Rio Chama

Food — excellent. Service — extraordinary. Ambience — ideal.
Now for details… this was our first time dining at Rio Chama and is the first of many to come. We were offered our choice of tables in one of the beautifully appointed and very comfy dining areas and we chose a 2-​top by a window looking out to their courtyard.
Our waiter, the professional and fabulous Chris, showed up in a matter of minutes offering their impressive wine list and our menus.
There were many delicious-​sounding options. I chose prime rib which is a deal breaker if you put it on the menu and do it poorly. Denise ordered the buttermilk fried chicken. Both came with fluffy garlic mashed potatoes and I asked that my other vegetable be the steamed spinach. What came back is my favorite answer — Yes, of course! We began by sharing the generous Caesar salad — the best I’ve had since moving to Santa Fe.
Prime rib — flavorful, perfect doneness. The chicken was off the charts — juicy and fork tender.
The wine list could be daunting but there are treasures to be found in every price range. We selected the Allegrini Palazzo Della Torre — great value «baby» Valpolicella from a world class producer.
Oh, and Justin, the GM, circled through the room from time to time, checking in at every table, GENUINELY interested in how guests were enjoying their meals.
It happened to be my birthday and I was offered the dessert of my choice. Since we were on our way to the theater, Chris offered to box their incredible strawberry rhubarb tart to go.
5 stars and more !!

It was our first time eating at Rio Chama. We had a 5:30 reservation. The section we sat in had about 8 – 10 people. By 6 pm it was busy. I had the Filet, & my husband had the Rib Eye with Green Chile Mac & Cheese, OUTSTANDING!!! our server Chris was pleasant and informative. We will definitely be going back!!!

This is ALWAYS delicious food, no matter what you order. We usually go to the bar area, which is more casual, but the dining room is excellent too.

Stopped by on a recommendation to eat at the bar. They don’t have a «bar menu» but there are enough small plates that my boyfriend and I could share and try a few things. The 4 mini burgers were good, truffle fries were good, salmon fish and chips were good, wedge salad was also good. The drink list was first class. It was crazy busy after work but the staff were working really hard to make sure we were taken care of. I would definitely recommend!

I’ve always loved Rio Chama but lately the restaurant has disappointed me. Lunch today: great wait staff but very slow food delivery and my food was really overlooked. Love the bar and bar menu but restaurant needs some attention.

Nice atmosphere and good location. However, both food and service were disappointing. Wild salmon was prepared well and had good flavor, but sides were cold. My wife had the filet mignon, which was tough, and the side were also cold. The service was erratic, with orders given to the wrong person, and both drinks and entrees were slow in arriving. All in all a disappointing experience.

We visited Rio Chama to celebrate my mother’s birthday. We were fortunate to get a private room, as the restaurant can get noisy. The food was disappointing, the service was good.
I had the prime rib. It was an inferior grade of meet and lacked flavor and tenderness. It came with ordinary mashed potatoes and a green vegetable. My wife had the spicy prime rib sandwich, which was overcooked and tough. At these prices, the restaurant should be serving better food.
For dessert we shared a coffee cheesecake which was good.
There are so many better restaurants in Santa Fe, we will not dine here again.

We sat in the bar area. Food was great, atmosphere was great, service was great and everything was to perfection. Best Moscow Mule I have ever had

Wonderful evening and dinner. Food, service and atmosphere were all perfect ! The fried chicken and mashed potatoes were to die for !

This was the location for the conference conclusion dinner (generously sponsored by OpenEye Software). We had our own private room and our own private open bar which was really nice. The dinner options were steak, salmon, and vegetarian; I opted for the salmon but was served the vegetarian meal instead, which consisted of quinoa and other assorted roasted veggies covered in a chipotle (?) sauce, which was pretty good. The pre-​dinner salad and the dessert were just okay, but the post dinner coffee was nice and strong. Good service with good food, made even better when it’s free!

This place is amazing! The wine selection is very nice. Centrally located in Santa Fe by the capital building. Make sure you always get the Chama Chili. That’s the best part about this place.

We will always go back. Terrific watering place full of who’s who in Santa Fe. During the legislative session it’s full of politico’s cutting deals.
We ordered the prime rib sandwich with your choice of French fries or onion rings (both are good). This is a terrific deal as they serve a generous portion of meat on sourdough bread and cooked to perfection!
All this for $ 19! Haven’t found this anywhere else in Santa Fe.
Do yourself a favor make this happy hour stop and stay for dinner! You won’t be disappointed! The bar is usually crowded so go early!

What an OUTSTANDING dining experience we had this past weekend… the fondue was delightful (have had broccoli & cauliflower, yet not steamed – wow!), the ribeye was savory and the mushroom penne pasta (with shrimp added) was delicious! The service was second-​to-​none and quite personalized. Again, THANK YOU for a most enjoyable and memorable dining experience!

This resturant has a great atmosphere. Do you want to take out that special someone? Come here!
It’s moderately priced so everyone can find something. The patio is freaking beautiful, with its own bar. No waiting forever for your server to run all the way across the resturant.
The inside bar is cozy and classy all ot the same time. If you’re looking for a nicer place to go without breaking your budget this is it. The staff is friendly and knowledgeable the food is wonderful and the drinks are always well made.
This resturant is walking distance to many 9f the amazing features that down town Santa Fe has to offer. It is right off Old Santa Fe Trail and not hard to find. It has its own parking lot in back plus on the weekends there is a bit of free parking very near by.
If you like wine they have an amazing wine club which allows you to buy wine at the wholesale price which lowers your bill dramatically.
Have a large event, you can host it in the huge dining room they can take care of your party. I’ve seen large wedding parties in there getting awesome 5 star treatment.

My friend went to school in Santa Fe and comes down for the annual, mid-​August Native American festival. I trusted her top choice of Rio Chama and wasn’t let down!
Our waiter was phenomenal. His recommendations and slight alterations to the menu and accompanying sauces really put this experience out of the norm for me. The wine menu is phenomenal and on a slow night you might be able to convince them to get a tour of the cellar.
We started with a wedge salad and I asked for the house blue cheese vinaigrette as well as the creamy blue cheese traditionally associated. Normally I don’t like a blue cheese vinaigrette, but this one was very unique and had a red oil (sun dried tomatoes or chile oil?) and was delicious. I trusted the recommendation of the chile rubbed prime rib, but substituted the mashed potatoes for truffle fries. Everything was delicious and the ambiance kicked it up another level.
My only struggle was the lack of cellular service so I could check into Unilocal and let people know I loved this dinner! ;-)

Good first… hostess was very nice and pleasant. The guys who delivered and served our food were very kind. Patio was very nice.
Bad…our waitress was not very nice and was very snooty in fact. Had to ask for water and tea several times. The only time she even seemed to care is when the bill came out and she saw my credit card. I guess she had misjudged my group.
Food was okay. I will say I split my dinner with my granddaughter because she filled up on the fondue we had for an appetizer. To out surprise, they halved our dinner before they brought it out.

A very romantic evening. Ate outside on the patio, service was superb starting with the hostess and our server Ian took it from there. The shrimp cocktail was excellent. Shrimp were very large, perfectly prepared and fresh and the cocktail sauce had just the right amount of hot. The avocado grapefruit salad was good, not great, a little too much goat cheese for my taste. The elk tenderloin was a disappointment because it was not aged and was very gamey and not tender. But the single malt scotch, sparkling wine and beer were excellent accompaniments to our meal. Thanks to Ian for all of his recommendations. A little pricey but well worth it. Next visit to Santa Fe we will definitely be back.

This is a great winter time place. With all of the beautiful fireplaces and warming cocktails, it’s easy to spend a few relaxing holiday hours over lunch. love the menu too. Eating fondue in front of the fireplace in the bar is something I simply need to do more of.
Some other eternal classics to warm you up are the Chama chile and the crispy chicken tacos. If you want something a bit lighter get the Chama chop salad. It’s fully loaded with all of the chop salad goodies and comes in a half portion. The dessert menu is great too. The chocolate pot is a perfect, gluten-​free pots du crème style dessert. It is Consistently one of the best in town.
The atmosphere can get a bit «boys club”-ish during the legislative session, but on the other hand, you may run into some big wig politicos. I have seen Governor Martinez making use of the Governor’s Room. All politics aside, she has gorgeous skin up close. This is also a good spot for celeb spotting. I’ve seen both Bryan Cranston and Val Kilmer there.
Rio Chama has banquet rooms, patios, private rooms, cozy dining areas and a very inviting bar. The service is professional but generally casual and not over bearing.

Even though I’ve been visiting Santa Fe for 15 years, I’d never been here until last night. The restaurant is two doors down from the «Dragon Bar» at the Pink Adobe which has some of the best Green Chile Stew I’ve ever had. But they were closed.
So, Rio Chama had its chance. I was alone, so I sat at the bar. The bartender was very nice and gave a generous pour of good red wine. I had the bison burger, which included a gluten free bun and sweet potato fries. It was pricey, but ALL WELL WORTH IT. Seriously, delish. Rio Chama has great food.
Here’s where Rio Chama only gets three stars. The clientele. As I said, I sat at the bar. As a young woman, I had worked in bars, so I’m familiar with a breed of bar customer we called the «LGB,» Lonely guy at the bar. The bartenders know their names as do the servers because these guys are there every single night.
Rio Chama’s LGB is «Mike the climate denier.» We chatted briefly about how lovely Santa Fe is, and then he launched into his tirade about how climate change is a hoax, and that oil and gas is our country’s only economic solution. I didn’t fight with him because I was in no mood to evangelize. I just wanted to enjoy my $ 16 burger. So I got it to go.
If you go, sit at a table. Be kind to the servers and the bartenders. As I said, Mike is probably there every night and they deserve your sympathy.

Solid spot with a truly fabulous, small, homey outdoor patio with plenty of shade. Very friendly service, and folks I was with raved about the crispy chicken tacos and kale coleslaw which I will have to get next time. The pork chop with sweet potato and grilled onions looked divine. The fish, not as much.
I was satisfied with my veggie lasagna (lighter than usual and very veggie heavy) and fresh grapefruit and gin cocktail.