Considered one of Santa Fe's must-eats, Tomasita's is the classic tourist heaven. Sadly, I think it's a disappointment.

Tomasita's is inside an old, renovated train station off Guadalupe Street. Originally, it was a large, one-room brick building, but the proprietors have since added a bar and extra dining area.

I went for lunch with a friend. We were seated in the bar, a place decorated, by the looks of it, by a New Mexican rancher (of course, with Santa Fe's style, it could have been a top-notch designer). Basically, there was a lot of hammered tin and adobe, (it even looked like they adobed over the brick).

I ordered fried mushroom caps as an appetizer. These came with a watered-down ranch dipping sauce over a bed of iceberg lettuce. The mushroom caps tasted like they were filled with water, and the balls were way too perfectly round, leading me to believe they were frozen at one time or another.

For lunch, I ordered the New Mexican Steak Platter: a chile relleno with green, a red-chile enchilada, and a six-ounce sirloin, beans and rice. The relleno was by far the best part; the green chile (made with ground beef, though a vegetarian version is available upon request) was tasty, not spicy.

The enchilada was second best, filled with cheese. I'd say the red chile beat out the green. It had more flavor, still not spicy. My steak was overcooked; I asked for medium and it was leaning toward well-done. My beans and rice were ordinary, as I'm not a fan of sticky, overcooked rice and flavorless beans.

I'd come again (which I did) for Christmas rellenos, as these were the only things that tasted like they could have been made fresh.

The second time around, I opted for chicken enchiladas with Christmas. Even with chicken filling and corn tortillas, my chile still just didn't have any kick to it. The green was too sweet for my taste, and the red was bland.

It just feels like everything here is a watered-down version of New Mexican cuisine made special for the unknowing tourist.

I also got a strawberry rhubarb pie. Words cannot even explain how wretched this was. The filling was some kind of purée, which was still partially frozen.

Of course, just like every other restaurant meal in Santa Fe, ours ended with sopaipillas. These fried dough squares were accompanied by a whipped, flavored butter, but I stuck with traditional honey.

My meal was in no way worth $14 (not including the mushrooms, the pie) with its starch-ridden chile and its neglected proteins, but ...

In retrospect, I may have to try it again. Even with these experiences, it wasn't the worst New Mexican I've had in this town.

Zerach Wieder, 17, has graduated from Santa Fe Community College. You can reach him at zerock123@hotmail.com.