Just like a hot chick in hot-pink chaps, Cowgirl the restaurant is positively irresistible. Reporter readers can't get enough of the place. The Kiddie Corral out back gives parents a place to pen up their buckin' babes, earning our Best of Santa Fe contest's Best Restaurant for Kids award year after year. Meanwhile, ma and pa are free to sample a few award-winning cocktails from the award-winning bar, delivered to the big, shady patio by award-winning servers gussied up in ***image1***cowgirl (or cowboy) hats and boots. And after a margarita or two, we dig into a heaping plate of Five Pepper Nachos that we love despite the fact that they were singled out by some suits in New York City as being among the top 20 in the country. (We've been fans of those nachos since the Wall Street Journal wore short pants and sucked its thumb!) After the nachos, we like to move on to the traditional Frito Pie (served in the bag), a buffalo green chile cheeseburger, chicken fried steak or the belly-bulging barbecue sampler (ribs, brisket chicken and sausage). Sated, it's time for a game of billiards in the new pool hall. Resisting going back to the patio for an ice cream baked potato is often the hardest part of a night at the Cowgirl, where a good time is always had by all.

319 S. Guadalupe St., 982-2565. Breakfast, lunch and dinner daily. $-$$