TOMASITA’S IS FULL on a midsummer Tuesday afternoon in the height of Santa Fe’s tourist season. Servers keep up with the rush, running dishes smothered in the restaurant’s famous green and red chile to families eager for the burn. Owners Georgia Maryol and her son, George Gundrey, sit in a booth near the bar, greeting regulars and grinning at guests, some of whom are trying New Mexican food for the first time.

“This is New Mexican soul food,” says the 85-year-old matriarch, who took ownership of a tiny diner on Hickox Street in 1974. She named the place after the spirited cook, Tomasita Leyba, whose recipes reminded her of home. But as Tomasita’s celebrates its 50th anniversary in September, Maryol is only half kidding when she insists the real secret to her success actually isn’t about the food. “No parking, no business,” she says wryly.

Maryol’s mother ran a café along Route 66 in Albuquerque’s Atrisco neighborhood and warned her about the parking pitfalls. So after five years, Maryol moved her eatery to the Santa Fe Railyard’s former Guadalupe Depot, a redbrick station house for the Chili Line. There was seating for 85—and 110 parking spaces—but the area was mostly auto-repair shops. Maryol never struggled to attract customers, however, and she was able to purchase the property in the 1990s. Today, Tomasita’s anchors one end of a bustling neighborhood of restaurants, retail shops, galleries, and museums.

Try a frozen margarita flight. Photograph courtesy of Tomasita’s.

Although she’s often spotted at the restaurant, Maryol is mostly retired. Gundrey, 56, owns the place now. (He also owns Tomasita’s in Albuquerque and Atrisco Cafe & Bar, in Santa Fe. Maryol’s brother’s family owns Tia Sophia’s near the Santa Fe Plaza.)

Gundrey maintains it’s their red and green chile that have earned Tomasita’s its outstanding reputation for traditional New Mexican cuisine.

“We only use whole red chile pods that are sun-dried—never powdered. We soak the pods for four hours and then they go through a grinder,” he says. “Our green chile is just chile, salt, a little garlic, and a little roux. Just the right amount.” It’s ladled over burritos, enchiladas, and tamales, then heaped with melty cheese.

Gundrey grew up doing his homework in a booth at the restaurant’s original Hickox Street location. He washed dishes as soon as he was tall enough to see over the counter and was managing the kitchen as a high school senior. “That was 1985,” he recalls, “the year before my mom expanded the kitchen and added the patio dining areas. Before that, our cold storage was in three or four boxcars in the parking lot.”

Enjoy Tomasita's ultimate snack spread: crispy tortilla chips with fresh guacamole, creamy cheese dip, and signature salsa. Photograph courtesy of Tomasita’s.

The kitchen assembly line starts with enormous tilting skillets of beans, chile, rice, and taco meat. Everyone has their own task, including a salsa maker, a tortilla chip fryer, a cheese melter, and a sopaipilla preparer. The pillows of golden fried dough are served with every New Mexican entrée. Getting them perfectly puffy is a big deal. Maryol believes the sopaipillas, served with honey butter, are what truly set Tomasita’s apart. “Most places have small sopaipillas, but ours are humongous,” she says.

Maryol and Gundrey say their classic, fresh food and friendly service keep customers coming back. “I can walk through the dining room and see people who’ve been eating here since we opened,” Maryol says. “People I’ve known most of my life. They love our food.”

Read more: One family has run the City Different’s oldest restaurant for 75 years. The current owner, Leonardo Razato, keeps it fresh by mixing tradition with change.

TOMASITA’S

500 South Guadalupe St., Santa Fe; 4949 Pan American Freeway NE, Albuquerque.