Was excited to come here based on the reviews since I'm an aspiring mixologist, but was ultimately let down. The smoked sage margarita was completely taken over by the taste of the sage ash and tasted like a campfire. The spicy secreto was bland. The mojito was undrinkable... The acidity was burning a hole in our stomachs. Four drinks = $40, but we got $20 off because we couldn't drink the margarita or mojito. So they were at least courteous about it.
I will say that when my girlfriend received a drink based on her taste preferences, it was pretty good. I like the atmosphere of the bar, and the enthusiasm of the bartenders. However, it appears that they need some consistency or retraining.
Good drinks, love the smoked sage marg (yes they hand smoke the glass with sage), but depending on the server the service can be poor to excellent - with or without much enthusiasm. Sort of a hit or miss experience. But when it is good it's good - espeically for a cozy place for a stiff drink near the plaza.
Review Source:The success of any bar is a direct product of its bartenders. Even the shadiest dive bar can be transformed with the right drink. Although it might not always be the formula for success (alcohol does tend to make you forget your expectations and standards), the impressive talents of the bartenders are certainly what makes Secreto Bar and Lounge THE bar to be at.
We recently checked this place out when we stayed at the wondering St. Francis Hotel-the bar is in its lobby. Secreto has a lovely, low lit atmosphere. We nestled up to the bar and were greeted by my soon-to-be new best friend, the bartender. (I believe his name was Joe OR Todd but how quickly his drinks made me forget!). It was happy hour, so some of their speciality drinks were on sale. But, of course, as I do whenever I'm in a new bar, I requested that the bartender make me his favorite drink. And, as is usually the case, this special drink was not on the menu. I cannot remember what it was called now but it ended with him lighting a-blaze a piece of rosemary which he sat on top of my martini glass. The aroma mixed incredibly with the apple undertones of my drink and I was in heaven. So was the lady next to me, she ordered one immediately!
It is this sort of great attention and skill put into Secreto's drinks that makes it one of my new favorite bars in Santa Fe. Drinks run about $10 each but get there between 4 and 7 for happy hour for a discount! Say Cassidy sent you for the Rosemary special...whatever that may be.
Cosy bar in the lobby, dark, soft music, great ambiance!
Happy hour was a wow any of their specialty cocktail for $7 yes $7!
I has the smoked sage margarita...not an easy drink for the bartender to make...no premixed drinks here....watching him make it was a great show
My hubby had the gingers pear adise...another step filled drink to make but worth the wait.
Bartender was alone mixing drinks and seemed overwhelmed at times, but the drinks were great!
My husband and I return to Santa Fe every couple of years.....an easy drive over from the Phoenix area. My husband is a Tequila connoisseur and Secreto was recommended to him by an acquaintance on his tequila blog. My review of Secreto is the ONLY poor review I will offer of our latest Santa Fe experience. Believe it when you see reviews here that say the place has "attitude."  We had an average experience the first night when we stopped in after dinner. The Smoked Sage margarita was exceptional, so we decided to go back for late-night cocktails the next night. We were ignored for 30 minutes, although the waitresses would look at us as they walked by. We finally had to ask for assistance, although one waitress was leaning against the wall behind the bar without much to do at that moment . They were out of sage and seemed unconcerned about it. How do you run out of one ingredient for a signature drink and NOT go to the store? When we ordered de-caf Irish coffees - it took another 30 minutes to get our drinks and they were lukewarm. They were never friendly, nor engaged us in any pleasant conversation at all. So......call us masochistic, but we went back a 3rd night.....determined to celebrate our last night with the smoked sage margarita. Again, they were still out of sage.....and the $45 they lost when we walked out could have paid for the sage  they needed - even at the retail price they should have paid. In short, this place could care less if you come in. They have a bad attitude, aren't friendly, don't smile, aren't welcoming, and we will never be back. We watched them make the drink the first time, and sage grows wild here.....in my backyard, in fact. So.....no problemo.
Review Source:I submitted a positive review of this bar several months ago, with the caveat that the servers needed to be more attentive to their customers. We were in Santa Fe a couple of weeks ago and decided to drop in for some drinks one evening. The bar was not overly busy - a few patrons sitting at the bar, some around the lounge and some in the hotel lobby area right outside the bar. We opted to sit at the bar so we could watch the bartenders. It took a while for one of the bartenders to acknowledge us  (there were 3 people behind the bar.)  I ordered an Irish Coffee, if I could have it with de-caf coffee. I watched as a healthy dram of whiskey was poured into a coffee cup...and then watched as the bartender gave it to a cocktail waitress and off she went. My husband got his drink...and I waited and waited. Pretty soon, the waitress brought the coffee cup back. The bartender brought it over, and told me they didn't have de-caf, so he made it with half-strength espresso. What??? Did he think that was the same thing??? Mind you, there is a full restaurant right down the hall from the bar in this hotel. I find it hard to believe that a restaurant doesn't have de-caf available. And if not? Brew some. If the bartender would've told me they didn't have de-caf, I'd be ok with that and order something else. Or, if he would've told me they needed to make some, that would be fine. But he didn't. He just gave me the brown-water-with-whiskey drink. Yuk!
While we were waiting, a man came up to the bar to get someone's attention. No one behind the bar paid him any attention although he tried several times. We even made the comment to him - how's it feel to be invisible? Another ignored customer. Do you see the trend? Finally, he got the attention of a gal and asked if they were serving food, he was sitting in the hotel lobby area right outside the lounge. She responded by saying she didn't know, she was only there to wash/dry the glasses. She didn't offer to ask the bartender or even suggest that she would find out and get someone to help him. This is NOT customer service. The cocktail waitress came up to pick up an order, and he asked her. She asked him what he wanted and where he was sitting - he asked for a menu. Wouldn't you think she would give him a menu without him having to ask for it??
This place has great ambience, but the staff need personality transplants. No smiles at all; the staff looked bored or put out that they were there. This is a tourist town - how about some friendliness - is that too much to ask? The only people who get smiles or good service seem to be 1) friends of the staff 2) people who look like they are big tippers (how that is determined I have no idea)
There are great restaurants and bars in Sante Fe. Management needs to realize that the customer service in Secreto Lounge needs overhauling and do something about it. Things had not changed from when we were here a few months ago. Next visit, we'll go elsewhere (like the Loretto Inn bar - it's awesome! And they are friendly & attentive. How novel.)
Stopped here for a drink before dinner at cafe Pasqual's. I tried the spicy secreto, which was so delicious I went for round 2. My friend's spicy margarita wasn't quite spicy enough on the first go, but after a little more chile muddling it was perfection. This place is definitely a cozy spot to catch up with friends, with great music playing and delicious cocktails!
Review Source:Poking around downtown Santa Fe before dinner lead us to grab a drink here.
Definitely worth it.
Thankfully the bar wasn't that busy, which meant we could actually have a conversation with Chris, the mixologist. He has a wealth of knowledge about cocktails that far surpasses mine (and almost everyone I know) and was willing to teach us, including showing us the difference between different bitters.
I started with his version of a Manhattan (I'll Take Manhattan), which was expertly made and very nice with the barbecue bitters.
For the girlfriend he made an off-the-menu gin drink with burnt rosemary - I love manhattans, but it made me wish I had ordered that instead.
I next had a great old fashioned - again, very well made and balanced.
I could imagine if it got busy here it wouldn't be as much fun, but if you can sneak in when it's quieter, it's a great learning (and drinking!) experience.
After an afternoon of strolling in the plaza we stopped by Secreto for a pre-dinner drink. We sat at the bar. Chris, the bartender/mixologist, was so rididculously nice. They have a huge menu of cocktails and I was having a hard time deciding. When I told Chris I liked gin, he made me something not even on the menu with burnt rosemary, lemon, and who knows what else. It was really tasty! My boyfriend had what sounded like a bourbon martini. The atmosphere was very pleasant and relaxed.
We decided to stick around for a second cocktail. Chris made me a gin martini with a splash of cranberry and an old fashioned for the boyfriend. Again, totally delicious. It was happy hour so everything was $7 which is an amazing deal for craft cocktails.
5 star experience all around. I would highly recommend this bar!
Don't bother if you don't meet the bartenders' definition of "hipster."
I went in on Friday night with an older friend. The bartender, Todd, was fairly dismissive. He never smiled, shouted his comments to us in a fairly unintelligible voice, and assumed we were tourists -- which in a tourist town should not be a bad thing, but I think it was partially behind his dismissive attitude. The bigger part, though, seemed to be that he was not interested in serving mature women; he preferred the tatted hipster crowd with whom he felt comfortable fist bumping.
There was another young male bartender and who seemed equally unfriendly and uninterested. A female barback was the only one of the trio who showed some minimal level of friendliness. A couple other women were hanging around behind the bar chatting up the bartenders the whole time we were there - it was unclear whether they were hotel employees, girlfriends, groupies, or customers.
When our food was brought to the bar, we had to ask for napkins and utensils.
The food was good, but nothing special.
Todd assumed we wanted to put the meal on a room tab - which was my clue that he believed we were tourists (and again, that is not a reason to be rude). When my friend asked him about this, he answered, "That's what most people do," in a pissed-off tone.
Todd might wish he were working in a club in a truly hip city, like New York, LA, or San Francisco. But he doesn't have to take out his bitterness on the Santa Fe patrons.
I've lived in Santa Fe for a few years, and had wanted to stop into Secreto, having seen it and thought it looked cool. Unfortunately, the service is dismal. The St. Francis could do better, I would think. I won't be back, and I won't be recommending Secreto to anyone else.
Opening night, Santa Fe Opera. My wife and I have just finished a wonderful evening seeing Tosca and it's 11:00 PM. We have a sitter, so why not stop off at the St. Francis for a quick drink before heading home?
Well, as it turns out they had already served last call and were rushing folks out like it was 2:00 AM and the cops were on the way. Except it was 11:15 on a summer Friday night at a full bar in downtown Santa Fe. Everyone seemed happy and well behaved, but definitely not ready to call it a night. I know we weren't.
We happen to know the head bartender and beverage manager, Chris, and I made the casual comment to my wife that "Chris is definitely gonna hear about this from me. How ridiculous". One of the young staff overheard me say this and replied indignantly, "we're a hotel so we close early". As if I hadn't had drinks there past 11:00 PM at least 100 times in the last 20 years. When the adults are away, this bar is evidentially run by a group of snobby children that are all too anxious to close up so they can go bar hopping themselves, I guess.
I have no idea why a business (a bar) full of customers on a Friday night in downtown Santa Fe kicks out a full house of well behaved paying customers. This hotel must be doing really well to be able to afford such nonsense. Must be nice in this economy to not care about serving your customers and taking their money.
FYI- the law in Santa Fe prohibits the sale of alcohol past 2:00 AM on Friday and Saturday nights.
Also FYI- when you can get a drink there, and when the grownups are working the bar, this place has some of the best drinks in town. Which is awesome if you like to drink early. But if you catch a late movie, don't bother stopping here. Head on over to Coyote Den and drink to blaring distorted bad pop music remixes while getting glared at by machismo 22 year olds drenched in cologne. If that sounds not to your liking, stroll around the corner to the dimly lit stairwell down to the Matador and drink overpriced bottled beer while listening to cliche 80s music and smelling the body oder of hipsters. Still not satisfied? Let me know if you find anything better in Santa Fe on a given weekend.
This is a really quaint place to enjoy hand made cocktails. I love the vibe, the energy and feeling like I'm sitting in one of Toulouse-Lautrec's Absinthe paintings. And Secreto happens to serve absinthe as well.
It's a win-win for everyone!
Very low key and relaxing. One of my favorite places to go to end an evening in Santa Fe.
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