Museum Hill Cafe

April 10, 2016. 1:00
We were so excited to take our out of town guests here today. The older hostess with blonde hair and glasses was so incredibly rude that we all looked at each other is disbelief and walked right out. What makes it even worse is my fiancé and I were here to check it out for our future wedding reception. No thanks.

Ambiance great! Wonderful décor and view, outside seating is very accommodating… waitstaff I thought was very attentive and pretty quick… all I got was the guacamole and it sucked, it was mostly onions and jalepenos some tomato but very little, if ANY pieces of avocado and its that what guacamole should be? The chips were great and my friends salmon looked delish!

While visiting friends in Santa Fe, I had lunch here on a rainy, cold October day. The place was packed and lively, and our server seemed to be having a fun time greeting and serving everyone. Our sandwiches and soups were good, and came out quickly in spite of the crowd. I was disappointed that they were out of the garden burgers, thus the four stars. But it was a good experience overall.

I do wish Unilocal let reviewers rate food and service separately. We found the food very good but the service lacking. As I read other current 2015 reviews and comments about the service I’m sure we all experienced the same waiter. Like spit on a griddle our waiter jumped here and there without completing a task or listening to a customer. When he first came to our table I requested a glass of water explaining I was desperate to take some medicine. He insisted on taking our drink order first. After a considerable wait the water and ordered drinks arrived but he ran off before we could place our meal order. We had to request ice tea refills and then wait about 10 minutes. Upon finishing our meal the waiter removed the plates without offering a dessert menu. Again, we had to flag him down, request to be told about desserts and withstand a lengthy wait before he appeared with a sampler plate yet seemed very impatient for a decision after rushing thru naming the options. His behavior was the same with other tables he was assigned. We had plenty of time to observe the restaurant’s operation and the problems did not appear to be consistent with the other wait staff.
Getting beyond the service issue the food was much better than we expected. I found my chicken mole to be perhaps the best I’ve ever experienced. The flavors were so well balance no one flavor stood out — a not so simple preparation perfectly balanced. The generous serving of shredded chicken breast mole was accompanied by well-​seasoned beans, rice and three small corn tortillas. When I praised the mole we were told that the chef was from Mexico and learned to make mole from her grandmother.
My husband ordered a tomato basil soup and half a reuben sandwich. I had to sample his thick soup sprinkled with feta cheese, we both found it to be very good. The ½ reuben was large and thick with corn beef. Strangely, when picked up it dripped a pool of liquid. I’ve never seen such a wet reuben. When we requested additional napkins our waiter said, «I know it’s really drippy». Bob used a knife and fork on the remaining sandwich.
Once we saw the dessert tray we wanted a sampler of every option but decided on only two: the key lime pie and coconut cream pie. Both were very good but the coconut cream was the best we’ve every been privileged to enjoy. I asked if the dessert were made in house and was told that they had three different pastry chefs make the desserts. Obviously well chosen chefs.
We would definitely visit the Museum Hill Café again — and order the chicken mole and hope coconut cream pie was again available. Even if not visiting one of the outstanding museums lunch here is worth the trip up the hill. We’d just try to not have the tallest waiter flitting from table to table.
Museum Hill Café is open from 9am — 5pm daily, May to October, serving lunch from 11am — 3 pm, beverages and pastries all other hours. Fewer days and hours other months.

The food was okay once we finally received it, however the service was terrible — one of the worst I’ve encountered in town. It was clear the kitchen was backed up, but it would have been nice to hear that from our own waitress instead of those around us. Not even an offer of refills while we were waiting, and only saw our waitress twice during the 2 hours it took to have lunch. Busy restaurants here in the summer is not new and many places have figured out how to handle it properly.

The food and wine selections were both exemplary for our spontaneous office lunch. What was not exemplary was the two hours it took us to order, get our food, eat, and pay. I was repeatedly ignored when I asked for a glass of water. How simple can this be? We were hoping for a quick delicious lunch… instead we got a delicious lunch that lost us some serious productivity.

Now open for great late afternoon small plate dining until 7pm Wed– Fri. Delightful setting and views. Very tasty small plates that are not really small. You can put together a tasty meal with some fine wine from a nice list. Go now!

I was not happy with the food or service and would not go back. Our appetizer was brought out with our entrees, and was cold. Neither of us thought our entrees were anything to write home about. More than 4 shrimp in an entrée would have been nice.
Our server said nothing about the delinquency of the appetizer, but a simple «sorry for the wait» would have prevented this review. I usually get annoyed with the number of times I’m interrupted to be asked if everything was ok, but at MHC, I wished the server would have come back at least once so I could have voiced my complaint about the late, cold appetizer. He was very hard to find, though, and we ended up having a different server bring us our check, because ours was MIA.

Service:
I come here for lunch since it’s the only place within walking distance of where I work. I order to go and tend to notice how the staff members interact with one another. Some older staff members are rude to the younger or newer staff members, even though the younger and/​or newer ones offer the best service. The baristas are very friendly and try to minimize the awkward moments when the staff seems disorganized and frantic. I would say that the management is the issue that contributes to the service quality, not the staff members. If they provided a better work environment for the good servers and fired the negative ones, I’m sure the restaurant would run a lot smoother.
Food:
The food here is really good if you like comfort food, like the tuna melt, tomato soup, nachos and guacamole. But, I would say that it’s overpriced for what you get. The coffee is good, because they use Illy espresso, but it’s still not the best coffee I’ve had in Santa Fe. Though, I am a bit picky about my espresso. So, their prices are fair for the quality, but when you’re in need of some coffee, they make good espresso drinks. Much better than some other places in Santa Fe, which I appreciate.
Atmosphere:
The café is in a wonderful place in Santa Fe and the view is very lovely from the café patio. But, I think they rely too much on the view and don’t make too much of an effort in design. At least, it appears that they haven’t since the 90’s. There are some nice décor moments in the café, especially since they have some wonderful art in and around the café, but nothing is very coordinated in the overall scheme of the design. Their branding on the website is much more put together and clean and modern, but the interior is simply outdated and not thought through very well. I’m sure that they have the money to hire a designer, but that may be another management issue.
Overall:
I really appreciate some members of the staff, even though management is a mess, and if I forget to bring a lunch, I will certainly come back. The food is yummy and the coffee is good, but I won’t come back often, since I consider coming here a bit of a splurge.

We ate here again recently and had a much better experience than the first time. The food has been great with both experiences, but the service, which was terrible the first time, has finally matched the quality of the food. Hopefully this is an intentional and consistent change.

We ate here for lunch memorial day weekend. It was super busy and it was clear to the host as well as the staff was flustered and ill prepared. Once seated we waited 10 – 15 minutes before our server greeted us. It took forever to get drinks and was almost impossible for refills. Although the host and other servers passed us multiple times our empty glasses were ignored. When our food finally came it was just fair, we got the the chicken mole and MHC tuna melt. The restaurant was noisy, they had a piano player belting out loud and disruptive music in a room lacking the acoustics to support such loud and fast music choices. After our meal we waited for about 20 minutes just for our check. Even though it is the only restaurant at museum hill, save your money and time and find somewhere off site.

The food was delicious. The view of Santa Fe was excellent. Not in love with all of the wait staff.
The person who greeted us allowed us to be seated, even though they weren’t quite open yet. We had a wait, but we expected that so it wasn’t an issue. Not all of the ingredients for our ordered food was available so my friend ordered something else from the menu and wasn’t disappointed. I wanted breakfast and ordered the egg tostada. This is a dish that I grew up with, the tortilla was crisp and light, the beans flavorful and the fried eggs cooked to perfection. The red chile that came on the side was not the fiery red that I’m used to, but it had good flavor and I’m sure that there are some non chile head palates that need to be pleased.
I have to disclose that I’m giving 4 stars based on the food and view. Our waitress was efficient, friendly and accommodating. Here’s the but. One of the staff came out of the back area, sat on the wine bar to put his boot/​shoes on. He used the back bar to rest his feet as he tied his shoes. He then began to saunter off. Being the outspoken mom that I am, I asked him if he was actually going to just walk away? He smirked and asked «what»… I told him in no uncertain terms that I saw his butt on the bar and his shoes on the back bar. He looked me in the eye, smirked and slouched off without any other response. UGH! I advised our waitress of what we had seen and his response to me. Her remark was that neither area was used for food prep but she’d clean it right away, which she did. Shortly thereafter, another member of the wait staff brought a full plate of food, set it down where the offending shoes had been and began to eat from the plate. So, no customer food on that counter, but staff food is. I wonder if they know that their co-​worker puts his backside and shoes where their food goes?
It’s not a bad place to have a meal, but with so many other options available in Santa Fe, I’m not sure that I’d go back.

Have had some lovely lunches here, so I thought I’d try the Friday night entertainment dinner experience. Epic Fail. Subpar food, RUDE unknowledgeable waitresses on the patio and possibly the lamest dessert tray I’ve ever seen. Gorgeous view. Have a drink and go get some decent food somewhere else!

HAVE AGAIN: The Brasila fix prix lunch was wonderful. A number of dishes to sample. The chocolate cream pie was outstanding. Thick and heavy chocolate and delicious whipped cream.
NOT HAVE AGAIN: the chicken mole had a light brown sauce and was not very tasty. Service was spotty and slow. I had to remind the server to bring one of you lunches, which he forgot to do, as well as the dessert.

I’ve had varying experiences here but it’s been better lately.

What a nice surprise! Came here during a recent trip to Santa Fe while visiting the museums. It turned out to be one of, if not the best meals we enjoyed during our vacation. Wonderful service and setting (awesome view from the patio), and delicious food. Get the chicken mole if that’s your thing — it was perfect — and save room for a slice of pecan pie. I think we would have eaten every meal here if we could!

Like another reviewer we had to wait for several minutes before anyone noticed us or bothered to seat us. There was hardly anyone in the restaurant when we arrived. Several of the staff noticed us but did not acknowledge our presence. Finally after waiting about 10 minutes we were seated. The waiter was very cordial but slow. Our food was cold and tasteless. On the plus side this is a beautiful setting but clearly could do with new management.

This restaurant is great! Despite being the only restaurant on Museum Hill, the food is as cutting edge delicious as you’d expect from a restaurant surrounded by competition. I’d happily return!

Trendy lunch place with a fun menu and great view. Well worth the stop. The guitarist provided a perfect atmosphere. I enjoyed the unusual food items and the by the glass wine list. Turned our short snack into a 1.5 hour casual lunch. Yes, we stayed for more wine and desert. :)

Smoked Duck flautas FTW!
A great place to stop between museums.