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Stalking the Banquet: Adobe Bar, Shadows Bar & Grill, Ronnie Lee's
$25 Budget October 17, 2006
By
 Our mission, which we gladly accepted, was for my husband, Chris, and I, to take on a restaurant pub crawl at once upscale and low-cost. Eating only appetizers, tapias, and the lighter fare offered by bar menus, we’d discover if a couple could enjoy a night out without busting the bank and still manage some semblance of gustatory satiation.
Limiting the tab to $25 meant that we would rarely be able to sample the bars’ libations, putting more pressure on the quality of the cuisine. But we discovered that the food options range from more-than-adequate to superlative.
The Taos Inn’s Adobe Bar
“The living room of Taos”
125 Paseo del Pueblo Norte
758-2233
Sampling several dining establishments back-to-back certainly teaches you that music (or lack thereof) is almost on a par with food for determining the pleasure quotient. You can’t lose on an Adobe evening, where quality entertainment is always on tap.
If the Historic Taos Inn (dating from the 1880s) is the heart of town, then the Adobe Bar is the heart of the inn itself. We arrived about 8:00 one Sunday evening to be better assured of seating, and were glad to find the band, Autumn (lead singer) Rane (pianist), still flawlessly serving up jazz standards, creating an easy, sultry atmosphere.
Where We Sat: The bar itself is kitty- corner to both a rectangular dining room and the inn’s impressive entry, performance, and fountain area, with vertical vigas soaring two-and-a-half stories past several guest rooms to a stained-glass cupola. A small, blue and white tiled table in the bar proper provides a perfect sight-line to the musicians, through a Spanish-style wrought-iron doorway.
What We Shared: I ordered the Northern New Mexico Casserole: calbacitas, blue corn tortillas, cheese, and pumpkin-seed mole ($7). While many squash dishes err on the watery side, this did not, being an attractive, mild, and palatable appetizer-sized offering. Chris opted for a half-order of the classic New Mexican Nachos: tortilla chips served with beans, jalapenos, and cheese, topped with salsa fresca, guacamole, and sour cream. The modest cost of that tasty, ample basket ($5.50) allowed him to enjoy a bottle of Mexico City’s Negra Modelo beer ($4). Total: $16.50 plus tip.
In Contrast: Adobe’s prices run the gamut from $4 for Chips & Salsa to $11 for Shrimp Frajitas (next time!). Adjacent Doc Martin’s Restaurant’s luscious appetizer listings range from $7-$14, entrees mostly in the mid-twenties. Their Prix Fixe menu: three courses plus dessert for $45 or $33, depending on inclusion or omission of the wine pairing. Locals’ Early Dining Special (5:30-6:30 nightly) is priced at $13-$16.
Service: The waitress was funkily attired, attentive, affable, and informative.
Movie Milieu: While the occasional mountain man swaggering through suggested Spaghetti Westerns, the suave band and fans shifted the atmosphere to Cuba’s Jazz Festival heyday. Think “The Lost City” or “A Night in Havana.”
Shadows Bar & Grill
“Taos’s Finest Sports Bar”
Plaza de Colores, 330 A
Paseo Del Pueblo Sur
751-9600
Not being the greatest sports aficionados, my husband and I approached Shadows with slight trepidation, even at midday, bracing ourselves for a room full of largely youthful, testosterone-overloaded, caps-backward, high-decibel athletic fans. This fantasy was augmented by the phalanx of shiny, righteous Harley Davidsons parked in front of the patio. But the establishment—spacious and smoke free—was surprisingly family-friendly and welcoming.
If the Adobe Bar is one of the town’s oldest establishments, Shadows is one of the newest, holding front and center of the newly developed Plaza de Colores. Its expansiveness is balanced by dark wood, handsome sconces, faux-retro tin ceiling, dappled old-rose-and-charcoal marbled tabletops, and French doors.
Shadows’ 24-foot bar with proscenium arch is the room’s compelling centerpiece, its bottles illumined by a spectrum of colored lights rotating from turquoise to pale green to icy white and sizzling fuchsia. The adjacent banquet-style table echoes its considerable length: a meet-and-greet destination. Beyond this, private tables are arrayed about.
Where We Sat: Since “Bar food is what we serve here” until the 5:00 dinner menu, we decided it was kosher to sit at a table and still be on assignment. The 10-foot HD Quad TV screen, as well as 8 smaller flat screens all had sports playing, with audio down, the room instead saturated with upbeat pop tunes. We could imagine how the atmosphere would change during games, or when tables were removed to open up the state-of-the-art dance floor.
What We Shared: I chose the Artichoke and Spinach Dip: “Warm & creamy dip topped with melted Swiss, served with celery and carrot sticks,” $6.95. Festooned with robust, fragrant sprigs of rosemary, its scalloped-edged porcelain quiche dish was a tad small. But the accompanying veggies and crustinis compensated. Then there was Chris’s choice of sandwich, the Torta Cubana: “Pulled pork, peppered bacon, provolone, avocado, tomato, green chiles, and chimichurri sauce on a grilled hoagie roll with pinto bean spread,” $8.75. This hefty work of art, while decidedly delicious, actually proved too much for us to finish. So much for bar food being dainty. Total: $16.88 plus tip.
In Contrast: Shadows’ highest priced sandwich still comes in under $10, while the dinner menu ranges from $9.95 to $23.95. A children’s menu is also available.
Service: Suffice it to say that when I mentioned that the carrot sticks laced with white seemed a bit stale, the waiter was at my side with a fresh order, on a contrasting triangular black plate, in a nanosecond.
Movie Milieu: What else but “Heaven Can Wait,” with Warren Beatty as a football player who dies suddenly, only to re-incarnate as a wealthy entrepreneur? Both sides of his character would delight in Shadows.
Ronnie Lee’s Supper Club
“Celebrate!”
122 Dona Luz, Guadalupe Plaza
737-5112
The launching of Ronnie Lee’s got off to a staggered start, what with the delay on its liquor license holding things up last year. On the night we supped, they were still adjusting to the chef having returned from vacation only to permanently vacate her post. But once the dust settles, Taoseños and tourists alike should find that this venue provides a dapper mix of warmth and glamour, affordably.
Avail yourself of the Club’s courtyard ambiance while weather allows: flowers, fountain, patio tables, and gorgeous wrap-around balcony. While the proprietor was inspired by fond memories of New York supper clubs, this décor seems more Mexico-meets-New Orleans. And once inside, this sensibility continues, with Frida Kahlo-colored murals and a speak-easy-sized dance room.
Where We Sat: When a small, bronzed-leaf table for two (matching the vine-climbing sconces) proved too small, we moved to the bar itself. Serving wine and beer, it dispenses with the usual broad shelving, opting for a curved, vertical design reminiscent of a wine cellar.
After ordering, we took a tour which included the balcony, where a stunning view of church, cross, and mountains begs to be painted. When my husband turned to move back inside, the door swung open amply on its own, neither patrons nor breeze pushing it. Later we learn that the supper club has a cordial ghost, one who tends to open doors.
What We Shared: We opted for the strongly recommended order of “humungous” BBQ Ribs ($7), an item, along with lamb, and calamari, which had yet to be listed on the new chef’s menu. It came with an intriguingly refreshing Sweet & Sour Sesame Slaw. Our second selection was a generous Shrimp Burrito: “Filled with diced shrimp, cheddar cheese, black beans, and red or green chile; rice, pico de gallo, and sour cream ($13). Oddly, the meat ranged from succulent to tough along the length of each rib. Still, being “humungous,” they more than satisfied. The black beans lent the Shrimp Burrito a mysteriously deep, musky flavor: highly recommended. The total came to $21.50 plus tip.
In Contrast: A Sunset Dinner, available from 5-6 p.m.: three courses at $15 per person. Off the Wood-burning Grill dinners range from $11-$23.
Service: Friendly above-and-beyond. Waitstaff approached us on our tour of the dramatically renovated building and regaled us with stories of its history (including ghost stories), a favorite rumor being that it was once a bordello. A trap door in one of the restrooms (plumbing?) supposedly accesses a network of underground tunnels leading to the Plaza; specifically, in this case, to La Fonda, so gentleman callers could reach the brothel undetected.
Movie Milieu: Hmmm, if Audrey Hepburn played Frida Kahlo and went dancing with Cary Grant in a haunted, former New Orleans red-light district….
Conclusion: Cooking at home is all well and good as a comfortable routine. But one does like to break it up occasionally with a night on the town. Choosing from the bar menu permits you to pass through the portals of toney Taos establishments more often than celebrations—anniversaries, birthdays, or visits from wealthy out-of-town friends—allow. Recommended!
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