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Albuquerque Closed in 2014 French Gone But Not Forgotten New Mexico

Le Cafe Miche – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil GardunoAugust 21, 2005July 23, 201811:37 AM

Cafe Miche has been regarded as one of Albuquerque’s best restaurants since its 1996 launch and according to the Zagat Survey, was the number one rated French restaurant in the state for three consecutive years. Honored with an Award of Excellence by Wine Spectator magazine and boasting of one of the city’s best wine lists, Cafe Miche has a passionate following of faithful followers. I suspect some of them visit almost as much for the wonderful cuisine as to enjoy the company of effusive chef Claus Hjortkjaer and his statuesque wife and partner Linda, both of whom seem to know…

Albuquerque Closed in 2021 Gone But Not Forgotten New Mexican New Mexico Culinary Treasures Trail

La Placita Dining Rooms – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil GardunoAugust 20, 2005June 6, 202112:35 AM

For convenience, if not for fiery New Mexico authenticity, you can’t beat La Placita, a yawning restaurant housed in the historic Casa de Armijo hacienda on Old Town Plaza. The Casa de Armijo was built in 1706 and occupied for many generations by the prominent Armijo family. Over the course of its three hundred year existence, the three foot thick adobe walled structure also served as a fort and a refuge before housing Armijo’s mercantile store in which gentlemen’s linen underwear could be purchased for $1 and dainty ladies’ lace gloves sold for 10 cents a pair. The Casa de…

Brunch New Mexico Rating: Excellent Santa Fe Steak

Rio Chama Steakhouse – Santa Fe, New Mexico

Gil GardunoJuly 31, 2005April 5, 20262:56 PM

The murky Rio Chama meanders through the high plateaus of northwestern New Mexico surrounded by multi-colored sandstone cliffs reminiscent of Georgia O’Keefe’s landscape paintings in which colors seem to defy nature. The ambiance at the Rio Chama Steakhouse is of muted earth tones and subdued Southwestern patinas. Exquisite elegance is in evidence throughout the restaurant as this truly fine dining establishment exudes class and wealth. Serving prime and choice dry aged steaks, chops and seafood, this high-end and classy establishment has garnered accolades since its inception–Cocinita Magazine’s Critics’ Choice Award in 2001 and the Santa Fe Reporter Readers’ Choice award…

Albuquerque Closed in 2008 Gone But Not Forgotten Mexican

El Bandido Hideaway Del Valle – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil GardunoJune 24, 2005July 23, 20183:03 PM

Armed with Andrea Lin’s terrific Duke City Fix review of the El Bandido restaurant on Central, we set off on a Friday night to visit a branch of a restaurant at which we hadn’t dined since 1999. El Bandido Hideaway del Valle, we figured was affiliated with the Central Avenue restaurant renown for its creative advertising (stationing a sign carrying man wearing a Mexican wrestling mask on the busy median). Alas, while the affiliation no longer exists, the North Valley restaurant’s name remains unchanged. That, as it turns out, was perfectly okay because we uncovered a real find. Some people…

Albuquerque Cajun Closed in 2007 Gone But Not Forgotten

The Blue Dragon – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil GardunoJune 18, 2005July 23, 201812:04 PM

In truth, the Blue Dragon is a coffee house in the style of New Orleans or San Francisco more so than it is a Cajun restaurant, but since it serves better Cajun food than anyone else in Albuquerque, Cajun is as good a category as any in which to place it. This Dragon serves up the best muffalatta in town, by far–just the right amount of Italian olive salad on four slices of bread (two slices if you wimp out and have only a half muffalatta) with Genoa salami, ham, baby Swiss cheese and provolone. The Dragon doesn’t use the…

Albuquerque Closed in 2017 Gone But Not Forgotten National Chain Sandwich

Quizno’s – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil GardunoMay 31, 2005May 8, 20213:30 AM

Just as owning a BMW might diminish your appreciation of any other car you’ll ever have (unless it’s another BMW), eating sub sandwiches in New England will devalue your estimation of any sub sandwich you’ll ever have anywhere else. From Maine to Delaware, sub sandwiches in all their sobriquets (grinders, torpedoes, heroes, etc.) are so far superior to sandwiches served anywhere else in the country that you’ll invariably find yourself making unfair comparisons. Nothing else quite fills the bill. After moving to Denver, New York native James Lambatos wanted Mile High City residents to experience an Italian sub similar to…

Albuquerque Asian Closed in 2007 Fusion Gone But Not Forgotten

Asia Restaurant – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil GardunoMay 21, 2005July 23, 20189:58 PM

Proprietor Nan Nguyen and his wife launched Asia Restaurant in April, 2002 and have experienced steady, if not spectacular customer traffic. Repeat business from faithful patrons in a small, intimate setting with only 12 tables give the Nguyens the opportunity to get to know their clients. Although both from a small village in South Vietnam, Nan worked for years in a Chinese restaurant, hence a menu offering both Vietnamese and Chinese food. Our inaugural visit was shortly after the restaurant’s grand opening and typical of Albuquerque, the restaurant was packed with curiosity seekers. We were the only diners during our…

Albuquerque Closed in 2008 Gone But Not Forgotten Mediterranean

Mediterranean Cafe – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil GardunoApril 30, 2005July 23, 20182:50 AM

In ancient times, the Mediterranean Sea was a “superhighway” of transportation, facilitating cultural exchange and trade between the region that fashioned Western civilization as we recognize it today. As the sapphire heart that gives life to the countries surrounding her, the Mediterranean was the seat of empires for millennia. The countries bordering the Mediterranean share more than history. They also share culinary traditions which are celebrated in the Mediterranean Cafe, a diminutive restaurant specializing in the foods of North Africa and the Middle East with popular foods of Greece added because of popular demand. Proprietor Ridha Bouajila, a Tunisian by…

Albuquerque Steak

Gruet Steakhouse – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil GardunoApril 21, 2005July 23, 20182:34 AM

Is there anything finer than a sizzling, flame kissed slab of prime beef overfilling your plate at a fine high-end chop house? Steak used to define fine dining and wealth provided the delineation between the type of steak each patron could afford–select, choice or prime, a classification based on marbling (the more the marbling, the more tender the steak). The proliferation of inexpensive steak restaurants in the 1960s made steak readily available to the common man while the advent of technology has made it available over the Internet and even in mall stores throughout America. The tragic reality is that…

Albuquerque Closed in 2008 Gone But Not Forgotten New Mexican

Casa Grande Restaurant – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil GardunoMarch 26, 2005July 23, 20188:07 PM

Arizona’s Casa Grande Ruins National Monument is one of the largest and most mysterious prehistoric structures ever built in North America and serves as the most impressive remnant left by the Hohokam (those who are gone) culture. In many ways, Albuquerque’s Casa Grande restaurant may be a remnant, too–albeit, a remnant of restaurants which prepare unadulterated New Mexican food made to order with the realization that tourists really might want to try authentically piquant and seasoned food as the locals would prepare it. More than most restaurants in Albuquerque, particularly those in the Old Town area, Casa Grande does prepare…

Albuquerque Closed in 2007 Spanish

Conrad’s – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil GardunoFebruary 23, 2005July 23, 20181:56 PM

There was a time when the name “Hilton” didn’t conjure up images of a ditzy blonde airhead whose celebrity is based largely on promiscuity. Well, maybe not. More than 50 years ago, another ditzy blonde, Zsa Zsa Gabor honeymooned at La Posada in Albuquerque with her then husband Conrad Hilton, a New Mexico native and founder of the historic downtown hotel in which Conrad’s is housed. Since the hotel’s launch in 1939, the guest registry at La Posada de Albuquerque has been signed by a veritable who’s who in celebrity and politics. Most come for the hotel’s Spanish colonial charm,…