Counter Culture Cafe’s food truck tacos with grilled ahi tuna served with Asian slaw, crispy rice noodles, and sesame aioli on corn tortillas with a side of black beans
Counter Culture Cafe’s house roasted turkey sandwich with swiss cheese, lettuce, tomato, avocado, sprouts, and mayo on whole wheat bread with a side of haystack fries.
Counter Culture Cafe’s food truck tacos with grilled ahi tuna served with Asian slaw, crispy rice noodles, and sesame aioli on corn tortillas with a side of black beans
Gabriela Campos
Brenda Miranda works the counter at the popular cafe.
I’m sure some Santa Fe tourists discover Counter Culture Cafe, but I kind of wish they wouldn’t — no offense intended — to preserve the local feel of the place. Located on Baca Street, Counter Culture is the Cheers of Santa Fe diners, where you’re likely to see someone you know, and even if you don’t, it just feels homey. Maybe it’s because it’s a DIY kind of place: you order at the counter, grab your own coffee, water, table settings, and condiments, and find your table. Maybe the two big community tables in the middle of the large dining space — where you can sit with friends or alone without feeling out of place — add to that sense. Maybe it’s because the people who work there seem to like their jobs and their customers. Maybe it’s all of that.
Oh, and the food. Reliably good, large servings and very quick service make Counter Culture a no-brainer place to dine for breakfast or lunch. (They’re not open for dinner.)
The trouble is making a choice from the five giant menu panels posted on the walls.
On a recent brunch visit with friends, I ordered French toast ($12) and bacon ($4), which I make for myself every Sunday. But “divine” is not too epic a word to describe Counter Culture’s version, made with slices of their cinnamon rolls. Why would I ever make my own again? All four of my companions (three regulars, one a CC newbie) ordered the spring rolls ($11) of rice vermicelli, seitan, lettuce, egg, and cilantro wrapped in rice paper with a Thai dipping sauce and raved about them. Even with a packed house (Sunday brunch is quite popular), the food was in front of us in less than 10 minutes.
Counter Culture Cafe’s house roasted turkey sandwich with swiss cheese, lettuce, tomato, avocado, sprouts, and mayo on whole wheat bread with a side of haystack fries.
Gabriela Campos
Then I stopped in for lunch with a companion. I’d been craving a turkey sandwich and had a few that were lacking at other local cafés but decided to try again. Counter Culture’s is a cold turkey sandwich ($10), but I asked if it could be served hot and got a perfectly good, substantial sandwich with toasted wheat bread and warmed turkey and cheese inside, along with lettuce, tomato, and avocado. It was much better than the turkey sandwiches I’d tried elsewhere.
I chose haystack French fries ($3), the nearly paper thin, hand-cut kind, for my side (green salad is the other side option). I know the huge portion of haystack fries is popular, but after I get them I’m reminded of how difficult they are to eat, hard to fork and messy to pick up by hand. And I’m a slow eater, so they’re always cold before I finish them off. I’d prefer heftier, hotter steak fries.
My companion ordered the food truck tacos ($16) without paying much attention to what was in them and got three open-faced corn tortillas piled with greens (“Asian slaw” with sesame aioli and a smattering of crispy rice noodles) and black beans on the side. The thin slices of protein looked like steak but proved to be ahi tuna, cooked to perfection — warm but pink in the middle — and delicately spiced.
We splurged on a sizable piece of frosted cinnamon coffee cake ($5.95) for dessert. The cake was firm on the outside and moist and dense on the inside, no mean trick in our dry environment, and the sugary frosting was reminiscent of Mom’s 1960s baking. Yum. The restaurant offers a variety of baked desserts made daily in house; the focaccia and brioche buns for burgers are also homemade.
Again, our food was delivered muy rápido, meaning us working stiffs can fit in a lunch break here.
The breakfast menu features eggs and omelets; waffles, pancakes and French toast; and New Mexican dishes including huevos rancheros. A selection of muffins, usually with a gluten-free choice, plus coffee cakes and those ginormous cinnamon rolls more than satisfy those of us plagued by a morning sweet tooth.
The lunch menu must be one of the largest in town, including sandwiches, hot and cold, of all stripes; burgers; salads; and plenty of meat-free choices for vegetarians and vegans. Entrees are largely Asian or New Mexican, including banh mi, cold sesame noodles, beer-battered salmon tacos, and carne asada.
Banh mi with grilled tofu, Asian slaw, cucumber lime and serrano aioli, and sweet chili dressing on a baguette with a side of cold sesame noodles
Gabriela Campos
Counter Culture also serves a reasonably priced selection of bottled beer and wine by the bottle or glass (at lunch, we settled for iced tea, $3.50) and a children’s menu of $5.50 meals.
The interior is simple, with concrete floors and stainless steel and wooden tables and chairs. Two outdoor patios are wonderful in season and were still in use this year in November.
A caveat: Parking can be difficult, so it’s best to arrive before or after the rushes — or ride your bike.
Counter Culture owner-manager Jason Aufrichtig went to restaurant school and cut his teeth in the business in New York City, then moved to Santa Fe and did stints at Santacafé and Cafe Pasqual’s before opening a catering company in 1994 and Counter Culture in 1996. (He and his brother Nathan also own the two Pizza Centro locations.)
COVID-19 was hard on the business, but most of Aufrichtig’s workers returned after a five-month shutdown, and customers are returning as well, he said. Because the café doesn’t buy anything premade — creating sauces, dressings, etc., in house — they haven’t been much affected by supply chain issues. Nevertheless, since the café reopened after the shutdown, Aufrichtig hasn’t been serving dinner; he hopes to do so again soon, he said. I noted that he hasn’t raised prices much, if at all, especially compared to steep increases at some local diners. He said he is choosing to absorb some losses, hoping that grocery prices drop.
Good food, friendly and fast service, and reasonable prices. It’s really hard to find fault with Counter Culture. Aufrichtig and his crew seem to know their business and they do it really well. Just don’t tell the tourists about it.
Correction: This story has been amended to reflect the following correction. A previous version of this story misstated the modes of payment that the restaurant accepts. It takes credit cards, as well as cash.
