Santa Fe Up All Night: Late Night Bites in the City Different

Ok, let me just put this out there.  Santa Fe is not a late night town.  It's just not.  It's difficult to find a restaurant that serves past 9 pm. And on a weekday?  Fugeddaboudit.  Those coffee shops filled with students cramming for tests in the dead of night?  They're not a thing here.  So what's a hungry girl to do?

All hail The Flying Star Cafe!  A relatively new place in the Railyard, the Flying Star is a local chain.  They're all over Albuquerque but the Santa Fe one stands alone.  The Flying Star is open and serving food until 9pm Sunday - Thursday and is open until 10pm on Friday and Saturday.

I accompanied my darling High Desert Dude over there last week for a late dinner and some reading/study time.  The Flying Star has free internet access and a well-stocked magazine rack and is an inviting atmosphere for those of us who like to study/read/play board games/do sudoku/blog/mindlessly surf the internet while in public.  In other words, just my kind of place.

Here's the interior, with another patron studiously reviewing his fantasy football team statistics:

The food at the Flying Star is nothing to write home about.  It's mostly sandwiches, burgers, fried chicken, and other American home-style cuisine.  When we were there last, I had a surprisingly tasty salad.  It was like a taco salad but with shrimp and a citrus dressing.

It was listed on the specials board (located immediately in front of the paper menus at the start of the ordering line) as "Acapulco Tostada.  If you're just in for a coffee and a pastry, the Flying Star has this ridiculous baked goods case filled to the brim with goodies- pies, cupcakes, cookies, scones, cakes (by the slice and whole), sweet yeast breads, and brownies.

Other advantages: good for large parties as the dining area is spacious with tables suitable for pushing together, good for families with kids because of their kids menu & aforementioned spacious dining area, good for cheap eats (get their small mac & cheese or just a beverage and you're set), good for breakfast for dinner or dinner for breakfast types, friendly service that allows for "public solitude", good for people watching & eavesdropping (especially the emo-teens), good public bulletin board in the entryway & bookcrossing shelf in the back.

Disadvantages: not my choice for anything New Mexican, sometimes noisy, food is middle of the road (but still adequate & fresh).

The Star is generally my choice for weekday evening snack-study sessions.  If you go, be sure to sign up for their rewards program.  It's free of charge and once you accumulate a certain amount of points, you get free coffees, pastries, and other such coupons.  Ez-pz!

Carribean Cafe: Mobile Edition

You guys, the most amazing thing happened.  The Carribean Kitchen, a small greasy spoon-type place out on Vegas Verdes, is now fully mobile!  I spied a metal food truck camping out at the parking lot near where Cerrillos Road and Sandoval Street split, downtown. 

I squealed with glee at the new lunch option near my office.  The offerings are more limited than at their restaurant (jerk chicken, curry chicken, and maybe one or two other options that I can't remember right now).  Abo, the chef, is once again a one man show - taking orders, preparing, and ringing up orders.  I almost hesitate to post this because as of yet this place is relatively unknown so I could sidle right up, order my jerk chicken, pay, and receive my bag of vittles in only 5 minutes.

I've been on a major jerk seasoning kick lately so I  naturally went with the jerk chicken plate.  For $10 it came with ALL OF THE ABOVE: 2 pieces of chicken thighs, rice w/ lentils, steamed cabbage, mixed green salad w/ a coriander flavored dressing, mashed yellow lentils, red beans, and two pieces of fried plantain. 

While the side dishes are passable, the jerk chicken is the best I have ever had.  Even better than my ol' pal Jambo Cafe (which is damn good).  The jerk flavor is spicy and the meat just falls off the bone like some sort of Caribbean butter. 

The menu, which is painted on the side of the truck, mentioned that they served "island refreshments" which I can only assume includes their ginger drink.  (I have had it at their restaurant but did not have the cash with me to order it at the lunch truck.)  If this is indeed the case, one has not lived until one has had this ginger drink.  I can only describe it as concentrated, liquified ginger that is pure ambrosia. 

So, now the secret is out.  Caribbean Kitchen is mobile and at a food truck near you.  Don't be a moron like me and be sure to get the ginger drink, too.