Category: New Mexico

AlbuquerqueClosed in 2020Gone But Not ForgottenMexicanNew MexicoTacos

Dia De Los Takos – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno7:47 PM

NOTE: Although Dia De Los Takos has closed, founder-owner-chef Dominic “Dom” Valuenzuela has launched a new restaurant called Tako Ten.  Look for a review soon. Felix, a character in Adi Alsaid’s young adult fiction book North of Happy was asked what makes a taco perfect. “It’s a taco that tastes as good as the idea of a taco itself. A taco that’ll hold steadfast through memory’s attempt to erase it, a taco that’ll be worthy of the nostalgia that it will cause. A taco that won’t satisfy or fill but will satiate your hunger. Not just for tonight but for…

Dog FriendlyNew MexicoPizzaRating: N/R (Not Rated)

Pizza Barn – Edgewood, New Mexico

Gil Garduno5:16 PM

“I love my pizza so much, in fact, that I have come to believe in my delirium that my pizza might actually love me, in return. I am having a relationship with this pizza, almost an affair.” ― Elizabeth Gilbert, Eat, Pray, Love Wikipedia describes the 2010 biographical romantic novel Eat Pray Love as “a journey around the world that becomes a quest for“…pizza. Okay, I took some literary liberties with the “pizza” thing.  What author Elizabeth Gilbert was actually in pursuit of was “self-discovery.”  Pizza….Self-discovery.  Isn’t that pretty much the same thing?  In her travels, Elizabeth went all the…

AlbuquerqueBurgersClosed in 2023Gone But Not ForgottenNew Mexico

Santa Fe Bite – ABQ – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno12:49 PM

In 1940, Thomas Wolfe penned You Can’t Go Home Again, a novel whose deeply existential title prompted more than water cooler conversations.  It prompted profound philosophical discourse, internal reflection and pangs of nostalgia about better days remembered.  Readers pondered if it was true that “you can’t go back home to your family, back home to your childhood.”  Realists concluded the novel’s title meant you can’t return to a place of another time and expect that everything would be exactly the same.  Optimists  took it a bit further, positing that while some things may change, other things don’t change and some…

AlbuquerqueFood TruckKoreanRating: Very Good

Soo Bak Seoul Bowl & Soo Bak Foods – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Gil Garduno12:01 AM

Announcer: “The story you are about to read is true. The menu has been changed to showcase the delicious mashup of Korean and Mexican cuisines. Roy Choi: “This is the city: Los Angeles, California. I work here. I’m a chef.” Since 2008, there’s been a dragnet in progress across the city of Los Angeles. Instead of a coordinated attempt by police to catch criminals, this dragnet is a coordinated attempt by four mobile food kitchens (that’s food truck to you, Bob) to attract hungry diners. Those mobile food kitchens are named Kogi Korean BBQ-To-Go and have pioneered a technological approach…

AlbuquerqueAmericanClosed in 2020Gone But Not ForgottenNew Mexico

Seasonal Palate – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno11:58 PM

To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted; ~Ecclesiastes, 3:1-2 Not that very long ago, a “seasonal palate” meant humankind consumed foods only during the season in which they were grown. Today, we can walk down the aisles of our neighborhood grocery stores in January and find a veritable horn of plenty overflowing with the same kinds of fruits and vegetables we were enjoying when they were “in…

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Toltec Brewing Co. – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno11:01 PM

Vincent: And you know what they call a Quarter Pounder with Cheese in Paris? Jules: They don’t call it a Quarter Pounder with Cheese? Vincent: No, they got the metric system there, they wouldn’t know what the #%*&! a Quarter Pounder is. Jules: What’d they call it? Vincent: They call it Royale with cheese. Jules: Royale with Cheese. What’d they call a Big Mac? Vincent: Big Mac’s a Big Mac, but they call it Le Big Mac. ~Pulp Fiction 265 “f-bombs,” copious racist slurs, torrents of extreme language and some of the most weighty dialogue ever spoken in an American…

AlbuquerqueBakeryClosed in 2024Dog FriendlyGone But Not ForgottenNew MexicoSandwich

Swiss Alps Bakery – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno6:58 PM

Admit it. The second thing that comes to mind when you hear the term “Swiss Alps” is the scene from one of cinema’s most heartwarming movies. It begins with a distant camera drawing closer to a verdant mountainside backdropped by steep, snow-capped peaks. Soothing music grows louder as the camera pans in on a lone figure with arms outstretched. The chappeaued figure twirls and looks skyward as a voice in the background sings “The hills are alive with the sound of Griswolds.” Never mind that Clark Griswold’s dream sequence for the comedy classic European Vacation was actually filmed in the…

BreakfastDog FriendlyFood Network Eats New MexicoNew MexicoRating: ExcellentSanta FeSouthwestern

Tesuque Village Market – Tesuque, New Mexico

Gil Garduno4:34 PM

The most successful Indian revolt in North American history occurred on August 10th, 1680. On that day, more than 8,000 warriors from the various Native American pueblos in New Mexico put aside deep historical differences and banded together to drive the Spaniards from their ancestral lands. This event is celebrated each year in Tesuque Pueblo. Tesuque Pueblo played an integral role in the rebellion. Two Tesuque runners were dispatched by pueblo leaders to enlist support for the revolt. The runners carried knotted deer hide cords to the various pueblos, each knot signifying a day. On each successive day, one knot…

AlbuquerqueBurgersNew MexicoRating: Good

Mac’s Steak in the Rough – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Gil Garduno1:43 PM

In Mark 6:4, Jesus instructs his disciples that “a prophet is not without honor except in his own town, among his relatives and in his own home.” Theologists and Bible scholars have translated this to mean “A prophet is honored everywhere except in his own hometown and among his relatives and his own family.” While certainly not as venerated as prophets, this verse could also apply to some of our local restaurants. If ever you’ve heard a disparaging word about one of our local restaurant institutions, you’ll know of what I speak. Think of all the times you’ve heard such…

AlbuquerqueJapaneseKoreanRating: GoodSushi

Sushi & Sake – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Gil Garduno12:44 AM

“If white wine goes with fish, do white grapes go with sushi?“ – George Carlin A reader once asked Washington Post humorist Gene Weingarten what he was a snob about. His reply, “I am also a snob about food. The other day, in Baltimore, I passed a sign outside a restaurant that said “Sushi Buffet!‘ and laughed out loud because it occurred to me that “sushi” and “buffet” are two words that should never appear together.”  His sentiment resonates strongly with sushi aficionados who adhere to the strict rules of etiquette which governs the way in which true sushi snobs…

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AK Deli – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno4:49 PM

NOTE: Although AK Deli shuttered its doors in 2020, you can still have many of its wonderful sandwiches at AK Pizza. “You’ll never be one of us,” my brother-in-law Chuck quipped in his best Baron von Trapp voice. He wasn’t talking about me being part of the family. He was talking about me being a Chicagoan. Chuck wasn’t being mean-spirited or condescending in any way. The only person not born in the Windy City whom he considers a true Chicagoan is da coach Mike Ditka. “He’s the embodiment of Chicago. It’s in his soul. It’s his attitude.” he explained. Michael…