1 El Parasol
1833 Cerrillos Road, 505-995-8015
298 Dinosaur Trail, 505-995-8226
Oh God, we love El Parasol. We love zipping over to pick up a couple of chile relleno burritos (available during the summer and early fall) shredded beef tacos or adovada burritos.

Yes, it’s greasy fast food, but this is four-star fast food. This is the kind of thing you miss when you’re away. It’s not elegant, it’s not fancy, it’s totally low-brow and we absolutely love it. If you’ve never been to El Parasol (or the related El Parasols in Española, Los Alamos and Pojoaque or El Paragua in Española) you should know that locals are sometimes unclear in our terminology.

El Parasol may be called Mexican food, but it’s really 100 percent New Mexican in style. You’ll find plenty of traditional Mexican restaurants here (serving fish tacos and octopus cocktail and chicken in mole), but go to El Parasol when you really want to taste the traditional foods of northern New Mexico (red chile, green chile, calabacitas).

2 Mariscos “La Playa,” 537 W. Cordova Road, 505-982-2790

3 Los Potrillos, 1947 Cerrillos Road, 505-992-0550