Alex De Vore
Carne adovada stuffed sopaipilla from Adelita's? Uh, yeah—don't mind if we do.
It could be I’m facing some mental block about Adelita’s Mexican Restaurant (3136 Cerrillos Road, (505) 474-4897) because the Cerrillos Road eatery was a Burger King when I was a kid, and I’ve little interest in eating Whoppers. But when a friend recently suggested we have a meeting at Adelita’s to talk very important business matters, my response poured out of my fingers into a DM so quickly that I’m not even sure my brain had the proper time to formulate it so much as my body knew what to say: “Oh, we can 100% do Adelita’s. That’s smart as F*@$.”
And smart it was, not only because there’s no bad day to eat chile, but because I once again realized how excellent the food tastes at Adelita’s, which brought me to a loop of self-admonishment and questioning about why I haven’t eaten there more often. If nothing else, many of Santa Fe’s downtown restaurants have become untenable due to parking alone. When SFR had its offices on Marcy Street, I knew I’d always have a spot. Now I’ll circle the block of some place I’d like to eat no more than three times before I say screw it and head to one of my Midtown faves like Red Enchilada. Don’t get me wrong—it’s not because the food at restaurants like The Shed or Palacio isn’t amazing, it’s because I’ve become old and cranky and I just don’t want to wait around for my damn red chile.
But I digress back to my original point: Adelita’s—which is named for La Adelita, the archetypical woman warrior from during the Mexican Revolution and has been around since ‘98—is a downright local treasure, and you’d never know there’d been a Burger King in that space if I hadn’t brought it up.
First off, the covered patio was open on the day we visited, and it could have been that we met after 1 pm, or just that the restaurant has ample seating, but we were at a table, gabbing and scarfing complimentary chips and salsa before we knew it. Adelita’s has more than enough parking, too, which I guess is something that becomes very important the more you age. Dang, sorry, I’m gonna digress again to another important point: Gluten.
See, my dining companion recently discovered they’ve been living with undiagnosed celiac disease, which is that affliction that makes eating gluten an impossibility. Adelita’s, they said, is one of the restaurants where they can eat tacos without facing severe pain, stomach and otherwise. They were quick to point out that just because they can eat there does not mean everyone ever diagnosed with celiac can, too, but it’s still worth saying that it works for them. Do note the taco asada dish they ordered ($13.95) was not specifically listed as a gluten-free meal, just that you’d be surprised where you’ll find gluten in general (once, my companion said, they found something glutenous in a thing of cashews as a de-sticking agent), and these tacos don’t mess them up—and they’re a regular at Adelita’s. The tacos looked amazing, too, and came more Mexican-style, which is to say we’re talking grilled tenderloin beef in corn tortillas with onion and cilantro she ordered on the side. The smell was brilliant, too, and despite my companion telling the story of how celiac kind of trained them to not notice when they get hungry, they appeared to have no issues during our lunch.
I, meanwhile, continued my ongoing pork quest (with which regular readers might be familiar thanks to my recent column, Pork Roll, from our Aug. 3 issue) in the form of a carne adovada stuffed sopaipilla. For a staunch supporter of and believer in burritos as the most perfect of all dishes, I sure find myself considering the stuffed sopaipilla often. I’ve lived a lot of different places, but I’ve never found a similar dish outside of New Mexico. Throw some slow-roasted pork and red chile into the mix, and you’ve basically found something incredible and, at Adelita’s, incredible would be an understatement. Kudos to the kitchen for not only churning out some of the most flavorful and tender pork around, but also for including a reasonable amount in the dish. Adelita’s red chile is a real highlight, too, particularly in the flavor department. You can practically feel the cumin giving you herbal-y superpowers, and though the spiciness kicked in on a slight delay, that was actually a pleasant element.
The dish was rounded out with rice and refried beans, and something about the quartet of sopa, pork, rice and beans unlocked a long-dormant memory in my brain of my first forays into red chile as a youth, and how hard I long for decent refried beans on the regular.
Speaking of which, why is it so tricky to find quality refried beans in Santa Fe? Whole pintos are great, but when it comes to a hefty plate of New Mexico’s finest food highlights, give me some refries with melted cheese on top. Adelita’s delivered this and more, and it could easily be one of the most praiseworthy New Mexican dishes I’ve had of late. My companion told me how often they and their partner visit, sit on the patio and eat. Given the delectable meal I had, plus the kind and quick service from the waitstaff, I want to tell people a story like that. Perhaps when we’re sitting on the patio talking about things we like to eat before another lunch, or even a dinner.
“I come here all the time,” I’ll say. “Every chance I get, in fact.”
