Moon Santa Fe, Taos & Albuquerque UPDATE

A little slow on this, but the restaurant Rancho de Chimayo had a fire this summer. It’s closed until at least April 2009.

This cafe in Santa Fe (p. 63) is closed.

(Thanks for the tip, Leo!)

This restaurant in White Rock (p. 73) is closed.

This place in Los Alamos (p. 73) is shut.

Chef du Jour (p. 161) has expanded, and chef Jennifer James (formerly of Graze) is now cooking here. The dinner menu (yes, there’s dinner now too) changes monthly, and is a great deal.

Ambrozia (p. 163) is closed. The chef now runs the new Nob Hill Bar & Grill, where Gulp/Graze used to be.

I reported earlier that Blue Dragon (p. 164) had closed. It has now reopened.

The Frontier (p. 165) is no longer open 24 hours—tragedy! It’s open 21 hours: 8am to 5am.

The Miner’s Chuckwagon in Madrid (p. 175) has moved—it’s midway through town, part of a larger Pit-BBQ operation. It wasn’t actually operating when I passed—it looks like it will rev up when summer gets underway.

Gypsy 360 (p. 120) is now the Maverick County Café—totally different menu, but very good. Open only for long lunch (11am–4pm or so).

El Pueblo (p. 121) is not open till midnight in the winters—my mistake. It closes at 10pm.

Antonio’s (p. 121) is closed; fortunately, you can still get his chiles en nogada at the much smaller Rellenos Café, on Paseo del Pueblo Sur at the corner of Quesnel.

The Burrito Wagon (p. 122) is gone. (I saw it parked in someone’s yard a few blocks away—so sad!)

Coyote Café (p. 60) is no longer owned by Mark Miller, and has been taken over by the same restaurateur who owns Geronimo. I enjoyed my meal there, but the menu is completely different and the cooking—while ambitious on the surface—is actually pretty standard stuff. It’s certainly the place to schmooze in Santa Fe right now.

Kasasoba (p. 61) is shut. It’s now another high-end Asian place.

Tiny’s (p. 62) is incorrectly placed on the map. It’s actually off the east side of St. Francis Dr., south of Cerrillos—Pen Rd. here is not really a street, but a big parking lot.

Horseman’s Haven (p. 62) has remodeled, and locals say it’s not so good anymore.

Mariscos La Playa (p. 63) no longer has its Cerrillos Road outpost—that’s now a different seafood place, which people also say is good.

Guadalajara Grill (p. 63) is shut.

La Diligencia (p. 63) is now called Jalapeno’s—not quite the same cool ranchero style.

The Churro cart (p. 63) seems to be gone, as is Lucky Barbeque (p. 63).

Dave’s Not Here (p. 63) is shut.

Blue Heron (p. 64) has a new chef, and the food isn’t nearly so Asian. It’s very delicious, though—worth a drive out.

O Eating House (p. 70) is open only for lunch and dinner now—no more doughnuts.

Blue Window Bistro (p. 73) changed hands, but it’s still good. The menu is a bit different now, though—none of the chile relleno crepes.

A big fire gutted Golden West (p. 146), in Albuquerque, and the neighboring Launchpad and El Rey are at least temporarily shut from damage as well.

Jennifer James, formerly of Graze (p. 166), will be cooking at Chef du Jour (p. 161) starting September 4–this is great news! (Thanks, Duke City Fix.)

This cafe in Albuquerque (p. 164) is closed.

It looks like this great little diner in Albuquerque (p. 162) is closing! Very sad.

Thanks to Duke City Fix for the tip.

UPDATE: Actually, no–just closing for a few months. It should reopen with a patio area, and maybe even a deep-fryer!

The diner in Tres Piedras (p. 105) is closed.

This chocolate shop (p. 119), and La Folie Restaurant, which I mentioned in previous updates, is now completely shut.

But fortunately you can still get the Xocoatl chocolates at Cid’s grocery store and Taos Home Grown, on the plaza.

This place in Taos (p. 120) no longer serves dinner.

Also closed, both locations (p. 119). It’s like there’s nowhere to get a pastry there anymore!

This place in Taos (p. 120) is closed.

Sorry–I listed the wrong phone number for this Espanola restaurant (p. 76)–it should be 505/753-3200.

This cafe in Pojoaque (p. 70) is no longer open for breakfast. Hours are:
11:30am-2pm and 5:30-9pm Mon-Fri
11:30am-2pm and 5:30-10pm (maybe later) Sat

This restaurant on Canyon Road in Santa Fe (p. 62) has changed hands–it’s now called the San Miguel Restaurant, and is open only for lunch, 10am-3pm. I don’t know yet if it’s any good, though.

No, this Japanese restaurant in Santa Fe (p. 61) does not open at 5:30 in the morning on the weekends, as you might’ve guessed. Correct hours are:
11:30-2pm and 5:30-9pm Mon-Fri
5:30-9pm Sat and Sun

This Santa Fe restaurant (p. 60) now serves brunch all year-round.

Steepings, the tea place near the plaza in Santa Fe (p. 57), is closed. And it seems like Tribes (also p. 57) is as well, as the phone number has been disconnected. If someone knows different, please email me!

Either hours have changed significantly for this Santa Fe restaurant/bar (p. 41, 61), or I was totally confused when I wrote the book. Er, also, the phone number is for the takeout line–call the resto at 505/982-2565.

Here are the proper hours:
11am-2am Mon-Fri, kitchen closes at midnight
11:30-2am Sat, kitchen closes at midnight
8am-midnight Sun, kitchen closes at 11pm

This Santa Fe cafe (p. 62) serves dinner as well, Tues-Sat. Prices are very reasonable–nothing’s more than about $15. Good crowd, and a great bargain. Cash only.

This restaurant in Santa Fe (p. 59) is significantly changed (it goes by the name Senor Lucky’s), and I wouldn’t characterize it as family-friendly any longer….especially now that they’ve installed the mechanical bull. (Yikes.)

UPDATE: This place has closed very suddenly, as of 2/15/07. (Thanks for the tip, Woody!)

This Santa Fe restaurant (p. 61) added a very nice bar area–you can order the full menu here, or just have some of the delicious snacks.

This bar in Santa Fe (p. 41) has changed hands, and the new management has lowered the drink prices; happy hour is $4, and the rest of the time cocktails max out at $10, making this place much more accessible. (No reports on whether this has resulted in a lower rate of celebrity sightings.) Currently the place is open Wed-Sun, and the nightly schedule listed in the book is no longer accurate.

This Albuquerque sight (p. 138) has changed the schedule of dance exhibitions slightly: summer schedule is only through October, not November. Museum admission is up to $6. The website is www.indianpueblo.org. And the Pueblo Harvest Cafe (also on p. 162) now opens at 8am, not 7.

This nice little resto in Albuquerque (p. 166) is closed (as of today). The adjacent bar, Gulp, is still open.

This place in downtown Albuquerque (p. 163) is now called JC’s New York Pizza Department and has added a nice little bar area, with arcade games and good beers on tap. Hours have changed too: now 11am-11pm Sun.-Thurs, 11am-3am Fri. and Sat. (Yes, 3am–very handy after the bars.)

This semi-Irish pub in Santa Fe (p. 41) is shut. It has been replaced by LeMoyne’s Landing, a New Orleans resto relocated here after the hurricane, which is so far getting fairly decent reviews.

The restaurant at the Galisteo Inn (p. 64) is open on Tuesdays now as well, and has a direct phone number for reservations: 505/466-8200. The prices have also gone up significantly–$20 is the low end for entrees, and they range up to $38. But there’s a smaller “tapas” menu, which is really just bar food–smaller versions of entrees, some burger-y things, etc., so don’t let the prices deter you from a drive down here in the summertime.

This Santa Fe restaurant (p. 60) no longer has the “No Higher Than Twenty-Six” category on its wine list, and its overall menu looks a fair bit duller than it used to. I haven’t had a chance to eat there again recently, but these two factors knock it out of the “top pick” category, unfortunately.

This cafe in Socorro (p. 170) is closed–it has been replaced by nice coffee place, Manzanares Street Coffee.

This cafe in Santa Fe (p. 58) has closed at its downtown location, but fortunately has reopened in the Design Center, 418 Cerrillos Rd.

Never mind the move to the Overland complex reported below–Sheva Cafe (p. 120) is now completely closed, “under mysterious circumstances,” according to the Taos News.

An outpost of Santa Fe’s popular Mexican seafood joint Mariscos La Playa (p. 63) is opening soon in Albuquerque, on Central Ave. west of the Rio Grande.  It’s very near Sandia Peak Inn (p. 159), on the same side of the street.

I ate at this restaurant in Corrales (p. 166) on this past research trip, and the menu has changed substantially from what’s described in the book.  It does have a few mid-range New Mexican items, but the bulk of the menu is $20-and-up entrees.  My group and I had salads and the green-chile-chicken stew, and none of it inspired raves.

I can’t really recommend the place for a full dinner anymore, but it is still a nice spot for a drink and a snack while you’re in Corrales–ideally outdoors on the patio.

Chef du Jour is now open for dinner Thurs.–Sat., from 5 p.m. on, but it is closed entirely on Monday.

And the phone number is 247-8998–my mistake.

La Posada de Albuquerque (p. 149) is closed—it looks like it’s undergoing big renovations.

Monte Carlo Steakhouse (p. 162) has helpfully labeled the entrance to the place.

Texas Reds (p. 126) is up and running, rebuilt after its fire. But it’s open only for dinner, starting at 5 p.m. I just cruised through town during lunch, and tried Mountain Treasures, a little gallery/café just west of Brandenburg Park, across from The Lift condos. The deli sandwiches were good, and used homemade bread.

Momentitos de la Vida (p. 122) is closed. It has been replaced by something called Sabroso—not sure yet if it’s good.

Sheva Café (p. 120) has moved into the Overland Sheepskin Co. shopping complex, up the highway, closer to the “old blinking light” intersection, on the east side of the road.

Antonio’s (p. 121) is still serving Mexican dishes—but they’ve been moved to the back side of the menu, and the New Mexican stuff given more prominence. Not a real change for the diner, as the food is just as tasty, but it’s funny to see that Antonio has had to cater more to local tastes. He has also opened Rellenos Café, on Paseo del Pueblo Sur, one block south of Kit Carson Road. Rellenos has the usual NM stuff, but also the yummy chiles en nogada, at a lower price than at the formal resto.

Xocoatl (p. 119) now shares space with a restaurant called La Folie, and has an entrance on Paseo del Pueblo Norte, just north of Kit Carson Road. The hours have changed too: Although the sign says they’re open for breakfast, the current hours are noon-3 and 6-9pm Tues-Sun (closed Mon).

Tim’s Chile Connection (p. 120) is more clearly signed as Tim’s Stray Dog Cantina, in the second-to-last entrance to the whole ski complex, as you go around the parking lot.

Rita’s (p. 122) has opened as a proper restaurant, down in Ranchos de Taos (4133 NM Hwy 68). I haven’t checked it out yet myself, but if the tamales are the same, I can’t imagine what could go wrong.

All summer long, there’s music on the plaza every Thursday from 6pm to 8pm–apparently a fun scene well attended by Taos residents, with dancing.

(Thanks to the folks at Taos Lodging for the update!)

Martha’s Body Bueno in Albuquerque (p. 154) has moved to 3901 Central NE.

The awesome tastiness of Bumble Bee’s Baja Grill, till now only in Santa Fe (p. 59), is coming to Albuquerque: one branch is opening right across from Flying Star in Nob Hill, at Central and Amherst.

Pearl’s Dive in Albuquerque (p. 163) is closed. Rats. Not sure what’s going in its place.

Worse, though, is that Coyote Moon in Lemitar (p. 170), which served some of the best New Mexican food I’ve ever had, is now renamed Tina’s…which is pretty much a guarantee that the man who used to run the place is gone. Very disappointing. You’ll have to hold out till San Antonio for a meal on your way to the Bosque del Apache.

Or you could stop at Socorro Springs Brewing Company, on the north end of the main drag in Socorro. This place used to be on the plaza, and then it was gone, which was pretty sad, but now it has reopened in a gigantic spot–presumably with the same good beer and basic food, but I haven’t checked yet.