El Paragua

Description:

• This Española restaurant is a great place to stop en route to Taos, though some Santa Feans make a special trip here. Every time I enter El Paragua (which means "the umbrella"), with its red-tile floors and colorful Saltillo-tile trimmings, I feel as though I've stepped into Mexico. The restaurant opened in 1958 as a small taco stand owned by two brothers, and through the years it has flourished. It has received praise from many sources, including Gourmet Magazine and N. Scott Momaday, writing for the New York Times. You can't go wrong ordering the enchilada suprema, a chicken and cheese enchilada with onion and sour cream. Also on the menu are fajitas and a variety of seafood dishes and steaks, including the churrasco Argentino. Served at your table in a hot brazier, it's cooked in a green herb salsa chimichurri. There's a full bar from which you may want to try Don Luis's Italian coffee, made with a coffee-flavored liquor called Tuaca. For equally excellent but faster food, skip next door to the kin restaurant El Parasol and order a chicken taco -- the best ever.

• © Frommer's 2012

Awards:

Frommer's

•  Recommended 2010