I started eating at Santa Fe’s La Choza long ago, when I was a poor single mom living in Albuquerque.  They opened in 1983, and I’m pretty sure I was going there in 1984.

It was one of those places, like Berts’ Burger Bowl or the Five and Dime, where I could actually afford to feed my kids and myself when we visited Santa Fe. When I first moved to Santa Fe, I hadn’t been there to La Choza for a few years. I was living on Don Felix Street, deep in the Railyard District, looking for a restaurant in the neighborhood, and La Choza came up on my smart phone.  It’s at 905 Alarid Street, which is a quick left off Cerrilos after you cross St. Francis headed to the Plaza and/or Guadalupe Street, etc.

It’s still the same.  It’s just on the edge of the Railyard where it’s always been – the Railyard just grew up around it, so that now the location is hipper than ever.  Their website says “We waited 25 years for the Railyard to mature into it’s own!”

The food is still amazing. My first time back, I had chiles rellenos, my pal Sabrina had vegetarian enchiladas, Bruce had enchiladas, and we had a steaming basket of sopaipillas in the center of the table.  La Choza is the sister restaurant of The Shed. 

The food is just as good as The Shed, but the atmosphere is more relaxed and the wait to get in the door is just a tiny bit shorter (hopefully).  Eating at La Choza is what the locals do rather than going to The Shed just off the Santa Fe Plaza.

The prices are still very affordable. The margaritas are still perfect, and the Dos Equis is still cold. The building is still just as charming as ever, and I discovered that the building was once the headquarters of Santa Fe’s turn-of-the-last-century Mercer Ranch. The two dining rooms were the ranch’s bunkhouses.

Better than all that, the staff is friendly and has been there for years. If you show up with some regularity (which I do these days), they’ll remember you. If you have an aversion to eating alone, come to La Choza and sit at the bar. Every time I do that, I meet someone interesting or with whom I have some odd connection.

Life in Santa Fe has a thousand great benefits. La Choza is just one in a long list.

Gallery

My chile rellenos at La Choza

Bruce's Red Chile Enchiladas