In a quick-paced and downsized economy, food carts and trucks are an affordable and tasty way to go.

Nile Café, on Cordova Road near St. Francis Drive, is one of the most recent. It's also the only cart that features Middle Eastern and Mediterranean fare. Gigi Griffo, Nile Café's chef and owner, was born and raised in Egypt, where she said girls learned to cook not to open restaurants, but to become good wives.

"When I was 12 years old," Griffo said, "I cooked my first full meal — okra with fresh beef, garlic, onions and tomatoes. In Egypt, they chop the cow in the street, so you know it's fresh. Since then, I cook all the time. I love cooking."

Griffo is not a stranger to the restaurant business. From 1997-2005, she owned Cleopatra's restaurant with her former husband. After the divorce, she missed the restaurant business, but explored many options before deciding to open the Nile Café. After looking at the numbers, Griffo realized that a food cart was an excellent way to start because the low overhead allowed her to offer healthy, tasty food at reasonable prices.

"I think we're known for our vegetarian falafels," Griffo said. "We make everything fresh. I get up early to grind the garbanzos, cilantro and parsley. I sell a lot of Greek salads and the Egyptian moussaka special, which is made with fried eggplant, toasted garlic and tomato sauce. It's also vegetarian."

I ordered the lamb gyro, served on fresh pita bread and topped with lettuce, tomatoes and a delicious yogurt-based sauce that is Griffo's specialty. The lamb was extremely tender and delicately spiced — definitely a deal for the price ($5.50).

On a recent sunny afternoon, customers sat at the tables under brightly colored umbrellas and enjoyed the good weather, good company and good food. Others left with to-go bags. Griffo said she often receives calls on her cell phone for free delivery — a smart move because state buildings are nearby.

Magid Tawfik has been having lunch at the Nile Café since it opened last October. Tawfik, a native of Southern Egypt, said Griffo's dishes taste exactly like the food he grew up with. "She makes the best humus ever, just like in Egypt," Tawfik enthused. "Everything is always fresh. I often have the Kufta burger, and I love her baba ganoush."

Griffo said starting a new business is a lot of work, but well worth it because customers are coming back and telling their friends and coming back. "I wanted my own business. I couldn't work for anybody else," she added. "My husband is very supportive and my mother-in-law said I should have my own business. So I thought, why not?"

3 eggplants
2-3 cloves garlic
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cumin
3 tablespoons lemon juice
4-5 tablespoons vinegar
4-5 tablespoons sesame tahini

Preparation: Roast whole eggplants on griddle; peel when done. Put everything in food processor. Garnish to taste with olive oil, paprika, lettuce, chopped tomato and olives.


Not so new to the food-cart scene, but equally appealing and affordable, are the fajita and carnita carts on the Plaza. Loyal patrons can often be seen lined up at both carts. Smoke rises as the aroma of freshly grilled fajitas wafts through the southwest corner of the Plaza. Every day people line up at El Molero, a fajita cart owned by Daniel Caldera and his wife, Andrea Tate. Tate and Caldera have been selling fajitas on the Plaza for about 20 years.

Before that, they were both in the food business. He was a chef at Santa Fe's Pink Adobe restaurant from 1978 to 1983, and later the couple opened Andrea's on Canyon Road. When he was 7 years old, Caldera sold food with his mother on the streets of Torreon, in Coahuila, Mexico.

"So my life as a cook has a long history," Caldera said with a smile. "It's a good life."

El Molero features grilled, marinated meats topped with guacamole, sour cream and salsa. Everything is homemade and fresh — the salsa, guacamole, tamales and lemonade.

"It's a long day," Tate said. "We're up by 5 a.m., and prep usually takes until about 7 or 8 at night. It's about the same amount of work as having a restaurant, but this is better as far as overhead goes — and it's something we've always wanted to do."

When people ask Caldera what he puts in his fajitas, he doesn't keep it a secret: The chicken is soaked overnight in a mole of chile, chocolate and onions, which allows the flavors to mix and mellow.


On the southeast corner of the Plaza is Roque Garcia, the carnitas man. Roque's carnitas cart has been a presence on the Plaza for more than 25 years. In addition to beef carnitas, his menu includes chicken carnitas, pork and green chili-cheese tamales, lemonade and jamaica, a Mexican drink made from hibiscus flowers.

Garcia is well known for his beef carnitas — thin strips of prime beef marinated in his special sauce, grilled on an open fire with onions and green chili and served on a flour tortilla topped with homemade salsa. They're tasty and spicy, and he'll hold the salsa to knock down the heat if you ask — but not without joking that you must be from New York. And if you want a fork you can have that too, but he will warn you not to tell anyone.

In a rare serious moment, Garcia noted that the carnita cart could not exist without his wife, Mona Cavalli, who isn't usually on the Plaza with him because she does the books, the shopping and the prep.

Garcia and Caldera both have their loyal locals, but also enjoy meeting people who trek to Santa Fe from all over the world. Sometimes, even the visitors are regulars. Garcia has a number of customers who return to Santa Fe and to his cart every year.


According to Sevastian Gurule, the city's Plaza administrative manager, the Pushcart Vendors Ordinance allows only four vendors on the Plaza. Each is licensed for a five-year period. Before 1987 there was no ordinance governing the Plaza chefs. Licenses are not renewed automatically, but typically turn over only when an existing vendor is no longer able or willing to continue the business. New pushcart applications are judged on the basis of the vendor's experience and the cart's compatibility with other Plaza activities, as well as cost of the food.

The ordinance says the carts must be on the Plaza by May 1, but does not specify how long they must stay. Informal as they are, Plaza food vendors are not immune to inflation. Yearly fees, which were $350 before 2003, are now $1,500. In addition to the Plaza vendors, there are six mobile vendors and five itinerant vendors in the city. Itinerant vendors have mobile units, but remain in a stationary location. There is no limit on the number of itinerant vendors and the fee is $10 per year. Mobile vendors without specific locations pay $85 per year and there are only 10 licenses available. Every food vendor in Santa Fe must prepare food in a professional kitchen and meet food safety and cleanliness standards.