​Buttercups and Socorros

On a clear, cold day last week, my wife and I set out to pick up our new puppy, Buttercup, from
the Stray Hearts Animal Shelter in Taos. She’s a chubby ball of shy, cuddly, beauty and we are thrilled to have her join our family.

Always looking for a warm, inviting place to eat delicious food, we opted for Socorro’s Restaurant on Highway 84. The parking lot is almost always full as I drive by, and seems very popular with our local law enforcement, as there are often police vehicles lined up at the front of the lot. I’ve been nabbed by one of those guys, so watch out!

We were greeted by a young woman and told to choose any seat. The dining room is surprisingly
small during the winter. There are several outside dining areas that look quite inviting during the warmer seasons. There were only 2 tables available at 1:30 pm, so maybe it’s always full?
We ordered the Stuffed Sopapilla with chicken and green chile and a Taco Salad with ground
beef. Once the plates came out, we dove into it so quickly that I forgot to take a picture of it before we messed it all up!

The taco salad looked small at first, but proved to be very fulfilling. The house made tortilla shell bowl was crispy, flavorful and complimentary to the nicely seasoned ground beef, fresh veggies, avocado and a small side of un-spicy house salsa. I’m a huge fan of blue cheese and ranch dressing on anything. As they don’t have blue cheese dressing, I opted for the ranch, which was delicious and upped the decadence of this “salad.”

The winner here is the chicken in the stuffed sopapilla. The shredded, bite sized pieces of tender meat were grilled to a perfect subtle crunch. Throw in some melty cheese, pintos, green chile and Yum! My only nitpick here was the bits of ground beef in the green chile. Note to self and vegetarian compadres for next time.

I ordered a small side of carne adovada to go. It was perfectly smoky and spicy in my quesadilla
the next morning. All in all, it was a satisfying meal and I would return when seeking a low key eatery with true New Mexican flavors. My girls got to enjoy some of the leftover salad shell bowl. They gobbled it right up!