I keep forgetting to trumpet this place, and I've eaten there three times
now.  Cristobal's is situated in the newly remodeled Sheraton Old Town.
They have a large cafe in a corner of the T formed by their great lobby and
a cross-gallery at its end.  The cafe has oversized French doors with
Mexican-motif designs painted on the panes in tempera, reminiscent of the
glazing around La Fonda de Santa Fe's central cafe.  Lunches are affordable
and fair.  The bar has a good selection, and their soda water is fizzy.

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The restaurant proper is a single rectangular room, surprisingly smaller
than the more casual cafe, but with very pleasing proportions.  It's all
whitewashed, with dark-stained, square beams in the ceiling, and a
fireplace with a large mantel in the center of one long wall.  All the
doors are tall, dark, and handsome.

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The distinctive feature of the room is a huge trestle table down the
center.  It is flanked by oversized, straight-back chairs with square,
padded arms.  The backs are broken back just enough to be comfortable to
slouch in.

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You feel like a little kid dwarfed in this room.  Everything is big:  the
chandelier, the the furnishings, and the entrees.  Kliban-god-rest-his-soul
would admonish you not to eat many selections at Cristobal's, as they are
bigger than your head.  The dinner salad, the paellas... the paella grande
is ridiculous.  The waiters offer that the grande is big enough for two?  The
standard size is big enough for two; the grande is big enough for six.
Chicken paella, seafood paella, veggie paella... it's all good.

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They also have a very long menu of tapas.  They're all good, save the
stuffed pimentos, which are merely wholesome... which is boring by
comparison to the others.

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Paintings are originals by a contemporary Mexican artist who depicts
Mexicans at play (drinking, smoking, strumming, serenading, dancing) in a
peculiar, obese, cartoonish, almost grotesque stylization.  He's not to my
taste.

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Biggest compliment:  My first visit to Cristobal's was with a party
of nearly two dozen strong, men and ladies in Civil War era attire.  We
were seated almost immediately.  Dinner took a very long time to arrive,
but nearly everyones' entree hit the table at the same time, and everything
was hot and delicious.  Very few restaurants can accomplish that in this town.

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The prime rib is boring, and overdone if you order it too late.  Hey, it's
a hotel restaurant, not a chophouse.  Everything else is great.  Do <em>not</em>
confuse this with the hit-and-miss Customs House, which disappeared in the
remodeling.  This place is not yet discovered, and it's terrific.  Bring a
big party, bring lots of money, take over the family dining table, and have
a Great Time.

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Biggest problem:  the restrooms are closer to San Felipe church than to the
dining room.  They're at opposite ends of the cross gallery, and then some.