Survey praises Santa Fe Mexican
by Jim Haviland
TIVOLI – The Santa Fe Mexican restaurant in Tivoli has received a top rating in the newly released 1996 Zagat Connecticut-Southern New York restaurant survey.
Zagat Research Editor Larry Cohn said Santa Fe was tops in a category including restaurants featuring Mexican, Tex-Mex and Southwestern cuisine.
The area covered by the guide includes Connecticut and Westchester, Putnam, Dutchess, Orange and Rockland counties in New York.
He said the Tivoli restaurant also was voted the “best buy” in the Mexican-Southwestern category and was ranked eighth among the “best buys” for all restaurant categories.
Santa Fe operator David Weiss was pleased by the rating, noting that the Zagat survey is one of the most popular in the nation.
“It’s been an incredible year in Tivoli for us, “ Weiss said. “We’re thrilled with the new, higher Zagat rating. It’s more than we could have hoped for.
Santa Fe opened in 1987 with one employee and 20 seats. Today, it has 30 employees and seats 160.
“This is another great thing for the town of Red Hook,” said Supervisor John Gilfeather.
“I’m happy for them.”
He said the the Santa Fe restaurant attracts people from outside the area to Red Hook.
“They have a good meal, and I go there at least once a month,” said Tivoli Mayor Marc Molinaro, who said the restaurant is an asset to the community.
“It’s played a role in attracting commercial growth here,” he said.
Cohn, who works out of New York City, said the ratings are based on thousands of people voting on more than 800 restaurants in Connecticut and Southern New York. New York City and Long island are not included in the guide.
“This latest rating shows the voting public thinks Santa Fe is a good restaurant,” Cohn said. “Increasing their rating in just two years is very difficult.”