The Shed

This was our first and only meal in Santa Fe and based off of what we had heard, it was more or less what we expected. We came here as opposed to other places with better ratings solely based on price– way cheaper than some other spots around the Plaza.
We thought the food was higher quality than the price. The atmosphere is also colorful and fun. Food and price-​wise I would give it 4 stars. I only rated it 3 because of the service.
The hosts can’t even crack a smile when they greet you. They also quoted us a 2 hour wait. we spent 15 minutes catching up with friends and making a new dinner plan when we get a text that our table is ready! Fastest 2 hour wait ever, huh? Bizarre…
Our waiter was also snarky and pretentious. We found him very off-​putting and snooty.

Great food, the patio is lovely, and we enjoyed beautiful, relaxing music by a talented guitarist while we ate.
The food is a cut above the usual New Mexican fare. They add an unexpected flair to their dishes. The service is great and our waiter made sure the level of spiciness was what each person wanted.

Really? This place is a tourist trap and way overrated! No fajitas on the menu. Try another place, so not worth the high price. Food is typical chain Mexican food. Service is turn the tables quick for the next tourist.

We came in JUST for their SOPAPILLAS. They were hot and fresh and great.
Gracias Tia Sophia.

The shed is a wonderful Santa Fe staple and I wouldn’t change the ambiance for the world! The wait staff is always very friendly. It’s just not my favorite New Mexican/​Mexican food that I’ve ever had. It is very consistent & I would definitely recommend it for anyone traveling through!

SLIGHTLY BETTER THAN OK — best thing we had was the carnitas adovada — that pork smothered in red chile sauce was fork tender and delicious.
Every thing else, kind of uninspired. Gazpacho — nothing to write home about
Chips n salsa — salsa nothing special, chips were chips, but not a brand I’d ever buy
Enchiladas — hum-​ho. I wanted the red and green mole to pack a wallop of flavor and it just didn’t.
Maybe LA has spoiled me but I expected better than this for Mexican/​Tex-​mex in Santa Fe.

My sister took us here when we visited because it is her favorite place to eat in Santa Fe. We quickly found out why. We had a reservation and were seated as soon as we walked in. Our server arrived and asked for our drink order and did we want chips and salsa. We ordered a round of margaritas and chips and salsa and guacamole. It arrived shortly and was wonderful. He took our orders and never wrote anything down. (How does he do that?) Our orders arrived quickly and were fresh, hot and fabulous. We all ordered our sauces as Christmas Tree wi=hich means you get both red and green. We all agreed that the green was the hottest although not overpowering. Sometimes, we were told, the red is hotter. We ate until we could eat no more and asked for togo boxes see we could enjoy again tomorrow. Our meals were some of the best authentic style Mexican dishes that were have ever eaten. We can’t wait to go back again on our next visit.

This was a pleasant surprised for my first meal in Santa Fe. I’m impressed with their simple authentic Mexican cuisine.
The Bestest ordered a bowl of soup that was temperature piping hot to my tongue and mouth feeling numb. It was spicy and I like it!
There is nothing better than some tasty tacos and enchiladas in green and red chili to satisfy my tummy. If I get a chance to come back, I would like to try other things on their menu.
I enjoyed the food, the ambiance, and the friendly staff.
I hope you give this Mexican restaurant a try. Cheers!

Fantastic food. Had the chicken enchiladas with Christmas on top. They are not kidding about the amount of spice in their chili, so order a couple of their fantastic margaritas or a local brew (I recommend the Santa Fe Pale Ale). Finish the night off with a mocha cake, it’s more like a mousse but super delicious. I left feeling accomplished after decimating all of my food. Bad farts the next day. 5 stars!

Eh… Meh… Bleh… But at least the atmosphere is nice…
I grew up in the Fe and know what chile is supposed to be. The fact that this restaurant sells food baffles me. I guess with enough decent margaritas in you, you’re bound to find an excuse to buy the food. But what I do know is that the «famous chile» recipe is IMO closer to marinara sauce than good New Mexican chile. If you like spending money, ahem… a decent amount of money, on diet New Mexican food, by all means, fall in line with the rest of the Shedders. If you want real NM food, do yourself a favor and check out the local spots like Horseman’s, Chris’s Café, or the myriad restaurants that aren’t selling you tomato-​pastey bleck for 20 dollars a plate!

A local staple in Santa Fe. The Shed is a must visit when in town. Their red and green chili sauces are no joke spicy! As a fan of Mexican and spicy food it was an epic combo!
Coley is an incredible server, every restaurant should have servers like him. Happy, helpful, knowledgeable, over all good vibes!
Bravo!

Made a reservation a few weeks in advance and I’m happy I did, as this place was BUSY on a Tuesday night! However, we were seated within 10 minutes of arriving and had a lovely waitress.
While the food didn’t necessarily blow us away, this is solid Santa Fe cuisine within a great atmosphere. The green chili stew was my favorite, and I would definitely recommend going for this Southwestern staple!
Would probably look at some other restaurants first the next time I am in Santa Fe, but overall would return to the Shed.

Our food was ok: tasted fine, was plentiful and reasonably priced. I’m revisiting my review and taking it down a star now that I’ve spent two weeks eating chile at all sorts of places from Taos down to Clines Corner, from Chimayo to espanola to Albuquerque. I’ve had better. The service was pretty cold/​disinterested and we were crammed in a small, stuffy room next to the kitchen door. Our waiter? Well he got the job done, but was exceedingly unfriendly and unhelpful when we asked for help modifying an entrée for a vegetarian (something the menu touts as easy). He had no suggestions, and didn’t seem to realize that cheese is not, strictly speaking, a vegetable. Did I mention he rushed us? Kind of disappointing, considering the reviews. Being mistreated is not a privilege!
I get that sometimes a local dive w Formica tables and out-​of-​this-​world food is not what you want: you’re on a date, taking out business associates, need something buzzy and impressive and, for that, The Shed will do. But it is NOT the best food or service in these parts.
Like another Unilocaler, I used to come here in the 70s. It was very much less an operation then; felt personal.

This was worth the hour wait! Very homey atmosphere, friendly, quick service. It was easy to be gf and pescaterian here! We started with a yummy vegetable dish of squashes, onions and corn, mildly spiced with green chilies– Calabacitas. My fish tacos were brought in blue corn tortillas by request to be gf. The fish of the day was mahi-​mahi and was a very flavorful dish, accompanied by tasty Spanish rice. Hubby’s chicken enchiladas delighted him with spicy green chili sauce and a side of pinto beans, lettuce and tomato. He was pleasantly surprised by the local beer while my bottomless glass of iced black tea was very tasty. We had good, strong coffee, but no room for dessert. We were amazed by the fabulous food for a very reasonable price!

Yay this place is awesome! I do wish we had made a reservation, as we got there on a Saturday evening just before 5pm and ended up waiting about 20 mins just to get a table. It was worth it though, as our waiter was very nice and brought out our drinks and food at a reasonable time.
I can never seem to find places that serve vegetarian Mexican options so I was super happy that they had several! I ended up getting the vegetarian quesadilla which was a good portion size but DAMN it was spicy! Maybe I’m a wuss but my mouth was on fire xD My fiancé got the chicken enchiladas with red sauce and his was delicious but really spicy too. I love that they give you garlic bread instead of the traditional chips and salsa. I could have eaten 2 – 3 baskets of it myself.
Definitely recommend if you are just in the area for the day like we were!

Settle in for a minute so I can tell you about all the negative issues of The Shed. Here it is — you have to wait in line on Saturday nights for a very, very long time. Up to two hours. Their website says they take reservations, but I wasn’t smart enough to make one on my visit. Without a reservation, they take your name and send you back out into the street with encouragement to return later in the night when they’ll try to find a seat for you. That’s it, that’s the negative. But wait — isn’t waiting in line for a very long time typically a sign that the food and atmosphere are outstanding? I suppose it is. So strike my negative, it’s actually a positive.
If you’ve never visited previously, you absolutely must order the green chile stew. If you haven’t spent much time in New Mexico, then you’ve never… ever…tasted…anything…like it. The chile flavor is extraordinary, sourced locally and ground on the premises, something those of us from the rest of the country rarely get to experience. The pork in the stew is tender and flavorful, and the entire dish melts in your mouth and then engulfs you from the inside out. If your server recognizes you as a visitor, a newbie to New Mexican cuisine, she will likely warn you that the dish is a wee-​bit spicy. Take this admonition to heart and don’t complain that your mouth just sounded a three alarm fire. Complaints must be reserved for food that isn’t prepared as it should be, and fiery hot is exactly the manner in which green chile stew should be prepared.
The corn chowder (only available during the Winter) is creamy and delicious, and the pinto beans, enchiladas, and pollo adobo will send you into a mystical culinary nirvana typically reserved only for the residents of Santa Fe. I also highly recommend the lemon soufflé as long as you’re aware it comes out of the oven at 6pm each evening and they don’t make another batch later each night.
The Shed really was an actual shed back in the day, a place for visitors to park their burros while in the city, and the structure dates back to 1692. 1692?!? How often do you get to eat in a 400+ year old building in the U.S.
The restaurant is located in the tourist area (is there any part of Santa Fe that isn’t a tourist area?) between the Santa Fe Plaza /​Palace of the Governors and the Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi, surrounded by cool and trendy shops of all types, just off the street and through a cute outdoor brick and flagstone courtyard. Walking though the restaurant entrance you’ll discover an eclectic building with a colorful interior, wood floors, and an adobe fireplace. The overall feel of the restaurant was somewhat as if I was inside someone’s home, giving off a comfy cozy vibe.
If you’re visiting Northern New Mexico, you are obligated to find the best green chile New Mexico has to offer. So you’re hands are tied — you must visit The Shed.

Interesting place where hipsters serve hippies. Aaron was our server. Great product knowledge and tableside manner. I had the «Rebel» margarita and it was a psychedelic experience. I was in Nirvana while I waited for my enchilada plate #4 to arrive. My guests had salads. The salads were skimpy and without character, enchiladas were palatable not outstanding. The reason I gave 5 stars is for the overall experience. The «ambiente.» This is an iconic locale and I felt part of history. There is definitely a 60s hippy vibe to the place that I found transporting! Will come back again!

Awww– the Shed! We come here every time we pass through Santa Fe. Hubs just can’t get enough. I’ve had a variety of dishes and this last time I had the enchilada and taco plate. I went with the ground beef in the taco. It was super delicious. Their red sauce is so yummy but the green is too! So I usually get my stuff Christmas style.
This time we started with the guac and salsa appetizer which we really didn’t need. I had to add some salt to the salsa but after I did so, it was absolutely perfect.
Hubs often gets the chicken adobo but sometimes parts of the chicken can be a tad dry. We usually get margaritas which are great.
Definitely a must do on the Plaza in Santa Fe!

I dunno. Maybe I’m a bit harsh because I spent so much time in Arizona. After a lot of hype, we finally came to the Shed. And got outstanding service. The waiter is clearly used to out of town guests and is eager to recommend menu options and constantly refill your water for the chokers who didn’t read the fine print that chiles are.ahem.spicy and hot. (Later he told us that we impressed him because we could handle it. I feel like there needs to be a Unilocal badge for that).
On to the food. What can I say? The salsa was spicy. For real. And the blue corn chips were awesome. Oh, man I miss those chips. The beans and posole and green chile stew was good. The chicken enchiladas were fine and smothered (too much, I think) in christmas sauce. The green chile sauce was just good but not great and the red sauce tasted very earthy and almost like mole. I don’t love mole. What bothered me the most was the bits of cubed chicken in my enchilada. I just have to have shredded chicken in my enchilada. Not cubed! It soaks in so much more flavor that way. The sangria disappointed because it was so light on the… well.sangria. It pretty much tasted like wine. (and Trust, I love wine). This was more like a watery wine. Hmmm.
The best part was finishing off with French bread and dipping it in the salsa. A Shed tradition. Man, that bread was so good we had to go to Sage bakery and get a loaf! And so we did. But wait, this is a review for Mexican food. Overall, I have to say I’m glad we went and now we don’t have to come back unless there isn’t another spot that truly can’t beat it.

Tourist trap. And, here’s why:
1) What kind of a Mexican food place CHARGES the customer for chips and salsa? I would understand if they wanted to charge you for the guac (although I’ve been to a lot of places that do give it away for free) but they actually charge you (6 $ at that!) for chips and salsa. If you want guac with that, get ready for the $ 8 – 9 fee for something to snack on at the table. I literally took an entire star away for this. Call me crazy, but I was confused about this.
2) The service (or lack thereof) was absolutely disgusting. When your server approaches you and says «S’up?» I’m not sure how you react, but I was not impressed. There is «casual» service and then there is what we got. Complete lack of give-​a-​poop. I never got my Coke refilled (which I initially had to go and get from the bar!). I also had a water that was never refilled, even though I was eating their spicy green chili (despite other reviews, the green sauce was actually hot as balls today). When we finally caved and asked the server for chips he just said «Who’s check that going on?» and again, the way he shouted it at us as he was half already walking away was a bit annoying. There goes another star.
3) Next star was lost by their «pasole» and their «bean» — both of which came on my plate and were a waste of space. I’m not sure if it is a NM tradition to just throw some pinto beans on a plate and call that good food. If you’re going to do that, I still would like some flavor. Otherwise, I could open a can and throw them on my food. As for the pasole, I took one bite and was like «nope.» No flavor, again. In fact, the only «flavor» they have is a chile (red or green) sauce. If you just taste a piece of chicken (from my falling apart chicken enchiladas) you will notice the chicken itself has no flavor at all –completely bland. But throw some hot sauce on it and everyone is impressed? Sorry… not me. I don’t see myself waiting 30 minutes for a table to do this again.
Seems like this place is kind of a tourist trap. I mean, the food was «decent» and it was cheaper than some of the other food in the area at even more pretentious places. But, really, I was not «wowed» or amazed. At best this is a 3-​star average eatery.

The Shed liegt nur ein paar Schritte entfernt von der berühmten Santa Fe Plaza. Man betritt das Lokal durch einen kleinen schattigen Hof bewachsen mit allerlei Pflanzen. Die Gäste werden in mehreren kleinen Räumen freundlich bewirtet.
Die Küche des familienbetriebenen sympathischen Restaurants kombiniert spanische, mexikanische und Pueblo-​Einflüsse zu einem scharfen Südwest-​Mix. Scharf ist hierbei wirklich wörtlich zu nehmen, denn wir sind hier ja schliesslich in New Mexico. Die verwendeten Chilis werden exklusiv für The Shed auf Farmen in Hatch (NM) angebaut und täglich frisch verarbeitet, um die allerbesten Aromen und die bestmögliche Frische zu erhalten.
Mein absoluter Favorit ist der Green Chile Stew aus scharfen, gerösteten grünen Chilis, Kartoffeln und mit kleinen Stückchen zarten Schweinefleisch, den ich immer wieder als Vorspeise genossen habe. Die Southwest Grilled Shrimps sind ebenfalls köstlich. Auf der Speisekarte stehen als Main Courses verschiedene Enchiladas, Tacos, Burritos und Combinatio Platters. Zum Abschluss kann ich das Zitronen Soufflee ganz besonders empfehlen. Die Preise sind nicht hoch und das Lokal ist meistens recht voll. Man sollte vorher reservieren.