5 Star Burgers - Taos

Happy Monday, readers! As I detailed Friday, Nate and I went on a long hike on Saturday. We drove about an hour north to Taos, New Mexico and hiked to the summit of Lobo Peak. The hike was 11 miles total with an elevation gain of 4,000 feet in 5.5 miles - to say it was difficult is a massive understatement.

The uphill started out gradually and then very, very quickly turned into an almost straight 90 degree angle for the remainder. There were many points where I wanted to stop and cry, but I soldiered on and was rewarded with a 360 degree view of the Northern New Mexico mountains. We signed the summit log, cheers'd with a North Carolina brew and then began the difficult descent to the trail head. About 2 miles down (which was just about as difficult as going up), I miss-stepped and rolled my ankle. I am very thankful it was just a roll and not something more serious, but even now my right ankle has a baseball-sized lump.

Summit Selfie!

Summit marker and a can of Brueprint Brewing Edinbrue!

After our 5 hour journey, we were understandably starving and needed sustenance. Originally we had planned on going to Taos Mesa Brewing because Nate had read online that they were open for dine-in services, unfortunately this was not the case. So we drove a little down the road and stopped at 5 Star Burgers instead!

5 Star Burgers

Location: 1032 Paseo Del Pueblo Sur, Taos, NM 87571

The Taos location is a satellite location. The original 5 Star Burgers is located in Albuquerque.

We were pleased to find that the restaurant was not only open for patio service but also dine-in, and since we were there around 2:00 PM, it wasn't busy!

After burning off 1500 calories, we wanted all the carbs (which maybe resulted in our eyes being bigger than our stomachs) but we ordered a basket of beer battered onion rings, a basket of sweet potato fries and a basket of fried green chile strips. Everything hit the spot! The green chile strips are my favorite thing 5 Star Burgers has on their menu - the strips are cornmeal crusted, crispy, spicy and served with a cup of green chile mayo to dip in. The onion rings were crispy and sweet and paired with buttermilk ranch. The sweet potato fries were just ok, I'm not a big fan of sweet potatoes personally. They're served with maple cream dipping sauce, which is just unnecessary in my opinion. Why does something already sweet need to be made sweeter?

Onion Rings, Sweet Potato Fries and Crispy Green Chile

Despite my significant calorie deficit, I was craving something vegetable-forward, so I settled on the Mediterranean Bowl with an Unburger (in place of the lamb burger that is customary). The bowl consisted of quinoa, riced cauliflower, edamame, diced tomato, kalamata olives, feta cheese, diced cucumber and tzatziki sauce. It was expertly balanced in flavors and textures and honestly just what my body was craving after the long hike! The Unburger was good too. It was made with black beans, corn, grain and spices. I'm not sure how well it would hold together on a bun but it was perfect for topping a big bowl of vegetables!

Mediterranean Bowl with Unburger and a Marble Brewing Double White

Nate opted for the Taos Burger - a big strip of crispy green chile, a slice of melty cheddar cheese and a slather of BBQ sauce on a soft cornmeal-crusted bun. Back when I was a carnivore, this was always my pick.

The service was great too! Food was served quickly and our orders were accurate and we were checked on appropriately without it being annoying. The servers were all wearing masks and gloves, the menus were disposable and I felt they were taking the right measures in light of COVID-19.

I would definitely recommend a stop at either 5 Star location for a burger, a brew and definitely a basket of crispy green chile strips!

This week is an exciting one, I start a new job on Thursday! I can't wait to be doing something again. Honestly I feel so useless since we moved to New Mexico. This experience has shown me that I couldn't be a housewife. I love cooking and baking, but I cannot keep cleaning and walking around my house looking for things to dust day after day. It's not fulfilling. But I  am extremely excited to work and feel useful! I'll detail more later so check back for updates and recipes!