The Fork: We need to talk about San Isidro Plaza

As we were going to town on some pizza at Pizza Centro in the Southside’s San Isidro Plaza the other day, a thought occurred, which we then said out loud and to no one: “Wow, there sure are a lot of restaurants crammed in this little shopping zone.”

Of course, it’s a real bummer the Regal Cinema down there shuttered because anytime a theater closes, that’s bogus for all of us who believe film is one of the most glorious mediums ever. Still, though, if you want something good to eat, you pretty much can’t go wrong at San Isidro Plaza.

No one at SFR has reviewed Pizza Centro or the Tribes Coffeehouse over there, but when we went looking for words about other businesses in the shopping center, we found kind of a lot. Let’s take a look at some of those real quick, shall we?

In 2019, SFR named the Southside location of Mediterranean joint Cleopatra Café as one of its 15 Faves in the now sadly defunct Restaurant Guide that we used to put out (we still have a directory coming your way, which we’ve done for years—well before the Santa Fe Foodies Facebook group, even—so keep an eye out for that). Anyway, at the time, SFR Culture Editor Alex De Vore (you’re gonna see his stupid name a few times in this week’s edition) wrote that “both locations still boast some of the best dishes in town.” And he’s still right. As always, try the sheesh tewook for an affordable chicken delight, and don’t never not be not unwilling to try the falafel, the pita, the many delicious plates. Oh, also? The fries. Yowza!

Not so long ago, De Vore also wrote about Santa Fe Capitol Grill, one of the only restaurants open on the afternoon of the Fourth of July last year, and one that, according to the writeup, kind of slapped. “Perhaps you wouldn’t expect [it] at a Southside bar and grill in a strip mall, but the steak was...fantastic all around.” Dude also really liked that burger.

Then there’s La Plancha Latin Grill, an eatery that bummed ADV out when it was in Eldorado a few years back, but then impressed him big time when it popped up within San Isidro Plaza. “If this is what this guy does with mole,” De Vore wrote, referring to owner/chef Juan Carlos Pineda, “what the hell else have I been missing over there?”

We must also not forget about the Southside iteration of the Plaza Café (which is aptly dubbed Plaza Café Southside in both a triumph of naming and concision), where the brekkie b is good as all get-out—”one of the best breakfast burritos...in town,” actually, at least according to the 2021 writeup. See that photo on the top of this newsletter? That’s from the Plaza Café Southside—and yes, the hash browns are super good.

Even we, The Fork, are not impervious to the charms of this little food oasis in a sea of hardware stores and massage chains. In fact, we grabbed a green chile cheeseburger at El Milagro just a couple weeks ago, and we’d like everyone to know that it slaaaaaaaaaaps (even if we can’t possibly name one GCCB the top in town).

In summation, we’ve got more eating to do down there, which is really saying something since we hate driving in the car for more than six minutes and we don’t live super near San Isidro Plaza. What do you think, dear readers? Do you love it? Should we get a snack at Tribes? What else have we or the day-to-day nerds at SFR missing? Send your thoughts to thefork@sfreporter.com.

This is the song we imagine when we’re thinking about how many cool restaurants are all up in San Isidro Plaza.

Also

• Eagle-eyed readers tell us the Posa’s location on Zafarano Drive in Santa Fe appears to have closed permanently or, at the very least, a note on the door says as much. We tried to call and didn’t get through and the website is already down (that’s why there’s no link in this item). That’s all we know, and we’re kind of in shock. Who among us hasn’t fully housed a Posa’s tamale? Rest in power. As of this writing, the other locations remain in business.
• If’n you’ve already forgotten about The Kitchen Table, being Santa Fe’s preeminent commercial kitchen/food help biz, you might wanna learn about ‘em again because of the upcoming seminar tonight. Upcoming seminar in what, you ask? Well, in going legal, baby. Which is to say that starting a good business is wild, and some people want to help—namely, in this case, the people at The Kitchen Table. If we said that weird, let’s just break it down: Do you have a fledgling food business and want to make it legit and/or cooler? This event will show you how to do that.
• We hear Harry’s Roadhouse will now operate on Mondays, a previously not-thing which is now very much a thing, baby. That’s great news for people who prefer dining on the outskirts of town in a sprawling restaurant with delightful ambiance! If you don’t know Harry’s or just want a refresher, they do all kinds of stuff, from New Mexican and American dishes to tasty pies and more. Go to the site. Go to the site straight to hell!
• Woah, we were just talking about how Fusion Tacos was looking for coffee roasters in last week’s edition of Le Fork, and now we hear they’re opening a 13th location in Eldorado in the former Le Pommier with a target opening date of April 1. Unless this is an elaborate April Fools joke, we’re pumped for the people of Eldorado and wish them well.
• Speaking of things going down in Eldorado, Bite Me Bakery wants to meet you inside La Tienda shopping center starting at 3 pm, Saturday, March 23 for a little cinnamon roll/coffee pop-up action. According to the flyer we saw, these will be “the best ever cinnamon rolls,” and even if you don’t believe that, can you really leave it to chance? There is apparently a whole list of flavored cinnamon rolls to sample, including the classic, s’mores, mocha, London fog and more—and you get the roll and a coffee for a mere five smackaroos (that’s $5 if you hate fun and fake words). We will likely remind you again next week that this is happening, but it’s cinnamon rolls, man, and we don’t mess around (despite how it seems like messing around is pretty much all we do).

We just think more people should listen to Cat Power.

More Tidbits

• In why, God, why?! news that seems to us to be cruising for an “Oh, the humanity!” moment, agency ApoteoSurprise—which literally described itself as “the agency” in the PR we received and which has thus far specialized in over-the-top proposals for be-monied assholes—has announced its new robot, who is also named ApoteoSurprise, will be working as a waiter aboard a space-bound craft where, in space, a Michelin-starred French chef (whom the press release does not name) will prepare a luxurious dinner for two. Not only is this the most annoying sentence we’ve ever typed (and we once had to text our mom about printer settings), it’s just kind of gross. Like, setting aside how if you have enough money to dine in space with service coming from a robot then you have too much money, we do wonder what idiots will get down with this. Mainly we wonder because we’re going to go ahead and predict jokes that are based in how this is the opposite of that Titan submersible situation that crushed all those billionaires. Anyway, you can learn more here, we guess, but know that this won’t go down until at least 2025.
• Actually, you know what? We’re not done. What in the emmer-effing-opposite-of-John-Glenn kind of person do you have to be to be all like, “Do you want to have dinner in space?” Did we learn nothing from the tragic backstory of Faye Valentine?! Dang!
• The FTC (which is the Federal Trade Commission and not, as we thought, Feudal Trombone Corps) is out to stop that merger between Kroger and Albertsons about which you might have heard, and a US judge is slated to hear the case for that sweet, sweet FTC injunction this August, according to Reuters. The deal is worth something like $24 billion, so we’d imagine the suits behind this thing won’t go down without a fight. Plus, we all have to assume that workers will get screwed in the fallout if the merger goes through, so...get ‘em, FTC!
• Food and/or Wine-dot-com’s Stacey Leasca posits of The Cheesecake Factory’s new merch/clothing line that “you’re gonna want the hoodie,” but Stacey doesn’t know us very well at all because we’ll straight up DIE before we wear a hoodie from The Cheesecake Factory. You couldn’t pay us to want that hoodie, Stacey, let alone wear it. Same goes for the tees, cups, towels and whatever else. GOD, STACEY! Fountains of Wayne was right—your mom has it going on, while you do not have very much going on at all.
• OK, but if you’re going into space for a fucking dinner, are you really just that bored? You’ve seen everything here on the planet? Been to all the places?! Like, what is wrong with you?! Do you have to go through survival training to eat in space? What of bathrooms?!?! WHAAAAAAAT?!?!?!?
• Sourdough is back, baby! Actually, it’s been around since. the dawn of...whenever it first came around. But all the same, the internet is embracing the stuff once more. When did it do that before? Back during the pandemic lockdowns, when everyone too weird to just watch the entirety of Cheers on a loop got into making bread for a second. Anyway, bread is trending again online. Cool?
• Wait, do they train the chef in CPR or what to do in case someone has a weird reaction to being in effing space? Can the robot fly the spacecraft in case of emergency? What if the AI goes rogue and captures everyone? WHY DO WE NEED DINNER IN SPACE?!?!!?

A totally scientific breakdown of The Fork’s correspondence

In this week’s print edition of SFR, it’s time for lunch and dinner on or around St. Michael’s Drive.

Number of Letters Received: 16

*Why do you want to hurt us?

Most Helpful Tip of the Week (a barely edited letter from a reader):

“You’re wrong about pizza.”

*Girl, WE didn’t say anything about pizza last week, we told you what charts said about pizza.

Actually Helpful Tip(s):

Goose egg.

*Harumph

#DownWithSpaceDinners,

The Fork