Category: New Mexican

New MexicanNew MexicoNew Mexico Green Chile Cheeseburger Trail: 2011Rated 23

El Bruno – Cuba, New Mexico

Gil Garduno3:49 AM

Fool that I am, after my first visit to El Bruno’s in 1997, I spent half an hour pondering how best to describe the restaurant in alliterative prose–adobe abode of amazing adovada, beguiling bastion of bountiful burritos, captivating citadel of chile con queso, earthen edifice of enchanting enchiladas–and while El Bruno is all of those and so much more, a simplified yet wholly accurate description would be “one of the five or six best New Mexican restaurants in the state.” El Bruno’s is almost equidistant between Albuquerque and Farmington, about 75 miles away from each. The drive is spectacular with a preponderance of scenic vistas and an unbelievable, multi-hued topography that includes hulking hoodoos (columns or pillars of bizarre shape caused…

AlbuquerqueClosed in 2008Gone But Not ForgottenNew Mexican

The Chili Stop – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno1:54 AM

NOTE:  On November 15th, 2008, Ron Chavez sold the Chili Stop a mere four months after making green chile a religious experience.  I have not visited the Chili Stop since it changed hands and have heard mixed opinions on the Chili Stop post Ron.  I will update this review after my next visit. Over the years it’s been my experience that almost invariably, New Mexican restaurants which violate traditional New Mexican grammar don’t prepare the object of their grammatical faux pas very well.  The grammatical transgression of which I speak is forgetting the “i” before “e” rule and committing the piquant peccadillo of spelling New Mexico’s official state vegetable with two “i’s” and no “e’s.” It’s entirely forgivable that chile…

BreakfastClosed in 2017Food Network Eats New MexicoGone But Not ForgottenNew MexicanSanta Fe

Guadalupe Cafe – Santa Fe, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno9:07 PM

1974, Mexico’s Nobel laureate Octavio Paz wrote that “the Mexican people, after more than two centuries of experiments, have faith only in the Virgin of Guadalupe and the National Lottery.” Though perhaps not to the same degree of reverence as people of Mexican descent have for Our Lady of Guadalupe, many diners literally make pilgrimages to Santa Fe’s Guadalupe Cafe. You might say they trek to this beloved institution with a type of fervor which could be considered almost spiritual. The Guadalupe Cafe, long removed from Santa Fe’s Guadalupe District and Guadalupe Street, does indeed inspire a fierce devotion. It is one of the most popular restaurants in Santa Fe, a venue often included in discussions about the best New…

AlbuquerqueClosed in 2009New Mexican

Marlene’s – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno7:32 AM

And when you work with love you bind yourself to yourself, and to one another, and to God. And what is it to work with love? It is to weave the cloth with threads drawn from your heart, even as if your beloved were to wear that cloth. It is to build a house with affection, even as if your beloved were to dwell in that house. It is to sow seeds with tenderness and reap the harvest with joy, even as if your beloved were to eat the fruit. – Kahlil Gibran, The Prophet, 1923 For far too many people, work is a drudgery, a tedious, tiring and torturous routine done solely to earn a living. It is mentally…

ArizonaClosed in 2018Gone But Not ForgottenNew MexicanUnited States

Los Dos Molinos – Springerville, Arizona (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno8:47 PM

Just how hot is the chile at Los Dos Molinos? The New York Times suggests you “travel with a fire extinguisher” and that “everything, with the exception of the margaritas, is incendiary.” New York magazine raves that “Not since Drew flashed Dave has Manhattan witnessed a hotter display than the one at Los Dos Molinos.” The Arizona Central dining guide asks “can you take the heat,” calling Los Dos Molinos “the lodestone for leather tongues.” Now these are all unimpeachable sources with impeccable credibility (at least when it comes to restaurants), but the source that got my attention quickest was a Garfield comic strip in which the irascible cat is challenged to a hot pepper eating contest by Jon, Garfield’s…

BakeryBreakfastNew MexicanNew MexicoTaos County

Michael’s Kitchen – Taos, New Mexico

Gil Garduno5:56 PM

Murphy’s Law postulates that “if anything can go wrong, it will.” This rather pessimistic and oft-quoted expression has become a catch-all when everything seems to go askew. Murphy’s Law is blamed when you’re in the slowest line at a grocery store behind people who can’t find their checkbooks. It’s the reason the toast you accidentally drop off the table lands butter side down. It’s why the loudest and rudest people always sit in front of you at a movie theater. Murphy’s Law is also the reason the restaurant you brag most about will invariably have an “off night” on the day people you most want to impress visit. It never fails! This immutable law works like compound interest. The more…

AlbuquerqueClosed in 2012Gone But Not ForgottenNew Mexican

Juan’s Broken Taco – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno4:50 AM

Fusion–the inventive combination of diverse, sometimes disparate culinary traditions, elements and ingredients to form an entirely new genre–has yet to become commonplace in the Land of Enchantment Some restaurants in New Mexico have dabbled in their conception of fusion, primarily by offering dishes from several southeast Asian countries alongside one another as well as dishes that are “inspired” combinations of those countries’ cuisines. In large metropolitan areas, particularly in California, restaurants featuring the melding of French and Chinese cuisine are especially popular. Here’s one fusion I’ll bet you’ve never heard of, much less tried–New Mexican and Romanian. Albuquerque has one restaurant in which that rarest of fusion can be found. To be honest, it’s not the wholly disparate cuisines of…

Closed in 2012Food Network Eats New MexicoGone But Not ForgottenNew MexicanNew Mexico

Leona’s Restaurante de Chimayo – Chimayo, New Mexico

Gil Garduno12:32 AM

In his book Authentic Happiness, Dr. Martin Seligman posited that there are two kinds of smiles. The first is called the Duchenne smile, named for its discoverer, French neurologist Guillame Duchenne. This is considered a genuine smile in which the corners of the mouth turn up and the skin around the corners of the eyes crinkle (ala crow’s feet). This type of smile may sometimes begin with laughter that generates a wide smile which causes the skin around the eyes to crease. The Duchenne smile is very hard to fake and is therefore often used to detect sincerity. The other type of smile, called the Pan American smile, is named after the smile airline stewardesses (or at least those on…

AlbuquerqueClosed in 2010Gone But Not ForgottenNew Mexican

Barb’s Place – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno12:09 AM

To everything there is a season and a time to every purpose under heaven. – Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 These lyrical words from the King James version of the Holy Bible have been attributed to the most sagacious of Jewish monarchs, King Solomon. They have been recited, sung and published in numerous prayers, songs and books. The words posit that there is a time and place for all things–even cumin. I’ve been accused of making my Web site a bully pulpit against cumin (more than once referred to on my site as “the accursed despoiler of New Mexican chile.”) Perhaps it’s true that I’ve been a bit tough on cumin, a pungent spice with a distinctive salty-sweet flavor, but my rail against…

AlbuquerqueNew Mexican

Richard’s Mexican Restaurant – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Gil Garduno2:46 AM

In 2006 and 2007, the CalorieLab compiled the “fattest state” rankings based on a risk factor assessment provided by the Center for Disease Control (CDC) and Prevention. CalorieLab determined an overall increase in obesity in all states but California. Garnering the discomfiting dishonor as the fattest state in the union two years in a row was Mississippi. The Magnolia State was the first state ever in which two-thirds of its citizenry or higher were either overweight or obese by CDC standards. Our neighbor to the north, Colorado, ranked as the leanest state in the fruited plain two years running despite the percentage of its citizens now considered obese climbing to 17.6 percent. In many national ratings involving education, health care…

AlbuquerqueClosed in 2011Gone But Not ForgottenNew Mexican

Las Mañanitas – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno12:45 AM

Estas son las mañanitas, que cantaba el Rey David, Hoy por ser día de tu santo, te las cantamos a ti, Despierta, mi bien, despierta, mira que ya amaneció, Ya los pajarillos cantan, la luna ya se metió. This is the morning song that King David sang Because today is your saint’s day we’re singing it for you Wake up, my dear, wake up, look it is already dawn The birds are already singing and the moon has set Las Mañanitas, the traditional Mexican birthday song often sung in Catholic churches and birthday parties is one of my very favorite songs of any genre.  It offers the recipient a good-morning wish just as King David himself might have. During early…