Category: New Mexico

BarbecueBurgersClosed in 2021Gone But Not ForgottenNew MexicoRio Rancho

Triple B’s Bar-B-Que Burgers & Burritos – Rio Rancho, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno8:47 PM

Archaeologists in Spain claim to have unearthed the original man cave. What is most remarkable about this finding is how very similar Neanderthal man and contemporary man are. Men, it could be said, have not evolved much. Neanderthals were hairy and brutish in appearance, very much like the New York Giants and Philadelphia Eagles. They spoke in guttural grunts, similar to today’s politicians. Neanderthals scrawled their art on cave walls; contemporary man expresses himself artistically on bridges, underpasses and walls. Neanderthal man used tools: hammers, clubs and axes; contemporary man uses tools: television remote controls, joy sticks and iPhones. Cultural anthropologists (and Barbara Streisand) have long posited that throughout evolutionary history, man has had an inherent need for belonging to a social group. We are driven to form and maintain at least a few lasting, positive and significant interpersonal relationships. For many men, the two most powerful bonding agents are sports and what we like to call “barbecue” even though what we’re doing is “grilling.” We derive a sense of belonging through our affiliation with the sports teams we like–to the extent that we wear team apparel which encases us like engorged sausages. We like to get together to cheer…

AlbuquerqueClosed in 2021Gone But Not ForgottenNew MexicoSandwich

California Pastrami & More – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno11:43 PM

During a 1997 episode of Seinfeld, the “show about nothing,” George Costanza and his girlfriend du jour discussed the possibility of incorporating food into their lovemaking–not as a post-coital meal, but in flagrante delicto. George listed as potential food candidates: strawberries, chocolate sauce, honey and…pastrami on rye with mustard. Yes, that’s pastrami on rye. His girlfriend, unfortunately, failed to appreciate the erotic qualities of pastrami and thus, their relationship terminated. Ultimately George met up with a woman who echoed his sentiments when she declared pastrami to be “the most sensual of all the salted cured meats.” With that proclamation, their lustful appetites took over and they succumbed to the pastrami inspired throes of passion, albeit also incorporating television watching. It’s no wonder George Costanza’s face grew flush when he ate with friends at their favorite neighborhood diner; the association of food with pleasure became a sensual one. I don’t know about pastrami being the most sensual of all salted cured meats (sounds like a bit of double entendre here), but do know there are few sandwiches quite as wonderful as a pastrami sandwich. Alas, not all pastrami is created equal. The perfect pastrami finds its genesis as brisket given a…

AlbuquerqueClosed in 2022Dog FriendlyGone But Not ForgottenMexicanNew MexicanNew Mexico

The Jealous Fork – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno4:02 PM

In December, 1997, two-time James Beard award-winning author Deborah Madison penned a memorable article for Sunset Magazine.  Its  provocative title “Land of Enchiladas” certainly resonated with me.  Before relocating to the Santa Fe area where she now lives, Deborah would visit New Mexico quite regularly.  As with most New Mexicans returning home–whether from vacation or relocating permanently–the incomparable cuisine of our enchanted state was a priority even before she crossed into our sacred borders.  She always looked forward to that first plate of flat enchiladas smothered with red chili sauce. One bite and I knew I was in New Mexico. It tasted like home cooking, It tastes like home.  That’s a sentiment to which many of us can relate.  No matter where my Kim and I vacation or where I may be sent on a business trip, within three days I start to crave New Mexican food–the incomparable flavors of home.  Despite those cravings, I won’t succumb to the spangled wiles of restaurants purporting to serve similar food.  My friend and former Intel colleague Steve Caine once fell prey to a pretender and will forever rue the day.  Upon returning from a business trip to Portland, he asked me to…

AlbuquerqueAmericanBreakfastDog FriendlyNew MexicoRating: OutstandingSandwich

The Shop Breakfast & Lunch – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Gil Garduno7:14 PM

In the 60s and early 70s, movies and television programs would have you believe all spies were hard-drinking, fast-driving, woman-chasing playboys as good with their fists as they were with a gun. They were worldly, sophisticated and charming, but could just as easily use guile and deception to get the job done. Bob Ayers, who worked in intelligence for 30 years in the U.S. Army and Defense Intelligence Agency counters those stereotypes: “All of that stuff about James Bond, that’s Hollywood. You don’t want anyone standing out in the intelligence business. You want someone nondescript. The ideal spy is 5-foot-6 and kind of dumpy.” That ideal—nondescript and dumpy—just wouldn’t work in the restaurant business…or would it? Restaurants, especially those which are generously bankrolled by corporate megaliths, tend to have a lot of cash, flash and panache to create the illusion of glamor and allure which brings in customers (and most of us are easily entertained). In addition to all the pristine veneer and effusive, over-the-top flamboyance money can buy, these restaurants tend to have catchy, memorable names which help in the establishment and proliferation of brand identity. They’re capacious, swanky, memorable and largely successful. Anyone who thinks this formulaic approach…

AlbuquerqueFine DiningRating: Outstanding

Seasons Rotisserie & Grill – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Gil Garduno3:21 AM

To everything 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 Despite America’s oft vascillating economic situation, new restaurants continue to sprout faster than New Mexico’s unofficial state flower (no, not the ubiquitous orange traffic cone; the almost as omnipresent tumbleweed). Rarely does a week go by without some sparkly and shiny new restaurant opening up somewhere in the Duke City. Though most start off with much promise and potential, many restaurants are destined to suffer a fate similar to the dreaded and accursed tumbleweed. The average lifespan of most independent restaurant concepts is less than five years. In 1995, Seasons Rotisserie & Grill was one of the shiny new restaurants with lots of promise and potential. A quarter of a century later, it continues to thrive against the onslaught of rigorous competition from newer, shinier and prettier new restaurants, outlasting many restaurants anointed the “next best thing” by the cognoscenti. Year after year, Seasons continues to be mentioned as one of the city’s very best restaurants and not…

AlbuquerqueClosed in 2026Gone But Not ForgottenIce CreamMexicanNew Mexico

Pop Fizz – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno7:57 PM

NOTE: The review below is primarily for the Pop Fizz instantiation at the National Hispanic Cultural Center which closed during the Cabrona Virus.  Pop Fizz continued to operate at other locations, but did not have the comprehensive menu it once had.  Pop Fizz announced its closure in March, 2026. The geriatrically advanced among us who grew up during the golden age (1950s through the 1970s) of the “jingle” were constantly bombarded with earworm-inducing singing commercials, those catchy and memorable short tunes used to convey advertising slogans. We couldn’t help but sing along, often to the annoyance of our parents. When, for example, the Garduño family visited the big city (Taos), the kids would belt out the familiar jingle “Let’s all go to A&W. Food’s more fun at A&W. Have a mug of root beer, or maybe two or three.” Our dissonant din rarely persuaded our parents to take us to A&W. More often than not, we were ferried back to Peñasco for a home-cooked meal. Researchers suggest that women may be even more susceptible to earworms than men. That research was borne out when I suggested to my Kim that we visit Pop Fizz for lunch. Instead of asking what…

BarbecueBurgersNew MexicoRating: N/R (Not Rated)

Greg’s BBQ – Belen, New Mexico

Gil Garduno12:01 AM

On our journey to together forever, my Kim and I have shared meals at thousands of restaurants.  Even when we haven’t enjoyed those meals, without exception we’ve enjoyed our times together.  We share everything…almost.  Maybe the only thing we don’t completely share is the extent, breadth and depth of my passion for food.  You probably won’t believe this, but I’m one of those “live to eat” types who’s certifiably obsessed with food–to the point of looking forward my next culinary adventure before my current meal is even done.  I self gloss as a gastronome, but foodie, gourmand or bon viveur fit, too. In describing my Kim as “insouciant” about food, my thoughts immediately wandered to souffles and sous, two food-related words that sort of rhyme with insouciant.  Talk about being hung-up.  Some of my friends and frequent dining companions would also describe themselves as foodies, but their behavior belies that contention.  Perhaps because of the rarity with which I break bread with someone as preoccupied with the enjoyment of food, fate decreed that the brilliant Linda Johansen would become my boss.  Like me, Linda is a certified Kansas City Barbecue Society (KCBS) judge.  She’s also served several times as judge…

AlbuquerqueNew MexicoRating: ExcellentSandwich

Philly Steaks – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Gil Garduno8:02 PM

“I love the dignity in the name Philadelphia, but at heart, we’re Philly.” ~Lisa Scottoline New York Times Best-Selling Author “There are a couple of things you should know about Philadelphia,” my friend Vladimir “Speedy” Gonzalez told me before my first visit to the City of Brotherly Love. “First, Philadelphians are not rude. We may be blunt and direct, but that’s just passion.” Passion? I always thought he was a grouch. “Second,” he added, “you’ve got to know the process for ordering a Philly cheesesteak when you visit Pat’s King of Steaks. If you don’t, you’ll be sent to the end of the line.” Sure enough, the Pat’s counterman didn’t appreciate my typical twenty questions ordering approach and sent me back to the end of the line, halfway around the block. Apparently what Vladimir called passion is pretty pervasive in Philadelphia. There are dozens of examples of that passion in sporting events, including a notorious 1968 event in which Eagles fans booed and pelted Santa Claus with snowballs. There are also plenty of non-sporting examples. In 1998, the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission, which oversees taxis, mandated etiquette classes for the city’s cab drivers. Cynics called it “cabbie charm school” and…

AlbuquerqueMexicanNew MexicoRating: N/R (Not Rated)Tacos

La Reforma Brewery – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Gil Garduno3:27 AM

When my friend Schuyler saw the name of the restaurant on this review, he teased me that my life of dissipation, debasement and debauchery finally caught up with me.  “39-year-old juvenile delinquents like you belong in a reformatory.”   Being the mad scientist cerevisaphile he is, he also told it’s about time I ended my teetotaling ways.  “You’ve tried everything else.  Why not beer?”  Frankly, when my friend Ryan “Break the Chain” Scott first told me about La Reforma Taqueria, Brewery and Distillery, I had no idea what the context of the term “Reforma” meant, but doubted it had anything to do with a reformatory (which Wikipedia defines as “a youth detention center or an adult correctional facility popular during the late 19th and early 20th centuries in Western countries.” Mexican history, a subject in which I’m apparently woefully uneducated, recalls that La Reforma was the Mexican social revolution in the 1850s which led to the ouster of dictator Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna (you might remember him from The Alamo) and designation of Mexico as a nation state.   The revolution resulted in the creation of  the Mexican Constitution of 1857 which provided civil, political, and religious freedoms, and…

AlbuquerqueBrunchDog FriendlyNew MexicoRating: GoodSpanishTapas

VARA WINERY & DISTILLERY – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Gil Garduno3:53 PM

In 1620, King Philip III of Spain issued a royal decree mandating that each of the 19 recognized New Mexican Pueblos elect by popular vote, a governor, lieutenant governor and other officers as might be needed to carry on the Pueblo’s affairs. The decree required that elections take place at the close of a calendar year with installation into office occurring the first week of the new year. In commemoration of each Pueblo’s recognized sovereignty, each governor was presented a silver-headed Vara de Soberania (Cane of Sovereignty) with a cross inscribed on the sliver mount as evidence of the support of the Church.  This symbol of the governor’s commission and authority has been passed on to succeeding governors ever since. * In 1629, nine years after the Varas de Soberania were issued, Fray Garcîa de Zuñiga and Antonio de Arteaga smuggled vines out of Spain. In defiance of Spanish law prohibiting the growing of grapes for wine in the new world, they planted New Mexico’s first grapes on the east bank of the Rio Grande slightly north of the village of present-day San Antonio. Thanks to the audacity of the two Catholic monks, the major shortage of wine in the…

AlbuquerqueBrunchClosed in 2021Dog FriendlyGone But Not ForgottenMexicanNew Mexico

Urban Taqueria -Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno12:01 AM

My sagacious friend Bill Resnik is like a 6’5″ Yoda. Perhaps because he was a stand-up comedian for several decades, he seems to invite good-natured teasing from among our mutual friends and colleagues.  Like gunfighters sporting black hats in the westerns of yore, would-be comics seem to come out of the woodwork to challenge the fastest quipster in the west.  Instead of six shooters, the villains arrive sporting their put-downs, taunts and insults…and like the white chapeau-wearing good guy fighting on behalf of the forces of goodness and niceness, Bill dispatches them quickly with witty retort. I once asked Bill how he could put up with constant ribbing from colleagues and friends.  He reminded me that being offended is a choice.  As my Kim and I were enjoying our inaugural dining experience at the Urban Taqueria, we were witness to an example of two people choosing to be offended.  They strode to the counter, perused the menu and stormed out.  The very menu we found innocuous–even funny–apparently offended them so much that they eschewed the opportunity to enjoy a fabulous brunch.  Sadly, their behavior is something the Urban Taqueria has experienced virtually since its launch.  So what is it about…