Restaurant in Santa Fe, United States
Solid cheap eats, no reservation needed.
Harry's Roadhouse is Santa Fe's most credentialed cheap-eats option, ranked #504 on Opinionated About Dining's North America list in 2024 and holding a 4.6 across nearly 2,700 Google reviews. Chef Harry Shapiro's chile burgers and New Mexican staples make it the reliable call for a low-cost, high-satisfaction meal on the Old Las Vegas Highway. Walk-ins welcome; closed Tuesdays.
Harry's Roadhouse is the kind of place that earns its reputation without trying to impress you. At a price point that sits firmly in the cheap-eats tier, this Old Las Vegas Highway diner delivers chile-forward New Mexican cooking that has appeared on Opinionated About Dining's Cheap Eats in North America list two years running — ranked #504 in 2024 and Recommended in 2023. With a 4.6 rating across 2,686 Google reviews, it has the volume and consistency to back up the recognition. If you want a no-ceremony, high-satisfaction meal in Santa Fe without spending much, book this.
The setting is roadhouse-honest: a low-key diner space on a stretch of highway east of the city center. Visually, the room signals diner comfort over design ambition — expect checked-in locals, functional tables, and the kind of unpretentious energy that tells you the food is doing the talking. This is not a white-tablecloth occasion. The visual identity here is authenticity: worn-in, well-used, and clearly well-loved by the people who return to it regularly.
Harry Shapiro runs the kitchen, and the menu is organized around what Harry's does well: chile burgers and New Mexican staples built for repeat visits rather than one-off spectacle. The chile burger, which gives the restaurant its primary cuisine designation, is the lens through which the whole menu makes sense. Think of it less as a progression from course to course and more as a series of well-executed decisions , each dish landing in a register that's direct, regional, and confident. There's no architectural tasting menu here, but the menu has its own logic: regional ingredients, chile as the constant thread, and portions calibrated to leave you satisfied rather than stunned.
For the food-focused traveler moving through Santa Fe, Harry's functions as a reliable counterpoint to the city's more formal dining options. It answers the question every Santa Fe visitor eventually asks: where do locals actually eat? The OAD recognition answers it with some authority , this is not a tourist trap dressed up as authenticity, but a working roadhouse with real credentials in the cheap-eats category.
Harry's is open six days a week (Tuesday closed), running 8 am to 9 pm Wednesday through Monday. The all-day format means it works as a breakfast stop, a lunch destination, or an early dinner. The OAD profile and the Google review volume both suggest peak hours get crowded, so arriving early in the lunch or dinner window is the practical move. Booking difficulty is low , walk-ins are the norm here.
The price tier makes it accessible for solo travelers and groups alike. You're not committing to a significant spend, which makes it a low-risk, high-probability-of-satisfaction choice in a city where dining bills can climb quickly at the more formal end.
Walk-in friendly. No reservation required for most visits. Open Monday and Wednesday through Sunday, 8 am to 9 pm. Closed Tuesday. Located at 96 B Old Las Vegas Hwy, Santa Fe, NM 87505.
| Detail | Harry's Roadhouse | Santa Fe Bite | Tia Sophia's |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cuisine | Chile Burgers / New Mexican | Café / Burgers | New Mexican |
| Price Tier | Cheap Eats | Cheap Eats | Cheap Eats |
| Booking Difficulty | Easy / Walk-in | Easy / Walk-in | Easy / Walk-in |
| OAD Recognition | #504 Cheap Eats (2024) | Not listed | Not listed |
| Google Rating | 4.6 (2,686) | , | , |
| Hours | 8 am–9 pm (Tues closed) | Varies | Varies |
For more on where to eat, drink, and stay in the city, see our full Santa Fe restaurants guide, our full Santa Fe hotels guide, our full Santa Fe bars guide, our full Santa Fe wineries guide, and our full Santa Fe experiences guide.
Against the city's cheap-eats field, Harry's Roadhouse holds up well on credentials. Tia Sophia's is the go-to for traditional New Mexican breakfast and is arguably more embedded in local morning culture, but Harry's longer hours and all-day format give it more flexibility. The Pink Adobe operates at a different price point and ambiance , more of a sit-down occasion than a roadhouse run , so if you want formality and New Mexican cooking together, Pink Adobe is the call. For the same casual register as Harry's but with a different focus, Paper Dosa is worth knowing about if you want something outside the New Mexican canon entirely.
If your priority is value-for-quality in the OAD-recognized tier, Harry's is the most credentialed option in Santa Fe's cheap-eats bracket. Sazón is the option to consider if you want a more composed, refined New Mexican experience with greater ceremony , but at a meaningfully higher price. Harry's wins on accessibility, consistency, and the all-day window. Book it for lunch or an early dinner; it's the lowest-friction, highest-confidence option in this segment of the Santa Fe market.
The chile burger is the signature and the reason most people make the drive. Harry's cuisine designation is built around it , order it as your anchor. Beyond that, the menu follows New Mexican convention, so anything with green or red chile is the safe move. If you're unsure, ask for red or green when ordering; it's the defining choice at every New Mexican table.
Lunch is the stronger call for most visitors. The all-day format runs from 8 am to 9 pm, and lunch gives you the full menu with slightly less crowd pressure than a weekend dinner. If you're coming from downtown Santa Fe, build in time for the drive out to Old Las Vegas Hwy , it's worth doing on a clear afternoon.
Harry's is a roadhouse diner, not a cocktail bar, so bar-seat dining in the classic sense isn't the draw here. The format is table service in a casual room. If a bar experience is what you're after in Santa Fe, the city's bar scene is worth exploring separately , see our full Santa Fe bars guide for options.
Probably not your first choice for a formal celebration. Harry's is a cheap-eats roadhouse , the OAD recognition is for value and quality in that tier, not for occasion dining. If you need an occasion meal in Santa Fe, Sazón or The Pink Adobe are the more appropriate settings. Harry's is the right call for a relaxed, satisfying meal without ceremony.
Yes, solidly. The walk-in format, the low price tier, and the diner setting all make solo visits easy. You're not navigating a tasting menu commitment or a minimum spend. Order the chile burger, take a counter or small table seat, and you're done. It's one of the lower-friction solo dining options in Santa Fe's casual tier.
For New Mexican breakfast and lunch with strong local credibility, Tia Sophia's is the most direct comparable. For a burger-focused alternative in a similar price range, Bert's Burger Bowl is worth considering. If you want to move up a tier in formality and New Mexican cooking, Sazón is the step up. See our full Santa Fe restaurants guide for the broader picture.
| Venue | Cuisine | Awards | Booking Difficulty | Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Harry’s Roadhouse | Chile Burgers | Opinionated About Dining Cheap Eats in North America Ranked #504 (2024); Opinionated About Dining Cheap Eats in North America in Recommended (2023) | Easy | — |
| Santa Fe Bite | Café | Unknown | — | |
| Sazón | New Mexican | Unknown | — | |
| Paper Dosa | Indian Cuisine | Unknown | — | |
| The Pink Adobe | New Mexican | Unknown | — | |
| Tia Sophia's | New Mexican | Unknown | — |
What to weigh when choosing between Harry’s Roadhouse and alternatives.
The chile burger is the calling card here — it's what earned Harry's Roadhouse its Opinionated About Dining Cheap Eats ranking in both 2023 and 2024. Lean into the New Mexican green or red chile applications; that's the point of the visit. Skipping the chile at a place ranked for it is a wasted trip.
Lunch is the stronger call. Harry's runs 8 am to 9 pm, so the kitchen is in full stride by midday, and the roadhouse format suits a casual afternoon stop better than a destination dinner. If you're coming from central Santa Fe, budget extra time — the address on Old Las Vegas Highway puts it a stretch east of the Plaza.
The venue data doesn't confirm a bar setup, and the roadhouse-diner format suggests counter or table seating rather than a dedicated bar. For solo diners who want bar-side service, The Pink Adobe is a more reliable option in Santa Fe.
No. Harry's is OAD-ranked cheap eats, not a special-occasion room. The setting is diner-honest and the price point reflects that. For a celebratory meal in Santa Fe, Sazón is the more appropriate choice.
Keep this venue in your Pearl passport, rate it after you visit, and track it alongside every other place you collect.
