Though possible we’ve said it before, we’re just gonna say it again—it’s weirdly hard to get people to go eat free food with you, and that really steams our hams. See, we’re a longtime Pizza Etc. fan who still feels pretty sore over the local pizza joint getting forced out of the DeVargas Center last September. We know that some of you have been to fucking New York, and that the rest of us peasants will never, ever understand real pizza, but we liked that place. Many of the ingredients were locally sourced; co-owner Sergio Baray always remembered us and was kind to us; you could get a slice during the day and it was always tasty; we found its location convenient. Still, despite that love, we’ve been unable (or too lazy) to make the trip out to the new Pizza Etc. spot in Pojoaque, until the day we wrote this. And then no one wanted to go with us.
Anyway, the point is that the pizza is still on our list, but despite the eight people we texted, we had to work something else out, and that something was Los Potrillos (1947 Cerrillos Road, (505) 992-0550).
Let us just answer some of your burning questions real quick:
How did we choose LP?
We were driving down Cerrillos Road and panicking over what our topic was going to be since nobody wanted to go get Pojoaque pizza with us, and when we saw the sign in the distance we were all like, “Oh, word, haven’t eaten there in a looooooooooooooong time.”
Did our mom come with us?
Yes. She wouldn’t go to Pizza Etc., but she did go to Los Potrillos. Why was she willing to do this? Because she’s crazy.
Were we around Santa Fe when that Los Potrillos was a Pizza Hut?
Yup.
Yeah, we’ve been around, baby, and so has Los Potrillos, a monument to Mexican dishes with a menu so big you’re likely to be all like, “Damn, that’s menu is big,” about it—the kind of place that took a hollowed-out former pizza hut and, like those Land Before Time puppets that PH used to serve up with your personal pan pizza in ye olden days, crammed its hand all up in there to spin gold. But let us go back, like, seven or so years to the last time we ate at Los Potrillos.
*insert harp sounds here*
We didn’t think it was very good. In those days, we were nothin’ but a Felipe’s Tacos superfan with a penchant for Red Enchilada (an SFR fave so hard it’s nuts), and we took it out on Los Potrillos. In retrospect, we obviously know it’s not the restaurant’s fault it wasn’t the same as those other restaurants (they spell and pronounce their names differently, even), but in our defense, it just wasn’t a very good experience. Now, though, after today with our mom? We’re all about Los Potrillos, and we might have to rethink its place on our list of places we don’t ever visit. Why? We’ll tell you—in numbered form again!!!
Is the interior a comfy-casual space from which a friendly staff works really hard and with kindness?
Yup.
Did we love the horchata?
Yup.
Do you get a free thing of chips and salsa right when you sit?
Yup.
But it’s more than that. Like was said, the menu is huge and, according to a blurb on the back o’ it, is “dedicated to rescuing recipes that Mexican women have produced in such a rich culinary style.” Word to that. And with that in mind, we tried long and hard to pick a dish, but with so many options, we had to finally settle between a shredded chicken mole number and the tampiqueña, a steak/enchilada combo. Luckily, mom was there to be like, “You said you make chicken at home a lot, get the steak.” Steak for lunch? What are we, a Rockefeller or somesuch?! We did get that steak, though, plus the red chile enchiladas with which it came—and the rice and beans and corn tortillas on the side for makin’ our own little tacos.
Mom, meanwhile, got the camarones empanizados—a breaded shrimp dish that came with more breaded shrimpies than there are em-dashes in this edition of The Fork—which is a lot. Later, she texted “the shrimp were excellent,” though that might have been a suck-up text since I couldn’t finish my enchiladas and let her take ‘em home. In retrospect, a terrible plan. Smothered in an almost tangy red chile, they were the perfect tortilla-to-cheese ratio and almost creamy in their sauciness. With the thin-yet-tender steak and a roasted jalapeño, we were onboard big time. We’re still thinking about it. And about how our mom stole the rest of our enchiladas.
In summation? We’ll never doubt you again, Los Potrillos, unless you give us a reason to do that. But you’re on our “WE LOVE THAT PLACE!” list now. Thanks!
When your hams are all steamed
Also
- Whilst ambling about downtown on Monday last trying to stay out of the sporadic rain, we perchanced to notice (that’s a Beck reference, btw, and we wonder if any of you know or care how so) a new coffee shop down there on the corner of Lincoln Ave. and Marcy Street. Sadly, though, Café Momo appears to not be open on Monday so much as it’s open 10:30 am-5:30 pm Tuesday-Sunday according to a very informative chalkboard sign outside. We’ll check it out when we get a chance, but know it’s there, but if you wanna go sooner, it’s at 145 Lincoln Ave.; or you can call (505) 692-4157 and ask them stuff, probably.
- While we’re talking about coffee shops, we know we’re usually like, “Ohori’s forever!” And we’re still very much like that, but we were with some dumb friends from out of town recently who insisted upon grabbing coffee at CrashMurderBusiness on Montezuma Ave. Well, as much as we tried to get them to talk the extra block to our beloved O-town, they insisted, and y’know what? It was awesome. Just, like, the drip coffee was super-tasty and we appreciated it and we’re glad to have a backup in case we need it.
- We are so pumped to hear that Xzavian Cookbey, the coolest dude and the mind behind the ice cream truck Freezie Fresh, is back out there doing Freezie Fresh again after a bit of a hiatus. Cookbey is doing more of a traditional thing than his previous rolled ice cream thing, but we hear it’s amazing even now. You should follow him online if you’re looking to see where he’s gonna be. And if you’re like, “who is this guy?” you can read this story from a 2020 SFR.
- Lastly in local news this week, be aware that the Bar None pop-up event featuring fancy cocktails with no booze is slated to rock all y’all’s faces off with a special event at Travel Bug Coffee Shop on Friday, March 30. For $30, you can drink all you want, including zero-proof deliciousness and/or mocktails crafted with the same care those mixology douches give to whatever the hell drinks have booze in them. Sloe gin fizz? That’s a thing right? NOT AT BAR NONE, BABY! Call Travel Bug for more info if you want it.
All you Johnny-come-lately post-Odelay dorks probably never even heard of this Beck shit. You’re welcome.
More Tidbits
- Oh, good! Walmart—being one of the last bastions of affordability for the people whom the system has messed up most—recently announced that it might have to up prices due to tariffs on Chinese and Latin American goods. Look, we hate the system more than most, but stuff like this is what gets people killed. We’re just saying to brace yourselves and we wish we had better news.
- Despite how we believe there will never be a better chip than the Doritos Cool Ranch (we like other chips, we’re just saying that’s the best one), Doritos went and released a dumb-ass new flavor called Twisted Queso. We’re still doing ’90s-esque “X-TREME!” names for things? Gross. We bet it tastes weird, but, like, stoners gonna stone or whatever. So this is good news for the bong rip faithful, probably, and, like, kids. If you’ll excuse us, though, we’re gonna stick with our Cool Ranch. CR, we call them. No we don’t.
- Lastly in not-just-local news, it would seem that a study from the org Healthy Babies, Bright Futures found alarming amounts of arsenic and harmful metals in literally every single bag of rice it tested, and it was more than 140 brands of rice. Now, our take is that we’ve all been eating rice and not dying (from eating the rice), but you should at least click on this link from Delish-dot-com if you’d like to learn more.
A Totally Scientific Breakdown of The Fork’s Correspondence
This week in the print edition of SFR, find the Summer Guide as you have lo these many years—and we promise there’s some food stuff in there, too.
Number of Letters Received
4
*After more than 30 last week? Is this because we can’t write you back directly like we have for years?
Most Helpful Tip (A Barely Edited Comment From a Reader)
“Time Travelers [Gastropub] … needs COD for fish.”
*Dang, reader Patrice K., we’re not sure they NEED to do anything, but we understand you’re jonesing for that cod to the point you all-caps’d it. Where’s your fave if you’re so smart?!
Actually Helpful Tip
“You should reveal yourself.”
*Thanks, dear reader, for reminding us that we never ever ever ever ever want to do that. We almost did a couple times, but now we’ll never EVER do that. Ever. Never. Never-ever. Can’t you see? We’ll never make it ever…make it. Ever.
Our mom took the enchiladas,
The Fork
