Curry Boys BBQ – San Antonio, Texas

The 1970s were characterized by writer Tom Wolfe as the “Me Decade” and derided by cynics as the “Disco Era.” It was an era of contrasts: the national crisis of confidence described by President Jimmy Carter as a “malaise” and the ubiquitous yellow smiley face; the melodic, velvety stylings of the Carpenters and the edgy, funky beat of disco; an explosion of copycat fast food chain restaurants and the introduction of innovative fusion cuisine in many contemporary restaurants. Fusion cuisine is the inventive combination of diverse, sometimes disparate culinary traditions, elements and ingredients to form an entirely new genre. In large metropolitan areas, particularly in California, the fusion of different cuisines became commonplace. Restaurants featuring the melding of French and…

Terry Black’s BBQ – Lockhart, Texas

My Kim won’t be jealous that I was in the company of two winsome women during my inaugural visit to Terry Black’s BBQ.  She might, however, be unhappy if I were to come home perfumed by post oak, a sure sign I had been enjoying Texas barbecue without her.  Post oak is the wood many of the Lone Star State’s best barbecue restaurants smoke to give their meats inimitable flavors and aromas.  Okay, she might also be jealous that I polished off a monsterous beef rib, the type of which tipped over Fred Flintstone’s granite automobile.  It would have been more than enough for her and The Dude to share with me, but hey, how often do you get to…

Burnt Bean – Seguin, Texas

Legend has it that shortly after the horrendous mass shooting in Uvalde, Texas,  Burnt Bean pitmaster and co-owner Ernest Servantes was asked to serve barbecue to law enforcement officials in Uvalde.  According to sources, Servantes, himself an Uvalde native, refused to serve anything to the milksops whose cowardly inaction resulted in the fatal shooting of 19 students and 2 teachers, and the injuring of 17 others.  Servantes wasn’t around when my new friend and dining companion Melinda Martinez and I finally completed our time in the purgatory of a queue that snaked to the end of the block.  We asked one of the restaurant’s servers, but he was unable to either confirm or refute the story.  At any regard, it’s…

Sobremesa Restaurant & Brewery – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

In June, 2021, Eater.com published a list of “the 21 Essential Restaurants in Albuquerque.” Unlike so many “clickbait” articles from national publications purporting to tell New Mexicans which restaurants across the Land of Enchantment serve the “best this” and the “best that,” the Eater feature was penned by Justin De La Rosa who actually knows this state very well.  In fact, in 2015 Justin earned a “Local Hero Award” from Edible New Mexico as “best food writer.” If you’re wondering what constitutes an “Essential Restaurant,” Eater’s erstwhile national critic Bill Addison defined the term to mean “indispensable to their neighborhoods, and eventually to their towns and whole regions,” to “ultimately become vital to how we understand ourselves, and others, at…

Hollow Point Cuisine – Albuquerque, New Mexico (REDESIGNATED)

NOTE:  This review is no longer accurate.   According to The Bite: In other distillery news, >Hollow Spirits is moving into the building vacated by Bosque Brewing’s Heights Public House. The third-largest distillery in the state, Hollow Spirits has switched gears more than once with their original downtown Albuquerque location, which now operates strictly as a production facility and events space. Their new spot in the Heights will be open to the public, with a 5,000-foot patio in addition to indoor space, but no reports yet on what will be coming out of the kitchen. In every profession–from teachers to NFL players–some people exhibit qualities of greatness far beyond their peers. They seem to have been born to excel at what they do,…

The Mine Shaft Tavern – Madrid, New Mexico

“You load sixteen tons and what do you get? Another day older and deeper in debt. St. Peter, don’t you call me cause I can’t go. I owe my soul to the company store.” Those immortal lyrics, hauntingly performed by crooner Tennessee Ernie Ford describe with a poignant reality, the plight of the American miner even onto the 20th century. By payday, which came at month’s end, miners did indeed owe their souls to the company–for the company house in which they were living, for groceries to feed their families, for doctor bills and even for the tools they used to mine. They were paid in scrip which could only be spent at the company store, leaving them no choice…

Marigold Cafe – Albuquerque, New Mexico

It’s not all parents who can give birth to two children in a six week period, but that’s precisely what Harrison and Violet did.  In early October, 2019, they welcomed into the world a beautiful bundle of love they christened Jasmine.  Just before Thanksgiving six weeks later, they greeted their second “baby” when Marigold Cafe opened its doors in the Journal Center area retail space which also houses Restoration Pizza and Cabela’s.  Along with Torinos @ Home, these two bookend restaurants just may make the Journal Center area a dinnertime dining destination instead of just two other restaurants serving the burgeoning area’s lunch crowd. The Marigold Cafe is a breath of fresh air, introducing the Duke City to a heretofore…

K’Lynn’s Cuisine – Rio Rancho, New Mexico

Before permanent signage was mounted, a tethered banner in front of K’Lynn’s Southern & Cajun Fusion in Rio Rancho listed a few of the delicious treasures available in the tiny restaurant: “catfish, BBQ, gumbo, po boys, jerk chicken, carne adovada fries & more!” Yeah, we did a double-take, too. One of those items just seemed a bit out-of-place? If you’re thinking “carne adovada fries” don’t belong on the list because they’re not Soul food, you’d be wrong. Carne adovada fries definitely belong on the list. So does jerk chicken which, by most conventional definitions, isn’t soul food either. The one item we thought to be out-of-place was “& more.” I mean what more could you possibly want listed on the…

Revel Burger – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

NOTE: In 2025, the Golf Course location of Revel Burger shuttered its doors.  The original Revel Burger on 4720 Alexander Blvd., N.E. remains open. At my advanced age (39), I would rather shop like it’s 1999 than party like the 1999 of Prince’s hit tune.  For those of you less seasoned than I am, there’s a venue in Albuquerque where you can party hearty then enjoy burgers to replenish the calories you burn while partying.  It’s a 55,000 square-foot entertaining concept called Revel that includes a food hall, bar and entertainment venue–nine concepts under one roof.   Located at 4720 Alexander, N.E., next to Top Golf, Revel offers an entertainment schedule the likes of which Albuquerque’s party crowd loves.  A…

Delgadillo’s Snow Cap – Seligman, Arizona

The quirky small town of Seligman, Arizona, is home to the longest surviving and preserved stretch of Route 66, an expanse which runs 160 miles to Topock, Arizona.  Almost equidistant between Kingman and Flagstaff, Seligman is considered (by Arizona legislative decree) the “birthplace of Historic Route 66.”  Credit that designation to Angel Delgadilla, a  soft-spoken Seligman barber and his brother Juan, a railroad worker who led efforts to preserve Route 66. When the town was bypassed by Interstate 40 in 1978, the brothers formed the Historic Route 66 Association of Arizona. Soft-spoken though the brothers might have been, the Delgadillos became activists determined to keep their beloved hometown viable.  Before Interstate 40 bypassed Seligman, the town had twelve gas stations…

Two Chicks – Reno, Nevada

The history of slang records that the term “chick,” was first recorded in black slang as far back as 1927.  Along with the terms “dame” or “skirt,” the term “chick” was used informally (mostly by men) to describe young women.  It wasn’t until the 1970s during the height of the women’s liberation movement that women lashed out against that term.  Women decried the word “chick” as offensive and belittling, a demeaning diminutive depicting independent women as delicate, helpless creatures.  Even worse was the term “girl” which infantalized grown women. A generation or two later, both “girl” and “chick” have experienced a rebirth.  This time it’s women themselves who revived the previously objectionable term.  It’s become social zeitgeist for women to…