The Pink Adobe

Description:

• This restaurant, a few blocks off the plaza, offers a swirl of local old-timer gaiety and food that has remained popular since the restaurant opened in 1944. I remember eating my first lamb curry here, and my mother ate her first blue-corn enchilada, back in the '50s, and was taken aback by the odd colors. Under new ownership now, the restaurant has updated its look and menu. The restaurant occupies an adobe home believed to be at least 350 years old. Guests enter through a narrow side door into a series of quaint, informal dining rooms with tile or hardwood floors. Adobe colored walls, ceiling vigas, and kiva fireplaces complete the Santa Fe feel. For lunch, a favorite is the gypsy stew (chicken, green chile, tomatoes, onions, and mozzarella in a sherry broth). At dinner, steak Dunigan, a New York strip with sautéed mushrooms and green chile, is their signature dish, though the cut of meat isn't as good as you'd find next door at the Rio Chama. Lighter eaters will like the half-order portions available for some entrees. You can't leave without trying the hot French apple pie.

  Under the same ownership, the charming bar (a real local scene) has its own menu, offering traditional New Mexican food. Locals come to eat hearty green-chile stew.

• © Frommer's 2012

Awards:

Frommer's

•  Recommended 2010