Stationed outside Taos Pueblo, the UNESCO World Heritage Site, Shundine’s Frybread Stand offers Puebloan-inspired Indigenous dishes. The stuffed frybread is filled with wild rice and a blend of locally grown squash, while sandwiches are crafted with oven bread from the Pueblo. Dishes are prepared for customers to go, perfect for anyone ready to stretch their legs after driving the High Road to Taos. An RV enthusiast and freelance travel writer, Matt Kirouac is the co-founder and co-host of Hello Ranger, a national parks community blog and podcast.

This large, hacienda-style New Mexican restaurant, a maze of adobe-walled rooms and tiled patios, makes for a perfect stop after you’ve checked out the nearby Santuario de Chimayó, or while you’re en route to other attractions along the High Road to Taos. For a taste of local history, try the Chimayó cocktail, an cider-and-tequila creation developed by the founder during the area’s apple boom more than a half century ago. It’s perfectly refreshing alongside a bowl of the heady green chile stew.

There isn’t an abundance of options for a draft beer and pizza in Española (or anywhere else on the road between Santa Fe and Taos), but Blue Heron offers a worthy pit stop for a drink, a meal, a game of pool, and a welcoming slice of local life. There is nothing flashy about the pizzas here (and pizzas are the main focus), but you will leave satisfied — especially if you take the opportunity to chat with the regulars between bites.

Since it opened its doors a little over a year ago, this airy breakfast and lunch spot has become one of Santa Fe’s best daytime options. The small kitchen serves Slovakian-inspired food in a casual, relaxed atmosphere. The Hungarian goulash alone, made with locally sourced lamb bone broth, is worth the trip. But the house-made cakes, pies, and other pastries are equally unmissable. For a treat to go, pick up some fresh gingerbread and a jar of lemonade mixed with turmeric, ginger, honey, and cayenne.

Since debuting La Boca in 2006 in downtown Santa Fe, chef James Campbell Caruso has merged regional Southwestern ingredients with methodical Spanish technique, transporting eaters from New Mexico to Spain. For example, Caruso pairs small plates like trio de califlor — roasted cauliflower with harissa barbecue sauce and manchego cream — with an impressive selection of Mediterranean and South American wines.

One of Santa Fe’s most established coffee roasters, Iconic has two other cafes in town, but the Lupe location opens the earliest, at 7 a.m., and is a favorite morning haunt for a leisurely cup and a simple breakfast of yogurt, granola, and mixed-berry-and-mint compote, or the dukkah-spiced avocado toast.

The signature mole negro is subtle and balanced; the pork belly tacos are divine; and the sweeter-than-normal chiles en nogada, made with a jalapeno balsamic reduction, offer a new take on a classic. It’s cooking like this — which rivals anything you might find on a white tablecloth in Mexico City — that keeps tables at this adobe-walled restaurant in high demand.  

This upscale Mexican restaurant makes its tortillas from local landrace blue corn that’s nixtamalized in house. The result is a complex flavor that elevates Paloma’s tacos — topped with carne asada, sea bass, or cauliflower — into some of the best in town.

Maria’s has been a Santa Fe institution since 1950. The restaurant has changed hands among multiple families and friends over the years, but they have all maintained the humble, home-cooked New Mexican classics. If you’re looking for red or green chile, be sure to ask which one is spicier that day to suit your taste. Maria’s is perhaps most famous for its menu of more than 150 margaritas and 170 tequilas, which you should definitely explore too.

Chef Paulraj Karuppasamy uses local ingredients as the base for his innovative South Indian cuisine. The dosas are large but light, and the specialties, like the green chile cheese dosa and the artisanal paletas in rotating Indian-inspired flavors, weave local food traditions into traditional favorites. Vegetarian dishes anchor the menu, which draws regular crowds. The wait is worth it.

This low-key gastropub features a wide selection of sour beer and farmhouse ales alongside a varied slate of bar bites that range from sandwiches to risotto to a clam chowder that’s particularly impressive for a high-desert bar menu.

Chef Kewal Singh Dhindsa took his love of classic South Indian food from Los Angeles to New York to the Caribbean before settling in Santa Fe. At India House, where the dining room is expansive and the service immaculate, try anything from the tandoor oven, like the chicken wings broiled over mesquite and mixed with yogurt, garlic, and ginger. Don’t be shy if you like heat — ask for recommendations, or alter your favorite dishes with additional spice. India House will go above and beyond to make you sweat.

Chef Josh Gerwin is known among the area’s foragers as a die-hard wild foods enthusiast. If you come in the right season (the rainy one), you’ll likely find the menu peppered with foraged ingredients like wild mushrooms or greens from the nearby mountains. Located in a nondescript shopping center, this casual restaurant caters to the local crowd with a respectable draft beer selection, a nonpretentious vibe, and an eclectic array of sandwiches, pizzas, and enchiladas.

Santa Fe Brewing Company has steadily expanded across Santa Fe and Albuquerque with six locations, and it’s clear why the brewery is so popular at the expansive Beer Hall at HQ location. The bar offers an expansive outdoor lounge area and 27 taps of beer, ciders, and beyond. Check the website for the latest food truck, from barbecue to Cubanos, to pop up in the courtyard as well.

A Madrid institution, Java Junction is the hub of this artsy desert community (and bona fide ghost town) nestled 20 minutes outside Santa Fe on the Turquoise Trail. The coffee beans, brewed in house, are roasted only 18 miles north of the shop. Be sure to sample the homemade pies, like rhubarb and blueberry, which rotate daily. The coffee shop also has an adjoining store as well as a bed-and-breakfast for those who want to stay the night.

Both a local bar grub staple and a biker outpost, the Mineshaft Tavern and Cantina gives visitors a taste of the Wild West, with wood-paneled walls and live music. Menu highlights include the mad chile burger, which consists of your choice of meat — including New Mexico-raised Wagyu beef — topped with both fried and chopped hatch chiles, aged cheddar, and chipotle dijonnaise.