April 24, 2025 • 19 mins
In this episode of The Real Santa Fe, Bunny sits down with fellow Realtor and true local gem, Andrea Caldera. A native Santa Fean who grew up surrounded by the rich flavors and vibrant energy of the Santa Fe Plaza—thanks to her family’s iconic El Molero Fajita Cart, which has been serving up sizzling favorites for over 35 years.
Andrea shares heartfelt memories of growing up in the heart of the city, what it was like working at the cart, and how the Plaza has evolved over the years. We also explore how her deep roots and love for the community now fuel her passion for helping others find their place in Santa Fe as a Realtor.
Stay tuned to the end, where Andrea reveals her best-kept Santa Fe secret—you’ll want to add it to your local bucket list!
Original Music by: Kene Terry
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Speaker 2 (00:05):
This is so exciting.
On this episode of the RealSanta Fe podcast, I get to talk
to a great friend of mine andsomeone I get to work with, and
, um, the name of the podcastis going to be from Thumb .
Listen to me. I can't evenspeak from fajitas to
foundations at , so I knowyou're wondering what that's
(00:26):
all about. Our guest today isAndrea Caldera , and Andrea is
a true Santa Fe . Um, she is inthe family part of the beloved
El El Ero . Right? El Ero ,yeah . Fajita Cart family. And
if you've ever been to Santa Fe, um, and you have any sense at
(00:48):
all, you've eaten fajitas onthe plaza. So , um, welcome.
Speaker 3 (00:52):
Thank you, bunny .
It's nice to be here.
Speaker 2 (00:55):
I'm so glad you're here. We, we kept thinking
about people that we wanted tointerview, and I said, who has
like, the, like, real, realSanta Fe story and , um, we
both agreed that that was you.
So thank you. Tell people howyou got to Santa Fe. Just let's
just talk about like, from thebeginning.
Speaker 3 (01:16):
Okay. So my, from the beginning, my mom's side of
the family is from Cork,Ireland , and they second
generation landed in Boston,and then her mom was a gypsy,
so she wound up in New Mexico.
And my dad is originally fromMexico , and that is south
(01:36):
central Mexico. And he cameover at 20 in the engine of a
truck looking
Speaker 2 (01:45):
By her life . What , wait , uh, wait in the engine
of a truck, the
Speaker 3 (01:48):
Engine of a truck across the desert,
Speaker 2 (01:50):
Like up in the,
Speaker 3 (01:52):
They had a , an area where they would put folks and
he came across that way. What
Speaker 2 (01:58):
Year do you think that was?
Speaker 3 (01:59):
Oh my goodness. He was only 20, so seventies.
Speaker 2 (02:03):
So he was born in the fifties?
Speaker 3 (02:04):
Yeah, he was born in 52.
Speaker 2 (02:05):
Wow. Wow. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (02:07):
And so he came over and then wound up on a train to
Los Lunas where he kind offound his way and somebody
dropped him off in Santa Fe andhe just got a dishwasher job at
the pink Adobe and then madehis way up to Head Chef and
then met my mom along the ,wait,
Speaker 2 (02:25):
Wait, wait. So he was a dishwasher at Pink Adobe?
Mm-hmm . AtRosalee Murphy's Pink Adobe ,
yeah. Rosalie. Wow . I need , Ineed him to , he needs to be on
the podcast too . Yeah. So heworked with Pink Adobe and
became the head chef.
Speaker 3 (02:38):
He, with the time became the head chef there, and
then he met my mom and they
Speaker 2 (02:43):
How did they meet?
Speaker 3 (02:44):
Uh , she, he used to bring leftovers for his brother
and she would steal theleftover , she said, oh,
. Yeah . And theneventually they just crossed
paths. Wow. Yeah. And sothey've been together for 45
years. Wow. So it's been a longtime. But they opened Andreas
on Canyon Road when she was 18,and then after that they moved
(03:06):
back to Mexico and then decidedthat they wanted to come back.
And in 1990 they started in ero.
Speaker 2 (03:12):
And what year were you born?
Speaker 3 (03:15):
1992.
Speaker 2 (03:16):
So they came back and they had started the cart
mm-hmm . And youwere an infant? I
Speaker 3 (03:22):
Was born and raised on the plaza.
Speaker 2 (03:25):
Wow. Yeah .
Speaker 3 (03:27):
So I grew up downtown. It is my second home.
Yeah . And it has been a blast.
And so it's nice getting to bethere and getting the boys to
grow up there and having thethird generation really,
Speaker 2 (03:39):
Because you have babies. Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (03:41):
So my two babies.
Speaker 2 (03:42):
That's so, so what's your absolute first memory on
the plaza?
Speaker 3 (03:47):
Well, I didn't speak English until I was in sixth
grade. Okay. And so a lot of itwas just learning how to speak
English. And when I would, mymom had bought me this little
cash register and I would markit in and be like, okay, sour
cream. Okay . I only knewlettuce, salsa, sour cream in
English,.
Speaker 2 (04:06):
And so those were your first English words,
lettuce, salsa, sour cream.
Speaker 3 (04:11):
And so then I would type it into my cash register,
you know, the little fake onethat we'd get at the store toys
or Russ . And then I'd send theorder over to my dad and he
would . And I was aboutthree years old when I was
doing that, so. Oh ,
Speaker 2 (04:23):
So cool.
Speaker 3 (04:24):
Yeah. So it was a long time Wow . On the plaza.
And yeah, I used to take mypygmy goats down there because
I had taught them how to walkon a leash. And so yeah. I had
my pig
Speaker 2 (04:35):
Stuff . We're learning stuff we've never,
ever known about.
Speaker 3 (04:37):
I know. It also people, people see me now,
they're like, where are yourgoats? And I'm like, well , um,
they're a little gone now,.
Speaker 2 (04:44):
Wow.
Speaker 3 (04:45):
But yeah, it was fun. So ,
Speaker 2 (04:46):
So you had pygmy goats that you took on a leash?
Yeah. And you have a sister,right? I do.
Speaker 3 (04:51):
Little sister.
Speaker 2 (04:52):
So both of you grew up on the plaza?
Speaker 3 (04:54):
So we each had a picnic goat. Yeah. Pumpkin and
spook
Speaker 2 (04:58):
. That's so
funny. That's so funny. So
you're like the darling ofeverybody on the plaza, right?
Speaker 3 (05:06):
I mean, I Yeah.
Speaker 2 (05:07):
You knew all those people. Yeah ,
Speaker 3 (05:08):
I know everybody down there and it's been, I've
, they've all seen me grow upand I've gotten to see them
grow up and so it's, we're likea huge family downtown, so
Speaker 2 (05:18):
That's really, that's cool. Yeah. That's so
cool. Um, so you, you stillwork with them sometimes, right
?
Speaker 3 (05:24):
I do, yes. So I still do operations for them
and help with licensing. So,and like today I helped load
for my dad 'cause he's been ina lot of pain. So I go down
there at about two 30 and Iload for them and load up the
push cart . And
Speaker 2 (05:40):
So tell people how that works. The push cart lives
at your parents' house? Itdoes,
Speaker 3 (05:44):
Yes. It lives at our house and we truck it in every
day and truck it out every day. And it is heavy and it is not
easy, but
Speaker 2 (05:55):
And is it, and you cook everything there?
Speaker 3 (05:57):
Everything's fresh every day . Wow. So everything
is always done fresh, nightly,and then prepped the day of for
Yeah .
Speaker 2 (06:06):
Wow . That's a
Speaker 3 (06:07):
Job. Oh my goodness.
Yeah. That is, it's the partthat nobody sees is how much
work it takes.
Speaker 2 (06:13):
How many fajitas do you think you've sold in Santa
Fe? Oh my
Speaker 3 (06:17):
Goodness. Um, a lot.
It's pretty wild when I startto think about it because we've
been out there for 35 yearsnow. 34 with COVI , but we
don't count that and .
And so yeah. It's just, it'sbeen, it's been great.
Speaker 2 (06:37):
So how do you think it's different now than it was
when you were there with thegoats?
Speaker 3 (06:46):
I, I think a lot of things are different now. I
think that it's been like a,it's been hard because even
growing up I've gotten to seethe changes on the plaza. And
like Roche retiring felt likeit was the end of an era and
that was hard to see.
Speaker 2 (07:03):
I don't know what that means.
Speaker 3 (07:04):
Ro Rocha on the opposite corner, Caritas , he
was out there for like 40years.
Speaker 2 (07:09):
Oh wow.
Speaker 3 (07:10):
And he retired a couple of years ago and that
was really hard.
Speaker 2 (07:14):
And was that over on the, like across from , um, LA
Fonda's side?
Speaker 3 (07:19):
He was across from Dry Goods.
Speaker 2 (07:21):
Oh,
Speaker 3 (07:21):
Okay. Yeah. So on that side, but prior to that,
we were in front of the museummm-hmm . And then
he was on the opposite side. Sowhere the native jeweler set up
Yes . Was his area Uhhuh . Andthen they moved us all to the
Plaza with time. Oh yeah. So Ohwow. Yeah. But um, you know,
just all the changes, all thepeople that have unfortunately
(07:43):
passed away and all thechanging people that have come
in and just everything that'sgoes with life.
Speaker 2 (07:50):
Well, I think so. We should never assume that
everybody who's listening tothis podcast even knows what
the Plaza is. Yes. I mean, thePlaza is the center of town
mm-hmm . And ,um, I , I mean, I don't know
that there's a date for howlong the Plaza has existed.
It's just , um, that , youknow, for since the 16
(08:12):
hundreds, it's been the centerof Santa Fe and now it is a ,
um, just right at a , a blocksquare. Right. Of , and , um,
it's a grassy area with treeswhere everybody hangs out. And
, um, I don't know. I justnever wanna assume that people
(08:35):
who have never been to Santa Feor who are listening this in
Ireland, maybe in Coco Ireland. Right . Do you have cousins
there? Probably
Speaker 3 (08:42):
,
Speaker 2 (08:43):
Have any idea what we're talking about, but what
we're talking , Andrea was likein the center of everything
that was happening in Santa Fe.
Speaker 3 (08:52):
Yeah, it's been, and I mean, the plaza, I would say
is an area that has reallynever changed, which is
probably one of the mostbeautiful parts of it. Mm-hmm
. Is that SantaFe has done a really good job
at maintaining its historicpresence.
Speaker 2 (09:06):
There's that little, that little tiny obelisk issue,
but we can't talk about that onthe podcast right now.
? No. I, you know, myhusband grew up here. Mm-hmm
. My husband Tobygrew up here and he said when
they were kids, they just wentand, you know, they would ride
the bus. It wasn't like a citybus, it was more like a school
bus, but they would ride thebus downtown and hang out, you
(09:29):
know, from the time he was inthe fourth grade. Did you do
that when you were in highschool?
Speaker 3 (09:33):
Uh , I, I tried. My mom did not really let me, but
I would try to take the bus togo swimming and that was the
excitement. But that was alsowith a caretaker. She was not
very
Speaker 2 (09:45):
Is that rice
Speaker 3 (09:46):
Going anywhere?
.
Speaker 2 (09:47):
She is very old fashioned . She is
Speaker 3 (09:49):
Very old
Speaker 2 (09:49):
Fashioned . Yeah.
That's so cool. Well, you grewup in Santa Fe?
Speaker 3 (09:53):
I did, yeah.
Speaker 2 (09:53):
You went to high school here?
Speaker 3 (09:55):
I did. I went to, I grew up in Santa Fe part-time ,
um, in my early childhood andthen part-time in Mexico mm-hmm
. And then movedback to Santa Fe full-time
around seventh grade. Mm-hmm . And so I went
to middle school here, highschool here, and then went to
UNM for school. So I've been inNew Mexico for a long time.
Speaker 2 (10:18):
Wow. And what is, if you were thinking of , um, I
mean, talk about being in afamily in Santa Fe because, you
know, we have a lot of peoplewho talk about moving their
families here and , um, andthen they're like, well, is
this even a great place toraise a kid? What do you think?
You're raising your kids here,right? Yeah.
Speaker 3 (10:39):
I mean, I think my family is a very unique , um,
and also very new Mexican andSanta Fe and cultural in the
sense that we are veryconnected mm-hmm
. And we are very close. And soit's, I would say it's very
generational in Santa Fe. So ifyou want a family unit, this is
the place to be . Right.
Because everybody here, I mean,it's a , it's a package deal.
(11:01):
Let's be real.
Speaker 2 (11:02):
Yeah, I get that. I mean, I , that's so cool that
your dad worked at the pinkAdobe. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (11:08):
For years.
Speaker 2 (11:08):
Wow. Mm-hmm . Wow. Don't tell
him, but I make gypsy stew allthe time. Oh , . Do you
have that at your house?
Speaker 3 (11:16):
I have not had that.
Wow.
Speaker 2 (11:18):
No . Yeah.
Speaker 3 (11:18):
He, he only really cooks for the fajita stand and
I wish he'd cook for us more.
Wow. Mm-hmm. Mymom's always been kind of the,
the cook.
Speaker 2 (11:27):
Those are great fajitas, by the way. I don't,
do you eat them? Do you love
Speaker 3 (11:31):
Them? Oh yeah. I just had one for lunch.
Speaker 2 (11:33):
.
Well, so now you're doingsomething different.
Speaker 3 (11:39):
I am. I am in real estate now, and it has been
such a phenomenal change forme. Mm-hmm . It's
been really everything I wantedin a career mm-hmm
. And more so Icouldn't be happier.
Speaker 2 (11:54):
And she's not saying that just because she's on my
team. I'm telling you. No .
Speaker 3 (11:59):
No. It's been, I , you know, it's, I love working
with people and I would saythat that's probably been my
favorite part of this job isthe people that I get to work
with. And everybody has adifferent path in life, and
it's fun getting to hear aboutit and learn from it. And
that's, that's been really thebest part.
Speaker 2 (12:20):
I think that's the coolest thing about real estate
is, I mean, it's, it's a nicecareer in that it , you can be
flexible mm-hmm.
And you have a lot of timebecause you have babies. Yeah.
How old are your kids?
Speaker 3 (12:32):
Six months old and two and a half. So I've got
little babies. Yeah. She's
Speaker 2 (12:36):
A full-time realtor and she loads the fajita cart
and then she sells houses onthe side. . Yeah .
Speaker 3 (12:41):
I've got my kids there watching while I'm
loading. And Jagger actuallyhelped today, so I was like,
okay, good. Yeah, I was reallycute. ,
Speaker 2 (12:49):
Does he run the cash register
Speaker 3 (12:50):
Yet? Oh, no, but he's, he's going too soon if he
doesn't drink all the lemonadefirst. You know, ,
Speaker 2 (12:56):
You have homemade lemonade. We do. Fresh squeeze,
Speaker 3 (12:59):
Fresh squeeze .
Limeade Limeade. So, yeah,
Speaker 2 (13:01):
I don't know this,
Speaker 3 (13:03):
You need to come have one.
Speaker 2 (13:04):
So, so that's another interesting thing about
fe, I mean, we can talk aboutthe old stuff, but talk about ,
um, why it's so cool for newpeople who move here. Because I
think there's this idea that ,um, you know, Santa Fe's this
old city and everybody knowseverybody, but what do you find
about showing people, I mean,do you have clients who are
(13:27):
moving here and they don't haveany connections at all?
Speaker 3 (13:30):
Oh, yeah. I've, all of my clients have been from
outta state and they're kind ofgetting their bearings in Santa
Fe. And the one thing I've comein, come to learn from all of
them is that they have fallenin love with the scenery here.
Mm-hmm . Andreally that's one of the most
beautiful parts of Santa Fe isthat you have, you have it all,
(13:50):
you have the Four Seasons.
Right . And if you are somebodywho likes to be outdoors, then
we are close to mountains andlakes, and we're not far from a
lot of awesome hot springs. Andso if you're really outdoorsy,
this is the place to be. Butalso, if you're somebody that
enjoys the peace and quiet,you're not so close to other
(14:11):
people if you don't wanna be.
So you really have the tranquillife if that's what you enjoy.
Speaker 2 (14:16):
And you know, what I've found is that people who
come here are , uh, they, theykind of make their own way.
Like they find , they findtheir own circle of friends
mm-hmm . And theyfind their own set of
activities because, you know,unlike some other cities, this
is a place where you can sortof show up and be whoever you
(14:37):
want to be. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah .
I , I think that's , um, Ithink that's really attractive
to the people I work with. Iknow that I have to ask you, I
mean, I just think it's alwaysimportant for us to ask like,
what's this, what's yourfavorite , um, unexpected or
secret thing about Santa Fethat people might not know
(14:58):
otherwise? Hmm . Other than thefajita cart . But if , if
you're, if you're walking byand missing it , if don't do
that,
Speaker 3 (15:08):
The big secret and let's see about , well, if
you're someone who likes to beoutdoors, there are hikes that
you will find only on GoogleMaps. And so you've gotta do
your research.
Speaker 2 (15:23):
Wow.
Speaker 3 (15:24):
And so you
Speaker 2 (15:25):
Just search hidden hikes in Santa ?
Speaker 3 (15:28):
No, you just start playing with Google Maps and
you'd be surprised what you'vecome across. Wow. So it's
almost like a hidden gem.
Speaker 2 (15:35):
Wow, I didn't know that.
Speaker 3 (15:36):
Yeah. So if you head up to Hyde Park area, we'll
give you a little hint. GoogleMaps.
Speaker 2 (15:43):
Wow. . Now I
have to actually go hiking. I
know.. And what aboutyour fa if somebody was here
only for a day mm-hmm . For just to
visit, if somebody was hereonly for a day just to visit,
what would you suggest they dothat , um, somebody else might
(16:05):
not have thought of other thansecret hikes?
Speaker 3 (16:09):
Well, other than the obvious of making sure that you
go downtown and you walk theplaza and you check out the
churches, and the LorettoChapel, I think is probably one
of the most incredible Oh yeah.
And I think that the St .
Francis Cathedral is alsoreally important.
Speaker 2 (16:26):
Oh , okay. So can we just talk about that for a
minute? Yeah. I , I went inthere for, I actually went for
a memorial service recently,and I was looking at it and I
was like, this was built in the18 hundreds. Yeah . Out here in
the middle of nowhere. It's sobeautiful. Yeah. And the
Loretto Chapel is the
Speaker 3 (16:42):
Same. Yeah. The miraculous staircase is
incredible. Yes. Yeah. So, Imean, those are absolute must
sees mm-hmm . AndI mean, I really think it's
important that you try to doall you can as far as walking
around the town, because Idon't think that people that
have like a day trip get toexperience it all. It's a small
(17:05):
town, but it's not smallenough. Right . That you do it
in one day. Right . You know?
Right. Like, we offer a lotmore than Right . Just a one
day trip.
Speaker 2 (17:13):
I think I should change that question to like ,
if you're here for a weekend,what are the first few things
you should do? Right.
Speaker 3 (17:18):
Yeah, absolutely.
Yeah. I think that there's somuch to do in Santa Fe. We
offer a lot. And so I thinkchecking out our restaurants
and the rail yard and the plazaand Ojo the newest. Oh yeah. So
making sure that you Yeah . Hitthe hot springs in the
mountains.
Speaker 2 (17:38):
So if you were not going to eat at the fajita
cart, where would you go?
Speaker 3 (17:42):
If I were to not eat at the fa This is a hard one
because I'm all over the place.
How do you picked
Speaker 2 (17:49):
Just one? It's
Speaker 3 (17:49):
So hard .
Speaker 2 (17:49):
Yeah. Yeah. How do you pick Just one?
Speaker 3 (17:52):
I really like places where it's locally owned.
Mm-hmm . And thestaff have been working and
they're taken care of. So Ireally like places like Flying
Tortilla, which is on this sideof town. Right. And they have
really good chili and it'salways fun to go and the boys
love it. And it's just a goodfamily atmosphere. So
Speaker 2 (18:14):
That's different .
It's a great place forbreakfast.
Speaker 3 (18:15):
Yeah. I would say so. Yeah . Pantry's also
another place Pantry. Those inthis area is also another
place. I ,
Speaker 2 (18:22):
We talked about that at the last one . Oh , see ,
. Yeah . They're gonnahave to start feeding us there.
Right . 'cause we talk aboutthem so much. I agree.
. That's so cool. So ifsomebody wanted to find you
because you sell houses, wheremight they find you?
Speaker 3 (18:38):
You can find me on Bunny Terry's site.
Speaker 2 (18:42):
. Wow. That
was a total setup , wasn't it?
? No . Or on Instagram?
Well , it's moved , moved me toSanta Fe. Right. It moved me to
Santa Fe ComCom move me toSanta fe.com. Yeah, yeah ,
Speaker 3 (18:52):
Yeah. And Andrea Calera and, and I , I've been
trying to get into themarketing for the Fajita stand,
but I am working on mymarketing skills to say the
least.
Speaker 2 (19:02):
Cool. Well, I'm so glad you came on the podcast so
we could talk. I'm there . Ilearned a lot of things I never
knew. It's so cool.
Speaker 1 (19:10):
Thanks.
Speaker 3 (19:11):
Thank you, bunny.
Speaker 4 (19:14):
Here I'm back on the road, heading out west to the
mountain time zone. There's onething on my mind ,
Speaker 1 (19:25):
There's
Speaker 4 (19:25):
A girl in New Mexico whose eyes green and hair's
gold . I can't wait to have herby
Speaker 1 (19:35):
New Mexico . New Mexico got the .
Speaker 2 (00:05):
This is so exciting.
On this episode of the RealSanta Fe podcast, I get to talk
to a great friend of mine andsomeone I get to work with, and
, um, the name of the podcastis going to be from Thumb .
Listen to me. I can't evenspeak
foundations at , so I knowyou're wondering what that's
(00:26):
all about. Our guest today isAndrea Caldera , and Andrea is
a true Santa Fe . Um, she is inthe family part of the beloved
El El Ero . Right? El Ero ,yeah . Fajita Cart family. And
if you've ever been to Santa Fe, um, and you have any sense at
(00:48):
all, you've eaten fajitas onthe plaza. So , um, welcome.
Speaker 3 (00:52):
Thank you, bunny .
It's nice to be here.
Speaker 2 (00:55):
I'm so glad you're here. We, we kept thinking
about people that we wanted tointerview, and I said, who has
like, the, like, real, realSanta Fe story and , um, we
both agreed that that was you.
So thank you. Tell people howyou got to Santa Fe. Just let's
just talk about like, from thebeginning.
Speaker 3 (01:16):
Okay. So my, from the beginning, my mom's side of
the family is from Cork,Ireland , and they second
generation landed in Boston,and then her mom was a gypsy,
so she wound up in New Mexico.
And my dad is originally fromMexico , and that is south
(01:36):
central Mexico. And he cameover at 20 in the engine of a
truck looking
Speaker 2 (01:45):
By her life . What , wait , uh, wait in the engine
of a truck, the
Speaker 3 (01:48):
Engine of a truck across the desert,
Speaker 2 (01:50):
Like up in the,
Speaker 3 (01:52):
They had a , an area where they would put folks and
he came across that way. What
Speaker 2 (01:58):
Year do you think that was?
Speaker 3 (01:59):
Oh my goodness. He was only 20, so seventies.
Speaker 2 (02:03):
So he was born in the fifties?
Speaker 3 (02:04):
Yeah, he was born in 52.
Speaker 2 (02:05):
Wow. Wow. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (02:07):
And so he came over and then wound up on a train to
Los Lunas where he kind offound his way and somebody
dropped him off in Santa Fe andhe just got a dishwasher job at
the pink Adobe and then madehis way up to Head Chef and
then met my mom along the ,wait,
Speaker 2 (02:25):
Wait, wait. So he was a dishwasher at Pink Adobe?
Mm-hmm
yeah. Rosalie. Wow . I need , Ineed him to , he needs to be on
the podcast too . Yeah. So heworked with Pink Adobe and
became the head chef.
Speaker 3 (02:38):
He, with the time became the head chef there, and
then he met my mom and they
Speaker 2 (02:43):
How did they meet?
Speaker 3 (02:44):
Uh , she, he used to bring leftovers for his brother
and she would steal theleftover , she said, oh,
paths. Wow. Yeah. And sothey've been together for 45
years. Wow. So it's been a longtime. But they opened Andreas
on Canyon Road when she was 18,and then after that they moved
(03:06):
back to Mexico and then decidedthat they wanted to come back.
And in 1990 they started in ero.
Speaker 2 (03:12):
And what year were you born?
Speaker 3 (03:15):
1992.
Speaker 2 (03:16):
So they came back and they had started the cart
mm-hmm
Speaker 3 (03:22):
Was born and raised on the plaza.
Speaker 2 (03:25):
Wow. Yeah .
Speaker 3 (03:27):
So I grew up downtown. It is my second home.
Yeah . And it has been a blast.
And so it's nice getting to bethere and getting the boys to
grow up there and having thethird generation really,
Speaker 2 (03:39):
Because you have babies. Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (03:41):
So my two babies.
Speaker 2 (03:42):
That's so, so what's your absolute first memory on
the plaza?
Speaker 3 (03:47):
Well, I didn't speak English until I was in sixth
grade. Okay. And so a lot of itwas just learning how to speak
English. And when I would, mymom had bought me this little
cash register and I would markit in and be like, okay, sour
cream. Okay . I only knewlettuce, salsa, sour cream in
English,
Speaker 2 (04:06):
And so those were your first English words,
lettuce, salsa, sour cream.
Speaker 3 (04:11):
And so then I would type it into my cash register,
you know, the little fake onethat we'd get at the store toys
or Russ . And then I'd send theorder over to my dad and he
would
doing that, so. Oh ,
Speaker 2 (04:23):
So cool.
Speaker 3 (04:24):
Yeah. So it was a long time Wow . On the plaza.
And yeah, I used to take mypygmy goats down there because
I had taught them how to walkon a leash. And so yeah. I had
my pig
Speaker 2 (04:35):
Stuff . We're learning stuff we've never,
ever known about.
Speaker 3 (04:37):
I know. It also people, people see me now,
they're like, where are yourgoats? And I'm like, well , um,
they're a little gone now,
Speaker 2 (04:44):
Wow.
Speaker 3 (04:45):
But yeah, it was fun. So ,
Speaker 2 (04:46):
So you had pygmy goats that you took on a leash?
Yeah. And you have a sister,right? I do.
Speaker 3 (04:51):
Little sister.
Speaker 2 (04:52):
So both of you grew up on the plaza?
Speaker 3 (04:54):
So we each had a picnic goat. Yeah. Pumpkin and
spook
Speaker 2 (04:58):
you're like the darling ofeverybody on the plaza, right?
Speaker 3 (05:06):
I mean, I Yeah.
Speaker 2 (05:07):
You knew all those people. Yeah ,
Speaker 3 (05:08):
I know everybody down there and it's been, I've
, they've all seen me grow upand I've gotten to see them
grow up and so it's, we're likea huge family downtown, so
Speaker 2 (05:18):
That's really, that's cool. Yeah. That's so
cool. Um, so you, you stillwork with them sometimes, right
?
Speaker 3 (05:24):
I do, yes. So I still do operations for them
and help with licensing. So,and like today I helped load
for my dad 'cause he's been ina lot of pain. So I go down
there at about two 30 and Iload for them and load up the
push cart . And
Speaker 2 (05:40):
So tell people how that works. The push cart lives
at your parents' house? Itdoes,
Speaker 3 (05:44):
Yes. It lives at our house and we truck it in every
day and truck it out every day. And it is heavy and it is not
easy, but
Speaker 2 (05:55):
And is it, and you cook everything there?
Speaker 3 (05:57):
Everything's fresh every day . Wow. So everything
is always done fresh, nightly,and then prepped the day of for
Yeah .
Speaker 2 (06:06):
Wow . That's a
Speaker 3 (06:07):
Job. Oh my goodness.
Yeah. That is, it's the partthat nobody sees is how much
work it takes.
Speaker 2 (06:13):
How many fajitas do you think you've sold in Santa
Fe? Oh my
Speaker 3 (06:17):
Goodness. Um, a lot.
It's pretty wild when I startto think about it because we've
been out there for 35 yearsnow. 34 with COVI , but we
don't count that and
And so yeah. It's just, it'sbeen, it's been great.
Speaker 2 (06:37):
So how do you think it's different now than it was
when you were there with thegoats
Speaker 3 (06:46):
I, I think a lot of things are different now. I
think that it's been like a,it's been hard because even
growing up I've gotten to seethe changes on the plaza. And
like Roche retiring felt likeit was the end of an era and
that was hard to see.
Speaker 2 (07:03):
I don't know what that means.
Speaker 3 (07:04):
Ro Rocha on the opposite corner, Caritas , he
was out there for like 40years.
Speaker 2 (07:09):
Oh wow.
Speaker 3 (07:10):
And he retired a couple of years ago and that
was really hard.
Speaker 2 (07:14):
And was that over on the, like across from , um, LA
Fonda's side?
Speaker 3 (07:19):
He was across from Dry Goods.
Speaker 2 (07:21):
Oh,
Speaker 3 (07:21):
Okay. Yeah. So on that side, but prior to that,
we were in front of the museummm-hmm
he was on the opposite side. Sowhere the native jeweler set up
Yes . Was his area Uhhuh . Andthen they moved us all to the
Plaza with time. Oh yeah. So Ohwow. Yeah. But um, you know,
just all the changes, all thepeople that have unfortunately
(07:43):
passed away and all thechanging people that have come
in and just everything that'sgoes with life.
Speaker 2 (07:50):
Well, I think so. We should never assume that
everybody who's listening tothis podcast even knows what
the Plaza is. Yes. I mean, thePlaza is the center of town
mm-hmm
that there's a date for howlong the Plaza has existed.
It's just , um, that , youknow, for since the 16
(08:12):
hundreds, it's been the centerof Santa Fe and now it is a ,
um, just right at a , a blocksquare. Right. Of , and , um,
it's a grassy area with treeswhere everybody hangs out. And
, um, I don't know. I justnever wanna assume that people
(08:35):
who have never been to Santa Feor who are listening this in
Ireland, maybe in Coco Ireland. Right . Do you have cousins
there? Probably
Speaker 3 (08:42):
Speaker 2 (08:43):
Have any idea what we're talking about, but what
we're talking , Andrea was likein the center of everything
that was happening in Santa Fe.
Speaker 3 (08:52):
Yeah, it's been, and I mean, the plaza, I would say
is an area that has reallynever changed, which is
probably one of the mostbeautiful parts of it. Mm-hmm
at maintaining its historicpresence.
Speaker 2 (09:06):
There's that little, that little tiny obelisk issue,
but we can't talk about that onthe podcast right now.
they were kids, they just wentand, you know, they would ride
the bus. It wasn't like a citybus, it was more like a school
bus, but they would ride thebus downtown and hang out, you
(09:29):
know, from the time he was inthe fourth grade. Did you do
that when you were in highschool?
Speaker 3 (09:33):
Uh , I, I tried. My mom did not really let me, but
I would try to take the bus togo swimming and that was the
excitement. But that was alsowith a caretaker. She was not
very
Speaker 2 (09:45):
Is that rice
Speaker 3 (09:46):
Going anywhere?
Speaker 2 (09:47):
She is very old fashioned . She is
Speaker 3 (09:49):
Very old
Speaker 2 (09:49):
Fashioned . Yeah.
That's so cool. Well, you grewup in Santa Fe?
Speaker 3 (09:53):
I did, yeah.
Speaker 2 (09:53):
You went to high school here?
Speaker 3 (09:55):
I did. I went to, I grew up in Santa Fe part-time ,
um, in my early childhood andthen part-time in Mexico mm-hmm
around seventh grade. Mm-hmm
to middle school here, highschool here, and then went to
UNM for school. So I've been inNew Mexico for a long time.
Speaker 2 (10:18):
Wow. And what is, if you were thinking of , um, I
mean, talk about being in afamily in Santa Fe because, you
know, we have a lot of peoplewho talk about moving their
families here and , um, andthen they're like, well, is
this even a great place toraise a kid? What do you think?
You're raising your kids here,right? Yeah.
Speaker 3 (10:39):
I mean, I think my family is a very unique , um,
and also very new Mexican andSanta Fe and cultural in the
sense that we are veryconnected mm-hmm
. And we are very close. And soit's, I would say it's very
generational in Santa Fe. So ifyou want a family unit, this is
the place to be . Right.
Because everybody here, I mean,it's a , it's a package deal.
(11:01):
Let's be real.
Speaker 2 (11:02):
Yeah, I get that. I mean, I , that's so cool that
your dad worked at the pinkAdobe. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (11:08):
For years.
Speaker 2 (11:08):
Wow. Mm-hmm
him, but I make gypsy stew allthe time. Oh ,
have that at your house?
Speaker 3 (11:16):
I have not had that.
Wow.
Speaker 2 (11:18):
No . Yeah.
Speaker 3 (11:18):
He, he only really cooks for the fajita stand and
I wish he'd cook for us more.
Wow. Mm-hmm
the cook.
Speaker 2 (11:27):
Those are great fajitas, by the way. I don't,
do you eat them? Do you love
Speaker 3 (11:31):
Them? Oh yeah. I just had one for lunch.
Speaker 2 (11:33):
Well, so now you're doingsomething different.
Speaker 3 (11:39):
I am. I am in real estate now, and it has been
such a phenomenal change forme. Mm-hmm
been really everything I wantedin a career mm-hmm
Speaker 2 (11:54):
And she's not saying that just because she's on my
team. I'm telling you. No
Speaker 3 (11:59):
No. It's been, I , you know, it's, I love working
with people and I would saythat that's probably been my
favorite part of this job isthe people that I get to work
with. And everybody has adifferent path in life, and
it's fun getting to hear aboutit and learn from it. And
that's, that's been really thebest part.
Speaker 2 (12:20):
I think that's the coolest thing about real estate
is, I mean, it's, it's a nicecareer in that it , you can be
flexible mm-hmm
And you have a lot of timebecause you have babies. Yeah.
How old are your kids?
Speaker 3 (12:32):
Six months old and two and a half. So I've got
little babies. Yeah. She's
Speaker 2 (12:36):
A full-time realtor and she loads the fajita cart
and then she sells houses onthe side.
Speaker 3 (12:41):
I've got my kids there watching while I'm
loading. And Jagger actuallyhelped today, so I was like,
okay, good. Yeah, I was reallycute.
Speaker 2 (12:49):
Does he run the cash register
Speaker 3 (12:50):
Yet? Oh, no, but he's, he's going too soon if he
doesn't drink all the lemonadefirst. You know,
Speaker 2 (12:56):
You have homemade lemonade. We do. Fresh squeeze,
Speaker 3 (12:59):
Fresh squeeze .
Limeade Limeade. So, yeah,
Speaker 2 (13:01):
I don't know this,
Speaker 3 (13:03):
You need to come have one.
Speaker 2 (13:04):
So, so that's another interesting thing about
fe, I mean, we can talk aboutthe old stuff, but talk about ,
um, why it's so cool for newpeople who move here. Because I
think there's this idea that ,um, you know, Santa Fe's this
old city and everybody knowseverybody, but what do you find
about showing people, I mean,do you have clients who are
(13:27):
moving here and they don't haveany connections at all?
Speaker 3 (13:30):
Oh, yeah. I've, all of my clients have been from
outta state and they're kind ofgetting their bearings in Santa
Fe. And the one thing I've comein, come to learn from all of
them is that they have fallenin love with the scenery here.
Mm-hmm
beautiful parts of Santa Fe isthat you have, you have it all,
(13:50):
you have the Four Seasons.
Right . And if you are somebodywho likes to be outdoors, then
we are close to mountains andlakes, and we're not far from a
lot of awesome hot springs. Andso if you're really outdoorsy,
this is the place to be. Butalso, if you're somebody that
enjoys the peace and quiet,you're not so close to other
(14:11):
people if you don't wanna be.
So you really have the tranquillife if that's what you enjoy.
Speaker 2 (14:16):
And you know, what I've found is that people who
come here are , uh, they, theykind of make their own way.
Like they find , they findtheir own circle of friends
mm-hmm
activities because, you know,unlike some other cities, this
is a place where you can sortof show up and be whoever you
(14:37):
want to be. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah .
I , I think that's , um, Ithink that's really attractive
to the people I work with. Iknow that I have to ask you, I
mean, I just think it's alwaysimportant for us to ask like,
what's this, what's yourfavorite , um, unexpected or
secret thing about Santa Fethat people might not know
(14:58):
otherwise? Hmm . Other than thefajita cart . But if , if
you're, if you're walking byand missing it , if don't do
that,
Speaker 3 (15:08):
The big secret and let's see about , well, if
you're someone who likes to beoutdoors, there are hikes that
you will find only on GoogleMaps. And so you've gotta do
your research.
Speaker 2 (15:23):
Wow.
Speaker 3 (15:24):
And so you
Speaker 2 (15:25):
Just search hidden hikes in Santa ?
Speaker 3 (15:28):
No, you just start playing with Google Maps and
you'd be surprised what you'vecome across. Wow. So it's
almost like a hidden gem.
Speaker 2 (15:35):
Wow, I didn't know that.
Speaker 3 (15:36):
Yeah. So if you head up to Hyde Park area, we'll
give you a little hint. GoogleMaps.
Speaker 2 (15:43):
Wow.
know.
only for a day mm-hmm
visit, if somebody was hereonly for a day just to visit,
what would you suggest they dothat , um, somebody else might
(16:05):
not have thought of other thansecret hikes?
Speaker 3 (16:09):
Well, other than the obvious of making sure that you
go downtown and you walk theplaza and you check out the
churches, and the LorettoChapel, I think is probably one
of the most incredible Oh yeah.
And I think that the St .
Francis Cathedral is alsoreally important.
Speaker 2 (16:26):
Oh , okay. So can we just talk about that for a
minute? Yeah. I , I went inthere for, I actually went for
a memorial service recently,and I was looking at it and I
was like, this was built in the18 hundreds. Yeah . Out here in
the middle of nowhere. It's sobeautiful. Yeah. And the
Loretto Chapel is the
Speaker 3 (16:42):
Same. Yeah. The miraculous staircase is
incredible. Yes. Yeah. So, Imean, those are absolute must
sees mm-hmm
important that you try to doall you can as far as walking
around the town, because Idon't think that people that
have like a day trip get toexperience it all. It's a small
(17:05):
town, but it's not smallenough. Right . That you do it
in one day. Right . You know?
Right. Like, we offer a lotmore than Right . Just a one
day trip.
Speaker 2 (17:13):
I think I should change that question to like ,
if you're here for a weekend,what are the first few things
you should do? Right.
Speaker 3 (17:18):
Yeah, absolutely.
Yeah. I think that there's somuch to do in Santa Fe. We
offer a lot. And so I thinkchecking out our restaurants
and the rail yard and the plazaand Ojo the newest. Oh yeah. So
making sure that you Yeah . Hitthe hot springs in the
mountains.
Speaker 2 (17:38):
So if you were not going to eat at the fajita
cart, where would you go?
Speaker 3 (17:42):
If I were to not eat at the fa This is a hard one
because I'm all over the place.
How do you picked
Speaker 2 (17:49):
Just one? It's
Speaker 3 (17:49):
So hard .
Speaker 2 (17:49):
Yeah. Yeah. How do you pick Just one?
Speaker 3 (17:52):
I really like places where it's locally owned.
Mm-hmm
they're taken care of. So Ireally like places like Flying
Tortilla, which is on this sideof town. Right. And they have
really good chili and it'salways fun to go and the boys
love it. And it's just a goodfamily atmosphere. So
Speaker 2 (18:14):
That's different .
It's a great place forbreakfast.
Speaker 3 (18:15):
Yeah. I would say so. Yeah . Pantry's also
another place Pantry. Those inthis area is also another
place. I ,
Speaker 2 (18:22):
We talked about that at the last one . Oh , see ,
Right . 'cause we talk aboutthem so much. I agree.
. That's so cool. So ifsomebody wanted to find you
because you sell houses, wheremight they find you?
Speaker 3 (18:38):
You can find me on Bunny Terry's site.
Speaker 2 (18:42):
Well , it's moved , moved me toSanta Fe. Right. It moved me to
Santa Fe ComCom move me toSanta fe.com. Yeah, yeah ,
Speaker 3 (18:52):
Yeah. And Andrea Calera and, and I , I've been
trying to get into themarketing for the Fajita stand,
but I am working on mymarketing skills to say the
least.
Speaker 2 (19:02):
Cool. Well, I'm so glad you came on the podcast so
we could talk. I'm there . Ilearned a lot of things I never
knew. It's so cool.
Speaker 1 (19:10):
Thanks.
Speaker 3 (19:11):
Thank you, bunny.
Speaker 4 (19:14):
Here I'm back on the road, heading out west to the
mountain time zone. There's onething on my mind ,
Speaker 1 (19:25):
There's
Speaker 4 (19:25):
A girl in New Mexico whose eyes green and hair's
gold . I can't wait to have herby
Speaker 1 (19:35):
New Mexico . New Mexico got the .
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