Take-out in Santa Fe

[abadoozy]

My husband and I are relocating to Santa Fe for a few months this winter. As much as we'd like to get there and jump out of the car into some wonderful restaurant, I expect the first few days will be quite busy getting our house & offices set up, recovering from a 3 day drive, and making sure our dogs adjust well to the new place.

As such, I expect that we'll be getting take-out quite a bit, at least until I have a chance to run to the grocery store (which could be a few days). Soooo... any recommendations for good take-out? I'd rather avoid pizza if possible. Does Geronimo's deliver?

We're near the Plaza, if that matters.

[Verjuice]

Absolutely! I'm getting hungry just thinking about it.

1) Mu Du Noodles, (505) 983-1411, 1494 Cerrillos Road

Try the beef jantaboon and the shrimp & lemongrass soup. All of her meats are organic and a lot of her ingredients are straight from local farmers.

2) Rooftop Pizzeria, (505) 984-0008, 60 E San Francisco St.

I know you said no pizza, but what if it had duck confit or lobster on it? They are located right off the plaza; you can check out the menu online. They also deliver through Dashing Delivery, which you might want to check out as they service other notable restaurants in town. Details and menus are on the website.

3) Rio Chama, (505) 955-0765, 414 Old Santa Fe Trail

I am constantly waxing poetic about their bar food (excellent burgers and fries, buffalo short ribs, killer nachos, wonderful salsas, habanero guacamole, chicken tacos, wedge salad, barbecue ribs), but they have an extensive regular menu as well. It's located between the Pink Adobe and Guadalupe Cafe.

4) Sleeping Dog , (505) 982-4335, 114 W. San Francisco St.

Also just off the plaza, this is the closest thing Santa Fe has to a "gastropub". Kobe beef burgers, good salads, a very nice Harris Ranch flank steak, oyster corn dogs.

5) Shohko Cafe, (505) 982-9708, 321 Johnson St.

Best sushi in town, very fresh, and you can swing by and pick it up.

6) Cowgirl BBQ & Western Grill, (505) 982-2565, 319 S. Guadalupe St.

I cannot stand the interior of this place, so to me it's only as good as it's takeout. And they do have an extensive menu. I like the brisket on anything; a bun, a quesadilla, or just a big plate. And I have been driven to distraction more than once by the sweet potato fries with honey walnut mayo.

7) Counter Culture, (505) 995-1105, 930 Baca St.

The fall salad is always great: greens, roasted beets, gorgonzola, Chimayo chile-dusted walnuts, but it's the cinnamon rolls and the cinnamon sour cream coffee cake that have truly captured my heart. Make sure you don't leave without at least one of them!

8) Bumble Bee's Baja Grill, (505) 820-2862, 301 Jefferson St.

Delicious and super-fresh Mexican take-out.

Edited January 18, 2008 by Verjuice (log)

[abadoozy]

Thanks a ton, this is EXACTLY what I needed. It'll definitely get us through those first few hectic days!

[fyfas]

To Verjuice's excellent list, I'll add...

- Hidden Chicken in the shopping center that includes a Smith's grocery; St. Michael's Drive near St Francis excellent Chicken Pot Pies with grenn chiles ! (closed Sundays). When ordering I tell them uncooked so I can cook them at home rather than reheating them. Top/crust is an excellent puff pastry.

- Josh's BBQ; southside of town by the new 14 screen movie theatre (closed Mondays)

- Whole Hog Cafe on Cerrillos Road around where Wal-Mart is, opposite side of the street; the other BBQ in town. Good enough IMO, not as good as Josh's (closed Sunday)

- Jinja; in a separate building in the De Vargas shopping center; pan Asian menu all available to go

- Whole Foods, while expensive, has mostly good hot and cold foods plus baked goods and cheeses

- Kaune's Market; at Old Santa Fe Trail and Paseo de Peralta across from the Capitol, carries foods prepared by Angel Food Catering, the on-site caterers for the Santa Fe Opera during the summer months. Also closed Sundays.

- The Pink Adobe restaurant (same area as Kaune's) offers their "signature" Green Chile Stew and Gypsy Stew to go at menu prices.

- Dominic's in The Railyard/Guadalupe didtrict does excellent entree type salads or sandwiches all available to go

- Chow's, same shopping complex as Hidden Chicken; just in case you have a craving for Chinese. There are several specifically Chinese places in Santa Fe. All but Chow's will make you want to cry they are so bad.

More as I think of them

[Verjuice]

Where've you been, fyfas?

Yes, Josh's is very good (well, the sauces at Whole Hog are better, but the rest isn't). They do a terrific green chile coleslaw. I had thought about mentioning it in my previous post, but it's a long way from the plaza and Cerrillos Road is not exactly scenic (though you could take 599).

Chow's is good, too... they call themselves an Asian bistro; they have a lot of contemporary takes on American-style Chinese food as well as the usual suspects. They are msg-free and all that.

I had forgotten about Jinja! Try the Black Pearl Salmon; it's pricier than the other salmon dishes on the menu because it's wild, but man is it tasty, if a little sweet. It comes with green curry coconut udon and a little cucumber salad and a couple of very tasty salsas... I may need to go and get me some for dinner, it's been too long.

Kaune's can do no wrong by me because they carry D'Artagnan duck fat. Enough said.