Restaurant in Santa Fe, United States
Focused seafood on a road that rewards detours.
Shake Foundation brings American Seafood to Cerrillos Road with a Pearl Recommended (2025) designation and a 3.8 from over 1,300 Google reviews. Booking is easy, making it a practical pick for a special occasion or date night without the planning pressure of harder-to-book Santa Fe rooms. A genuine neighborhood anchor in a city that defaults to New Mexican cuisine.
Yes, if you want seafood done with genuine focus in a city that doesn't always make it easy to find. Shake Foundation, on Cerrillos Road in Santa Fe, holds a Pearl Recommended Restaurant (2025) designation and earns a 3.8 across more than 1,300 Google reviews — a signal that this is a place with a consistent following, not just passing curiosity. Under chef Norio Yamamoto, it brings American seafood to a stretch of Santa Fe that tends to serve locals more than tourists, which is part of what makes it worth knowing about.
Cerrillos Road is not the Plaza. It doesn't get the foot traffic of Canyon Road galleries or the headline treatment of downtown dining rooms. That's precisely why Shake Foundation carries real weight for this neighborhood: it answers a genuine gap. Santa Fe's dining identity leans heavily on New Mexican cuisine — chile, posole, sopapillas , and the handful of spots pivoting to American seafood are doing something distinct from the category default. For a city at 7,000 feet and hundreds of miles from the nearest coast, a seafood-focused kitchen that earns over a thousand reviews and a Pearl recommendation is doing something right on the fundamentals.
This is a good choice for a special occasion dinner when you want something that steps outside Santa Fe's familiar flavor profile without requiring a reservation months in advance. Booking here is rated Easy, which matters when you're coordinating a celebration or a date night without a lot of planning runway. Compare that to some of the tighter reservation windows you'd face at Sazón (New Mexican) or the more walk-in-dependent casual spots elsewhere on Cerrillos. If you need a confirmed table for two or four, this is a more reliable path than chasing a last-minute opening at a busier downtown room.
Santa Fe's visitor surge runs from late spring through early fall, with July and August bringing peak gallery crowds and festival traffic. Booking Shake Foundation during this window , especially on a Friday or Saturday , is still manageable given the Easy booking rating, but earlier in the week gives you more breathing room. Spring (April through early June) and fall (September through October) are the better windows for a more relaxed visit: the weather is cooperative, the city hasn't hit full tourist capacity, and you're more likely to be eating alongside locals rather than tour groups. For a special occasion dinner, a Tuesday or Wednesday reservation in shoulder season is close to ideal.
For broader context on dining in the city, see our full Santa Fe restaurants guide. If you're planning a full trip, our Santa Fe hotels guide, bars guide, wineries guide, and experiences guide cover the rest. For nearby alternatives worth considering, 229 Galisteo St, Back Road Pizza, Bert's Burger Bowl, and Bodega Prime are all worth a look depending on what you're after. For American Seafood at a different scale entirely, Le Bernardin in New York City, Dede at the Customs House Baltimore, and Baby Lucs in New York City give a sense of what the category looks like at the leading end in major markets.
The menu specifics aren't published in our data, so confirm directly with the venue before visiting. American Seafood kitchens typically accommodate pescatarian diners well, but specific allergen protocols , shellfish, gluten , vary by kitchen. Call ahead if restrictions are a firm requirement, especially for a special occasion booking where flexibility is limited.
Generally yes. A Pearl Recommended restaurant with a 3.8 on over 1,300 reviews and an Easy booking rating suggests a welcoming, well-run room rather than a high-formality dining room that can feel awkward for solo guests. For solo dining in Santa Fe, this is a more comfortable option than a tasting-menu format like those at destination restaurants such as Lazy Bear in San Francisco or Smyth in Chicago, where the solo experience can feel less natural.
Bar seating availability isn't confirmed in our data. If bar dining matters to you for a solo visit or a spontaneous stop, contact the venue directly to confirm before heading in. Given the Easy booking rating, the dining room itself is accessible enough that bar-only dining is unlikely to be the only option.
For New Mexican cuisine, Sazón and The Pink Adobe are the places most locals point to. For a more casual register, Harry's Roadhouse is a reliable neighborhood option with chile burgers and a relaxed vibe. Paper Dosa is worth considering if you want something lighter and vegetable-forward. If you specifically want American Seafood and Shake Foundation is unavailable, your next leading options in this market are likely outside Santa Fe proper , the category is thin here, which is part of why Shake Foundation matters to the neighborhood.
It's a reasonable choice for a low-key celebration or a date night where you want something a step above casual without the formality or booking difficulty of a destination tasting-menu room. The Pearl Recommended (2025) credential gives it credibility, and the Easy booking rating means you're not locked into planning weeks out. It's not the right call if you need the full special-occasion production , tableside service, wine program depth, private dining room. For that level in Santa Fe, look at Sazón. For a genuinely refined occasion with the full format, you're looking at restaurants like The French Laundry in Napa or Single Thread Farm in Healdsburg.
Specific menu items aren't in our data, and the menu changes , so we won't guess. The cuisine type is American Seafood, and the Pearl Recommended designation suggests the kitchen handles its core format well. Ask the server what's in season when you arrive; a seafood kitchen worth its rating adjusts to what's fresh. For reference on what great American Seafood execution looks like at the leading of the category, Emeril's in New Orleans is a useful benchmark.
Seat count and private dining availability aren't in our data. The Easy booking rating is a positive signal for groups, since tight reservation systems tend to disadvantage larger parties. For groups of six or more, contact the venue directly to confirm table configuration and any advance notice requirements. If the group has a mix of dietary needs, flag that when you book , seafood-focused menus can be limiting for non-fish eaters.
No dress code is listed. On Cerrillos Road, in a neighborhood-anchor format, smart casual is almost certainly sufficient , this is not a white-tablecloth room requiring formal dress. Santa Fe dining in general skews relaxed even at its better restaurants. If you're heading straight from a gallery opening or an evening at a more formal venue, what you're already wearing will be fine.
| Venue | Cuisine | Awards | Booking Difficulty | Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shake Foundation | American Seafood | Pearl Recommended Restaurant (2025) | Easy | — |
| Santa Fe Bite | Café | Unknown | — | |
| Harry’s Roadhouse | Chile Burgers | Unknown | — | |
| Sazón | New Mexican | Unknown | — | |
| Paper Dosa | Indian Cuisine | Unknown | — | |
| The Pink Adobe | New Mexican | Unknown | — |
Side-by-side comparison to help you decide where to book.
The kitchen runs an American seafood menu under chef Norio Yamamoto, so pescatarian diners are well-served by default. For other dietary needs, call ahead or check the current menu before booking — the focused format means the kitchen is unlikely to pivot far from its core.
Yes. A focused seafood spot on Cerrillos Road without the Plaza premium is a solid solo call — you're there for the food, not the scene. Pearl Recommended restaurants at this tier tend to work well for one, especially at off-peak lunch hours when service can give you more attention.
Bar seating specifics aren't confirmed in the available venue data. Given the Cerrillos Road format and American seafood focus, this reads more as a sit-down dining room than a bar-forward operation. Confirm directly before banking on counter dining.
Harry's Roadhouse is the closest comparison in terms of off-Plaza, neighbourhood-diner energy — broader menu, reliably casual. Paper Dosa is the better pick if you want something genuinely different and vegetarian-forward. Sazón is the step up if budget isn't the constraint and you want New Mexican fine dining.
It depends on what you're marking. If the occasion calls for white tablecloths and a wine list, Sazón is the Santa Fe answer. Shake Foundation's Pearl Recommended status signals quality, but its Cerrillos Road address and seafood-focused format put it closer to a celebratory weeknight dinner than a milestone event.
Specific dishes aren't confirmed in the available venue data, so naming items would be guesswork. The cuisine type is American Seafood and the kitchen is run by chef Norio Yamamoto — start with whatever the kitchen is leading with on the day, and ask your server what's moving well.
Group capacity details aren't in the available venue data. For parties of four or more, call ahead — smaller seafood-focused rooms on arterial roads like Cerrillos tend to have limited large-table inventory, especially during Santa Fe's peak summer season.
Keep this venue in your Pearl passport, rate it after you visit, and track it alongside every other place you collect.
