Savor Scout › Food guides › New Mexican food
How to find good New Mexican food
New Mexican food is not Mexican and not Tex-Mex. It is built on one ingredient — the New Mexico chile, roasted green or dried red — and the state question, 'red or green?', is the whole cuisine in two words.
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What does 'Christmas' mean in New Mexican food?
Ordering 'Christmas' means you want both red and green chile on your dish, usually half and half. Green chile is roasted fresh pods with a bright, smoky heat; red chile is made from dried pods and is earthier and deeper. If you can't decide, Christmas is the standard answer.
What separates a good one from a bad one
- Roasted green chile with smoke — Hatch or other New Mexico chiles roasted until blistered. Bright, smoky, with real heat.
- Red chile from pods — Dried red chile pods blended into a smooth sauce. Should taste earthy and slightly sweet, not like chilli powder.
- Sopaipillas puffed and hot — Fried bread pillows, served with honey. They should be hollow and light.
- Stacked enchiladas — Flat, layered blue corn tortillas with chile and cheese, often with a fried egg on top.
- Posole and carne adovada — Hominy stew and pork braised in red chile. Signs of a kitchen cooking the state's food.
What to order
- Enchiladas, Christmas — Red and green chile.
- Carne adovada — Pork in red chile.
- Green chile stew — With pork and potatoes.
- A green chile cheeseburger — A state institution.
- Sopaipillas — With honey.
How Savor Scout looks for it
The search reads for Hatch, green chile, red chile, Christmas, sopaipillas and New Mexican, which separates New Mexican kitchens from Tex-Mex and Mexican restaurants nearby.
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Looking in a particular city?
Each of these opens Savor Scout with the location already set, so you can say what you want and it searches from there. It covers 1,000 US cities in total — these are simply the largest.
- New York, NY
- Los Angeles, CA
- Chicago, IL
- Houston, TX
- Philadelphia, PA
- Phoenix, AZ
- San Antonio, TX
- San Diego, CA
- Dallas, TX
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- Indianapolis, IN
- Jacksonville, FL
- San Francisco, CA
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- Charlotte, NC
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- Anaheim, CA
- Santa Ana, CA
- St. Louis, MO
- Riverside, CA
- Corpus Christi, TX
Related food guides
Mexican food, Tex-Mex food, Enchiladas
When you might want this
- Where to eat on a road trip
- What to eat on a cold rainy night
- Where to take friends visiting from out of town