Category: Specialty

Closed in 2012DonutsGone But Not ForgottenIllinoisSpecialtyUnited States

Apple Haus – Long Grove, Illinois (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno3:07 AM

In grade school back in the 1960s, such characters as Paul Bunyan and Johnny Appleseed filled my mind with wonder and awe as I learned to determine fact from fiction (a process I still employ when listening to  nauseating political commercials which pollute the airwaves).  My mind was a veritable tabula rasa (blank slate) upon which my teachers (and my incessant poring over the Encyclopedia) imprinted knowledge of legend, lore, myth and fact.  Learning was a much more innocent process, not yet clouded with the cynicism wrought by historical revisionism based mostly on political ideology. Johnny Appleseed, it turns out,…

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…

ChocolateRating: OutstandingSanta Fe

Kakawa Chocolate House – Santa Fe, New Mexico

Gil Garduno11:59 PM

In a 1995 episode of Seinfeld, Kramer attempted to deduce George’s ATM code: “You’re a portly fellow, a bit long in the waistband.  So what’s your pleasure?  Is it the salty snacks you crave?  No, no, no, yours is a sweet tooth.  Oh you may stray, but you’ll always return to your dark master, the cocoa bean.” America is, like George Costanza, a nation of chocolohics.  The Chocolate Manufacturers Association estimates that the per capita consumption of chocolate among Americans is about 11 pounds per person per year.  That translates to 27,000 calories, 1530 grams of fat, 1130 milligrams of…

AlbuquerqueBakeryBreakfastClosed in 2012DonutsGone But Not ForgottenSpecialty

Paradise Donuts – Bosque Farms, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno5:41 PM

Though often boorish and crude, America’s favorite everyman philosopher Homer Simpson is prone to occasional bouts of insight. Who can argue with such Homeric sagacity as, “donuts, is there anything they can’t do.” At first browse that statement may appear clouded, make that glazed, but it’s a statement replete with credibility–and not solely with police officers. Cultural anthropologist Paul R. Mullins posits that one of the best ways to examine a culture is by looking at its eating habits and regional cuisines. He reasons that Americans don’t really have a culinary culture we can call our own, that the American…

Ice CreamNevadaRating: Excellent

Ghirardelli Chocolate Shop & Soda Fountain – Las Vegas, Nevada

Gil Garduno2:03 PM

While Ghirardelli chocolate is available worldwide, there are only a few shop locations–mostly in California with outliers in Las Vegas, Chicago and in two Florida cities. Named after Italian chocolatier Domingo Ghirardelli who brought his chocolate from Peru to San Francisco, Ghirardelli Shops are a true chocoholics dream where you can purchase a tempting assortment of chocolate confections and gifts. The San Francisco location on Ghirardelli Square is a historical site near Pier 39 (where the pictures on this review were taken) that is even equipped with chocolate making equipment so you can see artistry at work. Truly one of…

AlbuquerqueChickenNational ChainRating: Good

Popeye’s Chicken & Biscuits – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Gil Garduno2:49 AM

Shortly after Louisiana and Mississippi were ravaged by Hurricane Katrina, one of the local television stations in South Louisiana actually aired an interview with a woman from New Orleans. The interviewer was a woman from a Boston affiliate, so she asked the interviewee how such total and complete devastation of the churches in the area had affected their lives.  The woman replied,” I don’t know about all those other people but we get our chicken from Popeye’s.” The look on the interviewer’s face was priceless.  That anecdote rings with truism Contrary to the images the name might conjure, Popeye’s is…

AlbuquerqueChickenClosed in 2007Gone But Not Forgotten

Marco Pollo Charbroiled Chicken – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno2:47 PM

While eating a store-bought rotisserie chicken is somewhat more appealing than than consuming the very last one of Quickie Mart’s perpetually rotating, alutaceous (seared to a leathery sheen under a heat lamp inferno) hot dogs, the prospect of a desiccated rotisserie chicken carcass for dinner is hardly tempting. Experience has taught us that while slightly less leathery, restaurant rotisserie chicken would be a challenge for the most advanced desalination technologies. That’s what we expected during our inaugural visit to Marco Pollo Charbroiled Chicken. Were we ever in for a pleasant surprise! As it turns out, Marco Pollo serves some of…

BakeryBreakfastClosed in 2012DonutsGone But Not ForgottenNew MexicoSpecialty

The Hole Thing Donut Shop – Red River, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno11:40 PM

A less optimistic man than I once lamented that the healthiest part of the donut is the hole, but you’ve got to eat the entire donut to get to it. To me, that’s a “glass is half empty” perspective on one of the most popular breakfast and dessert items in the world. With almost thirty percent of American adults indicating they are trying to control their diets, donuts have also been lambasted and their consumption decreased with the increase of cholesterol conscious consumers. Adkins himself might have given up his cholesterol denouncing diet had he found The Hole Thing Donut…

AlbuquerqueRating: Very GoodSpecialty

Boba Tea Company – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Gil Garduno3:17 AM

On June 7, 2005, the launch of Albuquerque’s first made “you suck” acceptable in polite vernacular. Long a pop culture term of mock derision, “suck” refers, in this case, to the drawing in of liquid refreshment by creating a vacuum in the mouth. More specifically, it refers to the act of sucking through an oversized straw, the tea, milk tea, hot tea, slush and smoothie beverages at the Boba Tea Company. The Boba Tea Company is the brainchild of Vi and Hoa Luong, the enterprising duo which made Cafe O one of the city’s best restaurant launches (and lunches) in…

AlbuquerqueClosed in 2010Gone But Not ForgottenIce CreamNational Chain

Ben & Jerry’s – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno12:31 AM

Ben & Jerry’s is a different kind of restaurant–one with a social conscience–serving premium ice cream. Founded on and dedicated to a sustainable corporate concept of linked prosperity, its mission consists of three interrelated parts–a product mission, an economic mission and a social mission. Its product mission is to make, distribute and sell the finest quality all natural ice cream and euphoric concoctions with a continued commitment to incorporating wholesome, natural ingredients and promoting business practices that respect the Earth and the Environment. Irrespective of your political bent, you’ve got to respect that. In New Mexico, Ben & Jerry scoop…

AlbuquerqueChickenNational ChainRating: N/R (Not Rated)

Wingstop – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Gil Garduno5:27 AM

During his illustrious NFL career Dallas Cowboys quarterback Troy Aikman passed for 32,942 yards and 165 touchdowns. What it seems he can’t pass is the opportunity to add to his wealth by endorsing mediocre products. How else can you explain the marketing campaign touting Aikman as their “biggest fan?” Maybe he did receive one concussion too many during his playing career? Whatever the case, it appears the future Hall of Famer may have fumbled on this one. Sure Albuquerque is in the northernmost portion of the Chihuahuan desert but that’s no reason chicken wings and legs should be so wrinkly…