The Compound Restaurant

I went there alone on a Wednesday at 1 p.m., no wait time. Lunch was great and service was fantastic. I got a window seat, the sunshine accompanied my meal the whole time. It felt warm and comfortable. I didn’t have breakfast so I had a big lunch. I tried two entries: lobster salad and roasted salmon. Both really tasty. For dessert, I got the classic coke with ice cream. Fabulous. I didn’t know the still water I ordered was $10 until I saw the bill, this is probably the only thing I regretted ordering. But overall, a great experience! I hope I can try dinner some time in the future as dinner will be an entire different menu.

A classy Evening for our group of 9 all of our dishes were spot on tasty and well presented.It was really fun having the onion rings a blast from the past. The highlight of the evening was our server Kimi from start to finish her style was fantastic. Her banter was sprinkled perfectly throughout our meal. Kimi’s Wine service was incredibly polished. She has that special touch/skill to ramp up or down the wine service as she assesses the customer’s level of sophistication needed. Not liking to intimidate or show off we never mentioned to her that at our table were 3 sommeliers, with her confidence level. I don’t think telling her would’ve mattered anyhow. The rest of the team was also great the food runner never played food auction. The waite-assist knew just when to adjust, move or remove something. In closing hats off to the kitchen for classic dishes done really well. I wish I had taken more photos, but the evening was just too fun to think about documenting it.

The Compound Restaurant is by far one of the best eateries in Santa Fe. All aspects of the experience are meticulously perfected to give the customers the best of the best. Our waiter was extremely knowledgeable and friendly, the glasses were always full, and the food was beyond amazing. They even went above and beyond to come up with an off menu mock-tail since I don’t drink. The menu is pricey, this place is definitely “special occasion” kind of restaurant, but worth the expense for your special occasion.

Rodolfe and his staff make it a special place!! It all was a very nice experience for lunch.The waiter even sounded like Ricardo Montabon from fantasy Island... what more can you ask for ?

We have heard great things about this restaurant over the years. We finally made it there with some friends recently and it was an excellent experience. Everyone had a wonderful time and was satisfied with the whole dinner. Our waiter was knowledgeable and professional. Every staff was efficient and helpful. And the food was creative and delicious. It’s a top notch restaurant and the prices align with the quality. Otherwise we would go back there frequently.

Just go. Arguably, the best high-end dining option in Santa Fe. If you're feeling adventurous, book seats at the bar!

Really, really expensive disappointment. Nothing in this meal even approached what we paid for it. We ate at the Compound for Thanksgiving 2024 - it was a 3-course meal for $145 per person. The bread/butter/crackers was literally out of a box (see photo) - Carrs water crackers, plain butter, and rolls that seemed pulled from a Pepperidge Farm bag - down to the little dots found on the bottoms of an industrially produced roll. Come on. Really?! Would’ve been better to not even serve that. 1st course - I got the hamachi crudo (photo), my husband got the goat cheese philo pastry. The hamachi was at least fresh, but not sliced with skill (we eat sushi a lot) and the main flavor was salt - no dimension. The beet juice didn’t even taste like beet. The goat cheese philo starter my husband had was more flavorful, but the middle of the pastry was collapsed and doughy. Pretty unacceptable for a supposed James Beard level dining experience. I had the lamb shank for the second course. Thankfully it was fall of the bone tender, but again, none of the meal - including the jus or greens - had flavor or dimension - it was just salt. My husband had the tenderloin, which, at least was tender and cooked to order (med rare) and the sauce had some flavor. But overall, we could’ve gotten this almost anywhere. We both got the same dessert - chocolate ganache. It was rich with lots of dark chocolate. Nothing memorable. One thing we can say is the portions were generous. Service was ok, not 4-star. I had to stop someone to get my water refilled, we had to waive someone down for our almost $400 check (it was nearing the end of the night, almost empty in our room). We did tip, since it was a holiday. The ambiance was descent (its Santa Fe) but the ceiling of the room we ate in looked like they had covered the vigas (wood beams) years ago in sound absorbent popcorn ceiling (like homes from the 1970s). The women’s bathroom was less than stellar - rundown, cramped stall, toilet paper on a stand. You could see where the wall mounted dispenser had fallen off and not been fully repaired. Not 4-star. If the meal had been excellent, I wouldn’t have really cared about the bathroom or the destroyed vigas, or even the service. But for a $400 bill, I expect quality all the way around. All of this added up to me feeling ripped off - so much so that I am up at 3 a.m. writing this review. The Compound is legendary and it should have, at the very least, risen above “meh.” But it fell below that into disappointment. Santa Fe is a culinary paradise, with so many other options. This was my first time eating at the Compound and I can tell you I will never, ever give them my business again. A restaurant is only as good as its last meal - and, even though this was a “holiday” meal, for $145 per pop, they could have done way, way, way better. Right now, i’m feeling like I should’ve gone somewhere else and just gotten a $15 plate of green chile enchiladas.

We visited The Compound last week with my wife for a special dinner after visiting my in-laws in Santa Fe. For our first course we ordered the the pea tortallini with Lobster and the citrus endive salad with anchoives. I was initially nervous about ordering seafood as we are in NM and not within striking distance of an ocean. But both dishes were delicious, fresh, and prepared well. We also ordered their James Beard award winning Mushroom and Polenta. It was light, savory, a fun addition to the other dishes we already ordered. For our second course we had the Rack of Lamb and Beef Tenderloin. Both dishes were tender and accompanies with a delicious sauce and vegetable pairing. Desert was my favorite. We ordered the Hazelnut Butter Finger and the Strawberry Napoleon. We hope to visit again soon.