Vegan Vacation: Santa Fe, Taos and Montrose & Ouray, CO

Rio Grand Gorge outside Taos

Wow, where to start?! It’s good to be back, but it sure felt great to get away for nearly two weeks. I will try to keep this brief, but I have LOTS of wonderful food to bring you. Santa Fe and Taos are full of spectacular restaurants, so it wasn’t hard to find places to eat, even for vegans and vegetarians. I will say, when eating out in Santa Fe and Taos, be prepared to spend some dough. The average cost for the three of us (including wine or margaritas) for any meal, was $40-$45. The portion sizes, however seemed large, so splitting meals, or taking half your meal home with you (if possible) is a great idea. So first up . . .

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SANTA FE

BLUE CORN CAFE

133 Water Street

Located just off the plaza in Santa Fe, this is a pretty decent option for vegans and vegetarians. We started with some chips and salsa (which are not complimentary). The salsa is delicious. We opted for the most vegan item: the Marinated Portobello Fajitas ($14.95) that came with onions and bell peppers, not to mention all the fixins’. (I worked around the sour cream and cheese).

This is a good-sized portion that two people could have easily split—I wish we had; it was a lot of food, but really tasty.

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THE AZTEC CAFE

317 Aztec Street

LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this place! If fact, we ate here three different times. This is such a cool little cafe that offers a wide range of organic and natural whole foods. They have a great covered patio…

Our first visit was for breakfast. The Husband and I went with the Vegan Burrito and the Eight Grader went with the vegetarian one. The vegan one was filled with potatoes, black beans, and other great stuff (sorry, I forgot to write the ingredients down…)

 We came back for breakfast again, and the guys went with their vegetarian quiche, and I had their homemade, raw muesli with fresh fruit. OUTSTANDING! And it came with almond milk. Even better. This kept me full all day long—a great choice before a long day of hiking.

Almond milk latte!

We then hit up the cafe for lunch and the kid went with a bagel with jam while The Husband got the portobello sandwich:

I decided the kale salad with cashew dressing was up my alley. So delicious!

This is a must-stop-at-destination if you’re visiting Santa Fe. Great service, reasonable prices, and excellent food.

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ATOMIC GRILL

103 East Water Street

This was a great option for a quick lunch. It was a pretty popular place and had a great outdoor patio. Not to mention a really extensive beer and wine list. We started with some chips, salsa, and guacamole. (Awesome, freshly-made guac)!

The guys ordered cheese pizza (yeah, I know…the guys will cheat and eat cheese when sometimes eating out. At least they’re vegetarian!) I wasn’t starving, so I went with the spinach and strawberry salad (minus the feta cheese).

Fresh and fabulous. It was perfect after having chips and guac, too.

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CAFE PASQUAL’S

121 Don Gaspar

This is actually located next door to The Atomic Grill. If you’re willing to splurge a bit, this is a must! Excellent! They serve breakfast, lunch and dinner and it’s important to have reservations for dinner; it fills up. We tried to hit it up the first night, but it was full until 8:30, so we made a reservation for the following night (a Friday). The only space available was at the community table that seats about 10 people. I have to say, that was the way to go. We had a great time chatting with the rest of the diners at the table—it was a really fun experience. The restaurant has tons of gluten-free, vegan, and vegetarian options; it was pretty hard to decide. I went with the organic Tofu Mole Enchiladas:

It came with a jicama salad, cilantro rice, and corn bread (not vegan–so they subbed in their signature grilled banana). I’m not a real big banana fan to begin with, so I wasn’t lovin’ the grilled version. But that’s ok, the rest of the meal was outstanding. The sauce definitely has a bite to it, but not overly spicy.

The Eighth Grader went a la carte by having a vegan chile relleno and vegan tamale with green chile:

The Husband opted for the Plato Supremo: a vegan chile relleno, vegan tamale, and a tofu mole enchilada.

The food was probably the best we’d had in Santa Fe . . . and the priciest. For the three of us (plus a bottle of wine) was about $140. But the service and atmosphere is also incredible—it was well worth it.

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THE TEAHOUSE

821 Canyon Road

The Teahouse is located at the top of Canyon Road. It has its own parking lot, so keep that in mind—it’ll save you from trying to find parking on Canyon.

They have an outdoor patio, but the seating is somewhat limited. The area is large, but there aren’t a ton of tables. We were fortunate to snag one…

The kid went with a green tea…which he loved…

…and a scone and a bowl of fruit.

The Husband and I had their veggie sandwich (GF bread is an option, btw), with hummus, cucumber, sprouts, and bell pepper.

It was good, but it didn’t blow us away. It was a bit dry, actually. Some Vegenaise would have been great.

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TAOS

BENT STREET DELI

120-M Bent Street

This is located just off the plaza in Taos. It offers breakfast and lunch only. The place we were staying recommended it for vegan and vegetarian options. I’d say it definitely has plenty of vegetarian options, but not as many vegan ones. But of course, it’s not difficult to make them vegan. The kid ordered the SW Spud, a potato smothered with beans, cheese, salsa, sour cream, and veggie green chile. He wasn’t impressed; said it didn’t have much flavor. Luckily, my Taos Hum was plenty big enough to share with him.

I forgot to ask for no feta, so I spent a little time picking it out…oh well. It was delicious! (Hummus, tomato, red onion, sprouts, cucumber, and salsa). The Husband had the Pita the Greek with black olives, feta, sprouts, onion, tomato, and cucumbers. He really liked it.

We stopped here again for breakfast. While the kid had the vegetarian tamale (a special), the husband went with a croissant sandwich with egg. There aren’t many vegan breakfast options, so I went with an English muffin and potatoes…

I also got a soy latte!

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MICHAEL’S KITCHEN

304 C N Pueblo Road

This place is a local favorite, especially if you like diner-like food. There isn’t much for vegans, but there are some vegetarian options. The Hubby went with a vegetarian burrito:

And the kid had the French toast:

I had the granola pancakes. They were really good, but way too much! Four pancakes was a lot, so I recommend either splitting an order, or seeing if you can have half an order.

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ANTONIO’S: A Taste of Mexico

122 Dona Luz

This was certainly one of our favorite places to eat. Great food. It was raining, so we couldn’t enjoy the beautiful patio . . .

but that’s ok…it was the food we really cared about. This restaurant certainly seemed to be a hotspot. Maybe it just seemed that way since the patio was closed, but the place was packed—and it was a Tuesday night! We started with drinks (of course). The Husband ordered a margarita ($7.50) and was really disappointed. He said it was “severely weak” and decided not pay for another one that was sure to be watered down. I went with wine. I was hoping for a decent-sized glass because the wines-by-the-glass start at $8-9, but it was pretty skimpy. Oh, well, it’s probably a good thing anyway. So for booze, you may not get your money’s worth.

Antonio’s is known for their guacamole that they make right there at table. For $9 a bowl, you too could have some. We decided not to. But what a cool idea.

The guys started out with the Tacos de Papa a la Creama. They’re mashed potato stuffed taquitos with a cotija cheese on top. I tried a bite sans cheese and holy cow! It was delicious. They loved these.

For dinner, The Husband and I both ordered the veggie tacos. I ordered mine with no cheese, but asked for a side of guac. I was surprised that even though I didn’t get cheese, they still charged me $2.50 for the tiny cup of guacamole. It was yummy though. The Husband’s were pretty spicy, but mine weren’t—the heat is going to vary depending on the pico de gallo. We both thought these were great.

The kid went with the nachos, which was 6 really large tortilla chips, each topped with cheese, sour cream, lettuce, and pico de gallo. He wasn’t thrilled. It’s an appetizer, but the server said it was big enough for a meal. He was expecting your typical pile of chips with all the fixings, and it was disappointing to him. Overall, this was a great place for really delicious Mexican food—I recommend it.

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DRAGONFLY CAFE & BAKERY

402 Paseo del Pueblo Norte

This is a great option for vegans and vegetarians! When I looked at their menu online, they had me at Kale and Quinoa Salad! They serve a brunch on Sundays from 9-3, and are open 11-9 Monday-Saturday. We stopped in on Monday for lunch. I had a soy latte in addition to the salad.

The salad was amazing! (Kale, quinoa, onion, cucumber, mint, carrots, almonds, dried apricots, and a lemon vinaigrette).

The guys both ordered the Dragonfly Enchiladas with organic spinach, mushrooms, and white beans, topped with tomatillo salsa, goat cheese and tomatoes.

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STELLA’S ITALIAN RESTAURANT

112 Camino de la Placita

Yes, Italian food in New Mexico. After several days of Mexican food, we were ready for a little change and man, did we luck out. Stella’s is a gem of a restaurant located just off the plaza. The prices are incredibly reasonable and included in the meal are trips to the olive bar with a variety of olives and garlic.

The liquor is also reasonably priced as well. We each got a glass of prosecco for $5 per glass. The service is also exceptional. We started with the Italian Truffle Fries for $4. SO GOOD!!

I then ordered the eggplant Parmesan, served with pesto garlic toast. (The Parm was easy to brush off)  I love that it wasn’t drenched in sauce like what most restaurants do. It was delicious!

The Husband ordered the Mushroom Ravioli. These had ricotta inside (which is not listed on the menu description, so be sure to ask first). I couldn’t resist a bite…yum.

Oh, and all the entrees are served with a side of vegetables. Love that! The Eighth Grader ordered the vegetarian lasagna. We highly recommend Stella’s, especially if you’re wanting a change from Mexican food.

On our last day in Taos, we had a little picnic along the Red River. We had stopped at Trader Joe’s while in Santa Fe, so we picked up some goodies.

We picked up a Daiya Cheese Wedge (absolute best vegan cheese—ever! plus, my newest food obsession) and some apples at Cid’s Health Food Market (Taos’ answer to Whole Foods) and had a great snack while reading the latest issue of VegNews.

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MONTROSE/OURAY

I didn’t get pictures of the food, but I will recommend El Jimador in Montrose, CO for Mexican food. I had the veggie burrito. The margaritas were also quite good!

In Ouray (probably the most beautiful town in Colorado!) we went to the Ouray Brewery. Check out these great bar chairs!

This is definitely a local (and tourist) favorite. Even at 3:00, it was packed. They have great rooftop dining, as well as two more floors of dining room. They offer six of their own brews and quite a variety of pub food. I had the portobello wrap–outstanding! And The Husband had their vegan burger. He said it was THE BEST vegan burger he has ever had. Sorry for the lack of pics, but trust me, this is a must-stop if you’re in Ouray.

So there you have it. I hope you enjoyed my culinary cruise through Santa Fe, Taos, Montrose, and Ouray. We certainly had fun eating our way through these great towns!