There are just some restaurants at which the stereotypical Ralph Cramden hungry man shouldn’t dine. Hannah & Nate’s might be one of them. It’s not that the food isn’t good. That’s certainly not the case. The troglodytic nature of men is such that we whine and complain when we have to wait more than two minutes for our meals and we become doubly obnoxious when the portions aren’t large enough to feed a small bull elephant. Thankfully, my Kim has been a great civilizing influence on me and I’m able to enjoy restaurants such as Hannah & Nate’s as much as she does.
17 May 2019: Hannah & Nate’s is a home decor and market cafe ideally suited for gentrified ladies with a lot of leisure time on their hands. It’s not a restaurant at which a boorish lout will sit patiently then be satisfied with what he would consider “finger foods.” Take for example the “beef & bleu” sandwich featuring sliced roast beef, caramelized onion and sautéed mushrooms topped with bleu cheese on grilled sourdough. It’s not four inches thick the way such men would want it and the bleu cheese isn’t powerful enough to give us the belch inducing halitosis powerful enough to clear a room. What it is is one fantastic sandwich even though my Kim likes to enjoy it with a spinach salad instead of fries (the raspberry dressing is fantastic!).
Launched in 2002, Hannah & Nate’s is ensconced within the Riverside Plaza, a mixed-use development with convenient access from both Montano and Coors. The plaza’s charming campus-like environment seems tailor-made for the home decor and market cafe which is named for the children of Beth and Phil Salazar. Phil manages the food operations side of the business while Beth manages the decor operations. The cafe is open from 8AM to 2PM while the home decor operation remains open until 5:30.
The ambitious full-service breakfast menu belies the relatively small (call it comfy cozy) dining room which tends to get quite busy. Many eyes are drawn immediately to the menu section entitled “Local Flavor” for Hannah & Nate’s take on New Mexican breakfast favorites such as huevos rancheros, breakfast enchiladas, breakfast quesadillas and the intriguing Eggs Benedict de Nuevo Mexico (two poached eggs served on top of an English muffin smothered with homemade carne adovada and melted Cheddar cheese) served with diced red potatoes. This is the favorite breakfast entree of my learned friend Larry McGoldrick, the professor with the perspicacious palate.
More traditional eggs Benedict dishes are also available on the “Traditional Favorites” section of the menu where you’ll also find quiche and sourdough French toast. A number of breakfast burritos and omelets are also available for the most important meal of the day. The lunch menu is apportioned into several sections: Appetizers, Sandwich Board, Garden Fresh Salads, New Mexican Food Favorites, “Hot” From the Grill and The “Lite” Side (a half-sandwich with your choice of potato salad, fresh fruit, side salad or cup of green chile stew).
17 May 2019: Lunch enjoyment might start with the carne adovada crisp, a quesadilla in which crisp flour tortillas envelope lean pork marinated in red chile and melted cheese. Why more quesadillas don’t feature carne adovada is beyond me, but even if they did, it’s doubtful they can duplicate this artfully crafted appetizer. Although the red chile isn’t especially piquant, it’s very flavorful with a garlicky taste which complements the rich red chile.
Among the many hot-off-the-grill sandwiches we’ve enjoyed from the sandwich board are:
- Nate’s Melt (sliced beef roast, green chile, red peppers, caramelized onions, avocado and cheddar on grilled sourdough bread) in which the green chile has that pronounced roasted green chile aroma and taste New Mexicans love as much as life itself. This is an outstanding sandwich!
- Tuscan Meatloaf Sandwich (rustic Tuscan meatloaf topped with caramelized onion, roasted red peppers and Jack cheese served on a grilled baguette). This is meatloaf at its comfort food best, the type your mother made for you as a child. The meatloaf isn’t overly thick which means you’ll actually taste the other ingredients, a harmonious mix of complementary toppings.
- New Mexico BLT (crispy bacon, fresh tomato, roasted green chile and lettuce on grilled sourdough bread). This isn’t the boring BLT you make at home. The bacon has a smoky taste; the sourdough bread a buttery, grilled texture; and neither the L or the T dominate as they’re apt to do.
All sandwiches and grilled items are served with your choice of homemade potato salad (a boring celery and dill pickle based potato salad that is the only thing we haven’t liked at Hannah & Nate’s), fresh fruit or ridged potato chips. Invariably, the fresh fruit seems to be in season no matter the time of year. We’ve had watermelon in November and it had a fresh flavor. The chips are always crisp and fresh and thankfully not the “bottom of the bag” bits some restaurants serve. Eschew these sides altogether and ask for a cup of green chile stew. It’s served warm and has a nice piquant bite of green chile complemented with just enough Mexican oregano.
For an additional two bits, make sure you ask for one of the five (chipotle, cucumber dill, cranberry, herb, olive) specialty mayonnaise offered. Even though the sandwiches don’t need any additional accoutrements whatsoever, the mayonnaise can be used as a dip for your chips. The chipotle mayo and the cucumber dill (similar to the Greek tzadziki sauce but maybe even better) are our early favorites.
Hannah & Nate’s
6251 Riverside Plaza, NW
Albuquerque, New Mexico
(505) 922-1155
Facebook Page
LATEST VISIT: 17 May 2015
# OF VISITS: 5
RATING: 22
COST: $$
BEST BET: Carne Adovada Crisp, Nate’s Melt, Market Smoked Porchetta, New Mexico BLT, Tuscan Meatloaf Sandwich, Steak & Egg Burrito,
Hannah & Nate’s: Corrales
In the spring of 2006, Hannah & Nate’s Market Shop launched a second Albuquerque area restaurant, this one in Corrales at the former site of the very popular Calico Cafe which burnt down in 2004. If anything, the Corrales version of Hannah & Nate’s is even better than the Riverside Plaza restaurant. Scoring a seat on weekends is a challenge. So is finding a place to park. Hannah & Nate’s isn’t a breakfast favorite in Corrales. It’s an event! The restaurant has three small dining rooms. Walls on the back dining room are painted black and are adorned with two magnolias. The epicenter of the second dining room is a beehive horno painted black. Then there’s the front patio, the preferred place to seat weather permitting.
What makes this restaurant a community favorite? For one thing, the Corrales restaurant has a full breakfast menu–three pages of traditional and New Mexican favorites. My early favorite would have to be the steak and egg burrito served Christmas style (red and green chile). This burrito is engorged with three eggs, sautéed onions, roasted red peppers, cubed potatoes and steak–not a cheap cut of meat either, but grilled top sirloin. This is an excellent breakfast burrito made with high-quality ingredients and served hot. Both the red and green chile at Hannah & Nate’s are very good with a firm nod going to the red chile which is almost burgundy in color and which possesses the rare earthiness New Mexicans love in red chile. The chile is made from pods which are pureed to bring out the natural sweetness that reminds us chile is technically a fruit. This is great chile!
9 August 2023: For my Kim, carne adovada is the standard-bearer against which she measures just how good a New Mexican restaurant is. To her consternation, some restaurants which don’t use cumin on anything else (for some inexplicable reason) add it to carne adovada, bringing about the ruination of a delicate dish which requires no amelioration. Hannah & Nate’s carne adovada is among her very favorites, especially when served on the carne adovada breakfast enchiladas plate: three stacked enchiladas stuffed with carne adovada and topped with red or green chile, Cheddar cheese and two eggs any style served with a side of hash browns and a tortilla. If a breakfast dish can foretell a good day, this one will do it. The carne is porcine perfection as tender as a mother’s love, marinated in chile that doesn’t shy away from its heat.
27 April 2014: There are a couple of perspectives about huevos rancheros. The “glass is half empty” perspective is that huevos ranchers are a rather uncomplicated dish constructed from a limited number of ingredients. Glass half full folks rave that having few ingredients allows those ingredients to shine. At its essence, huevos rancheros are little more than eggs, corn tortillas, Cheddar cheese and your choice of red or green chile. Both the red and green chile at Hannah & Nate’s are top tier, some of the best in the metropolitan area. The corn tortillas have a pronounced corn taste, are relatively grease-free and are fried perfectly. The eggs are prepared to your exacting specifications and have a farm-fresh flavor. Count me among the glass half full folks. Count the huevos rancheros at Hannah & Nate’s among the very best in the area.
9 August 2023: Hannah & Nate’s is a restaurant that truly exemplifies the “have it your way” edict. Take the New Mexico Breakfast Bagel (a sliced grilled bagel topped with two scrambled eggs, two slices of bacon, diced green chile and topped with Cheddar cheese served with a side of salsa and diced red potatoes tossed with caramelized onions). By the time my Kim got done customizing the sandwich, it was almost unrecognizable…almost. The bagel, Cheddar cheese, bacon and two scrambled eggs were still in place, but what makes it a “New Mexico” sandwich was omitted. That’s right! No green chile! Sacrilege, I know, but she can no longer handle the piquancy of our state’s official state vegetable. Instead of the diced red potatoes tossed with caramelized onions (a wonderful side), she asked for fruit. Our server accommodated my bride’s request and in the process maybe uncovered a new dish.
27 April 2014: Hannah & Nate’s doesn’t have a long line-up of desserts, but who needs more options when you’ve got cranberry bread pudding. It’s not on Larry McGoldrick’s Bread Pudding Hall of Fame, but it could be the professor with the perspicacious palate hasn’t tried this bread pudding. Quite simply, it borders on spectacular, providing a balance of flavors most bread pudding can’t approach. The tangy cranberries and savory almond shavings temper the sweetness of the sweet sauce surrounding the soft, spongy bread.
17 May 2019: Albert Einstein posited that “Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new.” Ordering the chocolate mousse pie at Hannah & Nate’s is one of the most delicious mistakes my Kim ever made. We knew we had a hit when all eyes on the capacious dog-friendly patio followed our server as she ferried a hunk of that light, velvety deliciousness to our table. Before long, more slices began making their way to other tables. When it comes to mousse, we’ve both always somewhat indifferent. With this one, we’re taking a stance! It’s one of the best mousse desserts we’ve ever had!
9 August 2023: It’s interesting that as we approach middle-age, my Kim has lost her tolerance for piquant foods while I can no longer eat overly sweet and rich desserts such as Hannah & Nate’s brownies with ice cream. One bite was all I could handle of the calorific chocolate squares. My Kim declared the brownies absolutely wonderful.. All I could do is wonder what they would taste like with the restaurant’s red or green chile.
Another plus in favor of the Corrales restaurant is its patio which allows you to watch expensive cars drive by while you dine under a sun-lit sky. During the winter months, sitting indoors and enjoying the fireplace is nearly as nice.
Hannah & Nate’s
4512 Corrales Road
Corrales, New Mexico
(505) 898-2370
Facebook Page
LATEST VISIT: 9 August 2023
# OF VISITS: 6
RATING: 23
COST: $$
BEST BET: Enchiladas, Beef & Bleu, Chocolate Mousse Pie, Cranberry Bread Pudding, Breakfast Enchiladas, Brownie with Ice Cream, New Mexico Breakfast Bagel
Good morning everyone. Does anyone know if the patio in Corrales is, “pet friendly.” We have a special needs pup that we cant leave home alone. He travels everywhere with us. Thanks in advance.
Good Morning Tom
Hannah & Nate’s outdoor patio in Corrales is indeed pet friendly. We made sure to ask during our most recent visit. Normally our Dude would have been with us, but he was being groomed at the time.
Gil
The taste. And it was semi warm, eggs overcooked. It seemed unusually dry for being huevos rancheros. It just was not good.
“Another plus in favor of the Corrales restaurant is its patio which allows you to watch expensive cars drive by while you dine under a sun-lit sky.”
Well, Gil if you were seated on the patio you might have glimpsed not “expensive cars” drive by but my 17-year-old, leather upholstered delaminating Acura lumber by. Living in Corrales, I have gone to Hanna’s just twice for lunch, never for breakfast. But frequently when I drive by in mornings the patio is indeed packed with breakfasters. Maybe Hanna’s is on the early morning cyclists’ meetup? At any rate, I do need to get in for breakfast some day if they will allow me to park my 17-year-old Acura in its lot.
Worst huevos rancheros in the world.
Ruben,
Can you be more specific? What exactly makes the huevos rancheros the “worse in the world”?
My wife and I have been big fans of the Corrales location since their opening here, and feel they do a lot of things right. We really enjoy having breakfast on the patio on Saturday mornings. Our favorite menu item is the carne adovada breakfast enchiladas.
There is one issue though that has us perplexed, and unfortunately appears to be quite common here and at other restaurants in the ABQ area.
We both like to vary our choices from visit to visit and one of those items we enjoy (or have enjoyed)for breakfast are omelets.
We have noticed over the past couple of years that when we order omelets – they are over-cooked. In some cases it’s obvious that the cook has simply poured the egg mixture into a very hot pan and cooked it to death until it resembles something like a brown crusted pancake. They flip it, add the desired filling and fold it over onto the plate.
The result is a dry, chewy almost rubbery consistency. Not at all moist, fluffy and soft as we would expect and that we have received in the past.
It’s happened so many times that now, when we order we politely request that they please ask the chef not to over-cook the omelets. Unfortunately what happens is that the most brown side of the omelet is folded inside as if to hide the offense. It’s gotten so bad at Hannah and Nate’s (after our repeated feedback to management) that when we go out knowing one of us has a taste for an omelet, we head to the Range where this is less of a problem.
Again we enjoy Hannah and Nate’s but this issue has really cut down on our patronage. I’ve singled them out because we live so close and we would love to support them more.
Are we the only ones who have experienced this phenomenon or do we not truly understand what a good omelet should be?
For those who find the Corrales location too far, consider a combo deal. I went today before the Art in the Park http://corralesartists.org/art_in_park.php show to scope out some possible gifts for El Día de Fiesta sin un Nombre as it’s just about four months away now! The next and last show is 9/18. Skipping that, you can stock up on your stash of roasted-to peel chili(sic) at the Wagner Farms stand just northerly up the road, which is a tradition for many. Actually, the stand is just before taking a left on the Old Church Road to get to a third possibility for visiting, Casa San Ysidro: The Gutiérrez-Minge House, the re-creation of a 19th century rancho furnished with items of household use of yore and complete with a small family chapel, a central plazuela and an enclosed corral. For hours/details go http://tinyurl.com/3zbgo9c If you’re into Christmas…oops…traditions, this will give you a chance to preview going there for their holiday decorated, one-night Open House in December.
But back to Nate’s & Hannah’s…short wait for a Sunday crowd. Unlike the photo above, the patio now has welcomed umbrellas. Tho raised traditionally, I do not follow the B-L-D routine. Simply do dinner which is irksome that so many ‘hot’ places stop serving mid afternoon. In any event, I had their Green Chili(sic) Burrito which strains my appetite per seemingly being between a healthy sized zucchini and a football. My experience with most such mixed-media omelets/burritos is having to look quite closely and quickly to find the flavorings of bacon, red pepper, onion, potato, green chili(sic). Not the case here…as a matter of fact I’d say eggs and “them” were about equal. The chili is of the nicely medium variety. If I had my druthers, I’d have the hash browns, which were included, a bit more ‘toasted’; but no biggy. The Double Expresso was also to my liking.
“Chow”
Came back for their pancakes and again wasn’t disappointed, they have excellent pancakes to share with pancake lovers. I don’t eat pork and I requested they allow for either an extra pancake at no charge or consider having turkey bacon on the menu. I did have a generous portion of turkey they fried up (used for their sandwiches) which was good but had an upgrade price. Also, they ran out of hashbrowns and fried potatoes since it was at 1pm and I was served pinto beans with cheese on top, it was actually a nice change and something to consider in the future. I do ask there is some consistency on how they handle the extra pancake and nix the pork between weekdays and weekends, I received different policies on that and I have to think the cost of meat is cheaper than the cost of a pancake. One way or another, the extra pancake is worth it!
Sr and Senorena Plata stopped for breakfast on July 4 while taking a bike ride on their Tandem bikes through Corrales. Wasn’t crowed which was great as we stopped right after the parade and local activities stopped. This restaurant is high on my list on the NM Pancake trail. As I baseline, (don’t laugh or judge too harshly but they are really good) on the IHOP crepes with lingonberry. I like my pancakes somewhat smashed, buttery, not airy or gluten filled. I had the combo with 2 eggs over medium, asked and received very crispy hashbrowns and since I come from the line of David, asked for an extra pancakes in place of the sausage, ham or bacon which they did with a smile. Summary, some of the best pancakes I have had in NM in a consistent manner. Senorena had the Southwest appetizer that had cut-up pieces of French bread, cheddar chese, avocado that she took and dipped in Salsa, quite excellent. On a foot note, I mentioned when they paid if they would consider blueberries. They said they can add what they have and blueberries is not something they stock BUT they did suggest next time adding walnuts to it. I was impressed that they were creative in their suggestions and will try that…
Andrea — last time I was there, I asked Phil when he wold be updating the Website. He was aware of the electronic invisibility of the Corrales location, and assured me that the site would be updated Real Soon Now. That was last October at Balloon time.
Real Soon Now == Mañana here in Corrales.
So what’s the deal with the Corrales location? Not one mention on their website, and only some UrbanSpoon digging will turn up an address or phone number…
Hannah and Nate’s is my go-to place when I need a hot sandwich. The only dilemma I have is which one to order, as there are so many good ones. Not as crazy about their breakfast (on par with most other places) but for lunch this is my favorite.
Don’t eat their grilled tuna salad. I have ordered that twice and they really should figure out that tuna should be cooked like steak. I had tuna jerkey salad. gross.