenty of cheese and meat. I’ve only like one other relleno in my eating experience so I can easily give this relleno 5 stars. The beans were a bland. I think they needing more seasoning. The rice was watery, still crunchy from not being cooked all the way through, and lacked any flavor as well.
Overall, I give this place 4 stars.
Also, they have a selection of over 200 margaritas! I didn’t try any, since we had a 9 hour trip back home ahead of us, but lots of people seemed to have one and I even overheard a lady say her’s was too strong for her.

Last week, we were again in Santa Fe. A good friend had told us to try Maria’s again despite the bad experience we had there January, 2014. We arrived on a rainy Sunday night, had to park across the street in the shopping center parking lot, and ford two wide streams of water across (busy) Cordova Road to get to the front door. The parking lot was absolutely full! Luckily, we had called before for reservations — you should too! — and our table was ready within a couple of minutes wait.
I must say, I was impressed by the friendly service and the always stellar margaritas (rocks, not frozen — the way to go). After a long drive, the Stacked Blue Corn Enchiladas, Christmas Red and Green Chili sauces, with an egg sunny side up on the top were just what I needed. You simply can’t get this in Texas. My wife had Carne Adovada, also a favorite there and perfectly seasoned and prepared.
Maria’s, you have redeemed yourself. We will be back next visit.

I feel tipsy again just writing this. Their Margaritas though. Oh my goodness they are strong and famous. First off, The Margarita menu is a booklet that is a menu on it’s own. They have pages full of different kinds of tequilas to choose from. It is also nice that they let you sample three tequilas before choosing one. I did not take advantage of this, but it was nice to know that I could. They use fresh lime and lemon juice, no gross fillers. I ordered the «Horny Toad», it was perfectly limy and tasty.
Let’s talk about dinner… here is what I found on my plate:
Maria’s Combo Plate:
A rolled cheesy enchilada
Beef Taco with Guacamole
Tamale (pork or veggie)
Chile Rellano
I chose the green chile sauce to smother everything in. They also have a red chile sauce that others at my table had and it looked equally fantastic. The food was hot and the BEST New Mexican food I have ever had. I wish there were more restaurants in Texas like this. The Chile Rellano was crisp to perfection and had a unique flavor that wasn’t drown out by the cheese. The tamale was moist and tasted like some one’s grandma spent days marinating the pork and rolling these tamales.
I am a huge fan of Maria’s. I go every time I am in Santa Fe. It is a family tradition that I hope never dies. I would recommend making a reservation. The wait for 7 people when we got their was 1.5 hours if we had not made a reservation.
Call ahead, come hungry, and know your limits.

Was so very excited to come to Maria’s during a visit to Santa Fe. I had heard so many great things.
Let me mention that I do not like margaritas (correction: I do not like tequila). That being said, I enjoyed reading through Maria’s endless selection of margaritas. I picked the blended peach and it was good, not tequila-​y in the slightest. My boyfriend got a plain marg on the rocks and he thoroughly enjoyed it– I tried it and it was STRONG.
For dinner I ordered the combo plate. I loved the chili relleno and I would order the relleno plate next time I go to Maria’s. The green chili with the white gooey yummy-​ness inside was agreed upon as possibly «the best relleno ever» at my table. :) The taco and enchiladas were good. I did not like the tamale, it lacked flavor. I ate one bite and did not bother any more with it.
The chips and salsa were okay. I tend to like hot salsas over the sweet tasting salsas, which Maria’s salsa tended to have almost a raspberry taste to it.
I was disappointed to see that there was no patio at this restaurant! It would have been fun to sit on the patio and eat there on that beautiful Santa Fe night.
All in all, I liked their relleno so much that I will definitely stop back at Maria’s during a future visit to Santa Fe!

We were in town for our Santa Fe vacation. Our Airbnb host recommended this place, so we decided to dine here the first night of our stay.
When I walked in… I fell in love with the feel and style of this restaurant! It reminded me of one of my favorite childhood restaurants in Southern California and I was so excited to try some New Mexican food here!
But then… the chips arrived… and I was so disappointed, sad, yet hopeful that the chips weren’t a predictor of future food to come. The chips really did look, taste and have the texture of store bought tortilla chips from a grocery store. I was hoping for more than this at a local, New Mexican restaurant. Bummer :/​
We ordered the green chile pork stew, the pork tamales with beans and rice, and the meatballs in green chile. The green chile stew was the best thing we ordered, but it wasn’t great. It tasted decent and average. The tamales weren’t my favorite… I wouldn’t recommend the tamales to anyone who eats here. The meatballs were below average. The sauce was good, but not good enough to really compensate at all for the meatballs.
If I were to take just the food into account I would rate this place a 2 star restaurant, but I can’t rate just the food… especially since the service was so disappointing for us. Our waiter rarely made eye contact with us when he was talking, appeared uninterested, and would quickly talk to us about something and walk away just as we began asking questions about the menu or wanting more water. It happened numerous times. It seemed like he didn’t want to be here and was very disinterested in his job or maybe was very distracted by something else going on for him.
I really wanted this place to be a good experience for us on our first night here in Santa Fe, but it wasn’t and that’s ok.
To end on a good note, I absolutely adore the ambiance, style, and New Mexican character of this restaurant.

Hard to go wrong here. Most extensive tequila list in town? Check. Tastiest house marg with a strong pour? Check. Spicy red and green? Check. Eat the enchiladas. The meatballs and the tamales can be skipped. Both are dry.
Maria — I’m thirsty and your margarita goes down a treat!

Fugedhabouddit. Order a bunch of tequila, get the Carne adovado enchiladas with a fried egg on top, evesdrop on locals, order some more tequila, destroy another complementary basket of their righteous chips and salsa, rinse, repeat. Pura vida bitches.

Hey Maria,
Just wanted to let you know that your food and drink are pretty good! I even heard the pickiest eater I know say: «this is probably the best burrito I have ever had in my entire life…» Now, the booze were a flowing, hello jalapeño and strawberry margaritas… But I do believe he was telling the truth! After all, isn’t alcohol a truth serum?
Everything else was pretty tasty, however, I have to say, that my trout, was a bit bland (I’m sure if I got the butter on top it would have had more flavor) and the fajitas I also ordered (I’m a hungry girl) were not the best I’ve ever had, but still good, and still fit the bill… You can thank your guacamole for that!
Would I come back? Maybe if the picky person I mentioned above wanted to, but otherwise, probably not. Your food didn’t quite leave a lasting impression on me, however it did the others in my party, so maybe I’m just being a food snob ;)

This is the biggest disappointment in my few days in Santa Fe. Because I was dining alone I got seated in the noisy bar next to a group of raucous Australians. Fine. Then the busboy brought me a basket of chips and salsa. I kid you not, the chips were straight from a bag. Stale, over salty, and all exactly the same shape… like Tostitos. Even Frito-​Lay wouldn’t approve of these. I mean really.
The flat enchiladas were delicious but I never received the sopapilla that allegedly came with my meal. The server said he’d bring it and never did. He dropped my check and ran off.
Based on the reviews I have read, it seems like this place used to be the shit. Now it’s just shit.

THE BEST New Mexican food I’ve had in Santa Fe.
Guacamole «salad» ($ 9.50) was fresh and appropriately portioned. The cup of Green Chile Stew ($ 5, recommended with pork) was spicy and delicious.
I had the Steak & Enchiladas plate ($ 17). The enchiladas were the absolute best part… gooey cheese in fresh blue corn tortillas, smothered in red and green chile. The steak was a little disappointing, cooked well instead of my requested medium rare, but it didn’t matter much because the enchiladas were SO GOOD. I sampled some of the carne adovada enchiladas, too. Also delicious.
The waitress was extremely friendly and helpful. She recommended some margaritas from their insane selection, and they were strong and delicious.
Minus 1 star because it was WARM inside the restaurant. We were pretty much sweating in our plates eating the chile. And parking is a bit hard to find. It’s a turn in before the sign down a narrow passage.

It’s very rare that Unilocal leads us astray, so 481 reviews lending a 4 star rating seemed like a solid bet while passing through Santa Fe this weekend. Sadly, we found this place overrated and most likely would not return.
The service is truly what ruined the experience. Our server was impersonal and unwelcoming. Upon coming to take our drink order, I asked for recommendations from their several page margarita list and was given two of the more expensive options without any indication as to why I should choose one of those two. He then ignored my husband all together and walked away, and this became a theme for the rest of the meal, until it came time to pay that is. Asking for a to go box suggests to me that we are done with our meal and ready for our check, yet he went and sat down to talk with friends at a nearby table, making us wait an extra 20 minutes between waiting for our to go box and paying for our check.
The woman that briefly delivered our food to our table was a night and day difference, and I wish that we could have had her as our server for our entire visit.
When it came to their selection of margaritas, I randomly selected one but my husband opted to stick with water. The sheer amount of choices was overwhelming and as primarily craft beer and bourbon people, we were out of our element and could have used suggestions that we might enjoy given our taste preferences.
Our food was tasty but not memorable enough to make us ‘have to have it again.’ My blue corn enchiladas were supposed to be made Christmas with both green and red chile but were lacking in both. I also wasn’t a fan of the cafeteria style metal and plastic trays our food was served on. The soppapillas with honey were by far our favorite part of the evening. I’d stop back in just to order a side of those… to go. Unfortunately so much of our opinion of the entire experience was clouded by the disappointing service.

As a tourist from California, I praise the Unilocal gods for directing us to this WONDERFUL PIECE of Santa Fe vibes and good cookin’! Having lived in San Diego for a few years, I know good Mexican food when I see it. AND DAYUM this place will forever be on my internal list of favorite restaurants.
Maria’s was probably my FAVORITE dinner, no, favorite MEAL while we were at Santa Fe over a course of two days. Road tripping from Northern CA through Flagstaff, Albuquerque, and all the way to Taos, our family really felt whole after a warm-​bellied evening at Maria’s. If you’re not from the area, you’ll soon discover like we did, that NO PLACE in Santa Fe has curb appeal. The restaurants’ exteriors and surrounding streets may look deserted, abandoned, old – you name it, BUT once you walk in… the entire ambiance changes.
Because their tequila menu had over 150 selections, we HAD to start with some drinks! We got their house special margarita and another slightly more expensive ‘rita, but with their expansive selection… I COMPLETELY forgot the name of the other drink we had. BUT both were delicious and the tequila was on point! Our complimentary chips were a let down, as they tasted like they were from a Safeway bag of chips, but the red «chile» made the mediocre chips taste heavenly **TIP: they don’t call it salsa like we do in CA**
Food-​wise, we shared family-​style in the dimly-​lit wooden table in one of their many underground rooms. We started with a pork posole (which everyone loved – I can’t say because I don’t eat meat), and I ABSOLUTELY DIED with delight when our veggie-​friendly plates arrived. We had the combo platter and veggie fajitas! THE SOPAPILLAS were absolutely fluffy here, and all I remember is inhaling and appreciating the food so much I wanted to cry.
All in all, the food is exquisite (tequila and sopapillas), ambiance is romantic/​cozy/​dim, and the service is attentive but not intrusive. JUST the way I like it! Also, we finished the night with a lime cheesecake which was overpriced, but delicious in quality and presentation. CHEERS to Maria’s and here’s to hoping we meet again.