This year's 10 Best Restaurants.

SFR's 20 Favorite Restaurants in Santa Fe.

Looking for cheap and mobile food in Santa Fe? Find it here.

Unfortunately, we at SFR can’t profile every single deserving restaurant in Santa Fe. Hence our list of classics—some of the best restaurants around at achieving excellence, year in and year out. We’re lucky to have such a vibrant food scene—not to mention one with staying power.

Bear with me through this metaphor: Editing SFR’s annual Restaurant Guide is torture.

Just imagine, for a moment, that you are a person who defines “lunch break” as a cup of coffee and some almonds, consumed as quickly as possible while frantically replying to emails and building campaign-finance spreadsheets. Imagine that, after said break, you must read pages upon pages of mouthwatering details about the pâtés, short ribs, chocolate mousses, bellinis, green chile cheeseburgers, breakfast burritos, seared scallops, fried pork bellies and vegan sandwiches that comprise Santa Fe’s rich, diverse, inventive food scene.

See? Torture.

This may be the last Restaurant Guide you ever read.

Not to be alarmist or anything, but 2012 is, in some circles, considered the date of the coming apocalypse. And it’s not just the guys peddling crystals on the side of the highway; many Americans believe that, sometime next year, the world will come to an abrupt, fiery end [cover story, Nov. 18, 2009: “My Oh Mayan!”].

The events of 2011 seem to support this eventuality: fires, floods, tsunamis, earthquakes, and Congress’ near-failure to raise the debt ceiling (and utter failure to do anything else).

Lawrence E Joseph, the author of Apocalypse 2012 (and Aftermath, the guide to surviving said apocalypse), has a name for the shape of the solar flare that could spell our demise: “cosmic croissant.” 

 The City Different is as perfect a place as anywhere to eat, drink and be merry before the world ends.

In order to equip you to do just that, we’ve changed the format of this year’s Restaurant Guide. Instead of a single Restaurant of the Year, the 2011-12 guide profiles the 10 local restaurants we consider the city’s very best.

Each year, SFR makes a list (and checks it twice) just for those restaurants that define the City Different. They’re the ones we know and love—and have for years—for their consistent quality, reliable service and special spark. They’re the comfy jeans of Santa Fe’s restaurant world—ripped in the knees and soft as silk. Obviously, that only makes them sexier. (Alexa Schirtzinger)

Our 20 favorite places you have to eat before the Mayan apocalypse.

Where to Eat and What to Eat in Santa Fe.