Santa Fe Cafe (Mexican/Southwestern)
5910 Phinney Ave N (map)
(206) 783-9755
CitySearch: “A Phinney Ridge favorite that’s been bringing flavorful New Mexican cuisine to Seattle for nearly two decades…”
(34 votes, average: 3.59 out of 5)
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16 responses so far ↓
1 sarah // Sep 21, 2008 at 8:36 pm
Love this place, very tasty and good value.
2 Sarah // Sep 24, 2008 at 11:23 pm
Tasty Margaritas and good food. Worth a visit.
3 Neil // Sep 25, 2008 at 11:11 pm
I visited in Spring of 08. I was very disappointed with this place. I grew up in New Mexico, and I have been craving it since I moved up here. I was very disappointed here. The tortillas were very thick and flavorless. The chili tastes like it is canned (the frozen chili I bring from New Mex tastes better), and the burritos was not drowning in chili and cheese like in any decent New Mexican place. Truthfully, the only thing I thought was decent was the red chili beer I had, though that was more for the novelty of it.
4 Knarly // Sep 29, 2008 at 2:10 pm
After friends highly recommended this place, my husband I went. AWFUL! Our food was unrecognizable b/c it was covered in so much sauce. We could only eat a few bites each before we’d had enough. Our waiter took our full plates and didn’t bother to ask if we enjoyed our food and didn’t offer to box up the food to take home. He probably knew it wasn’t worth taking home or eating later. Will NOT return.
5 StephenC // Oct 16, 2008 at 12:57 pm
How is this place considered a good value? $12 for a basic enchilada plate that is not very good? And what’s up with the Tostitos right out of the bag tortialla chips? As a former New Mexican, I was really disappointed.
6 phinneyisfun // Nov 6, 2008 at 4:05 pm
I really hope anyone who had a bad experience will go back and give Santa Fe Cafe another try. The chile relleno torte is delish, and the margaritas are fantastic. A little bit pricey, but every time I’ve been it has been worth the expense.
7 zoogrrrl // Nov 13, 2008 at 11:26 pm
When I consider the one restaurant on Phinney/Greenwood that I would most miss if it disappeared, this one is it! My most recent meal was the roasted tomato tart, tortilla soup, and salad. What’s not to love, especially with one of the best margaritas in Seattle in hand. It isn’t Santa Fe’s equal, but a treat to have in the neighborhood.
8 Maria // Dec 19, 2008 at 2:09 pm
Probably a well named restaurant since the worst New Mexican food in New Mexico is usually found in Santa Fe. I love the City of Holy Faith but better food can always be found in Albuquerque. Not even close to authentic New Mexican cuisine.
9 Jim // Jan 5, 2009 at 5:22 pm
We’ve been going to the Santa Fe for twenty years but no longer. Our last two dinners were terrible although the margaritas are still excellent. Really a shame.
10 ian // Mar 11, 2009 at 1:19 pm
Love this place. The Margaritas never disappoint. Although not quite on the menu, the “Taco Plate” Christmas style with the chicken enchilada filling and an egg on top is awesome my wife and I share it almost every time we go there. I also love the house salad with the tarragon blue cheese vinagrette. If you like spice get a side of the ventilator if they have it(really hot green chili sauce).
I have not been to New Mexico, but a friend of ours from New Mexico recommended Santa Fe to us and said it the closest she could find in town. So, I am sorry that so many of you are disappointed but I love it think it’s great. However, I basically go there for one dish and the margaritas, which I think are fantastic.
11 StuckHere // Jun 4, 2009 at 5:59 pm
The drinks are really good.
The rest blows. That said, in that end of neighborhood there aren’t many places to go get a drink that isn’t a beer.
My advice - Enjoy a couple margaritas and then leave and save the $50 bucks on food that are you are about to spend on food that will likely underwhelm.
12 Wasteofspace // Nov 11, 2009 at 11:23 am
This place is awful. It’s just a low quality texmex place that pretends to be a quality establishment. 12 dollar burrito?
13 CutTheString // Nov 27, 2009 at 5:01 pm
Not very good. Had an overpriced green chili burrito that should have been called a tomato burrito as that was the majority of it’s contents. Won’t go back.
14 Kelly // Nov 30, 2009 at 8:56 am
Really bad. My 2 friends and I ordered completely different dishes and they all looked exactly the same! They were covered in so much gloopy sauce we couldn’t tell one from the other.
15 John // Jan 31, 2010 at 4:48 am
Inauthentic and overpriced. They serve grocery store style tortilla chips and the salsa was bland. The least expensive entree on the menu was $15 which consisted of a few hominy floating in a pool of tasteless chile powder sauce.
No Stars
16 quat // Mar 16, 2010 at 5:15 pm
Wow. A lot of negativity. My husband and I like this place. The staff has always been attentive, the margaritas are really good, and the food, while it doesn’t make me jump up and down, is tasty. We had a very nice dinner last time we were there and asked ourselves why we didn’t go there more often.
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