Category: Corrales

Las Ristras Restaurant – Corrales, New Mexico

Gil GardunoCorrales, New Mexican, New Mexico, Steak

Based on interviews conducted with Hollywood luminaries who’ve starred in movies or television shows shot in New Mexico, you might think our state either doesn’t have a symbol of hospitality or that symbol is something as poorly representative of the Land of Enchantment as crack (Josh Brolin), tire stores (Jonathan Banks), shirtless drivers (Seth McFarlane), Walmart (Jessica Alba) or loudness (Tommy Lee Jones). With all the tax breaks and enticements afforded film production companies, shouldn’t its most visible beneficiaries at…

Village Pizza – Corrales, New Mexico

Gil GardunoCorrales, Dog Friendly, New Mexico, Pizza

Research has proven that taste buds are dulled by high altitude and cabin pressure, so as an aircraft climbs, our sense of taste diminishes by as much as 30 percent. That explains why many passengers praise airline food on flights in which meals are actually served. It’s probably not that the food is good; it’s more likely that their sense of taste is diminished. Alas, it’s not solely high altitude and cabin pressure which can diminish the sense of taste.…

Corrales Bistro Brewery – Corrales, New Mexico

Gil GardunoAmerican, Breakfast, Corrales, Dog Friendly, New Mexico

What is it about French words that make them sound haughty and pompous to some people and elegant and refined to others? Think I’m kidding? In Massachusetts, I knew a guy who for two years sported the nickname “Le Cochon” like a badge of honor before someone had the heart to tell him it meant “the pig.” He had thought that sobriquet was a testament to his prowess with the ladies (on second thought, maybe it was). Still questioning my…

Apple Tree Cafe – Corrales, New Mexico

Gil GardunoCorrales, New Mexican, New Mexico

Apple trees have had a bad rap ever since a conniving serpent (probably a lawyer or politician in disguise) in a verdant paradise beguiled Eve into taking a bite of the fruit of the “tree of the knowledge of good and evil.” Never mind that Genesis does not specifically mention an apple as having been the forbidden fruit, for some reason (perhaps collusion among grape growers), religious art has always depicted the apple as the one fruit God prohibited Adam…

Perea’s Tijuana Bar & Restaurant – Corrales, New Mexico

Gil GardunoCorrales, New Mexican, New Mexico, Rated 23

The curious appellation “Tijuana Bar” dates back to the 1920s when the 18th amendment to the Constitution established Prohibition in the United States during the period 1920 to 1933. Because Prohibition forbade the sale of alcoholic beverages, many Americans got their alcohol illegally or they went to Mexico. Tijuana was a popular vacation and honeymoon destination and it happens to be where Teofilo C. Perea, Sr. and his bride honeymooned in the 1920s. The newlyweds visited a bar called the…

Katrinah’s East Mountain Grill – Edgewood, New Mexico

Gil GardunoCorrales, New Mexican, New Mexico

It’s interesting that the New Mexico State Constitution bars “idiots” and “insane persons” from voting, but quips about votes being cast by dead people, family pets and farm animals have been pervasive over the years in some counties and municipalities. In some of the same counties and municipalities, the saying “vote early and vote often” has seemed more a way of life than an aphorism. Not all citizens of the Land of Enchantment exercise their right to vote, but some,…

The Spot Cafe – Corrales, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil GardunoAmerican, Closed in 2015, Corrales, Gone But Not Forgotten, New Mexico

Big Bang Theory wunderkind Sheldon Cooper has a spot he describes as the “singular location in space around which revolves my entire universe.” That spot is the left side of his couch, a location he has placed “in a state of eternal dibs.” In scientific terms, Sheldon relates his spot as “a single point of consistency in an ever-changing world.” His attachment to that one spot borders on obsession, but he’s not the only television character that possessive of his…

Hannah & Nate’s – Albuquerque & Corrales, New Mexico

Gil GardunoAlbuquerque, American, Breakfast, Brunch, Corrales

There are just some restaurants at which the stereotypical Ralph Cramden hungry man shouldn’t dine. Hannah & Nate’s is one of them. It’s not that the food isn’t good. That’s certainly not the case. It’s just that it’s part of the troglodytic nature of men to whine and complain when we have to wait more than two minutes for our meals and we become doubly obnoxious when the portions aren’t large enough to feed a small bull elephant. Thankfully, my…

Indigo Crow Cafe – Corrales, New Mexico

Gil GardunoAmerican, Brunch, Corrales, New Mexico, Rated 23

Now I lay myself down to sleep I pray oh lord my soul to keep Cause if I should die before I wake I hope up in Heaven they’ve got lobster and steak It’s a sin if Heaven ain’t got an Indigo Crow Best food down here up there they’ve gotta know. A Sin if Heaven ain’t got an Indigo Crow But if they don’t then why the hell should I go. Now I’ve tried every joint around here I’ve…

The Old House Gastropub – Corrales, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil GardunoClosed in 2008, Corrales, English, Gone But Not Forgotten, New Mexico

There’s a European joke that uses stereotypes to deride British cooking, one of the most maligned cuisines in the world culinary stage. As the joke goes, in the European conception of heaven, the French are the chefs, the British are the police and the Germans are the engineers while in the European conception of hell, the Germans are the police, the French are the engineers and the British are the chefs. When it comes to the culinary arts, England is…