Photo: Wikimedia Commons — see author and license on the file page.

The Shed

Name: The Shed
Address: 113½ E Palace Ave, Santa Fe, NM, 87501, US

Restaurant
In Santa Fe, New Mexico
0.2 mi from Route 66

The Shed is a family-run New Mexican restaurant in Santa Fe, NM, in an old adobe courtyard a block east of the Plaza. It opened in 1953, and the Carswell family runs it, now in its third generation. It is best known for red chile over stacked blue corn enchiladas. Route 66 is not recorded on Palace Avenue, but the original 1926 alignment ran about two short blocks south, on Water Street and Old Santa Fe Trail.

What is The Shed?

The restaurant sits in Prince Plaza, a courtyard on East Palace Avenue across from the Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi. Parts of its adobe are said to date to the 1690s, on land granted to Diego Arias de Quiros, an officer in the Spanish forces, after Spain retook Santa Fe following the 1680 Pueblo Revolt. Santa Fe Reporter readers have voted its red chile the city's best many times.

History of The Shed

The Shed opened in 1953 in an old shed on Burro Alley, a couple of blocks away, which gave it its name, and moved to Prince Plaza in 1960. The courtyard is named for L. Bradford Prince, later territorial governor of New Mexico, who bought the property in 1879. In 2003 the James Beard Foundation named the restaurant one of its America's Classics. Route 66 had been moved off Santa Fe years before the restaurant opened.

Visiting The Shed: tips

Plan it as a sit-down meal rather than a quick stop. The Plaza, the cathedral and the Water Street corner of the pre-1937 route are all a short walk away.

Updated October 14, 2026 · Written by Route 66 Trip Guide