Category: Breakfast

BreakfastBurgersOklahomaRated 23

Johnnie’s Grill – El Reno, Oklahoma

Gil Garduno

The 2005 edition of Roadfood–Don’t dare leave home without it or you stand to miss out on some of America’s culinary treasures as deliciously described by Jane and Michael Stern, revered restaurant reviewers nonpareil. Through fantastic food-finding forays, the Sterns have blazed a path through the highways and byways of America, chronicling their visits to restaurants heretofore known to and enjoyed only by locals. In the process, the Sterns have created an “eatin’ path” savvy diners eagerly travel. One of the culinary treasures we experienced courtesy of the Roadfood tome is Johnnie’s Grill in pastoral El Reno, Oklahoma, an Oklahoma City suburb at which we had previously spent a few nights, unknowingly within a couple of miles of one of…

BreakfastNew MexicoNew Mexico Culinary Treasures TrailSanta FeSouthwestern

Plaza Cafe – Santa Fe, New Mexico

Gil Garduno

Just as with people, a city is best defined by its heart. For Santa Fe, that would be its historic Plaza which has been, for much of four centuries, the city’s hub of commerce, culture and government. The Plaza is at the confluence of El Camino Real (the Spanish Royal Road from Mexico City), The Old Pecos Trail and the Santa Fe Trail. These historic transportation routes made settlement possible and facilitated trade and commerce. Today the Plaza is comprised of numerous shops, museums and restaurants surrounding a central park lined with towering shade trees. Because many of its buildings have changed little since Spanish colonial times, the Plaza is listed on the National Registry of Historic Places. The city’s…

AmericanBreakfastClosed in 2009Gone But Not ForgottenNew Mexico

Kokopelli’s Restaurant & Cantina – Sandia Park, New Mexico

Gil Garduno

Perhaps the most ubiquitous symbol of the ancient Anasazi culture is Kokopelli, a hump-backed, flute playing figure commonly found in petroglyphs and pottery throughout the Southwest and as far away as South America. Regarded as the universal symbol of fertility for all life–be it crops, hopes, dreams or love–Kokopelli might have been relegated to obscurity to all but cultural anthropologists, however, with the emergence of Santa Fe’s modern culture, he has become universally known. Today Kokopelli paraphernalia has come to symbolize the kitsch and excess of Santa Fe style. Sure enough, Kokopelli’s Restaurant and Cantina has several Kokopelli figures and images strewn about. It also has some of the best fajitas in the Albuquerque area. By and large the skirt…