In 1960, Albuquerque’s population reached 201,189, more than doubling the city’s tally from the 1950 census. The start of a new decade began an era of expansion, a construction boom in which the burgeoning city began experiencing unprecedented growth. A proliferation of shopping centers was built to serve new neighborhoods. Albuquerque was not yet overrun by horrendous, copycat chain restaurants. Family owned and operated mom-and-pop dining establishments–like the K&I Diner–were (and still are) your best bet for a great meal.
1960 (March 2nd to be exact) was also the year in which Irene Warner opened Grandma’s K&I Diner (named for her daughter Kay Hess and herself) in the heart of Albuquerque’s industrial district in the far South Valley. She ran the eatery with her family for 39 years until her death at age 82 in 1999. The matronly Irene was a fixture at her restaurant, a kind and gentle woman who made everyone welcome at her restaurant home. With a pronounced Southern drawl, she and her family kept things lively, often addressing their faithful patrons by “honey” or “sugar.” Kay passed away in 2018.
The restaurant has undergone several ownership changes since Grandma Warner passed away, but other than some polish and veneer, pretty much left everything the same at least in terms of ambiance. The decor features antique brickerbrack donated by customers. Old stoves, a Pepsi dispenser (from back when a bottle of cold Pepsi cost ten cents), tube-operated radios and more eye-catching antiques will keep your interest while some placards may surprise you at how ribald humor was fifty or sixty years ago. One placard reads “big busted women float better.”
Ask anyone who’s been in Albuquerque for a few years and they can all recount their favorite memories of dining at the K&I. Most of them probably involve the “Travis,” a bean and seasoned beef burrito topped with cheese and chile then piled high with French fries. It’s an unlikely combination, but also a uniquely New Mexican one. The Travis is available in five sizes, the descriptions below of which are taken from the menu:
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- Travis on A Silver Platter – You’d better bring lots of friends to attempt this. Of course, if you can eat it by yourself in an hour or less and we mean ALL of it, it’s free. It weighs over eight pounds and has been surmounted by only two people in the 40 years plus that it’s been available.
- Full Travis – Even the biggest of appetites would have a hard time finishing this one.
- Half Travis – It can be done, but you’d better be happy.
- Quarter Travis – This is the most popular size (pictured above), but some still need a to-go box.
- Wimp Travis – For those who just don’t feel up to the challenge.
The Travis on a Silver Platter is a full six pounds and the platter on which it is served is big enough for the Thanksgiving turkey. A Wimp Travis is big enough for most people, but most men will order at least a quarter Travis or they risk being drummed out of the XY chromosome club. As it approaches your table, your first inclination will be to wonder where the burrito is. The mountain of fries covers every other component on the dish. Like a treasure-hunter, you’ll have to get through several layers of fries before you get to the burrito. The fries are long, thin and stiff.
When he traveled to Albuquerque for a taping of the Travel Channel’s Man vs Food Nation (which aired for the first time on June 22nd, 2011) a stop at Grandma Warner’s K&I Diner was a must for host Adam Richman. No longer an active competitor in man’s quest to eat ridiculous amounts of food, Richman recruited three Albuquerque residents–all named Travis–to test their gurgitator’s mettle against the Travis on a Silver Platter: three flour tortillas, beef and beans, sausage-infused red chile and shredded Cheddar. Once folded over, the burrito is covered over with green chile, cheese and a lettuce-tomato garnish topped with a mountain of French fries. Richman called the challenge an “indomitable feat of manhood,” and “maybe the hardest challenge we’ve ever shown.”
Given an hour to consume the entire platter’s worth of food, the three Travises (a student at UNM, a meteorologist for a local television station and a professional bull rider) were unable to surmount the challenge despite the urging of the crowd (which included UNM cheerleaders and Lobo Louie) and Richman’s encouragement.
My own personal memories of the K&I Diner also involve the Travis. While stationed at Kirtland in the early 1980s, we used to take the dreaded Inspector General (IG) staff to the K&I and challenge them to finish a full Travis. Our hopes were that the IG staffers would get so full that drowsiness would set in after lunch and they wouldn’t be quite as nit-picky in their assessments. This usually worked with new staffers, but veteran IG members ultimately figured out our ploy. Still, they all enjoyed the K&I Diner as much as we did and made it a regular stop during their inspection tours of Kirtland.
Today, Air Force personnel (and no doubt, the infamous IG) still frequent the K&I Diner which despite four separate dining areas is crowded for both breakfast and lunch. Newcomers with the gumption to try still think they have the mettle to consume an entire Travis, but invariably fail miserably (coincidentally miserable is the gastronomic state of anyone who succeeds).
Elise Hunnicutt, a Del Norte High graduate now residing in deepest, darkest Westchester, New York shares one of her favorite K&I and Travis memories from the winter of 1982. “The K&I was a favorite lunchtime stop for me when I worked for the Pepsi bottler in Albuquerque. I took two co-workers there one chilly day and instructed them on the fine points of ordering the Travis special. At the time, you didn’t use the word “Travis” when ordering, instead just proclaiming “Quarter” or “Half!” Your waitress would then call out the orders to the guys doing the cooking behind the counter. On this particular trip, I ordered my usual quarter. The first of my colleagues, obviously not embracing my guidance, slammed his fist on the table and demanded a Half. My other companion had no interest in the Travis and asked instead for a cheeseburger. Our waitress turned quickly toward the kitchen and said, “Quarter and a Half! And would someone please go down to Blake’s and get this idiot a cheeseburger?”
My friend Bill Resnik recalls the time he goaded a “Travis virgin” into ordering a full Travis. The behemoth platter arrived minutes later with a Dum Dum sucker on top. The acid tongued (but with a heart of gold) waitress presented it with “here you go, sucker!” Another time he asked the waitress how the meatloaf was that particular day. The waitress’s retort, “I wouldn’t have it if I were you. Grandma made it.” Grandma was notorious for putting any leftover she could find into the lasagna–including lime jello. After about three visits, the wait staff got to know you and treated you like a sibling.
9 May 2019: The days of verbal jousting with the waitresses are long past and some of the restaurant’s personality left with Irene’s family and staff, but the K&I is and always will be, a memorable restaurant. Several local restaurants (Hurricane’s and Twisters come to mind) have attempted to duplicate the Travis and while some claim the pretenders are just as good, K&I veterans will vehemently defend the Travis as an incomparable original. In 1980, the Travis was trademarked, but that hasn’t stopped the pretenders. Note: Those those of you whose visits to the K&I Diner decreased over time will be happy to know a change in ownership has brought with it a renewed commitment to restoring the great food once served at this legendary establishment. The quarter-Travis I enjoyed during my first visit back in several years was as good as I remembered from the days of Grandma Warner and her family. The chile got its bite back and more importantly, its deliciousness.
According to local legend, the Travis was born when a frequent visitor (in true Western fashion, embellishments say it was a mysterious stranger) to the K&I asked for a burrito with everything on it but the kitchen sink. That’s what he got! The K&I Diner serves more than the Travis. Breakfast and lunch portions can best be described as “heaping” with daily specials available every day of the week. Over the years, the diner has added several other unique entrees in which piles of French fries are the topper, but none have approached the legendary status of the Travis.
2 March 2011: “Bert’s Mess” is a pile of hot, crisp French fries topped with chunks of ham, bacon and sausage (the triumvirate of porcine perfection) then smothered with red or green chile and topped with two eggs, any style. The chile, as chile is apt to do, varies in piquancy almost from day-to-day. There are days in which the chile has the bite of a bell pepper. Fortunately each table has several heat-generating condiments such as Cholula Hot Sauce and Tabasco Sauce. Even if you consider it sacrilege to desecrate New Mexico green or red chile by adulterating it with other hot sauces, both Cholula and Tabasco go very well with the fries. Forget the ketchup.
28 April 2007: The “Leo,” ostensibly named for another loyal customer is a plate piled high with French fries and topped with seasoned beef, cheese and your choice of red or green chile. About the only thing missing from these calorie overachiever’s dream is an angioplasty. It should come standard. The cheese is like a molten melted blanket which covers the entirety of the other ingredients with only a few fries rearing their delicious tops. French Canadians have their poutine; New Mexicans would rather have The Leo. Fries and cheese can’t be bested.
12 February 2016: Being a Catholic eating at K&I Diner on a Lenten Friday means having to abstain from meat. Few things in life are as torturous as watching your dining companion indulge on a Half Travis (which is replete with delicious seasoned beef) when you can’t have one. Sure the K&I Diner has plenty of entrees sans carne, but when you’ve got your heart set on a Travis, nothing else will do. Not even the K&I’s chile rellenos, two housemade chile rellenos smothered with your choice of red or green chile and served with beans and fries with a tortilla on the side. Admittedly, my longing for a Travis would have been minimized had the green chile been at least a little piquant, but it was so wimpy I had to add several shakes of Tabasco sauce to wake it up (and you should never have to adulterate green chile). Note to self: don’t visit the K&I during Lent.
2 March 2011: The K&I Diner’s chicken fried steak breakfast is one of the best of its kind found this side of Texas. The chicken fried steak is at least half an inch thick, not some thinly-pounded, boot leather-tough slab as you’re apt to find in other Albuquerque eateries. It’s covered in a peppered white gravy and is served with two eggs, a pile of hashed browns and sourdough bread toast (or biscuits) on the side. It’s a prodigious breakfast not for the faint of heart. The chicken fried steak cuts easily, a very good sign and it’s not breaded so thickly that you have to send out a search party to find the actual beef. Best of all, it’s very good. You can read more about it at Sr Plata’s Chicken Fried Steak Trail.
16 July 2022: One of the problems with being a polygamous gastronome who spreads his culinary affection among hundreds of restaurants is that you can’t rely on me having a current opinion on what’s the best of any one dish. For example, when my colleagues recently asked where they can find the best breakfast burrito in the Albuquerque area, the only breakfast burrito I consumed during 2017 was from Hello Deli . While it was a magnificent exemplar of what New Mexicans love from our breakfast burritos, I can’t very well declare it Albuquerque’s best. I can, however, tell you that one of the best I’ve had this year is the breakfast burrito (served with two eggs, hash browns, cheese and your choice of ham, bacon or sausage wrapped in a flour tortilla.) from the K&I Diner. Make your choice of meats all three and your chile “Christmas” style. Characteristic of the K&I, it’s a behemoth burrito brimming with deliciousness.
16 July 2022: In all my years of visiting the K&I, there’s only one entree that hasn’t covered the entire plate with enough food to feed an entire family. That item is my Kim’s favorite New Mexican dish, Pedro’s carne adovada (marinated pork in a rich, red chile sauce with two eggs, hash browns and served with a hot tortilla). Fortunately my Kim has a rather avian appetite and it was more than enough for her (that portion would have left me half-starved). The carne adovada, named for Pedro (maybe Travis’s cousin), is topped with a blanket of melted Cheddar. It’s not necessary to quell the chile’s piquancy; it’s not very hot at all. It’s a good carne adovada, tender tendrils of beef marinated in a very good red chile (no cumin).
For nearly sixty-years, the K&I Diner’s formula of atmosphere, quick and friendly service and hearty portions has proven successful. It has stood the test of time and is an American classic in the finest sense.
K&I Diner
2500 Broadway, S.E.
Albuquerque, New Mexico
(505) 243-1881
Facebook Page
LATEST VISIT: 16 July 2022
# OF VISITS: 14
RATING: 21
COST: $$
BEST BET: The Travis, The Leo, Bert’s Mess, Pancakes, Chicken Fried Steak, Chiles Rellenos, Breakfast Burrito, Carne Adovada
No doubt about it, the biscuits were top notch. Accompanying eggs, sausage and hash browns very tasty. I liked the gravy enough to ask for extra (very small serving); slightly dismayed that it was a noticeable extra charge. But these are the Dog Days of Brandon, after all. It’s always difficult to convince John to try something new that has a breakfast focus, but when he heard that he could get a smothered breakfast burrito he was in. He was instead seduced by a green chile cheeseburger and fries. He neglected to ask for the burger medium rare but it came medium, which was promising. Thumbs up on the beef. Both of us neglected to ask for our potatoes crispy but they were surprisingly so. I stole some of his fries whenever a plane flew over. After we settled the bill our very congenial waitress said, “See you next time!” I immediately started thinking of what I would order the next time while perusing all of the art and move props. Thanks, Sarita and Gil!
Lynn, by any chance have you tried this place in your search for good biscuits and gravy? This here is the Grandma’s Biscuits plate, with your choice of ham, bacon or sausage, the eggs cooked however you like, with your choice of home fries or hashbrowns, and white gravy on the side. These were really good biscuits!
One of these days, I’ll have to ask if they’d be willing to make Bert’s Mess. I wanted to try it, but alas, it’s no longer on the menu.
Gosh, Sarita, you must be a mind reader! I consumed yet another uninspired gravy just the other day. The K & I has been on my list forever, just haven’t made it yet. Sounds as if I should move it up the list a bit. Thanks!
Another one you should move up your list is Central Grill. Outstanding!
Interesting! Central Grill was actually one of the first restaurants I visited when I moved here 6 years ago. It was very disappointing and I’ve never been back. Sounds like time to give them a second chance. Thanks, Sarita
You definitely have to give Central Grill another chance. In 2020, George and Alicia Griego were named the New Mexico Restaurant Association’s (NMRA) Restaurant Neighbor of the Year for 2020. While many restaurants were shuttered, the Griegos were serving hundreds of meals every day to people who really needed it. That’s the kind of people we need to support.
Gil, I’m glad you enjoyed it. The K&I continues to be one of my favorite places.
A hearty shout-out to Brenda, the owner and her entire staff who have breathed new life into this historic establishment while maintaining the same menu items and recipes we have enjoyed for so long! I wish they would put the Leo back on the menu, or offer it as a special once in a while – it remains my favorite. Sometimes if I ask nice they will make it for me. (Or you can order red chile cheese fries with hamburger meat and onions.)
All the best to you, Gil and the K&I team.
You’ll be pleased to know that the menu has been changed.. the favorites are still there with several new items on the menu!
It was wonderful hanging with two of my fellow gourmandes (Gil and Sr. Plata) at the K&I last Friday. The food was great. Much more like in the 80s and 90s. Portions are still enormous (Sr. Plata’s “Short stack” of pancakes was 2 ten-inchers with lots of fresh butter and warm maple syrup.) My Leo was wonderful. They are back to using frozen fries, but they were hot and crispy – perfect with the sauteed ground beef, chile, cheese, and onions in my Leo.
The menu is still the same and although they cut off the bottom of one of the pages that featured fried catfish and shrimp, they will still serve it to you if you want.
The place has been revamped. Most of the antiques, pictures, and other stuff they hung from the walls is still there, but at the same time, the whole place seems somehow cleaner and fresher.
Grandma went to her reward in around 2000 and Kay Hess (The “K” in K&I) passed away last year. It was sad I did not see the family photos on the walls – maybe they moved them? I was pleased to see that the painting (chalk pastels) I gave them in 1990 was still on the wall in the foyer.
If you haven’t been to the K&I for awhile, give it a visit for some fond memories and tasty food.
My heart sank when you said the fried catfish and shrimp were gone from the menu…only to utter a huge sigh of relief when you mentioned they still serve it. That is my go-to dish on Fridays…though I have to admit, it has been sometime since my last visit to K&I. Wish I could meet up with Gil…
Soon, I hope!
Catfish & Shrimp continues to be the Friday lunch special @ K&I Diner – and as yummy as ever!
Almost 8 years to the day having just about the same meal as last time. Excellent chicken fried steak. Prices can’t be beat for the amount of food. Great to hang with Gil and
Beel!!!
None of the food is like what is portrayed in these photos. the owners made to many changes that it’s not the K &I Diner we used to know and love. It’s different now. It actually sucks. Thanks to poor management and bad ownership, this place’s days are numbered. Another classic favorite soon to be lost.
You will be pleased to know that the 2016-era owner has been removed; a relative of the previous owner now controls K&I Diner, and with the help of 20+ year employee Lydia, the previous recipes have been restored! You owe it to yourself to give it another try – the facilities are being upgraded and the daily specials are phenomenal!!!
Thank you so much for alerting us to the change in ownership. I wholly agree with you that the K&I Diner is being restored to its former greatness and glory. Yesterday I had the best quarter Travis I’ve had since Grandma Warner and her family owned the restaurant.
Spread the word everybody, the K&I Diner is back!
That’s wonderful news Gill thanks. Now I can go back to one of my favorite restaurants again!
We have always been going for the breakfast ham, which has always been great. We agree that the green chile has gotten lots better since the new owners took over.
John and Zee
That’s awesome news! It’s good to know that now I’ll start going back again. That used to be one of my regular breakfast places until they started making changes and tried to fix what wasn’t broken.
I read the 2/15/16 comment above submitted by “IF ….” about how the K&I changed their fries. I think it was 6-8 months ago, but they changed to fresh-cut fries instead of frozen. I prefer the flavor and texture of the fresh cut. In my opinion, it was a welcome change.
I have been told that my concept of time is a bit skewed. When I say a couple of months, it means anywhere from 2 – 36 months! I believe you are correct, they went from frozen to fresh. As I mentioned, I usually prefer crispier fries, but these ones certainly are growing on me. The flavor is much better, and texture is growing on me as well.
We moved to Albuquerque in 1950. Through the glass darkly I recall that the Catholic Church had given the state an exemption to allow eating meat on Friday. Perhaps, and this is very fuzzy, they said it was on the frontier. I have no idea whether it applied to Lent as well as the rest on the year, or when it was changed, presuming it was.
The beat reason for foregoing a Travis is to keep from contributing to another potato famine.
John
That sounds very much like the MASH episode in which Hawkeye and Trapper rewrote the sixth commandment on Frank’s Bible so that it read “Thou shalt commit adultery.” I consult my trusty Baltimore Catechism every year to make sure we follow Lenten dictates. Fasting and abstinence, while relaxed just a bit for Catholics over sixty years of age, remain unchanged over the years.
Of course we know we can believe everything we fine on the internet ….”In 1089 Spanish counts were granted a dispensation from the Friday rule by Pope Urban II for their role in the Crusades; after the Battle of Lepanto in 1571, Pope St. Pius V extended the dispensation to the entire Spanish dominion, including her colonies in the New World. Mexico, for example, was not instructed by the Holy See to observe Friday abstinence until 1950, and the following year bishops in New Mexico and Texas informed their flock that this applied to them as well.”
So in New Mexico we were of the hook when we moved here in 1950 but it only lasted until 1951.
Looks like we missed you this Friday. Some work companions and I were at K&I. They are pretty much our go to place on Fridays because of their Shrimp & Catfish Special. I won’t lie to you and say it is the best shrimp or catfish I’ve ever had, but something about the breading on the shrimp and the seasonings on the catfish, just make it yummy. The only problem is consistancy. The shrimp are pretty consistently good, but the catfish can be hit or miss, just depends on the cook and when he decides to pull the catfish out of the fryer – it could be very dry, or very moist…
I really enjoy the shrimp coctail sauce – it has a tad too much horseradish which just kicks it up a notch, and if you add Tabasco to the tarter sauce, yummmm.
One other thing of note, K&I changed their fries recently (been a couple of months). I haven’t decided if I like them better or not. I like the crispy fries before, and prefer crispy fires, but these soft ones are kind of growing on me…
While I did not ’grow up’ in KS Barb (and altho there is nothing wrong that!), I almost was “baptized” by a horrific (is there any other kind?) tornado diagonally crossing Topeka while munching Fried Clams at a Howard Johnson’s (only place where ya could get ’em) while being a Jayhawk for part of my educational journey. I must admit and blush I was never aware of the never-ending search for The Ultimate CFS. I do have fond memories of an occasionally afforded, unadulterated hunk of Kansas Bred Beef, albeit ya had to bring your own bottle of wine accompaniment in a brown paper bag unless you were a restaurant “member” and had a liquor “locker” per Kansas being a “dry state”….LOL.
Regarding “Weiner, Weiner….Chicken Dinner!” and its meaning: some possibilities here: http://tinyurl.com/3pc7o2
Even Guy Fieri got on the Anthony Weiner-Chicken bandwagon. On a recent Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives, he said “Weiner, Weiner, chicken dinner.”…whatever that means.
Steak fried in the tradition of chicken.
You obviously did not grow up in Kansas where the quest of finding the best CFS is something one could make a career of.
You had to bring up the weiner…
Chicken Fried Steak? Ok Foodies…if it’s actually BEEF, where does the Chicken come into play? I read it may be an Americanization of Wiener Schnitzel that the mid-European immigrants brought over, but that drudges up the whole Rep Wiener and Commish Wiener shtick and I’d hoped we’d got off that media blitz last week.
Great blog. I never read the same information before. The food is delicious. specially, Chicken Fried Steak, i like it. I think i will try to learn to do it.Thanks so much
We went to K & I Diner for the first time today, I have lived in Albuquerque all my life and have heard about it and was looking foward to finaly getting there. After getting a table and getting our drinks, we placed our order and waited, and waited, and waited.. Twenty five minutes later our food was up and there it sat, several waitresess pulled it foward to see if it was their ticket and pushed it back( this happened a few times), encluding OUR waitress who got into the pick up line a couple of times, I kept thinking she was going to get our food, but did not! instead she took the orders of two new tables and walked the room?? After 30 + minutes we paid for our drinks and left.. Very hungry!! Unfortunatly I think the food may have been good. Don’t think I will ever go back to find out.
I go for the ham and eggs for breakfast. You get a huge slab of real ham instead of the ersatz stuff others give you.
When it comes to choosing between breakfast and lunch, I go for the breakfast and this time was no different. Although my friends who feast here in NM wanted me to try the Travis, I went for the chicken fried steak breakfast that included 2 eggs, sourdough toast and hashbrowns. And for good measure, I ordered 1 (gigantic) pancake. I have to say this was one of the best chicken fried steaks I have had in New Mexico. It was large, thick (not flattened as some other places do it), and delicious. The country gravy had no meat so it met the Sephardic requirement. Eggs were surprisingly cooked perfect and the hashbrowns were tasty (I forgot to order extra well done which I normally do for extra crispness). I also ordered one single pancake, it was huge; the regular order would be rediculous but it was a very good pancake. I also bought some homemade salsa and they fry up some chips to go with it. I was very happy to get down there and have a good brunch with my friends and have some excellent chicken fried steak!!
We love the K and I. I was stationed at Kirtland AFB from 81-85 and we would go there often with the guys from the NAV shop. My very skinny wife had heard us talk about the Travis and we decided to have a shop party there and she took the challenge, ordering the full Travis. She ate it all, not sure about the time, but she did get the sucker! We are headed back to ABQ in December and plan on going back. But we won’t be going for the full Travis this time though!
One of my favorite places when I lived there. First time I went there, I ordered a large chili cheese fries… Managed to finish them like 3 days later! Always a stop when I travel back through that way!
Some improvements…
The story I heard about the Travis, from a friend who went to HS with Travis at Albuquerque High, and from another friend who knew the Warner family (original K&I owners) for decades, from before they started the K&I:
Travis was a regular customer. He came in one afternoon and was looking over the menu and couldn’t decide what he wanted to eat. It was after the lunch rush so they said he could go into the kitchen and make what he wanted so he did. As he was eating it another regular customer came in — the waitresses asked if he wanted his usual but he saw what Travis was eating and said “No, I want what he is having.” Also, before Grandma Warner and her daughter Kay (K and I) opened the Diner, Grandma had a place on north 4th called Pancho’s Hideaway. One of the entrees from Pancho’s is on the menu at the K&I.
The story I heard about the Travis, from a friend who went to HS with Travis at Albuq High:
Travis was a regular customer and came in and was looking over the menu and couldn’t decide what he wanted to eat. It was after the lunch rush so they said he could go into the kitchen and make what he wanted so he did. As he was eating it another customer came in and said “I want what he is having.”
I love this place! When I was stationed at Kirtland in the late 80’s, I was introduced to Grandma’s by my co-workers. They said I “had” to eat a Full Travis or I was a wimp. I didn’t know then that they were setting me up. Well, I ordered one and couldn’t believe the size of this dish. However, as I was the new “boss” in the division, it was important to set the standard and let my co-workers know I was one of them. It took me about 30 minutes, but I finished the whole thing and was hooked. I never ate another “Full” by myself, but often ordered one to go to feed my family of five dinner when I got off work. For lunch, though, I usually ordered a Half Travis, then tried to stay awake the rest of the afternoon. Grandma’s will always be one of my favorite “hole-in-the-wall” eateries. Gary Drost, College Station, TX.
my name is glen seager i used to go to the k &i diner i still love the trvis special and the famous biscouts
i miss kay and grandma i just wish it would be open 7 days aweek from 6am to 3pm or for dinner too
k&i is still number 1 in albuquerque nm
I remember this place well. Went there for a going away luncheon for a military co-worker in the mid-Eighties and ordered a Travis. The waitress said there was no way I would be able to eat the thing to which my friends replied that my eating it would not be a problem. It came out on a rectangular silver turkey serving platter as described and I proceeded to demolish the thing. I definitely remember getting tired of eating so much food with the same taste for so long; but down it went.
After I finished eating my Travis the waitress brought me a dum-dum sucker and I asked what on earth it was for. She told me it was for managing to eat a Travis. I said I wasn’t finished and wanted an apple pie a-la mode. She disappeared and came back with a two-thirds of a nine-inch pie with three big scoops of ice cream on top, still in the pie tin and a smirk on her face as if there was no way on Earth I would finish this new challenge. After I wolfed that down I was happy and the waitress was dismayed.
Noone ever said that if I ate it in under an hour it was free. I’m pretty sure I finished it in under an hour though.
I paid up and proceeded back to work as the military frowns on taking time off for eating too much food.
Someday I’ll have to stop by when or if I ever get back to Albuquerque.
I miss this place!!! We used to go here all of the time when I was stationed at Kirtland.. I am half tempted to plan a trip back so that I can get myself a “Bert’s Mess”!! Definitely do not pass this place up if you have the opportunity!!
K&I is still open and as good as ever. Until 3PM weekdays. 2pm weekends
I dorve by this one yesterday, and it looked to me like it had closed down. Shame, I really wanted to tackle the Travis.