Zuly's Cafe | Dixon, New Mexico

From my tour of Abiquiú https://www.chowhound.com/post/abiqui... , I took the low road toward Taos. And rushed to get to Zuly's Cafe in Dixon before the end of lunch service. Good thing I didn't dawdle . . . arriving at 1:47pm, I was greeted by a sign on the door that Zuly's would be closing at 2pm due to high school graduation. I stepped inside and asked if I could be seated for lunch. No problem, I would be the last customer of the day.

My friends had highly recommended the red chile here, so that was a must order. Yet, I wanted to hedge my bets, so ordered the rolled enchiladas, one of each. The green chile one was filled with shredded white meat chicken and the red one with cubes of tender braised beef. I had a hard time deciding which I liked better, going back and forth several times. In the end, I think my preference is the green here because the fleshy peppers were in large pieces and combined with pieces of sweet red pepper. I liked this version better than the green chile at either Duran or Rancho de Chimayo. While the red was very good too, it's not as complex and had a little astringent-bitter note. It was also a couple notches hotter than Rancho de Chimayo's.

Both meat fillings were cooked on point to be tender and retain their natural juices, and seasoned well with herbs to be delicious on their own without the benefit of chile. This made the enchiladas unusually good. Disappointing that the calabacitas were already gone for the day, I would have liked to try that as a filling.

This lunch at Zuly's on a celebratory day for the family and employees was one of the highlights of my time in New Mexico. About a half-hour drive from Taos, I'd love to return for another meal and visit the local wineries too.

Zuly's Cafe
234 NM-75
Dixon, NM
(505) 579-4001