Jury awards $31 million in fall outside Maria's restaurant

Apr. 11—A Santa Fe jury awarded $31 million Thursday to a woman who sued Maria's New Mexico Kitchen after she slipped and fell in a pothole in the restaurant's parking lot, according to her attorneys.

Attorney Kate Ferlic said her client, Megan Jade Gonzalez, suffered a spinal cord injury in the 2019 fall at the restaurant, which is located at 555 W. Cordova Road.

"The jury honored Megan and made it clear to Santa Fe property owners that safety matters," Ferlic and co-counsel Lee Hunt said in a text statement following the verdict.

"We are so honored to have been able to tell her story," they added.

Jurors returned the unanimous verdict after deliberating for two and a half hours on the fourth day of a jury trial, according to Ferlic and online court records.

Maria's — a "Santa Fe institution" that has been serving margaritas and New Mexican food since 1950, according to its website — is owned by local art and real estate magnate Gerald Peters' restaurant conglomerate Santa Fe Dining. Peters purchased the restaurant in 2013.

Attorney Gregory D. Steinman, who represented the eatery in the case, could not immediately be reached for comment late Thursday.