Category: Albuquerque

AlbuquerqueAmericanBurgersNew Mexico Green Chile Cheeseburger Trail: 2009Rating: Good

300 Club Bar & Grill – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Gil Garduno3:18 PM

300! In the parlance of the bowler, it signifies absolute perfection, twelve consecutive strikes. According to some trusted foodies, the 300 Club Bar & Grill in Albuquerque’s Skidmore’s Holiday Bowl on Lomas just east of San Pedro serves a mean green chile cheeseburger, a 12-strike masterpiece, a perfect 300. This is a burger so good, it was one of the twenty contestants for the inaugural Governor’s Green Chile Cheeseburger Challenge in 2009. We all know the stereotypes about bowling alley food. When it comes to food, most bowling alleys strike out. Ardent keglers are subjected to such catastrophic “cuisine” as…

AlbuquerqueAmericanBreakfastClosed in 2015Gone But Not ForgottenNew Mexico

Gravy – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno1:40 PM

“Gravy is the simplest, tastiest, most memory-laden dish I know how to make: a little flour, salt and pepper, crispy bits of whatever meat anchored the meal, a couple of cups of water or milk and slow stirring to break up lumps.” ~Dorothy Allison, American writer Some would say that the discovery (invention?) of gravy is one of mankind’s crowning achievements. Others would deride it as the work of the devil, likening gravy to a beguiling temptress which bends the will to its bidding. Dolly Parton acknowledges that “every single diet I ever fell off of was because of potatoes…

AlbuquerqueBarbecueBreakfastClosed in 2017Gone But Not ForgottenNew Mexican

Sandia Chile Grill – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno2:26 AM

If perspiration is (as the proverbial “they” have declared) the mother of invention, Mickey and Clinton Coker may just be two of the most glistening guys in the Duke City. Since 2004, the Cokers have “reinvented” their restaurant four times. If you’re thinking, they’re just try, try, trying again until they get it right, you couldn’t be more wrong. Mickey Coker, the entrepreneur behind the four make-overs, started with a culinary concept that was so wildly successful, it prompted almost immediate growth. His second effort, a brick-and-mortar operation, also achieved significant acclaim. Some might have considered the third Coker transition…

AlbuquerqueBurgersClosed in 2017Gone But Not ForgottenNew Mexico

Q Burger – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno7:57 PM

“Q.” It’s the seventeenth letter of the English alphabet, a consonant. Only two letters (“X” and “Z”) occur less frequently as first letters of words found in the English dictionary. It’s the only letter not to appear in any of the names of the fifty states of America. As with its 25 alphabetical colleagues, it’s an onomatopoeia. It’s both the name of an omnipotent entity in Star Trek: The Next Generation and the title given to the nerdy-techy head of the British Secret Service who comes up with all the cool gadgets used by James Bond to thwart rottenness. If…

AlbuquerqueClosed in 2020Gone But Not ForgottenMediterranean

Anatolia Turkish & Mediterranean Grill – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno10:25 AM

In the mid 80s when my Kim and I lived in rural, agrarian England, a “sandwich” meant one of three things: a warm, fresh floury bap with butter, Cheddar cheese and Branston’s Pickle from our favorite bakery in Lechlade; a grilled ham and cheese sandwich (with chips (fries), of course) from The Plough in Fairford; or a doner kebab from a jankety kebab house in Banbury. There just weren’t many other sandwich options (not to mention burgers and pizza) in the Cotswolds region of England where we lived and certainly no subs, grinders, torpedoes, po’ boys or hoagies. In fact,…

AfricanAlbuquerqueClosed in 2022Gone But Not ForgottenNew MexicoRating: Outstanding

Talking Drums – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno7:26 PM

“There is strength in Africa. Not the crushing brute strength of the bull elephant. Nor the rigid, unyielding strength of the Kilimanjaro. But a calm, enduring strength, the kind of abiding strength that will not waiver in the face of adversity, loss or hardship. It is the quiet strength of the African woman.” Quiet strength. That uplifting affirmation, inscribed on a framed poster, hangs on a wall at Talking Drums, Albuquerque’s very first African restaurant. It provides inspiration to and could have been written about Toyin Oladeji, the risk-taking proprietor, chef and daring entrepreneur who’s betting the Duke City is…

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Viva Mexico – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Gil Garduno7:29 PM

All too often faulty premises are based on a lack of information or experience. Take for example, British author Simon Majumdar, a recurring judge on the Food Network’s Iron Chef America who once declared “given how abysmal Mexican food is in London, I always thought that it was a cuisine made up of remains from the back of the fridge.” It wasn’t until Majumdar experienced tacos de tripa at a restaurant in Guadalajara, Mexico that he achieved an epiphany and fell in love with Mexican food. He called it a meal that changed his life. Majumdar isn’t a man prone…

AlbuquerqueBakeryClosed in 2018Gone But Not ForgottenPeruvianRating: Excellent

Sara’s Pastries and Deli – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno7:42 PM

Creator! You who give life to all things and who has made men that they may live happy and multiply. Multiply also the fruits of the earth, the potatoes and other food that you have That men may not suffer from hunger and misery. ~Traditional Incan Prayer As recently as 2010, Albuquerque–which rightfully takes great pride in its acceptance of cultural and culinary diversity–did not have a single Peruvian restaurant. Fast forward three years to March, 2013 and there are three restaurants showcasing to Duke City diners just a modicum of the tremendous diversity and deliciousness offered by Peruvian cuisine.…

AlbuquerqueClosed in 2019Gone But Not ForgottenPizza

DaVinci’s Gourmet Pizza – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno3:29 PM

For more than two years, Dan Brown’s brilliant and controversial novel, The DaVinci Code was a permanent fixture as number one on the New York Times best seller list. Brown’s magnus opus postulates the existence of a clandestine society in Europe which, for centuries, has been the guardian of a hallowed bloodline whose lineage descended from Jesus Christ and Mary Magdalene. This secret society included such luminaries as Leonardo DaVinci, Isaac Newton and Galileo Galilei. While many people may consider this terrific tome heretical, at its very least the DaVinci Code spawned a renaissance (rebirth of learning) in the Renaissance…

AlbuquerqueAsianChineseClosed in 2020Gone But Not ForgottenNew Mexico

China City – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno8:53 PM

The Claw: Actually the only girl we want is Princess Ingrid. Maxwell Smart: Then why did you abduct the others? The Claw: Unfortunately, Mr. Smart, all Americans look alike to us. ~Get Smart Leave it to iconic filmmaker Mel Brooks to turn cultural stereotypes around to create a hilarious interchange between The Claw, the head of the Asian arm of the criminal spy agency KAOS, and Smart, the bumbling American secret agent who fights on behalf of the forces of goodness and niceness. Many of us who followed Twitter commentary after the United Sates Women’s National Soccer team played to…

AlbuquerqueNew MexicoPizzaRating: Very Good

Amadeo’s Pizza And Subs – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Gil Garduno2:57 AM

One of the most exciting times in America’s history was during its Westward expansion when young, unattached men of the time followed the advice of newspaper magnate Horace Greeley and went west in search of opportunity and adventure. Able-bodied young men forged a path through the wilderness to conquer the untamed west and build another pillar in the manifest destiny inspired foundation upon which America now stands. We felt that sense of adventure when we trekked Westward in search of Amadeo’s Pizza And Subs, a pizzeria heretofore unbeknown to us until we read the comments of “a voice crying out…