3 Best Restaurants in The Turquoise Trail, Day Trips from Santa Fe

Sure, it looks like a dusty old cowboy bar and it is set right in the heart of a village that's appeared in several Western movies, but the extensive menu of creative breakfast plates, sandwiches, and grills reveals a locavore-minded approach to food that you might not expect from the setting. You might start the day with the Saloon Scramble, a hefty plate of feathery eggs served with green onions, venison-blueberry sausage, and jalapeño hot sauce; or later in the day, consider the thinly roasted lamb with vegetables, Manchego cheese, and a refreshing yogurt sauce atop naan flatbread.

A rollicking old bar and restaurant adjacent to the Old Coal Mine Museum, this boisterous place—there's live music many nights—was a miners' commissary back in the day. Today it serves impressive burgers (available with Angus beef, Wagyu beef, buffalo, or mushroom-veggie), along pizzas, tacos, and other comfort fare. There's a fine selection of local craft beers on tap, plus first-rate margaritas. 

Located near the southern end of the Turquoise Trail, just a 15-minute drive from Albuquerque, this friendly brewpub and brick-oven pizzeria has a lush, pet-and-family-friendly beer garden outside and a pool table and tabletop shuffleboard inside. The blistered-crust pizzas are delicious, and there's a nice selection of salads and sandwiches on house-baked focaccia.