Category: American

AmericanClosed in 2005Rating: Outstanding

Nouveau Noodles – Cedar Crest, New Mexico

Gil Garduno8:31 PM

In the west, it’s generally accepted that the human tongue can discern only four different tastes and that all tastes in the dining experience are combinations of those four: sweet, bitter, sour, and salty. By contrast, the Chinese have long believed that the human tongue possesses a fifth taste sensation–one that can detect pungent foods.  Chinese postulate that each of the five taste sensations corresponds to one of nature’s five elements: water, fire, wood, metal, and earth. Dine at Nouveau Noodles and you’ll be convinced that there are at least five taste sensations and that they’re all present in each and every savory morsel of the innovative Asian fusion dishes masterfully crafted by chef Robert Griego. Griego’s restaurant, a 2003 entrant into the Duke City area dining scene, features cuisine with an inventive big city sophistication and cachet served within the confines of a small town edifice reminiscent of a train car. Fabulous would be a good word for describing the mango chutney chicken egg rolls with pickled ginger and an orange-chile dipping sauce.  These egg rolls would stand out on their own, but that sauce elevates them to a stratospheric level where they would find great company in the…

AmericanBurgersClosed in 2021Gone But Not ForgottenNevadaUnited States

Burger Bar Las Vegas – Las Vegas, Nevada (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno12:11 AM

In light of protracted enmity between America and France in recent years, you might think the notion of a French chef crafting an American institution, the hamburger, would be considered audacious at the least and heretical at the worse. True burger aficionados, however, are neither Francophiles nor Francophobes. We’re just crazy about burgers–the bigger, the better. That’s why when French chef Hubert Keller launched the Burger Bar, burger maniacs flocked to the restaurant’s sky bridge location connecting Luxor and Mandalay Bay. Keller improved on the concept of “build your own burger” by giving diners more options than Burger King ever thought possible with its “have it your way” campaign. Well heeled patrons with money to burn might well opt for the Rossini burger, a treasure trove made with Kobe beef, sautéed foie gras and shaved truffles. At $60, that burger is one of the country’s most costly. The Burger Bar bears little resemblance to the typical American diner. Its cherry wood booths include small-screen televisions showing what appears to be 8 millimeter restorations of family vacations from the 50s and 60s as well as somewhat risqué for the time ads depicting the human body in as much undress as permitted…

AmericanClosed in 2008Gone But Not ForgottenNew MexicoSanta Fe

Cafe Pink – Santa Fe, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno5:08 PM

For people watching, there may be no better Santa Fe venue than the outdoor patio at Cafe Pink, a 2004 addition to the “City Different” dining scene. The people watching is free and a meal at Cafe Pink is only slightly more expensive. Priceless might be a good term for the colorful mural depicting the Santa Fe fiesta scene past and present. That mural provides a backdrop history buffs might prefer studying to watching tourists with their mouths agape and their eyes wide with wonder at Santa Fe’s many historical attractions (the most striking of which is our incomparable blue sky). Despite being a relative newcomer, Cafe Pink has an impressive pedigree as a member of the famous Pink Adobe Cafe restaurant family. The Pink Adobe Cafe is the oldest family run restaurant in Santa Fe and is one of the city’s most popular dining destinations. Cafe Pink’s hip cafe ambience is somewhat reminiscent of patio dining in Portland, Oregon, albeit under more friendly skies. Its concept is simple–place your order at a counter, take a seat and wait for your meal to be served. Panini sandwiches are a lunch specialty while an assortment of breakfast entrees are also available.…

AmericanCaliforniaRating: N/R (Not Rated)United States

Parcel 104 – Santa Clara, California

Gil Garduno2:55 AM

Freshly caught trout, free-range chickens, hand-picked fruits and vegetables–those are what most influence Bradley Ogden, an uber chef and restaurant impresario dedicated to seasonal, farm-fresh American fare. Like a sculptor who painstakingly fashions inspiring masterpieces, Ogden crafts memorable dining experiences from the freshest ingredients available, melding them so that their inherent flavors, colors and textures combine to bring out the best in each other. Proprietor of several high-end restaurants primarily in northern California, his name has become synonymous with new American cuisine. Las Vegas chowhounds wax poetic about Ogden’s eponymous restaurant, most often singing the praises of the Maytag blue cheese soufflé. In 2003, that Vegas restaurant earned James Beard accolades as the “best new restaurant” in America. While not as nationally celebrated, Parcel 104 (whose name comes from the tract of land on which sits the Marriott which houses this restaurant) has earned a lion’s share of awards in the San Francisco area where competition for plaudits is keen. My expectations were high, but dashed almost immediately when I couldn’t be seated in the dining room. Assurances by the hostess that the restaurant’s menu was also available on the spacious lounge placated me somewhat, but the long wait for…

BarbecueClosed in 2009Gone But Not ForgottenIllinoisUnited States

Bobby Q’s – Arlington Heights, Illinois (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno11:48 PM

I first read about Bobby Q’s on Chowhound’s Chicago board in November, 2003. A newcomer to the Chicago area barbecue scene launched in July, 2003, it was immediately embraced by barbecue aficionados who tend to dismiss most interlopers as pretenders and frauds. Within months, the restaurant named for the owners’ toddler’s pronunciation of “barbecue” was earning accolades and honors in a specialized area which tends to be cynical and unwelcoming. The house sauces, a spicy Cajun sauce and a sweet Texas sauce have both been accorded with national recognition–20th best barbecue sauce in the entire country and a third place honor for the Cajun sauce in Kansas City’s American Royal competition. In 2004, AOL’s City Guide Chicago made Bobby Q’s their pick for barbecue in the Windy City. Even before you enter Bobby Q’s, you’re greeted in the parking lot by the wafting, seductive and smoky aroma of meats smoked slowly over hickory (cherry for poultry). Those aromas beckon with the alluring charm of a beautiful siren. Answer the aromatic siren’s call and you’re treated to some of the best barbecue in the Chicago area. The baby back ribs aren’t of the “falling off the bone” genre (in fact, they…

BurgersRating: N/R (Not Rated)TexasUnited States

Kincaid’s Hamburgers – Fort Worth, Texas

Gil Garduno3:24 PM

Local, statewide, national and international acclaim for Kincaid’s Hamburgers places this former grocery and market in stratospherically elite company as one of, if not THE best hamburger restaurants in the world. In 2003, Michael and Jane Stern, America’s preeminent dining Americana authorities proclaimed Kincaid’s one of America’s top ten burgers. A book called The Perfect Hamburger, replete with effusive testimony by long-time patrons, was published in 1999. Call it blasphemy if you will, but I believe perfection can be improved. Add New Mexico green chile and you would have the very best hamburger I’ve ever had. Even without green chile, Kincaid’s does serve a phenomenal burger, each one containing a half pound of 76 to 80 percent lean chuck roast along with ultra-fresh ingredients. Hold the pickles, hold the lettuce if you’d like. Each burger is made to order and each is crafted to burger perfection. By not mashing the meat down with spatulas, the burger builders ensure you get a juicy, tasty treat you want to savor even though you might be tempted to inhale it so you can order another one. The store’s motto is “where friends meet to eat” and while you might start off not knowing…

AmericanRating: N/R (Not Rated)TexasUnited States

Celebration – Dallas, Texas

Gil Garduno6:54 PM

To adventurous restaurant patrons, the term “foodie” is often used with derision to connote someone who won’t eat somewhere unless Zagat’s has proclaimed it fork worthy. In theory foodies won’t boldly go where Zagat’s (or in the absence thereof, the local fishwrap) hasn’t gone before. Chowhounds, on the other hand, are (at least by definition) adventure eaters who blaze new trails and traverse the deepest, darkest regions under America’s spacious skies for undiscovered treasures. Sometimes the twain does meet and there’s consensus among foodies and chowhounds about a restaurant which both can agree is something special. Such is the case with Celebration which for 30 years has prepared good home cooked meals fresh daily. The restaurant’s walls are adorned with recognition from Zagat’s, but there are also people’s choice awards, recognition from the Food Network as one of the top ten home cooking restaurants in the country and even a 1996 Gourmet magazine article by Michael and Jane Stern touting it as a place for cheap eats in Dallas. In 2009, Southern Living magazine named Celebration one of the South’s best diners.  “Long-time residents come to this laid-back eatery for “the city’s tastiest pot roast.”  “Other classic Southern dishes include…

AmericanClosed in 2010Food Network Eats New MexicoGone But Not ForgottenNew MexicoTaos County

Joseph’s Table – Taos, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno12:07 AM

When chef and owner Joseph Wrede launched Joseph’s Table several years ago in Ranchos De Taos,dining patrons and pedantic critics alike were ready to beatify him (a culinary Saint Joseph). In 2000, Food & Wine magazine named him one of the top ten chefs in America, extolling his use of locally grown organic produce in “surprising, sensual ways.” The London Times called him “the voice of modern American cuisine.” Even Food Network luminary Bobby Flay came calling during a visit to Taos. On June 28, 2002, Wrede closed his restaurant to contemplate the lucrative lure of a corporate chef position. The Taos culinary world breathed a collective sigh of relief when he launched his new restaurant in December, 2003. Housed in the historic La Fonda Hotel, his new dining room is artistically inspired and bathed in vivid colors on which enormous hand-painted tulips and butterflies crafted by his wife provide a whimsical refrain. Flowing, elegant tapestries reminiscent of a Sultan’s tent titivate the walls. Along the back wall are several semi-private chambers the wait staff refer to as “love shacks.” As artistic as the ambience is, it is the congruence of the chef’s menu items that are the true masterpieces–at…

ArizonaBarbecueClosed in 2025Gone But Not ForgottenUnited States

Hap’s Pit Barbecue – Phoenix, Arizona (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno2:29 PM

Good barbecue in Arizona? You’d better believe it! Hap’s Pit Barbecue is one happening barbecue joint, one that its proponents believe its name is short for “happiness because that’s what it elicits from its diners–that and audible exclamations of “wow” and “yum.” Hap’s is a perennial listing on Phoenix magazine’s coveted best restaurant list and the only Phoenix barbecue establishment to earn a five star designation from the Arizona Republic newspaper. If you’re looking for national credentials, it’s been raved about on USA Today. Despite those impressive plaudits and accolades, what it took to get me to Hap’s was a recommendation by my great friend and fellow barbecue aficionado Dianna Peoples. I’d been fooled before by the magazine rants of critics who obviously didn’t know what they were talking about. This time those critics were spot on! Hap’s captures you before the door with the wafting olfactory pleasing aroma of smoked meats that smell as if they’ve just come out of a real barbecue pit. You’re greeted by a staff obviously proud of their product–and for good reason. Unfortunately during my first visit, I couldn’t sample all of those good reasons, but what I did sample were some of the…

BurgersClosed in 2011Gone But Not ForgottenNew MexicoNew Mexico Culinary Treasures TrailNew Mexico Green Chile Cheeseburger Trail: 2009New Mexico Green Chile Cheeseburger Trail: 2011

Outpost Bar & Grill – Carrizozo, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno12:13 AM

Much of the seemingly desolate 60 miles of desert topography separating San Antonio, New Mexico and Carrizozo, New Mexico is steeped in history–more specifically the history of “the bomb.” The Trinity site on which was tested America’s first atom bomb lies somewhere between the two relatively nondescript Old West towns. It stands to reason, therefore, that the brilliant scientists who built the forerunner of the nuclear age at least occasionally found recreation and sustenance in or near those towns. True enough, San Antonio’s tie to fame is the Owl Cafe, claimant of the most famous green chile cheeseburger in the world. Detractors downplay the Owl’s hype, often touting other restaurants’ green chile cheeseburger, sometimes with vehemence. Among the competitors for New Mexico’s (and therefore, the world’s) best green chile cheeseburger is the Outpost Bar and Grill on the eastern corridor of the aforementioned 60 mile stretch of barren terrain. There are (gasp at the irreverence) those who say the Outpost outdistances the Owl for green chile cheeseburger supremacy. Count me among them. You won’t be impressed by the restaurant’s (if you can call it that) ambience–wood planked ceilings, wooden floors, and paneled walls on which are mounted what a New…

BarbecueClosed in 2015Gone But Not ForgottenNevadaUnited States

Memphis Championship Barbecue – Las Vegas, Nevada (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno2:02 AM

To barbecue fanatics, a restaurant named Memphis Championship Barbecue is as intriguing as Memphis in May, the annual world barbecue championships in Memphis, Tennessee, an event which has been called the “Superbowl of Swine.” With a name like that, the restaurant has got to be great! Proprietor Mike “The Legend” Mills is an unprecedented three-time world champion of that esteemed event (Memphis in May, not the Superbowl). He was called “the competition crushing, restaurant-owning Grand Pooh-Bah of barbecue” in the July, 2006 edition of Bon Appetit magazine and authored a definitive guide to barbecue appropriately named “Peace, Love and Barbecue.” He owns several award-winning restaurants: the 17th Street Bar & Grill restaurants in Murphysboro, Illinois and three Memphis Championship Barbecue restaurants in Las Vegas. With such credentials, it’s obvious Mills knows barbecue and it’s demonstrated in the slow-smoked meats extricated from the smoker at the precisely perfect instance and with just a tinge of pink. Those meats are ameliorated with Mills’ “Magic Dust,” a combination of 18 different spices available on each table in the restaurant. Las Vegas patrons perennially consider Memphis Championship Barbecue the best wood pit barbecue restaurant in town (according to the Las Vegas Review Journal’s annual…