3 Best Restaurants in Day Trips from Santa Fe, New Mexico

Reasonably priced, cheerfully decorated, and offering some of the tastiest food in the Rio Chama Valley, this adobe café-bakery run by the former tour manager of the nearby Georgia O'Keeffe Home & Studio. The eclectic made-from-scratch cooking here runs the gamut from New Mexican (green chile cheeseburgers, roasted and stuffed poblanos) to international (red lentil dal, roasted-turkey crepes with cheddar and cranberry sauce). There's a nice selection of wines, mostly from Spain and Italy, and you'll always find a variety of tantalizing house-made desserts.

You can't miss the vivid murals on the building in sleepy Peñasco that houses both a vintage theater and an intimate restaurant where acclaimed chef-owners Kai Harper Leah and Ki Holste serve up tantalizing farm-to-table fare, from bountiful salads and juicy burgers to triple-layer chocolate cake. This is the best restaurant on the High Road, hands down. Espresso drinks and dessert also hit the spot. You can dine on the side patio in warm weather.

In a century-old adobe hacienda tucked into the mountains, with whitewashed walls, hand-stripped vigas, and cozy dining rooms, the Rancho de Chimayó is still owned and operated by the family that first occupied the house. Consistently good, reasonably priced New Mexican fare is served (the carne adovada with posole is especially good), and it's hard to deny the enchanting ambience of the place. There's a fireplace in winter and, in summer, a terraced patio shaded by catalpa trees. Breakfast is served on weekends. The owners also run a charming four-bedroom B&B, Hacienda de Chimayó, across the road.