In New Mexico, the question is Red or Green. Lots of good food, but I've only eaten in far southern New Mexico, so I can't help with suggestions.

Enjoy your trip.

Carrino's in Bend,Or... going north toward Redmond on Hwy 97. Italian restaurant, there are a few others in this chain...always good food, personal attention and a good wine list and club. We make a point of stopping there every year as we travel north to Washington.

I can help with Albuquerque; a local favorite there is Sadie's for New Mexican food. It's very popular, so you might have to wait, but they are good at seating the crowds that show up there. A personal favorite is The Range Cafe. There were two locations when I was there last. I was so impressed with their food, I bought their cookbook, for some of their incredible dessert recipes. It has a fun atmosphere, but I've always been fond of my stove(s), which is probably part of why I like it!

For breakfast in Santa Fe, we like The Pantry. Have fun!

Here is a link that might be useful: Sadie's

We love The Shack in Santa Fe, very, very good!

My late DH and I spent a week at Santa Fe and Taos every year for 7 or 8 years. What did we do? We ate and shopped! LOL!
We stayed at The Inn at Loretto most of the time and loved having breakfast on the patio there. And we ate dinner there several times too. Very nice!
Another favorite place was La Casa Sena, just off the Plaza. Lunch in the courtyard, or a late drink or snack in the Cantina was great.
The Pink Adobe was another favorite....in fact I had my birthday dinner there a couple of years. And we ate lunch there several times.
We found the Coyote Cafe, "OK"....actually better than OK but not for the price.
In Taos I don't think you can beat Doc Martin's in any way!.....except for price! Lots of $$ but worth it! We also ate several times at The Apple tree and loved that....but you had to be sure you reserved early! There was a place on the East side of the plaza that had dining on a second floor balcony where the people watching on the plaza was great. Good place for a beer and a bowl of chili....informal and good. And there is another place who's name escapes me...north of Santa Fe on the Opera road....think it was at Chimayo.
Of course we ate lots of other places too....but those were the memorable ones where we returned to repeatedly.
Enjoy!! Sounds like a great trip....and what fun to be part of the artist crowd!!
Linda C

I haven't been to Santa Fe since the late 1960s. I used to go there for summer camp, to get away from the heat in Texas. When I went to Taos, there was nothing there, except for the adobe village. I think I would not recognize it today, but I liked it very much when I did go.

I would also like to visit Bend, since one of my best friends lives there now. I was going to go last summer, but we went to Maui instead. I still have Oregon on my short list, since it is not terribly far away, and I like it a lot.

I remember eating some strange "bread" in Santa Fe that was red colored and paper thin. I wonder if they still make it. My aunt, who lived in NE NM, died last month, and I did not find out in time to go to the funeral.

Colorado is also on my short list now, and I've never been there, except for the Denver airport, changing planes between San Francisco and Houston.

Lars

I haven't been there, but Pok Pok in Portland is on my list. We going to see Cirque du Soleil in a couple of weeks and may get there for dinner then. I tried Carino's here in Albany and was disappointed - I thought it was overpriced and while the food was okay, it was nothing special. But maybe the one is Bend is better.

Becky

Here is a link that might be useful: Pok Pok

I have no idea if it's too late or not, but my friend Natal emailed me the link to your thread here. I would have answered sooner but we've just returned from a mini vacation to Sedona this afternoon.

We vacation often in Taos. We like Orlando's, but if you'd like to try something different for lunch Sushi a la Hattori next to the Overland Sheepskin is drop-dead fantastic, and with gorgeous views out huge windows. I don't care for sushi myself, but the very fresh Asian meals also offered are wonderful.

For dinner there, our very favorite is Byzantium.

In Santa Fe, The Shed (which I think someone already mentioned, but as the Shack, is a long-time local favorite. But, they only serve lunch and close around 3PM, so it's advised to get there early. It's worth it. For dinner, our favorite for many years is always Geronimo. Expensive but so worth it! For as nice afternoon break, head to the Ore House (on the Plaza) for margaritas and nachos or whatever on their balcony overlooking the Plaza. Lovely!

Albuquerque, hands down the best place we all love to go is El Pinto on north Fourth Street. Great food and the best New Mexican ambiance ever. Sadie's is ok, but crowded, loud and I've never been impressed with the ambiance at all.
Hope this helps.
Lynn

The Shed for SURE in Santa Fe; we go there all the time...yes, often a wait there....and for breakfast....Cafe Pasqual on the corner of Don Gaspar and Water St. There WILL be a line...put your name in and wait....do NOT leave! you won't be disappointed! It goes pretty quickly. Lots of good places for dinner, ask around. DH and I go to Santa Fe several times a year and that's why we go: to eat and to shop! Just bought my new dining room table in Santa Fe....still on the scout for the chairs!

As for Portland, I understand that you can eat like a king just with the food trucks. Google "Portland food trucks".

Where's John?

And have you watched Portlandia? ;-)

Here is a link that might be useful: Portland's top 10

Thank you all for your responses. We've been in NM for two days at Max's brother's house. We had a great time with them and had lovely breakfasts, wine and appetizers in the late afternoon and great dinners at home. No wifi though, so this is my first chance to post after checking into the El Dorado hotel in Santa Fe. After having a big breakfast at Harry's Roadhouse - Max had a breakfast burrito, I had huevos rancheros Christmas, DSIL had huevos divorciados served with the eggs separated on the plate by black beans and one with shrimp and green chile and the other with red chile, and DBIL had French toast, we spent the day in Taos where the artist who is teaching the workshop in Santa Fe did a demonstration painting and book signing at the gallery that shows his work. There was a lot of food at the reception there so in the end we didn't eat lunch and that was our only opportunity for a meal in Taos.

I'm finding, not surprisingly, that I'm a lot more tired at 7000 ft here than I am at 5600ft in Boulder so we decided to have dinner in the hotel at The Old House restaurant. Both of our dinners were very good (pictures tomorrow).

Tomorrow while Max is painting, I'm going to reread this thread and look up your recommendations for restaurant's I'm not familiar with.

Thanks again for all your help!

Lee

This posting will be a big help for me too! Hubs and I just decided to drive from Daytona Beach to Las Vegas for our niece's wedding. We'll deadhead the trip west then wander back on our own schedule. Haven't seen the southwest in a whole bunch of years. It's beautiful and it should be fun!

Hi Lee, I remembered that we had lunch at a lovely garden courtyard restaurant called Casa Sena. The reviews online are still good, but ask around. We also had amazing food at our hotel, Inn of the Anasazi and also at Geronimo's. I think it's hard to go wrong in Santa Fe.
Take good care of yourself, just enjoy the tranquility and the atmosphere and take muchos siestas!

Here is a link that might be useful: Casa Sena

Additionally we had a couple of good dinners in Portland at Andina in the Pearl District. It's Peruvian, great atmosphere and loads of interesting menu choices. We also enjoyed brunch at Veritable Quandry. Portland is definitely a foodie's city.
Make sure to check out the Spice Exchange store that's nearby.

Here is a link that might be useful: Veritable Quandry