Atomic Grill

Sadly for us, this place has closed. We went to the rooftop pizzeria instead and had a great meal. Also recommend the marble brewery.

Best frito pies, place to go late, drink some Italian soda, sit outside, gaze either into someone’s eyes or the blue skies …
And yes my waiter who can remember my order without writing it down is impressive, not to mention cool.

Came here for some late-​night food with a friend. The outdoor patio is great, especially on a perfect summer night. Service was prompt and welcoming, and I totally enjoyed the chill atmosphere of this restaurant. It is located in a long, wide alleyway that is great for a relaxing evening.
However, the food was only so-​so, nothing to write home about, but not that shabby either. I had a BLT with avocado and fries; the serving size was quite generous, but the sandwich itself was a bit greasy for my personal preference. Overall, just a regular meal at a regular place.

Good food. Good price. Great service. Nice atmosphere. Liked it very much. A return trip for sure.

We were drawn to this place by both hunger and the outside seating area. However, the food was just OK. The nachos seemed very good at the time, but as we dined in other Santa Fe restaurants during the week our expectations were raised substantially.
The chicken tacos were a bit dry since there’s no cheese. We didn’t have any mixed drinks so I can’t comment on that. The outside seating area was nice.

Eh, it’s okay I guess. Not up the standards of many of the great, casual places around Santa Fe, but not terrible.

World famous Pasquale’s is next door and that was our intention but the 45 minute wait was not going to work for us. To our surprise their was a place next door advertising breakfast all day and after an amazing night of great wine and food we wanted Huevos rancheros at 1pm. We sat on the outdoor patio by ourselves, she had the Huevos and I had the Atomic Papas, hash browns with eggs sausage done Christmas style added in sausage, world class!
Our server was awesome, very personable with beautiful ink all over. Sorry we didn’t catch your name, but thank you for taking such good care of us! We will definitely be back to try more of your delicious creations.

I’m giving this restaurant 3 stars instead of 2 solely for the fact that I was able to have my dogs with me. I really wanted to like this place, but just didn’t find it to be all that.
I had a basic breakfast of eggs, hash browns and bacon, but it fell short when my hash browns were just engulfed in pepper. A little pepper is ok, but it was like the cook spilled the pepper in the potatoes. Too overwhelming.
My friend who I ate with had a burger and she too didn’t care much for her meal.
Sorry guys. I really wanted to like your place! If I’m back in SF I may swing by and give it another try.

This place has shaded outdoor seating and they like dogs. They brought out a water bowl and said, «Can we give your dog some bacon?» Therefore my dog insists that the Atomic Café get 5 stars. Her paw is on the keyboard right now.
I think of the Atomic Grill as a kind of oasis in the soulless Disnified desert of downtown Santa Fe. They have plenty of outdoor seating that is usually mercifully free of the snotty tourists that infest Santa Fe. It is nice to have a Santa Fe Brewery Hefeweizen in the fading heat of the early evening here after work (I design programs and exhibits for a local museum).
The burger with green chile is good. They had some good gazpacho as a soup special. The food isn’t spectacular, but it is not overpriced for Santa Fe.
The background music is interesting too – Siouxsie and the Banshees, Ultravox, Visage, and some tunes I could hum but not put a name or a visage to – these I heard on recent visit.
The wait staff are also pleasantly laid back. Sure, so some of them may be stoners who toke up in the parking lot during their break. I rather enjoy sipping my beer and observing the way the waiters’ lackadaisical attitude pisses off the tourists in Santa Fe – these tourists have a lot of attitude, in general, and the waiters are just keeping it real. My food comes to me hot out of the oven and my beer comes to me cold out of the tap, and the beer is refilled when it gets low. That’s all that matters.
On one occasion, I invited a homeless dude to have a beer with me on the terrace, to talk to him about his experiences, and the management was totally cool with it.

Went there for the Atomic Burger, you can smell it all over the streets. Great environment, casual attire, outdoor seating, Great drinks. I could tell the wait staff was stress with the few guest that were there, they looked more lost than anything. The staff had a strange type of rudeness toward the «tourist“customers. In all honesty, I think the wait staff was stoned! We ordered our meal, and two other waiters gave us menus, and asked what we wanted to drink, we already ordered, and had drinks.
What should be a 10 – 15 minute wait for the Atomic burgers, was more like a 35 – 40 minute wait, thats when we left. NEVER GOT THE BURGERS. Questioned the staff on the burgers, all sorry, only a few more minutes. Nothing was done to make my father and I feel like we should wait.
I would take in the great smell, and KEEP walking

BEST BURGER I had in a long, long time — honestly! I ate it with grilled mushrooms + swiss cheese, my hubby even dared to eat the green chile and he survived… haha! But seriously:
GREAT PLACE that opens long into the night, super friendly staff + the food is really good — the BURGERS are highly recommended!

I grew up a few blocks from the plaza and naturally I used to frequent the Atomic in the late ‘90s when headed home from late-​night shenanigans.
It was always a great experience, and I’d be treated wonderfully, even if all I ordered was a cup of coffee on the patio.
This is not the case anymore, apparently, as TWICE we’ve tried to visit for a late-​night bite and TWICE we’ve been virtually ignored by the staff. I don’t mean they were too busy to address us, I mean they were literally ignoring us from a foot away while we stood at the counter waiting. I will never go back to this establishment. I assure you I’m not being nitpicky here. We chalked the first bad experience up to an «off night», but twice in a row is ridiculous. We walked away, and we will not look back.
Atomic Grill, you used to be such a fun place to visit. Why does your staff not care anymore?

Number of stars = the same. Bad service and rude waiter. However, if you’re in the area of the Santa Fe plaza and still need dinner after 9pm, this is perhaps the only place that still serves food that late. That is the only reason I returned, but it is useful for that reason.

I really thought that this place would be more expensive for a place in Santa Fe, but it’s fairly priced. The food came pretty quickly and the gyro was pretty good for a place that’s not Greek. The server seemed to be in a bad mood, but I’ll attribute it to my friend knowing him very well and them not really talking right now. It started to get pretty busy as soon as I left, so I guess they have quite the following.
Points for allowing dogs on the patio!

Santa Fe is expensive. You can easily drop a sizable chunk of change on lunch for two. Having decided to save our pennies for a night at Ten Thousand Waves, we were on the prowl for a reasonably-​priced lunch in the Plaza area. Easier said than done. Atomic Grill to the rescue. (It was still pricier then what I would’ve liked, but a decent choice by Santa Fe standards.)
We were able to sit outside and enjoy some people-​watching as we waited for our grub. I had a grilled cheese and fries. Fairly standard, but it hit the spot. My husband ordered the chicken tostada, which paled in comparison to the beautiful creation I had at Harry’s Roadhouse, but was still decent by normal standards. Our waiter wasn’t the friendliest chap, but that seemed to be common in Santa Fe.
Bonus points for being one of the only places in the area open late. And for having breakfast all day!

Though I know this place is set up as a restaurant-​bar, they have an espresso machine and late hours, so I’ve been using them as a café. This is especially nice because they have quite good espresso and they are open till 2:00am, but stop serving alcohol at 10:30 (it’s a restaurant license). This is good for me because people who typically go to bars past midnight are noisy and annoying, but I’m trying to get work done. Sitting outside in lovely downtown Santa Fe drinking my americano, listening to groovy tunes, checking my email, and busting out with some research is a great service for a locale where all the actual cafes are closed by 9:00pm most days. The people working there are typically too busy to care about me, but friendly in their direct interactions… and remembered my drink after two visits.
I’ve only eaten a few things here, they were all good, but not amazing… so better than average. The deserts are especially awesome, amplifying their café purpose. Burgers and other typical bar food mostly fill the menu with a few local and atomic specific items. Good stuff.

Well, here goes!
I’m not hard to please, and well, I wasn’t with this place. Let me first say the food was pretty good. My wife and I shared the spinach salad and the chicken and goat cheese quesadilla.
First problem: awesome beer selection, but only 12 oz bottles and they are priced like drafts. Most of the beers are $ 4.50 and up. In my opinion, that’s too much money for bottled beer at a casual restaurant. There are several other places in Santa Fe that are a lot nicer and have better food, better service, and with cheaper prices on mostly the same beer selection.
The service was the worst I have experienced in a very long time, hands down. We had two dudes taking care of us and let’s say they were not professional what so ever. We had to ask for our silverware (as did other guests that were there). Both of our waiters had lack luster personalities. Neither of our servers really bothered to check on us at all, not even an inquiry on how the food was. Our water glasses were empty for a very long time while they both passed by out table multiple times. Finally we got our 1 re– fill when we were both mostly finished eating
All I’m trying to convey is if you want decent food and pricier beer with a potential of getting bad service, go here!
I hope I didn’t steer you wrong; this is just how my one and only visit here was. It very well could have been a very off day.
Happy grub’n!

Oftentimes, prior to enjoying the Matador, I’ll come here with friends and kick off the evening with one of the many beers they have… beers from all over the world and some of the most unique and delicious ones that can be found.
Its pretty typical of me to find something that I like and stick with it — no exception here when it comes to my favorite meal… the spinach-​feta enchiladas smothered with red chile and American cheese. Hot damn! Literally, after devouring the sliced jalapeño it cons with.
I’ve never had room to try one of their delicious looking desert’s but one day maybe I’ll control my food: beer ratio and indulge.

Atomic Grill will really come through for you in a pinch. If you’re searching for a late night dinner option since most restaurants in Santa Fe close by 9pm or 10pm, Atomic Grill will be a godsend.
What really looks like a café from the outside, also is a full service restaurant with a very respectable beer collection. Food can be hit or miss at times, but there are some highlights. Their pizzas are consistently very good — the green chile tomato pizza is my favorite. Their soup du jour can also hold some hidden gems. They had a green chile red bean soup that was outstanding (just a tad salty). My three cheese grilled cheese sandwich on the other hand was a failure — I would stay away from this one on the menu.
Service can be a little spotty late night, but the waitstaff is efficient and friendly. So if it’s past 9pm and you’re hungry in Santa Fe, no need to pout. Hit Atomic Grill and those hunger pangs will go away.

During my recent visit to Santa Fe, we had two experiences at Atomic Grill: one for lunch and one for breakfast.
I’ll start with the lunch… We went mid-​afternoon on a weekday and were promptly seated. Our server was great, but even better was the short, older woman who cooked and brought us out our food. She was so adorable and comical. When she served my friend’s mac & cheese, she said, «It doesn’t taste like my mom’s macaroni and cheese. But I never liked hers.» And she made some damn good food. Opting for something fairly light, I ordered the Fried Avocado Salad because I’ve never had fried avocados before. It was delicious and very hearty.
It was a great first experience at Atomic Grill, so when Café Pasqual’s had a 20-​minute wait for its costly breakfast choices, we returned to Atomic Grill right next door for breakfast options that were half the price of Pasqual’s. I ordered the Atomic Pappas, which were hash browns covered/​smothered in green chile, cheese, and served with fresh tomatoes, onions, and (fresh!) chunky jalapenos. I also had the option to have eggs on top for a small upcharge, so I went with over easy to add a bit of egg yolk to the already «smothered» dish. It truly was delicious and creamy and it cost me half the price of any similar breakfast entrée at Café Pasqual’s.
Our server at breakfast was a young dude with tats, piercings, and some green hair dye. Yeah, yeah, you’re cool. He wasn’t very social, welcoming, or friendly, but he did his job… up until the time the check came. We were two couples, so we asked to have the check split. That’s when the server informed us that it was «server’s choice» to split the check, and he didn’t want to. Wow. It’s one thing for a restaurant to have a policy about splitting the check, but it’s quite another to have it be the server’s choice and then have the server tell you that he refuses to do it. It wasn’t even crowded in the restaurant and we weren’t asking to split the bill four, six, or eight ways; just two. We figured out amongst ourselves payment of the bill and, needless to say, our punk server didn’t get a generous tip. It really left us with a sour taste in our mouths about Atomic Grill after everything else had been so wonderful. I’m not going to fault Atomic Grill in this review for his actions — because the food and our first experience was wonderful — but I will deduct one star for their questionable hiring practices.