Category: Albuquerque

AlbuquerqueAmericanBreakfast BurritosNew MexicanNew MexicoRating: Excellent

Albuquerque City Limits – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Gil Garduno12:32 PM

“It’s when I reach the city limits that my sense of security ends and my sense of adventure begins.” ~Anthony T. Hincks Author: Verbs in Storyland Why is it the term “city limits” conjures the same type of trepidation today that very early (before the Third Century BC) explorers must have felt when they thought the Earth was flat and if they navigated too far west, they’d fall off the edge of the map?   Why is it Hollywood has consistently portrayed the area just beyond city limits as either a dystopian wasteland or a bastion of lawless libertinage?  For that matter, why do so many “inner city” Duke City dwellers believe the city limits is too far a distance to travel for a good meal? Think I’m kidding?  When I told friends and colleagues about having discovered one of the state’s very best green chile cheeseburgers in the South Valley, their typical reactions were “only you would go that far for a burger” and “why didn’t you just go a little further and eat at The Owl.”   You’d think I had trekked to South America, not the South Valley.  You’d think I had risked life and limb.  Perhaps the South Valley…

AlbuquerqueBreakfastBreakfast BurritosMexicanNew MexicanNew MexicoRating: Outstanding

La Sierra New Mexican Restaurant – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Gil Garduno12:01 AM

“I eat uno, dos, tres, quatro burritos Pretty soon I can’t fit in my Speedos Well, I hope they feed us lots of chicken fajitas And a pitcher of margaritas” ~Taco Grande by Weird Al Yankovic While perusing the slogans–One Bite And You’re Hooked; Cooked Slow, Served Hot, Loved Fast; Hot Chile makes Everything Better” on the windows of La Sierra, I half expected to see lyrics from the “Weird “Al Yankovic song “Taco Grande”  (a parody of the song “Rico Suave”).  What I didn’t expect was for La Sierra to live up to its self-aggrandizing hype.  Of course, diners always hope a restaurant is as good as it professes to be, but all-too-often an eatery doesn’t live up to the hype.  La Sierra does…and then some! Albuquerque’s very first instantiation of La Sierra (not to be confused with the venerable Mac’s La Sierra) launched in July,  2025 on the corner of Menaul and University at the site of a former Little Anita’s.   Some nine months later, a second La Sierra opened its doors.  This one is located on Alameda just west of Corrales Road. You may recall that this location once housed The Whole Enchilada which was later renamed…

AlbuquerqueIndianMiddle EasternNew Mexico

Spicy Junction – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Gil Garduno12:01 AM

While perusing the menu at Spicy Junction, you might hearken back to The Dream, the very eclectic restaurant owned and operated by Pakistan emigrant Babu Bhatt in an uproariously funny episode of Seinfeld. As Jerry Seinfeld observed about The Dream’s menu, “he’s serving Mexican, Italian, Chinese. He’s all over the place.” Spicy Junction’s menu is similarly diverse, a melange of Indian, Venezuelan, Middle Eastern, Indo-Chinese and even pizza and burgers splayed temptingly onto three individual menus. That the menu is so “all over the place” makes great sense in that the chef worked as a chef at the location’s previous tenant, El Chamo Arabe. In 2023, El Chamo Arabe introduced Duke City diners to a melange of Venezuelan and Mediterranean foods all in one menu.  While El Chamo Arabe now operates at Rio Rancho’s The Block (7805 Enchanted Hills Blvd.), its former chef and his bride took over the Menaul space.  They’re both Indian, but rather than serve Indian food exclusively, they decided to retain the existing menu and have added pizza.  If it sounds like an adventure in cuisine types you may not have thought go so well together, you’ll be more than pleasantly surprised at just how diverse…

AlbuquerqueDiners Drive-Ins and DivesFood Network Eats New MexicoNew MexicoPolishRating: Outstanding

Red Rock Deli – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Gil Garduno4:32 PM

America may be a multicultural melting pot, but thriving within its most populous metropolises are ethnic neighborhoods–pockets of diversity residing in two worlds, retaining many of the cultural and culinary traditions of their motherland while integrating into and pursuing the American dream. Cities such as Chicago have long realized that these ethnic enclaves offer a treasure trove of cultural and culinary experiences. Most of these neighborhoods welcome culinary tourism–the opportunity to showcase the cuisine of their homelands. One such example is the city of Chicago which boasts of the largest Polish population outside of Warsaw (as many as 183,000 by some estimates) in the world. Storefronts and restaurants in “Little Poland” on Chicago’s far Northwest side are bedecked in the white and red flag of Poland. Eateries offer everything from pierogies to kielbasa. Every Labor Day weekend Chicago celebrates its Polish heritage at the Taste of Polonia festival where Polish cuisine and culture are showcased. Obviously Albuquerque doesn’t have the population to support a “Chinatown” or a “Little Poland,” but the Duke City does offer multicultural dining diversity. Although several of the city’s ethnic restaurants are clustered throughout the International District, many others are strewn throughout the metropolitan area where…

2025 James Beard Foundation "Outstanding Bakery" SemifinalistAlbuquerqueBakeryDiners Drive-Ins and DivesFood Network Eats New MexicoRating: OutstandingSandwichVietnamese

Coda Bakery – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Gil Garduno12:01 AM

JP, my former boss at Intel used to pride himself on consistently working “half days.” If you’re thinking you’d like a job where you work only four hours a day, you’ve misinterpreted his definition of “half days.” To him, half days is a literal term meaning twelve hours a day. When most of us are done for after only nine or ten hours, he was just starting what he called his “second shift.” Very few of us have the stamina, initiative and especially the passion for what we do to work “half days.” I know restaurateurs for whom half days (or longer) are standard six or seven days a week. Because they spend so much time in their restaurants tending to the care and feeding of others, they tend not to eat there–when they make time to eat. On their rare days off or when they’re able to make time for a quick escape, they like to visit their fellow restaurateurs, not necessarily to check up on the competition, but to be pampered and fed well. Some restaurateurs would make great restaurant critics though they do tend to be overly “honest” when describing direct competitors, restaurants which serve the same…

AlbuquerqueKoreanNew MexicoRating: Excellent

K Style Kitchen – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Gil Garduno12:01 AM

If you’re susceptible to the power of suggestion–especially as it pertains to ear worms (recurring tunes that involuntarily pop up and stick in your mind)–you’re probably going to hate me (or you can skip this paragraph and continue to love me).  That’s because if you do read this paragraph you’re going to be humming to yourself one of the most annoying songs of all time–Gangnam Style.  Arguably, Gangnam Style is not as annoying as La Macarena or My Humps (which Rolling Stone declared “the most annoying song ever”). The more you try to suppress Gangnam Style, the more your impetus to hum it increases, a mental process known as ironic process theory.  By the way, those most at risk for “stuck song syndrome” are females, youth, patients with OCD and anyone reading this paragraph. Unless you can speak Korean you’re going to have to hum Gangnam Style and not sing it.  The only lyrics in English are “Eh, sexy lady.”  Korean rap singer Psy who took Gangnam Style all the way to number one describes the song as “a tribute to the ladies of the wealthy district.”  He’s talking about the affluent Gangnam district in Seoul Korea which Psy describes…

AlbuquerqueGelatoItalianNew MexicoPizzaRating: N/R (Not Rated)

Johnny’s Pizza – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Gil Garduno12:01 AM

“He’s been helping make pizza since he was three.”  Johnathan Khalil’s mom beamed as she confirmed she’s not the “Johnny” for which Albuquerque’s newest New York style pizzeria is named.  Johnny is her soon-to-turn-18-year-old son.  Can you imagine how cool it would be to be a teenager with a pizza parlor named for him?  Johnny must very popular.  The pizzeria named for him certainly is.  On the day of our inaugural visit–two weeks and one day–after its 29 May 2026 launch, the line was literally out the door.  Johnny’s is scantly 1,200 square-feet so accommodating throngs of diners will be a challenge.  Five two-top tables set against the walls are all the seating currently available though there is a slightly shaded (at times) patio which the Khalil family plans to expand and provide misters for. Two things were in evidence when we visited.  First, those of us who live in Rio Rancho or Albuquerque’s burgeoning northwest quadrant are jonesing for more great pizza options.  Much as we love Thicc Pizza Co., Davido’s, Dion’s, Aldo’s NY Pizzeria and the Turtle Mountain Brewing Company, we like variety and crave more options.  Coincidentally, Johnny’s launch day was just about a month after Richie…

AlbuquerqueNew MexicanRating: Good

Los Cuates – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Gil Garduno3:18 AM

Of the five variations of twins that occur commonly throughout the world, the most common fraternal (non-identical) occurrence is male-female twins which transpire in about 40% of all twins born. Fraternal twins may share up to 50% of their genes and generally are no more similar or dissimilar than any other two siblings.  Although technically not twins because they were “born” four years apart, the Duke City’s most famous twins are the Los Cuates restaurants (cuates being the Spanish word for twins), named for Antoinette and Marcus, the fraternal male-female twins of founder Frank R. Barela, an inspiration for all of us who started at the bottom and worked our way up. Barela got his start in the restaurant business in 1971 as a busboy at Silvano’s, a legendary Duke City purveyor of New Mexican food.  In 1985, he bought Silviano’s and renamed it Los Cuates after his newborn children.  In 1989, he took over another Albuquerque landmark of the era, Cocina De Carlos Mexican Restaurant, across the street from his first eatery. Because of the two restaurant’s twin-like proximity, he also named it Los Cuates…not Los Cuates I and Los Cuates II, just Los Cuates.  Note: While walking the…

AlbuquerqueDog FriendlyNew MexicoPizzaRating: OutstandingRio Rancho

Thicc Pizza Co. – Albuquerque & Rio Rancho, New Mexico

Gil Garduno12:01 AM

As you’ve read on the tagline for Gil’s Thrilling (And Filling) Blog, your humble blogger fancies himself somewhat of a sesquipedalian (a person who tends to use big words).  My logophilia (the love of vocabulary) is a lifelong affliction, both in English and in Spanish.  Despite my “affair” with words, one word-related term which just doesn’t always describe me is neologist (someone who uses new words). This is especially true about slang terms in fashion among the pop-culture-oriented youth.  When it comes to such terms, I’m not far removed from groovy, bread and copacetic.  It’s certainly not that I’m not interested in such words.  It’s just that I don’t seem to know anyone young and cool enough to use such terms (sorry BOTVOLR). Upon espying the name “Thicc Pizza Co.,” my initial inclination was “why would anyone spell “thick” so incorrectly.”  It then dawned on me that “thicc” could be one of those neologisms (a newly coined word or expression) no one in my inner circle seems to use.  A little research on the Sydney Morning Herald confirmed my suspicions: “Appearing in hip-hop circles during the early 2000s, the term “thicc” (originally “thick”) developed in African-American culture as a synonym for…

AlbuquerqueAmericanBreakfastNew MexicoRating: Excellent

Vick’s Vittles Country Restaurant – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Gil Garduno1:17 PM

Possum shanks; pickled hog jowls; goat tripe; stewed squirrel; ham hocks and turnip greens; gizzards smothered in gristle; smoked crawdads. “Ewwww Doggies!,” now that’s eatin’. ~The Beverly Hillbillies Guests at the Clampett residence always seemed to recite a litany of excuses as to why they couldn’t stay for dinner when Granny announced the mess of vittles she’d fixed up. Not even the opportunity to dine at the fancy eatin’ table (billiards table) and use the fancy pot passers (pool cues) under the visage of the mounted billy-yard (rhinoceros) was enough to entice the sophisticated city slickers to stay for dinner with America’s favorite hillbillies. For the generation who grew up watching The Beverly Hillbillies, the notion of eating vittles elicits a broad smile and a warm heart. Those sentiments were rekindled when we drove east on Central Avenue just past Wyoming and espied a new restaurant named Vick’s Vittles Country Kitchen. Not only did it conjure memories of “heaping helpings of hospitality” from Jed and all his kin, the name “Vick’s Vittles” seemed so familiar and comfortable. That’s because several years ago a restaurant named “‘Country Vittles” plied its chicken-fried specialties for about an year on Central Avenue where Middle…

AlbuquerqueMexicanNew MexicoTacos

Al Trompo Mexican Grill – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Gil Garduno12:01 AM

Comaraderie, brothers-in-arms, esprit-de-corps, commitment, dedication…Unless you’ve served your country in the armed forces of the United States, these terms probably don’t mean much.  For those of us who did serve–proudly, gallantly, nobly–these terms mean everything.  They’re not just a call to arms; they’re our code of conduct.  They’re the way we carry ourselves.  They denote our commitment to one another, the importance of taking care of our own.   The uniforms worn by the select and exceptional men and women  signify the call to duty–the ideals, and the shared title of being an American and believing in all that means.  More than any other factor, it’s those ideals that truly bind servicemen and women together, across all five branches. Our brotherhood–that inexorable bond–doesn’t mean we’re not competitive with one another. Fierce rivalries exist among the five branches. We’ve been known to throw down with brothers-in-arms in defense of our particular branch. We rib one another good-naturedly with insults and derrogatory terms.  That’s what brothers and sisters do.  Our familial skirmishes and disses are ours exclusively.  If you didn’t serve, you won’t be invited to participate.  Like good families are, we’re mostly respectful and proud of our brothers-in-arms.  We thank one another…