How it happened
The Santa Fe Plaza. It’s central, historic, lively and lovely. It’s also just a minuscule portion of what Santa Fe has to offer. If you’re interested in broadening your Santa Fe experience a bit, the Santa Fe Railyard is a beguiling area to explore next. While the Plaza is bustling, a bit claustrophobic and maddeningly unplanned, the Railyard feels calm, airy, spacious and thoughtfully considered.
There are many reasons this neighborhood holds such singular charm, but its real magic is a seamless mixture of modernity and tradition as it maintains the best of both. The district is built around Santa Fe’s historic railroad station, which dates back to 1880. The original depot building still welcomes visitors as in days of old, but the surrounding architecture—with its modern industrial buildings and their lofty ceilings, clean lines and minimal embellishment—strays from the standard brown adobe that saturates the rest of the city. Even the rail system, along with its deteriorating tracks, has been reinvented, with a modern commuter rail running from Santa Fe to Albuquerque and beyond.
In with the new…and the old
Image by Melyssa Holik
From the start, the railroad’s presence has made The Railyard a hub of public life, so community organizations and businesses have naturally sprung up around it. More recently, its growth has been cultivated more intentionally. The Santa Fe Farmers’ Market, for example, has long-standing ties to the area and celebrates its 50th anniversary this year. Although it began in the 1960s as a handful of farmers selling goods out of the backs of trucks, the Market’s now a thriving nonprofit with upward of 100 vendors, actively supporting agriculture in Northern New Mexico. This growth is thanks—in part—to the Market’s custom-built pavilion near the tracks, which allows for year-round markets and a host of other events.
The pavilion was completed in 2008 as part of the Railyard Master Plan, which re-envisioned the 50-acre site surrounding the aging Santa Fe railroad. Together, the community, developers and park stewards collaborated to create a plan for the neighborhood that moves forward with progress without bulldozing the past. The needs of the community were anticipated and then taken into account at each step along the way, resulting in a Railyard area that intentionally serves the public.
Of lawns, libations and local treats
The plan included large open spaces near the Railyard, which contribute to the area’s spacious feeling. It’s become a favorite hangout for locals, with festivals, concerts, movies and other outdoor gatherings held frequently throughout the year on the park green, in the market pavilion, and in the adjacent outdoor promenade under the iconic water tower. During the most popular concerts, people crowd the nearby Violet Crown Cinema and Second Street Brewery for snacks, libations and a great view of the performances.
Overall, the Railyard is best enjoyed meandering around on foot. Strolling the Railyard during the Saturday morning Farmers’ Market makes for a particularly relaxing start to the weekend. You can peruse the colorful produce and tempting jams, breads and packaged goods, deeply inhale the aroma of roasting chile, and sample cheeses, sausages, fruits and more. The adjoining shops hold a bevy of locally produced handicrafts and ready-to-eat food offerings that you can experience, all while listening to a marimba ensemble, a piano soloist or a folksy string quartet in the background.
Beloved brick and mortars
Image by Melyssa Holik
If it’s not Saturday, or if—impossible as it seems—nothing at the Market whets your appetite, there are plenty of gustatory delights in and around the railyard, too. Right next to the tracks, there’s Tomasita’s, and at the far end of the park, just before the newly built pedestrian underpass and bike path, there’s La Choza Restaurant. Both offer our treasured New Mexican cuisine and both are typically crowded, but well worth the wait.
Or you can hit the small and funky Lion & Honey for some bubble waffles and CBD-infused coffee, and enjoy their quirky collection of faux cereal boxes and oddball candy selection. Find it right around the corner from the Jean Cocteau Cinema, another historic Railyard building that’s been given new life recently. Thanks to Game of Thrones creator George R. R. Martin, the 1970s-era theater was rescued from disuse in 2013 and offers independent films, cult classics and mainstream blockbusters on their single screen, with both 35mm and digital, “combining the best of the old with the best of the new,” as they put it on their website.
And right on Guadalupe, there’s Cafe Sonder, which quite possibly has Santa Fe’s very best happy hour menu ($2 beers on a Friday—and we’re not talking PBR here, we’re talking legit, local microbrews. That’s basically unheard of in Santa Fe). Even if beer isn’t your thing, Sonder’s food menu is varied and fresh, and the service is consistently fast and friendly.
A little further down Guadalupe Street, you can get your caffeine fix at Iconik Coffee Roasters and enjoy their sweet and secluded back patio. That alone would be worth the trip, but while you’re at it, you can also check out their home inside of Co-Fe, a new neighborhood coworking space that includes dedicated workspaces, lightning-fast Internet, meeting rooms, a kitchen and phone booths.
Bourbon in the barrio
Wander around the corner down Agua Fria Street, and you’ll find yourself walking one of the Railyard’s residential streets, lined with well-established gardens of blooming hollyhocks, fragrant lilac and honeysuckle, and decades-old apricot trees. You’ll also find surprising hidden gems like Joseph’s of Santa Fe and Radish & Rye. Radish & Rye is a combination farm-to-table bistro and whiskey bar with an extensive whiskey menu. They, too, put a modern twist on the classics with their seasonally inspired bourbon cocktails. Try their 505 Manhattan with ancho chile bitters, or the Abuelito, which includes a flask of smoke poured over your beverage right at the table.
Speaking of where to get a drink in the Railyard, on the east side of Guadalupe is another quasi-residential neighborhood where it’s hard to tell what’s a business and what’s a home. Take a short walk up Read Street to the Santa Fe Spirits tasting room for inventive cocktails made entirely from their own locally distilled spirits. Their Wheeler’s Gin is especially popular, and distinctively flavored with aromatics harvested from the surrounding desert: cactus flower, cholla and sage. Enjoy it in a Colin’s Collins or a Mexican Smokeout. You can’t really go wrong here, and the atmosphere is cozy, intimate and relaxed. Just be careful—both Radish & Rye and Santa Fe Spirits’ cocktails pack a punch but are so delicious it’s easy to go overboard. Consider yourself warned.
In the kitchen and on the shelves
A little further down from Santa Fe Spirits is State Capital Kitchen, which features Chef Mark Connell’s imaginative and sustainably sourced food, often served in unexpected ways. Eating at State Capital Kitchen is an experience more than a meal, and it’s best to leave ample time for the dining experience to unfold.
If shopping is more your cup of tea, you can score some truly one-of-a-kind finds at the offbeat second-hand stores that line Guadalupe street. Or you can head to The Ark, which is tucked away behind El Museo Cultural, and honestly could not be more Santa Fe if it TRIED, but is nonetheless endearing and earnest in its selection of books, crystals and beyond. Once again, reflecting the mix of old and new, the Railyard also has numerous retail stores that sell modern home furnishings, contemporary jewelry and a range of clothing styles.
If art and culture are more your to your liking…
Image by Melyssa Holik
The Railyard still has you covered. El Museo Cultural has a gallery space and 200-seat theater where they regularly hold community events, including the annual CURRENTS New Media Festival, and other classes, events and workshops.
Across Paseo de Peralta, there’s another Railyard cornerstone, the decades-old, and still far into the future SITE Santa Fe. SITE recently underwent a major overhaul befitting its status as one of Santa Fe’s preeminent contemporary art spaces. The new space is cutting edge, stylish and modern. In fact, most of the art galleries in the Railyard, including SITE, Blue Rain Gallery, Charlotte Jackson Fine Art, Evoke Contemporary, form & concept, LewAllen Galleries, photo-eye Gallery, Tai Modern, William Siegal Gallery, Zane Bennett Contemporary Art, and Gallery Fritz feature contemporary art, in stark contrast to the Southwestern art that permeates the Canyon Road and Plaza art scenes. There’s also tons of public art in the area, from murals to large-scale sculptures. It’s just another example of the creative, forward-thinking energy of the Railyard. (And oh, did I mention that we didn’t even step foot into the Southern-most end of the Railyard the Baca District ––more on that in an upcoming issue!)
Whether you arrive by train, plane or automobile, and whether you’re staying for a few days or a few years, the Railyard is worth checking out while you’re here. It’s a place rooted in history yet catapulting toward the future. While the Plaza represents what Santa Fe has been for hundreds of years, the railyard represents what it might be next: edgy, sophisticated, playful and full of enthusiasm for the future. It’s exciting to see a neighborhood poised on the brink of the future and ready to make the leap. Come experience it for yourself; you’re bound to find some secret treasures of your own.