La Boca
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About
Opened in 2006 by 8 time James Beard Award Nominee, Chef James Campbell Caruso.
La Boca has the feel of a lively European wine bar, featuring an extensive selection of carefully chosen Mediterranean and South American wines. Knowledgeable and animated staff graciously guide customers to the perfect wine to complement their meals. La Boca also prides itself on being an ambassador of Spanish sherry culture, transporting its guests to Cadiz in the crisp cool flavors of Fino, or the deep fig-essence of a Pedro Ximenez.
Full to capacity almost every night since its opening, La Boca has been a hit with both locals and the world travelers that visit Santa Fe. La Boca has earned numerous awards both local and national, including the Santa Fe Reporter’s “Restaurant of the Year,” and the International Wine and Food Society’s “Award of Excellence.”
Menu
We have dined here several times over the last few years. Service is very good, but food is inconsistent and very much hit or miss. On our last visit the shellfish in our paella was cold and the mussels were not cooked, and were inedible. We have found La Boca better for lunch.
THE FOOD WAS DELICIOUS. THE WINE WAS PERFECT. THIS IS A GREAT PLACE TO HAVE A FUN DATE
Going to La Boca is like traveling to Spain. Great experience. Each plate was better than the last. Small place with seats close together.
Lively restaurant. Excellent service and food was pricy but delicious. Recommend highly.
Our experience met and exceeded our expectations. There was live music the night we dined and the musician added to our enjoyment. I specifically went to this restaurant due to the Spanish Cuisine and Paella was featured. Everything was excellent. Will plan to return any time we are in Santa Fe.
Always great!
60th Birthday
The food was good, a little different than we expected for a tapas restaurant. We ordered the manchego cheese with the membrillo (quince paste) - it was good, but maybe would've been nice to have bread with that. We had the short ribs, and the paella. All good, but not too amazing. I would have liked to see a Spanish tortilla, stuffed dates, piquillo peppers (they did have padron peppers). Will probably go back and try again, some other menu items.
Our waitress was not very helpful for menu suggestions. Nor was she attentive. We never received rolls that all the other tables had. She never came back to ask if everything was okay. There was a waiter that was very helpful.
The tuna special and shrimp tacos had almost no flavor. The best thing about the tuna was the grilled scallions!
The mussels and the plata de la casa were excellent.
Love La Boca. One of our favorites in Santa Fe. It’s always a wonderful meal that never disappoints.
We made the reservation for La Boca, the main restaurant, but went to check in and we were told the reservation was actually at La Boca Taberna around the corner . Hostess told us it was due to Open Table though I have triple checked my reservation confirmation and that was not the case. Taberna has same menu so no issue there but we were literally the only people in the restaurant for half of our meal so the ambience was a little depressing , which had nothing to do with staff at all. Main restaurant was not sold out and was also half empty . I have been coming here annually for years and always look forward to it but the seemingly random move of our reservation seemed pointless . Again , staff and food were fabulous as always but the restaurants attempt to drive business to their sister restaurant seemed cruel to the staff who had little to nothing to do and soured an evening that we had been looking forward to .
Excellent as usual! Cream of mushroom soup was delicious as was the grilled eggplant with marchango and honey. Partner had the Cubano sandwich, which was also outstanding.
Food, service were excellent. Anchovies, fried oysters, mussels, shrimp taco, white sangria. Unfortunarely, the person sitting next to us had to talk to us, and talk . . .
Elegant, unique, fascinating tastes, instructive sherry offerings. Would come again.
Food and service were amazing. Great live music!
Interesting food choices. Great sangria. They have 2 small locations around the corner from each other.
Wonderful lunch with excellent tapas. Reasonable prices and lovely ambiance.
Fortunate to also experience a local musician playing during our dinner!
I love this place...one of my favorite places in Santa Fe...The Tapas are always good, the Pallella is great too. The wines are good and the sherry selections fun. Its a great place on a cold afternoon too...
Exceptional tapas. Be aware that music (an excellent solo guitarist) performs on Sunday evenings.
We go to LaBoca once a month usually for the paella. It has always been fantastic - as good as anything we've ever had in Spain. This time it was drastically different. They had changed the chorizo which used to be a fantastic Spanish product that infused the paella with its amazing flavor. They are now using something that doesn't even resemble chorizo - it's more like a summer sausage with an off flavor and a rubbery texture. It was so off putting that we left half the order uneaten. Not sure what is going on at this place these days but not eager to go any time soon.
Wonderful dinner outside. Nice bottle of wine, grilled octopus and then wonder grilled shrimp with garlic. Nicely paced by the staff.
Got off to a difficult start. They first couldn’t find our reservation and then said it was for adjacent Taverna restaurant, which it was not. We worked it out and had a very nice dinner,but a shame it started out with a big hassle
We made the reservation for La Boca and I thought it was La Boca Taberna. The hostess was very accomodating. We had to wait about 10 min but she seated us at the next open table. We had a great time with our out-of-town guests. They loved it. We loved it. And we got to see Chef James as it was his birthday.
Wonderful food, service and ambience. We also listened to a Spanish guitarist while there who was INCREDIBLE.
Manzanilla on tap at La Taberna. That is a seriously good sign that you're in a restaurant that knows the Spanish tapas thing thoroughly. The chef knows Spanish cuisine but also uses his creativity and the best local ingredients to create unique things. Go back again and work your way down the menu.
The servers were very confused. They brought us the same tapas twice and delivered the incorrect food to two other tables near us. They appeared too rushed and stressed.
Maria was the best! She was very attentive, very cautious of my food allergies and really nice. The food is small shareable plates and entrees. We did the appetizer mix of olives, spiced pistachios and manchego cheese. Fabulous manchego cheese! Also split and order of Iberico Jamon...superb! They have wine flights, beers and wines. Great little spot tucked off the beaten path!
We had a wonderful dinner at La Boca. Food was very tasty with fresh ingredients. The strip steak was out of this world with a smokey salt, caramel sauce. A bit of dessert with your dinner. Service was great, a bit too fast for our liking. Highly recommend this Restaurant.
Service is excellent, and staff had very good knowledge of dishes and wine. The grilled alcachofas (artichoke) dish was excellent, as were the gambas al ajillo. The cantimpalitos were a bit too dry and bland. Excellent wine list -- we had a Tempranillo (Ribera del Duero) that was refined. Will definitely return and recommend.
Fabulous tapas. Great service. Hard to beat for a foodie. Relaxed atmosphere, professional and attentive service. Expected music performer the night we came, but she didn’t show up. We were very disappointed, but the food and service made up for it.
My first time eating at La Boca went extremely well. Good wine list, great menu and great service. It is a small neighborhood place, but still sophisticated. 5 small dishes shared between 2 people was just right, and the server kept things at the perfect pace. Sorry, I don't take pictures of my food, but presentation was very attractive.
I will be back.
Excellent live music on the night that we went. Were able to grab a spot at the bar right away. Food was delicious too!
Great food and service. We actually sat in the old Taberna restaurant and it was great along with a wonderful Spanish guitarist. Great night
Food, drink, service all excellent! A good variety of tapas. The wine list is amazing. Wait staff knows what to recommend. Great fun.
Go for the wine list, coziness and guitar music. Avoid the food. Over priced for the quality. All of the small plates stacked on the table for sharing portions of each tapas were filthy. Also the server insisted that silverware remain on the bare table after using instead of replacing.
Food was excellent. Maybe the best grilled artichokes I have ever had. Tables pretty tightly packed in but the vibe was trendy European so kind of what you expect.
Did not live up to our expectations. Server’s description of food sounded great but delivered product did not support description. Service declined through course of meal and secersl requests had to be repeated. Seemed like nice place for millennials who don’t know any better. Best part of meal was live music, although took a while to turn down Musak.
Excellent food and service!!
This is our favorite place in Santa Fe and usually always eat here one way or another. Outstanding tapas and be sure to ask for recommendations for which Sherry to choose with the food. The only drawback is that the place is small and you might land up at a table for 2 almost next to another table for 2. This happened to us at lunch on Sunday it almost felt like we were sharing a table for 4. But my advice is ignore the other table and enjoy the food, sherry, and conversation with your spouse or whoever you dine with.