Angelina’s is a must do when you are either headed up to Taos or coming back to Santa Fe and especially for those on the culinary quest! An Espanola institution which prides itself on using only the freshest in natural locally grown and raised foods of Northern New Mexico.
Establishing itself as a leader in keeping the culinary arts of our ancestors alive and delicious!
Using techniques and ingredients that have been used and grown by the same line of seeds that our forefathers and mothers and native pueblo neighbors have used for generations.
Angelina’s offers the very best of native New Mexican food.
Originally from the Velarde area in Northern New Mexico both Angelina and Fidel Guiterrez had both been raised farming and gardening food since very early ages. These lessons taught from both their parents and grandparents for generations were deep rooted in the understanding the earth (the cultivation, consideration and treatment), hard work and determination would serve both Angelina and Fidel throughout their lives. Fidel Guiterrez and Angelina Salazar are true New Mexico Living Legends for keeping alive the valuable and time -honored traditions of 400 years of food in Northern New Mexico.
Raised in 400 year old traditions of the predominately Spanish traditions with influences as newly adopted members of the United States of Northern New Mexico life at the time was full of hard work, especially when it came to surviving. Part of growing up was helping your parents with all the chores of running a home and which included house cleaning, cutting wood and laundry and especially gardening. Gardening was something that Fidel was good at doing. Helping to maintain everything of the family orchards of apple trees, cherry trees, apricots to gardening the fields for vegetables and grain to help sell to raise money to live. Angelina too had to do her share of the same chores but opted for outside gardening and making the traditional pot of pinto beans and tortillas in the kitchen.
Having married by parental arrangement (an old tradition not really practiced anymore), Angelina Salazar and Fidel Guiterrez were married in 1946 in Velarde, NM and two years later they would start their own family of 4.
Life would be spent raising a family, peacefully in Northern New Mexico until 1983, which saw the untimely death of Chuck, their 3rd child to a battle with leukemia at the age of 34. Effecting the family hard and especially Fidel, it was from this tragedy, there rose the opportunity to keep Chucks spirit alive. Chuck loved his mothers beans and tortillas the most, he would always tell his mom that one day he was going to learn all of her recipes and open a restaurant one day to share with everyone what he loved most. his mothers cooking and recipes.
Shortly after Chuck’s death, Fidel would hang up his life of farming and gardening and inquire a restaurant with hope of keeping Chuck’s dream of owning a restaurant serving his mothers recipes. Sharing cooking duties with Angelina and having the rest of the family helping in the front of the house the dream was realized and a reality.
For nearly 20 years now Angelina and Fidel Guiterrez have both been the owners of a very successful restaurant. Not everything has been easy or handed to them; they have been hit with many tragedies on their adventures to becoming living legends and successful restaurateurs.
Please enjoy your visit to Angelina’s and know that you are getting a meal that is made of love, pride and honor!
