From Fajitas to Foundations: Andrea Caldera’s Santa Fe Story

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!

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Original Music by: Kene Terry 

Transcript

Speaker 1 0:00

<silence>

Speaker 2 0:05

This is so exciting. On this episode of the Real Santa Fe podcast, I get to talk to a great friend of mine and someone I get to work with, and , um, the name of the podcast is going to be from Thumb . Listen to me. I can't even speak <laugh> from fajitas to foundations at , so I know you're wondering what that's all about. Our guest today is Andrea Caldera , and Andrea is a true Santa Fe . Um, she is in the 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 all, you've eaten fajitas on the plaza. So , um, welcome.

Speaker 3 0:52

Thank you, bunny . It's nice to be here.

Speaker 2 0:55

I'm so glad you're here. We, we kept thinking about people that we wanted to interview, and I said, who has like, the, like, real, real Santa Fe story and , um, we both agreed that that was you. So thank you. Tell people how you got to Santa Fe. Just let's just talk about like, from the beginning.

Speaker 3 1:16

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 from Mexico , and that is south central Mexico. And he came over at 20 in the engine of a truck looking

Speaker 2 1:45

By her life . What , wait , uh, wait in the engine of a truck, the

Speaker 3 1:48

Engine of a truck across the desert,

Speaker 2 1:50

Like up in the,

Speaker 3 1:52

They had a , an area where they would put folks and he came across that way. What

Speaker 2 1:58

Year do you think that was?

Speaker 3 1:59

Oh my goodness. He was only 20, so seventies.

Speaker 2 2:03

So he was born in the fifties?

Speaker 3 2:04

Yeah, he was born in 52.

Speaker 2 2:05

Wow. Wow. Yeah.

Speaker 3 2:07

And so he came over and then wound up on a train to Los Lunas where he kind of found his way and somebody dropped him off in Santa Fe and he just got a dishwasher job at the pink Adobe and then made his way up to Head Chef and then met my mom along the , wait,

Speaker 2 2:25

Wait, wait. So he was a dishwasher at Pink Adobe? Mm-hmm <affirmative> . At Rosalee Murphy's Pink Adobe , yeah. Rosalie. Wow . I need , I need him to , he needs to be on the podcast too . Yeah. So he worked with Pink Adobe and became the head chef.

Speaker 3 2:38

He, with the time became the head chef there, and then he met my mom and they

Speaker 2 2:43

How did they meet?

Speaker 3 2:44

Uh , she, he used to bring leftovers for his brother and she would steal the leftover , she said, oh, <laugh> . Yeah . And then eventually they just crossed paths. Wow. Yeah. And so they've been together for 45 years. Wow. So it's been a long time. But they opened Andreas on Canyon Road when she was 18, and then after that they moved back to Mexico and then decided that they wanted to come back. And in 1990 they started in ero .

Speaker 2 3:12

And what year were you born?

Speaker 3 3:15

1992.

Speaker 2 3:16

So they came back and they had started the cart mm-hmm <affirmative> . And you were an infant? I

Speaker 3 3:22

Was born and raised on the plaza.

Speaker 2 3:25

Wow. Yeah .

Speaker 3 3:27

So I grew up downtown. It is my second home. Yeah . And it has been a blast. And so it's nice getting to be there and getting the boys to grow up there and having the third generation really,

Speaker 2 3:39

Because you have babies. Yeah. Yeah.

Speaker 3 3:41

So my two babies.

Speaker 2 3:42

That's so, so what's your absolute first memory on the plaza?

Speaker 3 3:47

Well, I didn't speak English until I was in sixth grade. Okay. And so a lot of it was just learning how to speak English. And when I would, my mom had bought me this little cash register and I would mark it in and be like, okay, sour cream. Okay . I only knew lettuce, salsa, sour cream in English, <laugh>.

Speaker 2 4:06

And so those were your first English words, lettuce, salsa, sour cream.

Speaker 3 4:11

And so then I would type it into my cash register, you know, the little fake one that we'd get at the store toys or Russ . And then I'd send the order over to my dad and he would <laugh> . And I was about three years old when I was doing that, so. Oh ,

Speaker 2 4:23

So cool.

Speaker 3 4:24

Yeah. So it was a long time Wow . On the plaza. And yeah, I used to take my pygmy goats down there because I had taught them how to walk on a leash. And so yeah. I had my pig

Speaker 2 4:35

Stuff . We're learning stuff we've never, ever known about.

Speaker 3 4:37

I know. It also people, people see me now, they're like, where are your goats? And I'm like, well , um, they're a little gone now, <laugh>.

Speaker 2 4:44

Wow.

Speaker 3 4:45

But yeah, it was fun. So ,

Speaker 2 4:46

So you had pygmy goats that you took on a leash? Yeah. And you have a sister, right? I do.

Speaker 3 4:51

Little sister.

Speaker 2 4:52

So both of you grew up on the plaza?

Speaker 3 4:54

So we each had a picnic goat. Yeah. Pumpkin and spook

Speaker 2 4:58

<laugh>. That's so funny. That's so funny. So you're like the darling of everybody on the plaza, right?

Speaker 3 5:06

I mean, I Yeah.

Speaker 2 5:07

You knew all those people. Yeah ,

Speaker 3 5:08

I know everybody down there and it's been, I've , they've all seen me grow up and I've gotten to see them grow up and so it's, we're like a huge family downtown, so

Speaker 2 5:18

That's really, that's cool. Yeah. That's so cool. Um, so you, you still work with them sometimes, right ?

Speaker 3 5:24

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 in a lot of pain. So I go down there at about two 30 and I load for them and load up the push cart . And

Speaker 2 5:40

So tell people how that works. The push cart lives at your parents' house? It does,

Speaker 3 5:44

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 <laugh>

Speaker 2 5:55

And is it, and you cook everything there?

Speaker 3 5:57

Everything's fresh every day . Wow. So everything is always done fresh, nightly, and then prepped the day of for Yeah .

Speaker 2 6:06

Wow . That's a

Speaker 3 6:07

Job. Oh my goodness. Yeah. That is, it's the part that nobody sees is how much work it takes.

Speaker 2 6:13

How many fajitas do you think you've sold in Santa Fe? Oh my

Speaker 3 6:17

Goodness. Um, a lot. It's pretty wild when I start to think about it because we've been out there for 35 years now. 34 with COVI , but we don't count that and <laugh> . And so yeah. It's just, it's been, it's been great.

Speaker 2 6:37

So how do you think it's different now than it was when you were there with the goats <laugh>?

Speaker 3 6:46

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 see the changes on the plaza. And like Roche retiring felt like it was the end of an era and that was hard to see.

Speaker 2 7:03

I don't know what that means.

Speaker 3 7:04

Ro Rocha on the opposite corner, Caritas , he was out there for like 40 years.

Speaker 2 7:09

Oh wow.

Speaker 3 7:10

And he retired a couple of years ago and that was really hard.

Speaker 2 7:14

And was that over on the, like across from , um, LA Fonda's side?

Speaker 3 7:19

He was across from Dry Goods.

Speaker 2 7:21

Oh,

Speaker 3 7:21

Okay. Yeah. So on that side, but prior to that, we were in front of the museum mm-hmm <affirmative> . And then he was on the opposite side. So where the native jeweler set up Yes . Was his area Uhhuh . And then they moved us all to the Plaza with time. Oh yeah. So Oh wow. Yeah. But um, you know, just all the changes, all the people that have unfortunately passed away and all the changing people that have come in and just everything that's goes with life.

Speaker 2 7:50

Well, I think so. We should never assume that everybody who's listening to this podcast even knows what the Plaza is. Yes. I mean, the Plaza is the center of town mm-hmm <affirmative> . And , um, I , I mean, I don't know that there's a date for how long the Plaza has existed. It's just , um, that , you know, for since the 16 hundreds, it's been the center of Santa Fe and now it is a , um, just right at a , a block square. Right. Of , and , um, it's a grassy area with trees where everybody hangs out. And , um, I don't know. I just never wanna assume that people who have never been to Santa Fe or who are listening this in Ireland, maybe in Coco Ireland . Right . Do you have cousins there? Probably

Speaker 3 8:42

<laugh> , <laugh>

Speaker 2 8:43

Have any idea what we're talking about, but what we're talking , Andrea was like in the center of everything that was happening in Santa Fe.

Speaker 3 8:52

Yeah, it's been, and I mean, the plaza, I would say is an area that has really never changed, which is probably one of the most beautiful parts of it. Mm-hmm <affirmative> . Is that Santa Fe has done a really good job at maintaining its historic presence.

Speaker 2 9:06

There's that little, that little tiny obelisk issue, but we can't talk about that on the podcast right now. <laugh> <laugh> ? No. I, you know, my husband grew up here. Mm-hmm <affirmative> . My husband Toby grew up here and he said when they were kids, they just went and, you know, they would ride the bus. It wasn't like a city bus, it was more like a school bus, but they would ride the bus downtown and hang out, you know, from the time he was in the fourth grade. Did you do that when you were in high school?

Speaker 3 9:33

Uh , I, I tried. My mom did not really let me, but I would try to take the bus to go swimming and that was the excitement. But that was also with a caretaker. She was not very

Speaker 2 9:45

Is that rice

Speaker 3 9:46

Going anywhere? <laugh> .

Speaker 2 9:47

She is very old fashioned . She is

Speaker 3 9:49

Very old

Speaker 2 9:49

Fashioned . Yeah. That's so cool. Well, you grew up in Santa Fe?

Speaker 3 9:53

I did, yeah.

Speaker 2 9:53

You went to high school here?

Speaker 3 9:55

I did. I went to, I grew up in Santa Fe part-time , um, in my early childhood and then part-time in Mexico mm-hmm <affirmative> . And then moved back to Santa Fe full-time around seventh grade. Mm-hmm <affirmative> . And so I went to middle school here, high school here, and then went to UNM for school. So I've been in New 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 a family in Santa Fe because, you know, we have a lot of people who talk about moving their families here and , um, and then they're like, well, is this even a great place to raise 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 and Santa Fe and cultural in the sense that we are very connected mm-hmm <affirmative> . And we are very close. And so it's, I would say it's very generational in Santa Fe. So if you want a family unit, this is the place to be . Right. Because everybody here, I mean, it's a , it's a package deal. 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 pink Adobe. Yeah.

Speaker 3 11:08

For years.

Speaker 2 11:08

Wow. Mm-hmm <affirmative> . Wow. Don't tell him, but I make gypsy stew all the time. Oh , <laugh> . 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 <affirmative>. My mom'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

<laugh> <laugh> . Well, so now you're doing something different.

Speaker 3 11:39

I am. I am in real estate now, and it has been such a phenomenal change for me. Mm-hmm <affirmative> . It's been really everything I wanted in a career mm-hmm <affirmative> . And more so I couldn'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 <laugh> <laugh> .

Speaker 3 11:59

No. It's been, I , you know, it's, I love working with people and I would say that that's probably been my favorite part of this job is the people that I get to work with. And everybody has a different path in life, and it's fun getting to hear about it and learn from it. And that's, that's been really the best part.

Speaker 2 12:20

I think that's the coolest thing about real estate is, I mean, it's, it's a nice career in that it , you can be flexible mm-hmm <affirmative>. And you have a lot of time because 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 on the side. <laugh> . Yeah .

Speaker 3 12:41

I've got my kids there watching while I'm loading. And Jagger actually helped today, so I was like, okay, good. Yeah, I was really cute. <laugh> ,

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 lemonade first. You know, <laugh> ,

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 about the old stuff, but talk about , um, why it's so cool for new people who move here. Because I think there's this idea that , um, you know, Santa Fe's this old city and everybody knows everybody, but what do you find about showing people, I mean, do you have clients who are moving here and they don't have any connections at all?

Speaker 3 13:30

Oh, yeah. I've, all of my clients have been from outta state and they're kind of getting their bearings in Santa Fe. And the one thing I've come in, come to learn from all of them is that they have fallen in love with the scenery here. Mm-hmm <affirmative> . And really that's one of the most beautiful parts of Santa Fe is that you have, you have it all, you have the Four Seasons. Right . And if you are somebody who likes to be outdoors, then we are close to mountains and lakes, and we're not far from a lot of awesome hot springs. And so if you're really outdoorsy, this is the place to be. But also, if you're somebody that enjoys the peace and quiet, you're not so close to other people if you don't wanna be. So you really have the tranquil life 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, they kind of make their own way. Like they find , they find their own circle of friends mm-hmm <affirmative> . And they find their own set of activities because, you know, unlike some other cities, this is a place where you can sort of show up and be whoever you want to be. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah . I , I think that's , um, I think that's really attractive to the people I work with. I know that I have to ask you, I mean, I just think it's always important for us to ask like, what's this, what's your favorite , um, unexpected or secret thing about Santa Fe that people might not know otherwise? Hmm . Other than the fajita cart . But if , if you're, if you're walking by and 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 be outdoors, there are hikes that you will find only on Google Maps. 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've come 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. Google Maps.

Speaker 2 15:43

Wow. <laugh> . Now I have to actually go hiking. I know. <laugh>. And what about your fa if somebody was here only for a day mm-hmm <affirmative> . For just to visit, if somebody was here only for a day just to visit, what would you suggest they do that , um, somebody else might not have thought of other than secret hikes?

Speaker 3 16:09

Well, other than the obvious of making sure that you go downtown and you walk the plaza and you check out the churches, and the Loretto Chapel, I think is probably one of the most incredible Oh yeah. And I think that the St . Francis Cathedral is also really important.

Speaker 2 16:26

Oh , okay. So can we just talk about that for a minute? Yeah. I , I went in there for, I actually went for a memorial service recently, and I was looking at it and I was like, this was built in the 18 hundreds. Yeah . Out here in the middle of nowhere. It's so beautiful. Yeah. And the Loretto Chapel is the

Speaker 3 16:42

Same. Yeah. The miraculous staircase is incredible. Yes. Yeah. So, I mean, those are absolute must sees mm-hmm <affirmative> . And I mean, I really think it's important that you try to do all you can as far as walking around the town, because I don't think that people that have like a day trip get to experience it all. It's a small town, but it's not small enough. Right . That you do it in one day. Right . You know? Right. Like, we offer a lot more 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 so much to do in Santa Fe. We offer a lot. And so I think checking out our restaurants and the rail yard and the plaza and Ojo the newest. Oh yeah. So making sure that you Yeah . Hit the 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 <affirmative> . And the staff have been working and they're taken care of. So I really like places like Flying Tortilla, which is on this side of town. Right. And they have really good chili and it's always fun to go and the boys love it. And it's just a good family atmosphere. So

Speaker 2 18:14

That's different . It's a great place for breakfast.

Speaker 3 18:15

Yeah. I would say so. Yeah . Pantry's also another place Pantry. Those in this area is also another place. I ,

Speaker 2 18:22

We talked about that at the last one . Oh , see , <laugh> . Yeah . They're gonna have to start feeding us there. Right . 'cause we talk about them so much. I agree. <laugh> . That's so cool. So if somebody wanted to find you because you sell houses, where might they find you?

Speaker 3 18:38

You can find me on Bunny Terry's site.

Speaker 2 18:42

<laugh> . Wow. That was a total setup , wasn't it? <laugh> ? No . Or on Instagram? Well , it's moved , moved me to Santa Fe. Right. It moved me to Santa Fe ComCom move me to Santa fe.com. Yeah, yeah ,

Speaker 3 18:52

Yeah. And Andrea Calera and, and I , I've been trying to get into the marketing for the Fajita stand, but I am working on my marketing 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 . I learned 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 one thing 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 her by

Speaker 1 19:35

New Mexico . New Mexico got the .