Category: Gone But Not Forgotten

Closed in 2012Fine DiningGone But Not ForgottenNew MexicoRating: Outstanding

Three Forks at Rancho De San Juan – Ojo Caliente, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno2:37 AM

Expansive views of the Jemez Mountains and of Georgia O’Keeffe country–whether bathed in pink, coral and gold sunset hues or under New Mexico’s incomparable cerulean skies–combine with the surreal topography of unnaturally contorted rock formations and juniper laden foothills to form the unique vistas which await guests at Rancho de San Juan, New Mexico’s premier country inn and restaurant.  At night those views are obfuscated by a canopy of stars spilling from  an ebony sky so clear and unencumbered that you might swear you can see forever. Secluded in an idyllic setting just off US Highway 285 between Española and Ojo Caliente, Rancho de San Juan pays loving tribute to its tranquil high desert surroundings, blending in as if positioned by nature itself amid the statuary sandstone cliffs.   The 225-acre complex is located at the confluence of three rivers: the Ojo Caliente, Rio Chama and Rio Grande.  It’s a veritable Eden for bon viveurs, a carefully planned escape to a transcendent world of luxurious pampering, exquisite dining and voluptuary accommodations. You’ll breathe long and deeply of the clean, crisp, salubrious air as you stroll leisurely from the parking lot to the inn.  It’s a short walk you’ll take slowly…

AlbuquerqueChickenClosed in 2011Gone But Not ForgottenSpecialty

Wings ‘N Things – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno11:00 AM

The “language of love.”  It can reduce the most eloquent of women to twaddling teeny boppers and the most macho of men to cooing grade schoolers.  It is most active–some would say most infantile–when the biochemical pathways of love are waxing to a peak during the relationship stages between infatuation and falling in love.  It’s when cute nicknames–those mushy, syrupy terms of endearment–are created and used in place of actual names, when phone calls don’t end because neither party can hang up. Not even Jerry Seinfeld was exempt from the language of love.   Renown for his cooly detached approach towards commitment and for breaking up with women for the the most picayune of reasons, Seinfeld may have, in fact, taken the language of love to new depths (or heights, depending on your perspective).  In his eponymous television sitcom, Seinfeld nauseated his friends George and Elaine with his openly affectionate behavior, baby talk and especially a term of endearment they found particularly offensive–Schmoopie. The only thing that could cool his ardor was a thickly-accented, stone-faced chef renown for enforcing a strict protocol of queuing, ordering and paying for Manhattan’s best soup.  Rather than incur the “Soup Nazi’s” ire and be…

AlbuquerqueAmericanClosed in 2011Gone But Not Forgotten

Rodeo Grill – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno1:32 AM

“Who’s gonna fill their shoes?,” laments the legendary Country music crooner George Jones over the loudspeakers at the Rodeo Grill.  “Who’s gonna stand that tall? Who’s gonna play the Opry and the Wabash Cannonball?  Who’s gonna give their heart and soul to get to me and you?  Lord I wonder, who’s gonna fill their shoes.” Ironically I was thinking something similar as we stepped into the kitschy and brash restaurant on Wyoming which purports to feature “nuevo vaquero chow.”  My thoughts, though, were of the iconic figures of American pop culture and historical legacy–the cowboys portrayed in the movies of my youth by stalwart stanchions  of masculinity and virtue such as John Wayne, Jimmy Steward, Henry Fonda and Robert Mitchum.  I wondered who, if anyone could possibly fill their shoes.  That led to contemplating what these rough-riding, tough-fighting, quick-shooting cowboys would think of the Rodeo Grill, a restaurant and cuisine they might consider “feminine.” Save for Gene Autry whose famous cowboy code advocated truthfulness, respect and patriotism, the cowboys of Western lore were certainly not politically correct, despite their other virtues.  Were one of them (I have John Wayne in mind) to write a review about the Rodeo Grill, I imagine…

AlbuquerqueClosed in 2014Gone But Not ForgottenNew MexicanNew Mexico Culinary Treasures Trail

Charlie’s Front Door – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno1:36 AM

For almost four and a half decades, Charlie Elias, an avuncular septuagenarian with the energy of a teenager,  has greeted his customers and treated them like welcome guests at his eponymous Northeast Heights restaurant and bar. Charlie doesn’t always make it to work nowadays, but his son Jamie, who’s probably the same age today that Charlie was when I first discovered this long-time family favorite, is now the restaurant’s official ambassador, a smiling presence who meets and greets all patrons with the same homespun, genuine friendliness as his father. Charlie was thirty-something when he launched his Front and Back Door operation in 1966.  That type of longevity is rare today and speaks volumes about the loyalty generations of patrons have for Charlie and his restaurant.  An elder statesman among the Duke City’s New Mexican restaurants, Charlie’s Front and Back Doors haven’t changed much over the years, offering the same menu and same friendly service diners have come to expect over the decades.  Newcomers still experience confusion as to the “Front” and “Back” door names, believing them to be the same restaurant, but with front and back door entrances. Charlie’s Front Door’s windowless frontage faces Menaul in the Hoffmantown Shopping Center. …

AlbuquerqueClosed in 2015Gone But Not ForgottenMexicanRating: Excellent

Los Equipales – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno3:27 AM

CLOSED ON FRIDAY, JUNE 26, 2015: Crafted from fibrous materials removed from maguey cactus and fixed with leather bands, equipales furniture graces the sala of many a New Mexican home and certainly many more homes south of the border. Originally produced for the comfort of Aztec landlords and priests, equipales furniture has been around since before Columbus. Even Montezuma, the nefarious ruler of Tenochtitlan, reputedly cherished a favorite equipale-type chair. It’s likely he sat on that chair while consuming a daily repast that may have included the traditional Aztec staples of the day: corn, chilies, beans, potatoes and other foods native to the Americas during his time. Legend has it that Montezuma’s daily constitution also included 50 golden goblets of thick, red dyed hot chocolate flavored with chili peppers. Los Equipales, a fabulous Mexican fine dining restaurant patterned after some of the fine cosmopolitan restaurants of Mexico City, serves many of the staples with which the Aztec despot may have been intimately familiar, albeit prepared and served within the temperature controlled climes of an attractive, modern edifice. It opened in December, 2005. Montezuma would have loved Los Equipales. You can bank on it! Well, almost literally. The commodious restaurant is…

AlbuquerqueClosed in 2024Gone But Not ForgottenMexicanNew Mexico

Rincon Del Pollo – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno3:03 AM

In 1928, the presidential campaign featured several slogans and ads promising an era of prosperity.  The most memorable of these was a boast that the Republican administrations of Warren Harding and Calvin Coolidge had “reduced hours and increased earning capacity, silenced discontent, and put the proverbial ‘chicken in every pot.’  And a car in every backyard, to boot.” If a chicken in every pot is a measure of prosperity, then the Rincon del Pollo (Chicken Corner) Mexican restaurant on North Fourth must epitomize success and affluence.  That’s because this diminutive eatery specializes in all things chicken, albeit al estilo Mexicano (Mexican style). The Rincon del Pollo launched in 2003 and was originally situated in the Northdale Shopping Center (which Duke City history buffs might recognize was built in 1961 by famed local builder Dale Bellamah). Owners Rafiel Rivera and Ana Luna have created within their tiny space, a homey and welcoming atmosphere for their faithful patrons.  It’s not uncommon to see blue and white collar diners sitting practically side-by-side in the somewhat crowded restaurant. The main portion of the restaurant, where the lovely Ana takes your order, has but two tiny tables and a couple of stools.  In the summer…

AlbuquerqueClosed in 2014Gone But Not ForgottenNational ChainPizza

RedBrick Pizza – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno1:41 AM

The American culture of instant gratification may be precipitating the decline of the independent neighborhood pizzeria. In recent years, this traditional bastion of pizza preparation has been largely supplanted by ubiquitous pizza delivery companies with their gratuitous gimmicks, copious coupons and promises of breakneck deliveries. Pizzaiolis, the artisans who deftly toss and craft prandial perfection in the form of circular, precisely seasoned and superbly sauced oven-baked flat-bread have been unseated by pimply teenagers slathering ketchup on cardboard spheres then setting land speed records to ensure the day’s special of five for the price of one reaches its intended destination within seconds after an order is placed. The American consumer seemingly prefers quick and cheap pizza of inferior quality and taste that he or she can devour in front of the 500-channel living room altar to the greater expenditure of time spent with family or friends at a pizzeria in which sensory titillation includes the imbibing of incomparable aromas you just can’t get by opening a cardboard box. RedBrick Pizza purports to address the gap between the delivery-oriented market and the more traditional sit-down restaurant approach with a revolutionary “fast casual” concept, ostensibly giving the American consumer a product far superior…

AlbuquerqueAmericanClosed in 2012Gone But Not ForgottenNational Chain

Zea Rotisserie & Grill – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno6:00 AM

Our first visit to Zea followed the day after it was savaged by an erstwhile Albuquerque Journal restaurant critic, but any trepidation we might have had quickly dissipated when we were greeted enthusiastically at the hostess station by Betty, the luminous former waitress at the incomparable and much missed (to this day, I dream of its timbale tuna) Nouveau Noodles restaurant in Tijeras. At Nouveau, Betty was a whirling dervish of perpetual motion and the restaurant’s consummate ambassador. As warm and effusive a waitress as you’ll find anywhere, Betty’s unabashed enthusiasm for Nouveau’s cuisine was evident in her flowingly eloquent descriptions of the restaurant’s menu items–polysyllabic descriptions which she peppered with adjectives synonymous with fabulous. We trusted her recommendations and appreciated the personable and attentive service she lavished upon us. After seating us at Zea, she cautioned against any pre-conceived notions we might have about chain restaurants, indicating this one was was different. She explained that Zea was founded in New Orleans in 1997 and that its founders’ goal is to celebrate the cultural phenomenon that is eating and drinking for the sheer pleasure of it (sounds like my kind of people). There are currently five Zea locations in the…

Closed in 2020EspañolaGone But Not ForgottenNew MexicanNew Mexico

Angelina’s Restaurant – Espanola, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno7:40 PM

“I get no respect.”  Comedian Rodney Dangerfield parlayed that catch-phrase into a lengthy and lucrative career.  With his uniquely self-deprecating sense of humor, Rodney invariably made himself the butt of his own brilliant one-liners: “I could tell my parents hated me.  My bath toys were a toaster and a radio.”  Despite his schtick as a perpetual loser, Dangerfield was a beloved comedic icon about whom Jim Carrey once wrote, “Rodney is, without a doubt, as funny as a carbon-based life-form can be.”  True to the formula which made him a success in life, his tombstone is engraved, “there goes the neighborhood.” The citizenry of the beautiful Española valley can certainly empathize with Rodney Dangerfield.  Inexplicably, Española has, for decades, been the punch line of cruel jokes.  My friend Bill Resnik, a stand-up comedian for nearly three decades, says every  stand-up comedian performing in New Mexico has at least one Española joke in their repertoire, but admits that in the comedy circuit, the name of the town being made fun of changes from state to state.  Española jokes are, to some extent, just repackaged jokes.  Many of those jokes will work if you substitute “blond” or “Aggie” or “Redneck” for Española.…

AlbuquerqueBreakfastClosed in 2010Gone But Not ForgottenNew Mexican

Blue Cactus Grill – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno1:26 PM

In the early 80s I tried to impress my very traditional grandmother by taking her to a recently opened restaurant on Academy Boulevard.  What was not to like?  The restaurant shared the mellifluous name she had proudly worn for over fifty years.  It was a locally owned and operated and had earned several awards.  It boasted a multi-page menu.  Surely Garduno’s of Mexico offered something she would like. It turns out the restaurant’s name was the only thing she liked.  One nod of disapproval after the other ensued as she meticulously perused the menu, a compendium of Mexican and New Mexican appetizers, entrees and desserts.  Scanning the descriptions carefully, she dismissed the contemporary interpretations of the foods on which she was raised and had prepared for more than eight decades. My mind floods with sweet memories of my cherished Grandma Piedad every time I visit a restaurant offering contemporary twists on traditional New Mexican food.  Such was the case when my friend Bill Resnik and I first visited the Blue Cactus Grill, a modern and attractive new restaurant on Albuquerque’s West side, just north of Paseo del Norte on Coors Boulevard. Bill reminded me that the Blue Cactus Grill is situated at…

BernalilloClosed in 2013Gone But Not ForgottenNew Mexico

La Casita Cafe – Bernalillo, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno12:13 AM

Is there still a place in the American restaurant scene for hometown mom and pop institutions? According to the Nation’s Restaurant News, a respected trade magazine, almost fifty percent of the 100 largest chains saw flat or declining growth rates in sales in 2006.  Those rates are largely attributed to the sheer volume of restaurant concepts (chains) cluttering the landscape. I like to think that another reason for the decline of the ubiquitous chains that blight American streets is the increasing realization among the dining public that better food, value and service can be found in mom and pop dining establishments.  La Casita Cafe in Bernalillo is one restaurant validating that contention as evidenced by the overflowing throngs that consider it a favorite dining destination. La Casita is a local institution, beloved by Bernalillo residents and Albuquerque diners who don’t mind driving a few miles for generous portions of good New Mexican food at reasonable prices. Family owned and operated since 1982 by Bernalillo residents Donna and John Montoya, La Casita was destroyed by fire in July, 2005.  It took nearly two years before it would open again. The restaurant’s re-launch in June, 2007 was a day for celebration for…