New Mexico Archives - Page 86 of 117 - Gil's Thrilling (And Filling) Blog

Breakfast New Mexico New Mexico Green Chile Cheeseburger Trail: 2009 New Mexico Green Chile Cheeseburger Trail: 2011 Rating: Excellent Santa Fe Southwestern

La Plazuela at La Fonda – Santa Fe, New Mexico

Gil GardunoFebruary 3, 2013April 5, 202612:14 PM

History and Hollywood have glamorized the Colt 45 revolver as the “gun that tamed the West.” Known as the “Peacemaker,” the .45 caliber pistol was used by all the famous lawmen and cowboy heroes of the old West. Wyatt Earp used the Colt 45. So did Wild Bill Hickok and Buffalo Bill Cody. It was often the deciding factor in the unrelenting battle of good and evil, the means by which law and order were established in a frontier in which chaos reigned. Many aficionados of the Wild West would never list a genteel English emigrant named Fred Harvey in…

Breakfast Brunch Diners Drive-Ins and Dives Food Network Eats New Mexico Mexican New Mexico New Mexico Green Chile Cheeseburger Trail: 2011 Rating: Very Good Salvadoran Santa Fe

Tune-up Café – Santa Fe, New Mexico

Gil GardunoJanuary 27, 2013April 5, 20264:50 PM

Dave Who? From 1981 until its closing in 2008, the converted residence at 1115 Hickox Street was the home of Dave’s Not Here, a quaint and quirky neighborhood favorite loyalist locals described as “unforgettable.” Perhaps “memorable” would have been more appropriate, because as the Eagles reminded us in their 1976 hit song New Kid In Town, “they will never forget you ‘til somebody new comes along.” That somebody new…the new kid in town… the usurper who made many of us forget about Dave’s Not Here is the Tune-Up Café. When it first launched, the Tune-Up Café was always mentioned in…

Albuquerque Closed in 2014 French Gone But Not Forgotten Rating: Excellent

Chez Bob – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil GardunoJanuary 23, 2013March 31, 202610:48 PM

Even if you’ve never had the pleasure of a meal there, it’s hard not to like a restaurant named Chez Bob. Much as poetic French words are apt to do, the term “chez” seems to impart instant credibility, authenticity and just a touch of haughtiness to any restaurant sporting that appellation–even though “chez” is just a preposition which means “at the home of.” So, Chez Lucien is essentially “at the home of Lucien.” On restaurants, the term “chez” usually prefaces the name of the chef or owner, as in Chez Pierre or Chez Emile. The ordinary nature of the “Bob”…

Albuquerque Closed in 2019 Gone But Not Forgotten Mexican

Zacatecas Tacos & Tequila – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil GardunoJanuary 13, 2013March 13, 20199:15 PM

The diminishing of the American diner’s disposable income has posed a significant challenge for restaurateurs, particularly those who specialize in fine-dining fare. In a downtrodden economy, Americans are less willing to spend their hard-earned money on meals that cost almost as much as a utilities payment. Instead, the dining consumer has increasingly turned toward a more casual dining experience. This dining trend has prompted enterprising chefs to overhaul and upgrade comfort food favorites. In recent years, restaurateurs have transformed burgers from a ubiquitous fast-food favorite into a gourmet casual experience showcasing pricier, premium meat patties and sundry upscale ingredients. Similarly,…

Albuquerque Closed in 2014 Gone But Not Forgotten Mexican

Chile Rio Mexican Grill – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil GardunoJanuary 10, 2013July 17, 20188:59 AM

In as delicious a dichotomy as you’ll find on any novel, the chapter from Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory which most terrorized and traumatized children actually provides glorious fantasy material for many adults. In that memorable chapter, a gluttonous brat child named Augustus Gloop falls into a Chocolate River and is sucked through a pipe into a room in which fudge is manufactured. By being squeezed through the pipe, Augustus’s once endomorphic body (described in the novel as “fat bulging from every fold, with two greedy eyes peering out of his dough ball of a head“) is transformed and…

Albuquerque Mediterranean

Cafe Istanbul – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Gil GardunoJanuary 3, 2013April 3, 20263:43 AM

One of the most common responses given as to why people choose to retire in Santa Fe is “because it’s so different.” While it may be true that the “City Different” is different from where respondents came, some native New Mexicans like my buddy Mike Muller postulate that Santa Fe has become the “City Same.” He’s talking about the architectural standards and city ordinances whose uniformity threaten to make Santa Fe a model of adobe-hued homogeneity. Mike points out that Santa Fe’s boring “sameness” hasn’t quite caught up with Albuquerque which in comparison is the rebellious kid in oversized jeans…

Albuquerque Rating: N/R (Not Rated)Salad Santa Fe Vegetarian/Vegan

Vinaigrette – Santa Fe, New Mexico

Gil GardunoDecember 31, 2012April 5, 20263:20 AM

During a 1994 episode of Seinfeld, Elaine’s boss, Mr. Pitt becomes obsessed with finding a spaceship obfuscated within a stereogram, a computer-generated image that presents an optical illusion in which a 3D image is hidden within a single 2D image to be revealed only when the viewer focuses his or her eyes correctly. To the detriment of a pressing business deal, Mr. Pitts loses three days trying to find the spaceship. First he tries blurring his eyes as if staring straight through the picture before eventually finding success by employing an intensely deep focus. Placitas resident Gary W. Priester calls…

Albuquerque Closed in 2026 Gone But Not Forgotten Italian New Mexico

Paisano’s Italian Restaurant – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil GardunoDecember 28, 2012July 25, 20266:20 PM

For years, the Duke City dining scene has been infiltrated by a plethora of cookie cutter Italian “chain gangs.” Despite deep corporate pockets, the flash and panache of Madison Avenue marketing machines and scripted, saccharine service, the chains have failed to drive away the beloved local mom and pop establishments to which Duke City diners remain steadfastly loyal? One of the very best of the mom-and-pop lot is Paisano’s Italian Restaurant which was launched in the 1970s by Johnny Camuglia. Paisano’s gained a faithful following well before the plague-like incursion of the Olive Garden, Johnny Carino’s and others of that…

Albuquerque Better Call Saul Fine Dining Rating: Excellent

Savoy Bar & Grill – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Gil GardunoDecember 26, 2012April 3, 20269:16 PM

In 1881, the Savoy Theater in London’s trendy West End was built to showcase the brilliant Victorian era collaboration of W.S. Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan who composed fourteen comic operas. The Savoy was the first public building in the world to be lit entirely by electricity. It also has the distinction of being fronted by the only road in Britain where traffic is required by law to drive on the right-hand side. In 2006, the Savoy Bar & Grill was built in Albuquerque to showcase yet another brilliant collaboration, that of identical twin brothers Keith and Kevin Roessler who also…

American Pizza Rating: Excellent Santa Fe

Joe’s Dining – Santa Fe, New Mexico

Gil GardunoDecember 22, 2012April 5, 20269:32 AM

In the American vernacular, there is no male name which denotes “average” more than Joe. The terms “Average Joe,” “Ordinary Joe” and “Joe Sixpack” are used to convey a completely average, down-to-earth working class male just as Ordinary, Average or Plain Jane are used to describe average women. These terms are used more as general descriptors than they are for anyone in specific. When someone does something extraordinary or special, the expression “no ordinary Joe” is often used. Joe’s Dining in Santa Fe does its best to define just who Joe is: Joe is everyman. He is you, he is…

Albuquerque Chinese Rating: N/R (Not Rated)

Yummi House – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Gil GardunoDecember 15, 2012April 6, 20269:01 PM

Years ago, I had the misfortune of working with a technical writer who couldn’t spell his way out of a paper bag. His punctuation was pathetic, his vocabulary vacuous and his writing peppered with malapropisms (the incorrect use of a word by substituting a similar-sounding word with a different meaning). Some comedians have made an art out of malapropisms, but there wasn’t anything funny about this terrible technical writer. How he passed English classes at a state school which will remain nameless, much less become a technical writer, is beyond me. Fortunately it didn’t take our employer long to realize…