Eat and drink in Albuquerque.
Start with the state question. New Mexican food is its own cuisine, and the difference matters to people here.
Red or green?
New Mexico’s official state question is red or green?, meaning which chile you want on your plate. Both come from the same plant picked at different stages: green chile is roasted and chopped, red chile is dried and made into a sauce. Ask for Christmas and you get both.
New Mexican food is built around that chile with Pueblo and Spanish roots. It is not Mexican food and it is not Tex-Mex. The dishes below show up on menus across the city, from Old Town to the far West Side.
The chile, in six lines.
Everything on a New Mexican menu comes back to these.
Six plates that tell a kitchen you know where you are.
Order any of these and the kitchen knows you have been here before.
- 01
Green chile cheeseburger
The burger New Mexico is known for: roasted green chile on top, at drive-throughs and dining rooms alike.
- 02
Breakfast burrito
Eggs, potatoes, and chile in a flour tortilla, often smothered. Sold from gas stations, drive-throughs, and sit-down places, morning and night.
- 03
Carne adovada
Pork marinated and slow cooked in red chile until it falls apart. A New Mexican plate, not a Tex-Mex one.
- 04
Stacked enchiladas
Flat corn tortillas layered with chile and cheese, New Mexico style, often with a fried egg on top.
- 05
Sopaipillas
Puffed, fried bread served with honey. They come with the meal in many kitchens and are dessert in others.
- 06
Biscochitos
The state cookie: anise and cinnamon, crisp, sold by the dozen around the holidays and by the piece the rest of the year.
Where the food neighborhoods are.
The breakfast burrito is everywhere. For a sit-down meal, these are the areas people head to.
Restaurants listed on Stay ABQ.
Restaurants, cafes, breweries, and bars in Albuquerque are listed with a photo, a short description, and a link to their own site.
None yet. The first kitchens listed here will be the ones whose owners send their details in: the name, address, phone, website, a description in your own words, and a few photographs you own the rights to. The listing goes up with a link to your own site and your own menu.
Questions about the food.
Is New Mexican food the same as Mexican or Tex-Mex?
No. It is its own cuisine built around the local chile, with Pueblo and Spanish roots. Red and green chile, stacked enchiladas, and sopaipillas are the tells.
How hot is the chile?
It varies by the crop and by the kitchen. Ask. Most places will tell you how the current batch is running, and many will serve it on the side.
What is a sopaipilla?
A puffed, fried bread served with honey, eaten with the meal or after it.
What is Christmas?
Both red and green chile on the same plate. It is the standard answer when you cannot decide.