Diners Plaza Café
In Santa Fe, NM, on the historic square.
There was a time, from the school days, I recall, there was a time when Phoenix, AZ was a health destination. Folks with various lung disease were sent to Phoenix for the air, the clear, desert highland air. Clear. Clean.
Shuttling back from someplace, with a connecting flight through Phoenix’s Sky Harbor airport, nominally a hub for SWA, I looked out the window. By the
Not like this is limited to Phoenix, just one of the ironies, the city that was, at one time, known for its pure air, to be so dirty, now.
For years, more than a decade, my folks, now just my own, wee Scorpio mum, “summers” in Santa Fe. For the air. Elevation was 7,000 feet. Right, for the air, like saying Phoenix is for the air.
Diners Plaza Café
Most summers, though, and one winter’s eve, I’ve passed through Santa Fe, and that means the Plaza Cafe, which, to this day, is an archetype of what a local diner should be. The food is diner food, but it has that special New Mexico edge, which I so dearly adore.
Not necessarily a 24-hour place, but good breakfast, and that’s all I’ve ever had. There’s an amusing mix of tourists and locals, with the food consistently being stellar. One way to judge a diner is bacon. The Plaza Diner uses exceptional bacon, thick-cut, tastes like it was done on a griddle, cooked to the point of being one step shy of burnt, in other words? Perfect bacon. While I can’t judge a diner solely on its bacon, that’s as good of start as any other foodie indicator.
Like typical New Mexico fare, the essential question is “Red or Green” and my answer is generally “Xmas,” a combination thereof, cf., Aquarius.
The Plaza Cafe is about a block, in city block terms, maybe a block and half from the original Coyote Cafe, and that’s the place, near as I can tell, ground–zero for starting the whole “Southwestern Style” and thereby making little–known New Mexico treats a worldwide concession.
As one NM buddy observed, “We export chili and art.”
I’ve proabably been eating at that diner since I was 7 years old, maybe younger. No records exist.
Diners Plaza Café
There’s a small counter, red vinyl stools, and there’s diner food. With that New Mexico flare, but still, bacon, eggs, pancakes. Cannot go wrong with anything on the menu, be my guess. However, I tend to suggest that one stick to the tried and true basics, as it’s a small kitchen, so they cover basics exeptionally well.
Worth a mention, either the red or green sauce is exceptional, but as to which one is hotter? Depends on the local pepper crops. The coffee tends to have that extra “pinion” flavor, local roasters. My personal favorite, though? Blue Corn pancakes with pine nuts. Make sure to try that menu item.
One of my favorite images I can’t locate at the moment? One favorite is the facing the front door, looking out onto Santa Fe’s historic town square. Plaze Cafe appears backwards in the glass. Means I was leaving. Leaving satisfied, I’m sure.
Other diners?
