Reviews for Santacafe

05/07/2025 - Alex Hernandez
My wife and I have been on a 5 day fine dining excursion, trying as many places as possible. We decided to go to Santacafe because it was recommended by a waiter at Coyote, and we did enjoy Coyote so decided to try this place. First, my wife and I were seated and approached by a waiter named "John". My wife ordered the lobster roll and I ordered the crispy red snapper. We do not drink alcohol, but my wife did order a mocktail, mostly because the waiter was really insistent. The food came right away; however, the snapper was very bland, and I did not like it, so I asked the waiter, "John" to take it back and give me the lobster roll instead (since I had tasted my wife's). Obviously, the fact I did not like the $50 red snapper was frowned upon but no person should pay $50 for 8 oz of bland red snapper. With a disturbed look, the waiter said, "okay" and left. About 5 minutes later the waiter returns with the red snapper that I had just told him to take back, in a bag and places it in a window-sill behind my chair, and without even addressing me said in a loud voice, "there is your red snapper" and walked away. At first, I thought he was speaking to someone else, but my wife clued me in. At that point, my wife became uncomfortable and I assured her everything was going to be okay and to enjoy her meal. Ten minutes later my lobster roll came with a big order of frozen french fries which I did not order. But yet, because my wife had ordered some with hers, the waiter "John" assumed that I wanted the same thing. I said "Nooo" I never ordered fries, so he tells me to keep them and that he would remove it from the tab. I thoroughly enjoyed the lobster roll and the accompanied salad but mostly out of sheer determination that this waiter was not about to screw up my evening. I told my wife to eat hers but she could only get through half of it because she was worried by his passive aggressiveness. Finally, the waiter "John" comes with the bill and the snapper of course has NOT been removed. I told him very calmly that he needed to adjust it. At which point he tells me like this, "Look SENOR. There was nothing wrong with the food so the fact that you don't like it..." and before he could finish what he was saying I said in a loud voice "The snapper is bland." He then abruptly took the bill and walked away. He returned with the correct tab for what we consumed and he took the bag that had been on the window sill the whole time. It did not escape me that I was the only Hispanic in the restaurant but it is perplexing since the waiter himself appeared to be Hispanic. Anyway, I did not appreciate it. Now here is the lesson to everyone. I realized this guy is a waiter. He needs tips to pay his bills and I know that in fine dining there has to be some upity behavior from the staff but you do live on tips right? You are serving the one with the money. You are not the one with the money. You live off the customers. There are so many good places to eat in Santa Fe that this kind of treatment from staff should not be accepted. So I paid my bill and gave him a good tip. I put zero dollars and wrote on the ticket that he will have to take to the register, "My name is not SENOR." I've been smiling ever since and I plan to go back before we leave.

10/04/2024 - Emily D.
Had a great Valentine's dinner with my boyfriend, the service was exceptional and the atmosphere was lovely. The food was delicious and our waiter was very accommodating, making great recommendations. Looking forward to our next visit, it's become a favorite spot for us whenever we're in Santa Fe.

06/25/2024 - Thea H.
AWESOME!

06/23/2009 - Arlene
We had a delightful early dinner here. I enjoyed the tiger prawns and my husband had his favorite dinner: rack of lam. Excellent meal and excellent service - We ate out on the patio.