Design*Sponge » Blog Archive » santa fe design guide!

today’s incredible new city guide was written by san francisco artist lisa neimeth. lisa created an incredible guide to santa fe with shops, eating and places to say. it makes me want to change my ticket home from seattle today (which i love!) to stop by santa fe on the way home. in the meantime i hope you’ll enjoy lisa’s santa fe guide as much as i did. click here (or just click “read more” below) for the full guide and lisa’s text and photos. thanks to lisa for all her hard work!

Welcome to Santa Fe, New Mexico–a beautiful city set in the high desert mountains at 7000 feet. This is a great town-lots of history–and a unique tri-cultural feel–incorporating the Native American, Hispanic and Caucasian inhabitants. With this comes a great combination of ancient worlds segueing into the hip modern world. Once I started spending time here, I was hooked and now visit often and try and work here and do clay in the summers. Living in San Francisco, Santa Fe is the perfect antidote to urban, coastal living or anywhere else you may live!

Art has always been a big part of this area with one of the first artist colonies formed in Santa Fe in the early part of the 19th century formed by folks fleeing New York City and the East coast to “heal” themselves in the dry, clean air. Once these artists came here they were so struck by the incredible beauty and spectacular landscape…and cheap rents…they stayed and began a long tradition of artistic pilgrimages to this area to capture the intense beauty and fascinating culture. Georgia O’Keeffe being one of the more well known among these people who really came to symbolize the mysterious ethereal beauty that lurks here. So of course, when the artists come, everyone else soon follows, sometimes rendering a place more touristy, trendy and of course, more expensive. Santa Fe boomed in the 1980’s and 90’s with “Santa Fe style” and Ralph Lauren galore. The city is retreating from that a bit these days and really trying to move into the 21st century with modern art, design and more complex and innovative restaurants. What you have now is still the same charm and mystique but with some more edgy art and design movements afloat. What I love about Santa Fe is that you can experience so many different things here–eat great food, take a hike, get a fantastic massage and outdoor hot tub, wander through some great museums and galleries, shop for beautiful Native American and Hispanic artifacts and witness developing design constantly all in one day! There are also great deals on hotels to be had here since there are so many hotels around. More details about that later.

The city has a few main areas that will be covered here and are all within walking distance from each other: the Plaza-the first settled town in the US (1610)–the end of the Santa Fe Trail and the heart of Santa Fe; Guadalupe Street/Railyard–the “new” area where modern galleries and design shops are popping up; and Canyon Road-the original “art street”, on the periphery is Cerillos Road, a bit out of the center of town and includes many of your basic box stores on the southern end, but closer to town has some great old neon motels and some great local spots.

In the Plaza Area:

Centered around the main plaza are sweet small streets teeming with shops-some touristy, others unique and interesting. Here are some of the better ones:

Seret & Sons

Carpinteros: 217 Galisteo St 505.982.2258: elegantly hand-crafted furniture in the Spanish tradition.
Sequoia Collections: Galisteo St 505.982.7000: unusual furniture made of reclaimed woods and metals; lovely, funky paintings from emerging artists.
Native American vendors: line up under the Plaza overhang daily and sell authentic Native American jewelry and other items. If you want to buy jewelry-do it here–you are buying direct from the artisans who make it.
Doodlets- 120 Don Gaspar Ave 505.983.3771: crafts, novelty items, hand made paper goods
Jett-101 Old Santa Fe Trail 505.988.1866: unique jewelry from local and national artisans
Ortegas—101 W. San Francisco St 505.988.3585: historical trading post carrying contemporary and older native American jewelry
Papergami-213 W. San Francisco St 505.982.3080: beautiful Japanese papers and paper items
Mira-101 W.Marcy St 505.988.3585: really fun clothing jewelry and decorative objects
Design Warehouse- 101 W. Marcy St 505.988.1555: fantastic furniture and home store-great website too
Back At The Ranch- 209 East Marcy St 505.989.811: custom made, vintage and really original cowboy boots
Two Hands de Santa Fe- 330 Old Santa Fe Trail. 505.984.3059: handmade papers, vintage Mexican objects, stationary–very cool store
Todos Santos- 125 E. Palace ave 505.982.3855; chocolatier and confectioner -with beautifully crafted candies–gilded milagros
Poem- 125 E. Palace Ave 505.820.7884: tabletop, paper and other eclectic home decor items
Patina- 131 West Palace Ave 505.986.3432 www.patina-gallery.com: hand crafted jewelry and decorative objects
Onorato- 109 ½ E.Palace Ave 505.984.2008: great bedding, linens and housewares
Shiprock- 53 Old Santa Fe Trail 505.982.8478 www.shiprocktrading.com: home furnishings-contemporary and antique
Char-104 Old Santa Fe Trail, 505.988.5969: classic Santa Fe style here in custom and hand made clothing and amazing jewelry designs
SStein Design— local handcrafted bags and wallets. By appointment to come to the local factory—worth the trip!

Where to eat:

Pasquals—103 East Water St 505.983.9340: a do not miss in Santa Fe-great New Mexican food, funky Mexican folk art interior and a cool gallery upstairs. This is a Santa Fe landmark–lines out the door, but well worth the wait.
SantaCafe- 231 Washington Ave 505.984.1788: classic Santa Fe restaurant—refined and located in a beautiful back patio spot.
Tia Sophia’s:210 W. San Francisco St 505.983.9880: great New Mexican breakfasts, long lines, but moves fast!
Plaza restaurant: New Mexican coffee shop
La Boca-72 W.Marcy st 505.982.3433:fabulous modern Spanish tapas
El Meson-213 Washington St 505.983.6756: more fab tapas with a great bar and music
La Fonda-100E.San Francisco st 505.982.5511: oldest hotel in US–great interior-murals, fun bar with famous margaritas, music and snacks
La Casa Sena: 125 E.Palace Ave 505.988.9232: beautiful courtyard in the summer-great drinks and appetizers
The Shed: 1131/2 E.Palace Ave 505.982.9030; classic New Mexico food-historical building
Rooftop Pizzeria-60 E.San Francisco St 505.984.0008- great view of the mountains, really good pizza, salads
Coyote Cafe/Cantina—132 N. Water St 505.983.1615 -classic Santa Fe restaurant rooftop cantina open in warmer months for lunch, drinks
Pink Adobe/Dragon Well Bar—406 Old Santa Fe Trail, 505.983.7712: great lunch/dinner drinks, fun bar.

And don’t miss: Institute Of American Indian Art, Georgia O’Keefe Museum-located off the Plaza.

Guadalupe/Railyard Area

Just west of the main plaza area is this fun shopping, eating area that also includes the developing Railyard area.

Spanish Table-109 N. Guadalupe St 505.986.0243: eclectic collection of housewares and culinary delights from Spain
Cielo Home and Cielo Tabletop- 316 Guadalupe 505. 992.1960: 2 stores carrying wonderful combination of tableware, home furnishings and other housewares
Gypsy Baby- 318 Guadalupe St 505.820.1898: high end baby/kids store
Double Take at The Ranch 321 Guadalupe 505.820.7775- vintage clothing, boots, jewelry and household items–very fun
Santa Fe Pottery @ Double Take- 323 Guadalupe: local and national artisans working in contemporary pottery
Sanbusco Center- a small “mall” but with some interesting shops–jewelery, textiles–worth breezing through
Mindy and Clyde Cupboard Company- 407 S. Guadalupe 505.982.0901: vintage restaurant and railroad china, tablecloths and other fun items– like an outpost of Fish’s Eddy in NYC
Casa Nova- 530 S. Guadalupe 505.983.8558: great mix of international housewares, art and design services
Moss-530 S. Guadalupe St 505.989.7300: contemporary furnishings–amazing indoor/outdoor furniture
Antique Warehouse: 530 S. Guadalupe 505.984.1159: Mexican Doors and Ranch furniture
Santa Fe Clay- 1615 Paseo de Peralta 505.984.1122: studio and gallery showcasing nationally renowned contemporary ceramics for show and sale
Casa Natura- 328 Sandoval Street 505.820.7634: organic fashion, bedding and furnishings
Rainbow Gate-320 Sandoval 505.983.8892: unique locally made dinnerware shop. All work is made on the premises and boast lots of color!

Side trip from here to:

Pacheco Park–a little ways beyond the Railyard is another developing design cluster:

Victoria Price Art and Design

Santa Fe Modern Home 1512 Pacheco Street: modern design and furnishings

Where to eat around here:

Cowgirl Hall of Fame—319 S. Guadalupe St 505.982.2565: Santa Fe outpost of a NYC favorite-fun, kitschy food and drinks-lunch/dinner
Zia Diner- 326 S.Guadalupe St 505. 988.7008 : : classic diner food New Mexican style-breakfast, lunch, dinner
AquaSanta- 451 West Alameda 505.982.6297: a splurge well worth it–amazingly crafted “slow food” and very cool setting in old adobe–lunch, dinner
Mauka-544 Agua Fria 505.984.1969-amazing, innovative Asian cuisine-lunch/dinner
Cafe Dominic-320 S. Guadalupe St : coffee, lunch
Aztec Cafe-317 Aztec St: local coffee spot, wireless
Tommasitas- 500 S. Guadalupe St 505.983.5721-classic New Mexican fare
Railyard Restaurant/saloon- 530 S. Guadalupe St 505.989.3300: bar fare–lunch, dinner, nice views of the mountains.

While you are here-make sure to visit the interesting new galleries that are all around the Railyard Area-many have Friday night openings: (Box Gallery, William Segal, Tai Gallery, Gebert Contemporary to name a few). Plus, the farmers market’s permanent home should be finished here by summer-great local food and crafts on Tuesdays and Saturdays.

Side trip to Cerillos Road

Jackalope- 2820 Cerrillos Rd 505.471.8539: a fun sprawl of a store with a mix of furniture, pottery, textiles in a bazaar like setting (don’t miss the glass blowers and prairie dogs right in the middle of the grounds!) neon motels and local lore-just soak it in on your drive through!
While you are here stop by the Tecolate café 1203 Cerrillos Rd. 505.988.1362: for a hardy breakfast of blue corn pinon pancakes or check out the Counter Culture café 930 Baca St: for breakfast, lunch and dinner, located off Cerrillos road in an up and coming neighborhood.
Another local favorite is the Cloud Cliff Bakery- 1805 2nd St 505.983.6254: also located in the growing 2nd street hood. Or for some outrageous organic ice cream-think roasted green chile on top of sweet corn/sage!, head to Tara’s 1807 2nd St: 505.216.9759

Canyon Road

This is classic Santa Fe–this street of galleries, shops and restaurants is one of the original “Art Streets” in the US–it is filled with historic adobes and is totally walkable from end to end.

C gallery-708 Canyon Rd 505.986.1221: terrific contemporary art and home furnishings
Curiosa-718 Canyon Rd 505.988.2420: wonderful gem of a store with tableware, jewelry and unusual art for home-bird and nature themed
Nathalie- 503 Canyon Rd 505.982.1021-very cool fashion and home furnishings of the southwest and france
Karen Melfi Collection-225 Canyon Rd 505.982.3032: sculpture and design shop
Cielo Bed and Bath-702 ½ Canyon Rd 505.995.8008: another outpost of this lovely home store
La Mesa de Santa Fe-225 Canyon Rd 505.984.1688: Wonderful original tableware and house art
Pachamama-223 Canyon rd 505.983.4020: terrific collection of vintage and contemporary Latin American folk art
Jane Sauer’s 13 moons gallery-652 Canyon Rd 505.995.8513: nationally and international clay, fiber,metal and glass art

This is the street to just walk up and down and just explore the multitude of galleries, to many to mention here, that line Canyon road–they often have Friday night openings with wine and cheese and a chance to stroll between 5 and 7pm.

Where to eat:

Downtown Subscription-376 Garcia St 505.983.3085: locals coffee hangout with every magazine imaginable!
The Tea House- 821 Canyon Rd 505.992.0972: serene and inviting for breakfast and lunch. amazing muffins, salads, sandwiches and an incredibly extensive tea list. Wonderful rock garden—great after a day of walking around!
Geronimo- 724 Canyon Rd 505.982.1500: high end bustling Santa Fe restaurant housed in a restored adobe–this is serious.
El Farol-808 Canyon Rd 505.988.3823: fun Spanish restaurant with flamenco nights and lively bar scene.

Other things to do:

Abiquiu–an hour north of Santa Fe lies one of the most beautiful landscapes–worth going to for a roam around. And don’t miss visiting Georgia O’Keeffe’s home here open to the public by reservation (and make the reservation well in advance!) from March through November. It is well worth seeing her simple, yet elegant home filled with a wonderful collection of 20th century furniture and art.
Ten Thousand Waves- about ten minutes up the ski basin road from the plaza is this serene collection of outdoor hot tubs private and group ones–all in a beautiful alpine setting.
Tesuque Flea Market-about 20 minutes north of town near the famous Santa Fe Opera House (if you go in the summe-check out the opera—youc an score $10 SRO or splurge for a real seat and take in world class opera in a gorgeous setting.
DeVargas Mall- 181 Paseo de Peralta just north of the plaza—yes, another mall, but this is an old-fashioned one and has 2 great stores worth visiting: Surrender Dorothy- super fun clothing, shoe and bag store; Las Cosas Kitchen Shoppe -505-988-3394-wonderful kitchen and tableware store—has it all.
Museum Hill: Up about 5 minutes from the plaza on Old Santa Fe Trail perched above town, are five terrific museums well worth a visit, especially the International Museum of Folk Art. There is a bus that runs up here from the plaza. Beautiful spot and a great orientation to the history and folklore of the area.

Where to Stay:

If you go, check out www.hotels.com or go on www.craigslist.org for New Mexico/ Santa Fe and go to vacation rentals. There are some great deals to be had of varying types of accommodations–centrally located. Hotels out on Cerrillos Rd tend to be cheaper, but a little removed from the central area. Another resource is www.vrbo.com—vacation rentals by owner—you can find houses and condos here for rent. There are two great local resources for information about what is going on in town. On Wednesdays the Santa Fe reporter comes out–a free weekly with lots of great information. On Fridays the PasaTiempo is inside the local paper and gives you a rundown of all weekly happenings.
You can fly into Albuquerque—and drive an hour north to Santa Fe—you can really get away with not even renting a car as there are great shuttles from the ABQ airport straight to Santa Fe.
Visit Santa Fe at any time of year—there is always something going on and each season is absolutely gorgeous!! Have fun!

i grew up in santa fe, and love the summers. the opera, maria benitez’ flamenco performances, and bandelier national park(near los alamos) are experiences you should not miss. the folk art museum(museum hill) hosts a market in july, with int’l artisans.

Hi Grace!
I was so suprised to see Santa Fe pop up on your blog. I am a local S.Fean and a dedicated reader of D*S.
If you are stopping by on your way back one place that is worth checking out, not found on the guide, is SITE Santa Fe, ” a contemporary art space” (sitesantafe.org) and another restaruant en par with Tomasita’s, in terms of wonderful N.M. cuisine, is Maria’s whose margaritas are the best in town. Lastly, if you’ve got the chance, as mentioned in the guide, Abiquiu is a must-see!
Thanks for posting this.

This is a fantastic post that begins to capture Santa Fe quite well. One of the most amazing things about the city is that the zoning laws have been enforced in such a way that practically every building in the city compliments its neighbor perfectly, so that visiting the place is like being transported into another land. My husband and I are actually abandoning our careers in L.A. in order to move to Santa Fe this summer, partly because we are so inspired by its beauty. Yay!

thanks for the additions–it is hard to get everyting in! Another thing I forgot to put in the guide is visiting the Native American Pueblos that surround Sfe–there are often dances and ceremonies that the public can witness and it is a fascinating and beautiful thing. In particular, Taos pueblo (about an hour north of SFe) is quite historic and amazing. Check out :www.collectorsguide.com/nm/nmfa03.html
for more information!-
Lisa

as a native new mexican, thanks for profiling the beautiful land of enchantment. if you are going to santa fe and have a couple of extra days, check out Taos and Madrid…both wonderfully authentic new mexican towns (santa fe can be a bit disneyland-esque, to be honest…but great shopping, mind you) without the throngs of tourists.

Yeah! It’s so nice to see Santa Fe on D*S! I’m a local to the area and also a loyal reader to your site.
Another great side trip if you are visiting Santa Fe is my little community of MADRID (18 miles South). It’s an old mining town of about 400 people and has over 50 art galleries. It has an amazing young artist scene and some really unique funky galleries and stores! It’s a must see if you are in the area. Here’s a few good example’s:
www.rockpapergallery.com
www.java-junction.com
www.rangewest.com
Again, thanks for this WONDERFUL post!
And Grace, if you would like to start a guide for little artist communities, I would love to show you Madrid!

I spent all of last summer in Santa Fe and miss it a lot. Downtown Subscription has the best coffee I’ve ever tasted–ever, esp. their Mexican mochas. Also, I would definitely recommend checking out the Santa Fe based jewelers Herndon Heald–you can find some of jewelry in Sundance Catalogue, but I loved their stuff so much, I literally knocked on one of the artist’s home looking for her work.

Super & informative article. I’m seriously of thinking of going back to SF early June. I was able to visit this interesting area early last spring with a friend I had not seen in 27 years. It was a great trip! For all you fabric people, I highly recommend a trip to Taos to experience two extraordinary fabric shops: LLom and Common Thread. Thanks for the well done post.

Great write-up Lis! I had no idea that when you went on that 4 hour walkaround last week such a comprehensive and entertaining guide would emerge so quickly and so well. Of course the reality is that you’ve been a close and discriminating observer of SFe for years. As your husband (and shameless promotor) let me add that your awesome tableware can be found at Curiosa on Canyon Road and that your website is www.lisaneimeth.com.

If you are an Alexander Girard fan, in addition to his outstanding personal folk art collection now housed at the International Folk Art museum, the artwork and interiors of The Compound restaurant on Canyon Rd. were designed by him.

What an amazing guide! I went to Santa Fe on a family vacation 11 years ago and haven’t been able to get it out of my mind. I was really happy to see La Mesa de Santa Fe above-my Aunt is a ceramic artist and she shows her work there.
www.clayandcolor.net

So glad you mentioned Pasqual’s. We had the good fortune to stumble across it on a trip out there a few years back, and it was one of the best meals I’ve had in recent memory. I’ll be back in New Mexico this March and won’t rest until I get some of their Huevos Motulenos or Mole Enchiladas. I can’t wait to investigate some of your other recommendations as well!

I worked in Santa Fe for 5 years and I wanted to add my two cents for all the chocolate lovers out there. Chocolate Maven is a great little cafe and bakery set in a warehouse where you can watch them make their fresh baked goods while enjoying homemade quiche and decadent desserts. And Chocolatesmith is some of the best chocolate I’ve ever had. Indulge and enjoy!

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