El Paragua: traditional New Mexican in Española.

El Paragua, in Española, is about 35 minutes north of Santa Fe up US 285 — and it's one of those drives that pays off massively. Owned by the same family as El Parasol (the legendary taco window we recommend separately), El Paragua is the sit-down version of the lineage: incredible traditional New Mexican dishes, fantastic margaritas served by the pitcher, and a room with serious history.

It may not look like much from the outside. The food is among the best you'll ever taste. We say this on every recommendation we make for El Paragua and we'll say it again — trust this one even when the strip-mall-ish exterior makes you doubt the call. Inside, the dining room is warm, dim, and authentic in the way restaurants get when they've been doing the same thing well for decades.

The order. The carne adovada (slow-braised pork in red chile) is the headline dish and the one we send first-timers toward. The chiles rellenos are the second order. The enchiladas, in any form, are correct. Margaritas come by the pitcher, which is the right way to drink them with a table of four. The chips and salsa are the kind that mean you should pace yourself — they keep coming.

Why we send people the 35 minutes north for it: the food at El Paragua is better than 90% of what's available in Santa Fe proper, the prices are noticeably lower than equivalent quality in town, and the experience of getting out of Santa Fe and into the Española Valley for an evening is part of what makes a longer trip feel like a real exploration of northern New Mexico rather than a Plaza-only experience.

The drive itself is part of the appeal. US 285 runs north through high desert and small Hispanic villages — Pojoaque, Nambé, the turn toward Chimayó — and the landscape opens up the further you go. At sunset, especially in the fall, it's one of the better light drives in the region. We often pair an El Paragua dinner with a daytime stop at Puye Cliffs, the Chimayó Sanctuary, or a hike at one of the Bandelier-area trails, making the drive part of a fuller day rather than a one-stop trip.

Practical notes. Reservations are recommended on weekends; weeknights you can usually walk in. The room handles families well. They take cards. The bar is its own destination — sit-up-and-drink space if you don't want a full sit-down dinner, with the same margaritas and chips available.

Pair it with: a Puye Cliffs cultural tour earlier in the day, a stop at the Chimayó Sanctuary on the back roads return, or a White Rock / Bandelier day finishing with dinner at El Paragua before driving back to Santa Fe in the dark. Worth pairing with another stop on a north-of-town day — Chimayó's chapel, or a drive further up to Abiquiú.

One of the absolute best meals available within an hour of Santa Fe. Worth knowing about, and worth the drive.