Madrid staple offers up live music, pub food and a good time

Summertime is songs time in and all around Santa Fe. And if you are in the temper for a funkadelic new music scene with good ambiance, an historic slant and New Mexico roadhouse meals, be a part of the leagues of fans who swear by The Mine Shaft Tavern and Cantina.

Found in the previous mining town of Madrid, pronounced “MAD-drid,” about 30 miles southwest of Santa Fe and northeast of Albuquerque along the Turquoise Path, you can guess The Mine Shaft Tavern and Cantina will be rocking. In what appears to be a picket shack, these two venues are seemingly woven together by picket planks and pathways.

Established all around 1895, the primary tavern burned down in 1944 on Xmas Day. The recent house was done in 1947 and is the oldest operate tavern in Santa Fe County. In the course of the many years, the Mine Shaft has been the area consuming gap, as perfectly as a very well-identified biker bar, a artistic artist’s sanctuary, a necessary end for holidaymakers and – if only the partitions could converse – so considerably far more.

As you wander into the cafe, you are greeted by a solitary pool table exactly where pool sharks and novices can get their activity on, though we bypassed the cafe in favor of the Cantina, exactly where are living tunes was pulling us in.

We went on a rainy Saturday afternoon for a Celebration of Lifetime of Santa Fe’s beloved Betsy Scarinzi, direct singer and songwriter for The Hollyhocks, who handed away in 2021. This lively afternoon showcased The City Different’s top musical skills together with, Felecia Ford, Tiho Dimitrov and Chef James Campbell Caruso.

Thankfully, the Cantina was underneath a major tent to safeguard us from the rain and there was a cast of regional people, individuals of all walks of existence and pet dogs on leashes meandering about solo. Although a indicator at the front states no canines, this personifies Madrid as a spot in which principles are designed to be damaged. I appreciated the irreverence.

Some men and women had brightly coloured hair and dreadlocks. Other people wore cowboy boots or flip flops, skirts or shorts or pajama bottoms with a activity coat, cowboy hats or baseball caps and the requisite turquoise jewelry. There were being cowboys, standard folks, musicians and music enthusiasts sipping on a beverage, grooving to the appears and noshing on bar food. The Mine Shaft is evidently a “come as you are and remain as you are” form of location.

With a complete bar, they also offer an array of 12 New Mexican microbrew beers on tap and a compact but satisfactory wine checklist. Just one of their signature cocktails is a Madre Mule ($14), manufactured with mezcal, muddled lime and ginger beer in a common copper cup. Or dive suitable into the Madrid scene with a hand-shaken Mad Chile Margarita ($10) with agave tequila, orange liquor, triple sec, muddled cucumber and jalapeño, refreshing squeezed lime and simple syrup poured into a glass lined with lime and Chimayo chile salt. My dining companions enjoyed a handful of La Cumbre Elevated IPAs ($6) and La Cumbre Slice of Hefen ($6), while I sipped on a glass of 14 Hands Cabernet Sauvignon ($6).

The menu has sufficient bar food stuff alternatives. From pizza to sandwiches to a kid’s menu where everything is $9.50 to the Mine Shaft’s popular and award-winning Mad Chile Burger, barflies and songs fans will uncover one thing to minimize starvation pangs.

With 10 appetizers, a group can share a pound of traditional Rooster Wings ($15.95) served with your option of 3 sauces, or dig into a basket of fried Hatch Green Chile rings ($9.95) with ranch dressing. We performed it risk-free with a plate of Cheese Nachos ($10.95). The tortilla chips appeared to be built in-household and are topped with scarce black beans, a generous dousing of pickled jalapeños and a little bit of erratically put melted cheese. The nachos had been then topped with chopped tomatoes and a heaping scoop of sour product and guacamole. It experienced been many years considering the fact that I have had nachos and they were sloppy, but very good.

We also ordered Guacamole with Chips ($7.95) for the reason that you can under no circumstances have ample guacamole. Even though the serving dimension was remarkably petite, the fresh avocado was mixed with chopped tomatoes and diced jalapeños.

My good friend and I felt obligated to test the pizza, which is created in-home “from flour to fireplace.” With 4 pizzas – Cheese ($12.95), Margherita ($15.95), Inexperienced Chile Pepperoni ($14.95) or a Greek pizza ($16.95) – you can also build your possess. The menu states that 5% of income from the Greek pizza goes to a neighborhood lead to and however the bartender did not know of this, nor did she know which charity the pizza income went to, we determined to go Greek.

A quite skinny crust is layered with a not as well large basil pesto and topped with artichoke hearts, cherry tomato halves, pink onions, sliced pepperoncini peppers and crumbled feta. The abundance of veggies offers this pizza a tremendous light and healthy really feel.

Our other dining companion was compelled to purchase Mac ‘N Cheese with environmentally friendly chile and bacon ($13.95). The macaroni dish was a bit dry below the layer of melted and relatively hardened cheese, but on a chilly, moist day, it was a tummy hotter and he ate it all, which includes the facet salad with blue cheese dressing.

The Mine Shaft’s award-winning burgers arrive 5 diverse techniques and with three distinct meats. They proudly source community meat which includes New Mexico Wagyu ($16.50) and New Mexico Buffalo ($16.50). Also, they have Black Angus Chuck ($13.95) and a Morning Star veggie burger ($12.50). But the principal attraction is the Mad Chile burger ($15.50-$18.50) with Hatch eco-friendly chiles and a battered and fried entire Hatch green chile. If you are hunting for a exceptional place to devote a summertime afternoon or evening while listening to new music, consuming a bit and snacking on pub grub, take care of yourself to a magnificent push along the popular Turquoise Trail and head to The Mine Shaft for a great time.