According
to the Population Division of the U.S. Census Bureau, the most common
surname in America is (not surprisingly) Smith, a name shared by over
two and a half million people.
Contrary to popular belief Jones is
not the second most common surname. With only one and a half
million citizens, Jones is the fourth most common surname in the census.
The Jones are trying to keep up with the Johnsons (two million) and
Williams (1.7 million).
The most common Hispanic surname in
America is Garcia. With more than 630 thousand citizens bearing
the name, it is the eighteenth most common surname in the fruited plain
followed by Martinez with 581 thousand plus bearers.
In Albuquerque one of the most common
restaurants is The Original Garcia's Kitchen with seven locations
throughout the metropolitan area. Common does not necessarily
connote average or ordinary. In this case it speaks to the sheer
number of instantiations bearing the name of one of the city's most
popular dining establishments.
The
Original also does not mean the first one of the seven Garcia's Kitchen
restaurants. Each of the seven restaurants is called The Original
Garcia's Kitchen. I surmise it might have something to do with a
short-lived interloper named Garcia's of Scottsdale which opened and
closed in the early 1980s in the uptown area.
The Original Garcia's
Kitchen has been serving Albuquerque diners since 1973. That's
nearly 35 years of people pleasing that says it's doing many things
right.
Garcia's is a
restaurant with a personality, albeit in the form of a caricature of
Andy Garcia, the restaurant's owner. That caricature depicts a
sombrero wearing Andy with a cherubic smile holding a plateful of tacos
on one hand and a towel on the other. It is prevalent throughout
his restaurants; you can find it on colorful paintings, the menus and
even on napkins.
Every one of the seven restaurants is
brightly and festively decorated with an ambience tailored to the
specific neighborhood it is serving. Garcia's Web site offers
several Betty Boop themed novelties that seem to go hand-in-hand with
the Andy caricature.
One of the things that makes Garcia's
so popular is its breakfast at any time option. There's a separate
section called "Gringo Breakfast" if you prefer not to have any chile
laden entrees.
Make
that "chili" or at least that's the way it's spelled on the menu.
It's one of several menu malapropisms the purist in me finds hard to
accept as cutesy. Other liberties taken on the menu include "Karnita's"
and the listing of fajitas under the New Mexican food.
Yeah, I know. What do I
want--good grammar or good taste? Obviously there's nothing as
important as great tasting New Mexican food and that's where Garcia's
has won over legions of fans. Alas, you can't count me among them.
I receive more e-mail asking me to
review Garcia's than just about any other restaurant in the Duke City.
There are several reasons Garcia's isn't on my list of favorite New
Mexican restaurants and every one of them was confirmed during my most
recent visit (October, 2007).
The first reason is the saltiness of
the chips. Modern technology has made possible the desalinization
of ocean water. It shouldn't be that difficult to desalinate
chips. It's too bad such overly salted chips are served with an
excellent, rich red salsa with the piquant bite purists crave.
With better chips, it's a two bowl pre-meal salsa.
The
second reason is that I've never had a plate from Garcia's served at
more than lukewarm. To me it's a near criminal offense not to
serve New Mexican food piping hot. Other restaurants (La
Esquina comes to mind) don't seem to have a problem serving
hot food. I, for one, appreciate the warning, "be careful, the
plate's hot."
The third reason has to do with the
papas (along with rice, beans or French Fries being the sides you can
have with your entrees) which might be good if they didn't consistently
look as if scraped from the bottom of the frying pan.
Garcia's chile is a bit on the insipid
side, barely registering on the piquant scale. It's the type of
chile (I can't bring myself to spell it "chili") you would serve
visitors from the Midwest who aren't used to highly spiced, piquant
food.
On the plus side there are some things
I do appreciate about Garcia's. The service is always first-rate
with an attentive, highly skilled wait staff.
The
Karnitas, despite that atrocious spelling, are tender and
delicious--like carne adovada without chile.
Garcia's
sopaipillas are also quite good--and they are served steamy hot.
They're not quite pillowy as at other restaurants, but they always feel
and taste freshly made and delicious.
Garcia's also serves excellent
biscochitos. The official New Mexico state cookie, the best
biscochitos are topped with plenty of anise for sweetness and flavor.
These are some of the best!
Garcia's does its very best to live up
to it's motto "Stamp out gringo food." With a loyal fan base and
seven restaurants throughout the Duke City, it certainly puts a dent on
it.
