Super-fantastic Journeys

 The food in Santa Fe is amazing and there are lots of options.  However, the first thing I want when I come and visit is the flavors of New Mexico.  There is a big difference between New Mexican cuisine and eating Mexican food at your local Mexican restaurant back home.  Especially if you live and Texas and they serve everything smothered in queso and call it Tex Mex. For this category, I am going to break it into several posts, based on the different regions of New Mexico so the list is manageable and to help with a forced ranked order for each list.  The North Central region incorporates the towns of Taos, Espanola, Chimayo, Santa Fe, and others located in the frequently visited portion of New Mexico. These are ranked ordered based on my favorite locations.  When evaluating we try to visit new places all the time.  The first two places are locations that we always hit because they are simply amazing.  It is hard to rank them and we usually visit both on every trip unless we just are

Every time that I come to Santa Fe, the first place that I want to eat at is La Choza.  La Choza is where the locals go for great New Mexican dishes inspired by the local cooking style.  The food at La Choza is always excellent.  The challenge with La Choza is that you either have to arrive right after they open or know that you will need to wait for a table because it is so popular. I have tried a variety of the dishes on the menu to ensure I have had a comprehensive sampling of their dishes, but my go-to favorite is the delicious but straightforward stacked enchiladas.  Stacked enchiladas are definitely a local style, unique to New Mexico cuisine.  It is two tortillas with cheese and onion inside and smothered in green chile and more cheese. It is heated until the cheese is fully melted.  It is also quite common to get an over-easy egg on top, which is the icing on the cake. Choza offers the common sides of rice and beans, but an item that seems to be another New Mexico favorite is p