La Choza: The Shed's casual sister in the Railyard.

La Choza is the casual sister to The Shed, and it sits in the Railyard district where it serves the same family of fantastic New Mexican food in a relaxed, inviting room. Same ownership, same recipes, same red-or-green-or-Christmas conversation — easier to get into.

If you've been trying to book The Shed and the available reservations are two weeks out, La Choza is the answer. Same family of dishes, same quality of execution, none of the planning lead time. The chicken enchilada plate is here. The green chili stew is here. The margaritas, including the famous gold coin version, are here. You'll eat well in either room — and on a busy night, La Choza is the one you can actually walk into.

What makes La Choza distinctly itself, beyond just being The Shed's overflow option, is the location and the energy. The Railyard is the redeveloped warehouse district southwest of the Plaza — Sky Railway leaves from the platform a five-minute walk away, the Saturday farmers market happens here, and the whole neighborhood has a busier, younger, more local feel than the Plaza tourist core. La Choza fits that vibe. It's looser than The Shed, friendlier to a slightly raucous group dinner, and a better fit for a weeknight where nobody wants to dress up.

The pre-Sky-Railway move is the one we recommend most. If you've booked one of the evening Sky Railway runs (the sunset trains and the special-themed nights are particularly worth it), eating at La Choza first means you walk to the platform from dinner, ride the train at golden hour, and the whole evening flows. Same trick works for an apres-ski stop on the way back from the mountain — Hyde Park Road brings you down through Tesuque and into the Railyard side of town, and La Choza is right there before you head home.

Order the chicken enchilada plate Christmas-style if it's your first time. That's the headline dish in the family, and getting both red and green chile lets you taste the two without committing to one. Add the green chili stew as a side or a starter. The gold coin margarita is the move on the cocktail order — small, strong, the recipe that built the reputation.

Practical notes. Reservations are still recommended on weekends and during peak season; walk-in is more often possible than at The Shed. There's parking in the Railyard structures and on the street nearby. The room handles families well, but the noise level rises with the room — if you want a quiet meal, book early.

Apres-ski move, pre-Sky-Railway move, the-Shed-was-fully-booked move. All three of those are real reasons to know La Choza, and all three are reasons it's in our rotation as often as the original.