Where to Find the Best Menudo in Santa Fe, New Mexico

Menudo, oríginally from northern México, is tripe meticulously cleaned then slowly stewed with chiles in a rich broth. In México, cooks add a calf's foot. Here they add posóle. The broth is warming and calming and the chiles stimulate the appetite. It takes some ' gentle chewing, but not a lot. The fresh lime juice with which you spritz the dish just before you dig in provides loads of vitamin C. You couldn't invent better way to rev up a shaky metabolism, or in other words, cure a hangover. Unfortunately, lots of people won't try it. What probably throws them is the idea that it's made with a cow's stomach. Too bad, we have some of the world's least-privileged people to thank for many of the world's greatest dishes, of which menudo is one. The lords of the manor kept the filéts for themselves and left the rough cuts and innards for the peasants. But the joke is on the rich, because the tenderest cuts have little taste; the flavor's in those tough muscles and icky innards.
While menudo is available at quite a few restaurants in Santa Fe, the following three are your best options.

El Parasol, which is takeout only, is an offshoot of Española's El Paragua. It's been here since 1999, run by grandchildren of the folks who started El Paragua. It's usually filled with guys waiting for their orders. Cali 15 or 20 minutes in advance, though, and yours will be waiting for you at the drive through on the side of the building (note that the drive-through is for phone orders only). El Parasol's menudo has tender bites of pork cooked with the posóle. Somewhat salty to my salt-shy palate, its very good otherwise. The red Chimayó chile in the dish is also available straight - possibly the best red chile ín Santa Fe, and that's saying something.

Los Potrillos
At three-year-old Los Potrillos, the menudo broth is rich and thick, approaching the consistency of good red chile. There's just enough posóle to generate a warm, corny aroma. The chile is spicy but not overpowering. It comes the way it's supposed to with dried orégano, chopped onion, and an abundance of quartered limes. Because not everybody at your table is going to go for the menudo (no matter what I say), Los Potrillos' broad-ranging menú is a plus. Grilled pork ribs at lunch, recently, were fatty and flavorful. The portion was big enough to skip the fat and still have lots of meat to say nothing of the accompanying guacamole pico de gallo (tomato-com-chile relish), salad roasted scallíons, and jalapeño - and a pot of excellent brothy smoky pinto beans, along with warm tortillas The restaurant also has a selection of fresh-fruit beverages that on any given day might include watermelon, pineapple, lemon, or lime. Los Potrillos also makes its own horchata, a sweet rice-milk concoction. I alternated small bites of the very hot jalapeño with large sips of soothing horchata.

Felipe's Tacos
The restaurant used to serve menudo only on weekends, but word got out. Now it's available daily, except Sunday. The broth is light and not as spicy as others I've had, which makes it ideal for those who can't take the heat. There is lots of fresh lime, chopped onion, and dried oregano at the huge side counter, which is noted for its homemade salsas and pico de gallo. Traditional Mexican drinks include fresh limeade, horchata, and Jarritos - Mexican sodas available in various flavors, including tamarind. If the appeal of menudo is lost on your companions, Felipe's breakfast burritos are worth the trip. The "La Mexicana" burrito holds eggs, beans, potatoes, and fresh pico de gallo. In addition to takeout, Felipe's has two big, sunny díning rooms and a small patio on the sidewalk in from of the parking area.

Guadalajara Grill II
Guadalajara Grill II, in Santa Fe for the pase 10 years, seats 160 people. U specializes in seafood, though that does not prevent the restaurant from offering a ful! Mexican menú, including menudo and birria, marinated kid (í.e., young goat), which is very popular in México and hard to find here. The menudo - in a pale, mild, fresh-tasting broth- is good, but because this is one of the few places where you can find birria, you might want to save yourself for that. (What? You're turning up your nose at menudo and young goat, too? I hardly know what to say.) How about a shrimp cocktail? The restaurant's larger portion holds a dozen just-boiled black-tiger shrimp - with not a mushy or iodine-y one in the lot - in a big goblet filled with Clamato, diced tomato, onion, cucumber, and slices of ripe avocado. They make a hell of a lunch and not a bad light supper.

Posa's El Merendero
Posa's El Merendero serves everything in take out plastic, but you can eat at one of the restaurants 15 well-spaced tables if you'd like. The spicy-hot menudo comes in sizes as small as a half-pint or as large as a gallon. It comes with fresh, not dried, oregano. Homemade horchata comes in a Big Gulp-like cup, though mine had lots of ice in it, which made it watery. Posa's has been making tamales for nearly 50 years; if you're not up to menudo, try some of chose. You mayhave eaten them already; Posas wholesales to other restaurants in town.

A little menudo can lead to a lot. Many of these restaurants open early. Try menudo first thing ín the morning and you'll know why ifs called the breakfast of champions. This doesn't begin to cover everv restaurant that offers menudo on a regular basis, but these are the only ones I've sampled so far. My apologies to Adelíta's, Laura's Café, and Las Salsas - the latter two serve menudo on weekends only. I did my best.