Santa Fe, NMChili

The Santa Fe Reporter writes that the green chile here has to be ordered by name, Level Two, with Level One the milder route. Pasatiempo's Molly Boyle calls the Cerrillos Road room a southside institution sitting next to a gas station, decorated with photos of Vicente Fernandez and John Wayne, where everyone settles into the old wooden booths for the same pale green sauce. Order the huevos rancheros smothered in the regular green, which Boyle describes as a sinus-opener on its own.

Pasatiempo reports that the menu at this DeVargas Center cafe sources its red and green chile from the lower Rio Grande valley, and describes a large bowl of green chile stew filled with chunks of pork and wedges of potato simmered in a broth of tomatoes, onion and oregano, with unadulterated diced green chile ladled over the top. The Santa Fe Reporter notes that owner George Gundrey's family also ran Tomasita's and Tia Sophia's. Order the stew, and the Relleno Bueno plate if you want posole and beans with it.

Pasatiempo describes a smoky brown broth packed with big, juicy hunks of pork, potatoes, tomatoes and carrots, a chile heat that lingers on the lips, and a thick, fluffy tortilla made for sopping up the dregs. The Santa Fe Reporter's 2025 visit found the Water Street room under Benina and Joaquin Quintana, who bought it in 2023, and reports an eleven dollar pint of the stew packed with pork and sold with avocado and a fresh sopaipilla. Order the green chile stew.

Pasatiempo describes a stew cooked low and slow at this village market in Tesuque, with a gravy-like texture and large pieces of tender pork, potatoes and carrots, and names it the bowl to bring a first-timer who wants something robust without the spice climbing too high. The market keeps a country-store room and serves breakfast, lunch and dinner every day. Order the green chile stew and eat it in the room rather than taking it away.

Pasatiempo went looking for a bowl of red without the usual burritos and enchiladas underneath it, and found one on this Downtown breakfast menu: a generous pour of red chile flooding griddled polenta, sauteed chorizo and corn, with the polenta itself flecked with green chile. Chef-owner Katharine Kagel told the paper the red sauce is still made the way it is done in Old Mexico, with guajillo, ancho and chiles de arbol plus garlic, onion and herbs. Order that bowl at breakfast.