Category: Albuquerque

AlbuquerqueAmericanClosed in 2023Dog FriendlyGone But Not ForgottenNew Mexico

The Feel Good – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno5:42 PM

“Whoa! I feel good, I knew that I would, now I feel good, I knew that I would So good, so good, ’cause I got you So good, so good, ’cause I got you So good, so good, ’cause I got you.” ~James Brown The lyrics to the “Godfather of Soul’s” signature song aren’t etched on the windows or door of The Feel Good, but several other thematic aphorism are.  There’s Virginia Wolf’s quote, “One cannot think well, love well, sleep well, if one has not dined well.”  M.F.K. Fisher’s “Sharing food with another human being is an ultimate act…

AlbuquerqueBreakfastNew MexicanRating: Good

Garcia’s Kitchen – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Gil Garduno5:21 PM

One of the central themes of William Faulkner’s magnus opus Absalom, Absalom! is that no two people experience the same thing. Of the four characters who narrate the story, none of them is completely reliable because each has a personal bias, a unique frame of reference based on personal experiences to call upon. Readers are left to determine those biases and how they affect the telling of the story. With the passage of time, one of the characters experiences the memory of the events differently than she experienced the events when they happened. Similarly, no two diners experience the same…

AlbuquerqueRating: ExcellentVietnamese

Saigon Restaurant – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Gil Garduno1:54 AM

According to some stereotypes, when you eat Chinese food, you’ll be hungry an hour later.    That stereotype is known as the “Chinese food paradox.”   One of the culprits behind that stereotype is rice, a very starchy food which metabolizes quickly.  Others blame monosodium glutamate (MSG) when hunger creeps in shortly after finishing a meal. Italian food is also shrouded in stereotype. “The trouble with eating Italian food,” according to British writer George Miller, “is that five or six days later you’ll be hungry again.” With Italian food–at least Americanized Italian food served in some of the ubiquitous chains–portions are…

AlbuquerqueAsianNew MexicoRating: N/R (Not Rated)Vietnamese

Bamboo by Kulantro – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Gil Garduno10:32 AM

Hawaiian pizza, black licorice, blue cheese, anchovies, candy corn, cilantro…these are among the pantheon of foods Readers Digest says everyone either loves or hates. And by “everyone,” Readers Digest includes such culinary glitterati as Julia Child who expressed her loathing for for cilantro in a 2002 interview with Larry King.   The towering chef  proclaimed she detested cilantro, saying it has a “dead taste” to her.  Food Network personality Ina Gartner is even more blatant:  “I just hate it,” she related in a Munchie’s podcast.  “To me, it’s so strong and it actually tastes like soap to me, but it’s…

AlbuquerqueChickenMexicanNew MexicoRating: Very Good

El Rey Del Pollo – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Gil Garduno10:29 AM

My environmentally-conscious, Prius-driving friend Bruce “Sr. Plata” Silver has a much smaller carbon footprint than that carbon credit-trading hypocrite Al Gore.  No environmental activist would ever condemn Sr. Plata for fouling the air and water with a large amount of greenhouse gas emissions. Instead, he leaves large “al carbon fingerprints,” the finger-licking kind you get from frequenting restaurants which specialize in pollo al carbon, chicken prepared over charcoal. Pollo al carbon has spoiled Sr. Plata. He craves those juicy, spatchcocked, golden-skinned birds speckled with black char, chicken so meaty and delicious it makes store-bought rotisserie chickens look positively anorexic in…

AlbuquerqueAmericanBreakfastClosed in 2024Dog FriendlyDonutsGone But Not ForgottenNew MexicoSandwich

Kickstand Cafe – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno12:01 AM

In 2016, The Plough Hotel in North Canterbury, New Zealand banned Lycra-clad customers in an attempt to remove any “unsightly bumps and bulges.”  The hotel owner declared Lycra “unsuitable,” explaining “We get a nice group of customers out here, some elderly folk. When you’re trying to concentrate on your breakfast you just want to see the sausages on your plate.” Then as if expecting a confrontation from the lumpy, bumpy bikers, he issued a challenge: “If there’s hordes of cyclists outside threatening to bash us with their bike pumps we can always barricade ourselves in, we’ve got a bit of…

AlbuquerqueClosed in 2022Gone But Not ForgottenMediterraneanMiddle EasternNew Mexico

Al Alwan’s Cafe – Albuquerque New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno12:01 AM

“I hope I live long enough to see the children of Palestine, Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria wake up to the sounds of birds not bombs.” ~Gigi Hadid Historians believe the name Syria derives from the Ancient Greek word “Seirios,” meaning, “sun-bright, glowing, blazing, and shining.” In Latin the equivalent term “Sirius” was used not only to denote the brightest star in the night sky and most prominent star in the constellation Canis Major (the greater dog), but to indicate “people from Syria.”  Officially today, Syria is known as the Syrian Arab Republic.  Lying in the east coast of the Mediterranean…

AlbuquerqueAsianClosed in 2023Dog FriendlyFood TruckFusionGone But Not ForgottenNew MexicoVietnamese

Cafe Nom Nom – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno12:01 AM

NOTE:  Cafe Nom Nom no longer operates out of the Boxing Bear Brewery.  The Nom Nom Facebook page seems to indicate it now operates out of a food truck, but no information is provided as to days in which it is available to diners. “Nom nom.” It sounds innocent enough. Parents–yes, including parents of four-legged fur babies–utter it in baby talk intonations to get our children to eat something, especially when that something is “good for them” but doesn’t actually look or taste good. Nom nom was, of course, the favorite expression of Sesame Street’s Cookie Monster as he ravenously…

AlbuquerqueNew MexicanNew MexicoRating: N/R (Not Rated)Vegetarian/Vegan

Vegos Vegan New Mexican – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Gil Garduno12:01 AM

“Well, there’s not a taco big enough for a man like me That’s why I order two or three Let me give you a tip, just try a nacho chip It’s really good with bean dip. 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.” ~ Weird Al Yankovic: Taco Grande Growing up in agrarian Northern New Mexico where we grew and consumed the bounty of our gardens was the closest I’ve ever been to a vegetarian or vegan…

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Down N Dirty Seafood Boil – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Gil Garduno11:19 AM

Seafood boil in the Duke City! If the notion conjures visions of heading to Tingley Beach and embarking on an unappetizing repast of catfish, rainbow trout and silvery minnows boiled together in a large pot of green chile seasoned broth, you’re in for a treat. As of September, 2013, it’s possible for expatriates from any of America’s coastal regions to indulge in authentic seafood boil…and it’s very good.  So good, in fact, that since its launch, copycat restaurants have spawned throughout the Duke City. Down N Dirty Seafood Boil was the first–often duplicated but never replicated.   Albuquerque’s very first…

AlbuquerqueDog FriendlyNational ChainNew MexicoPizzaRating: Very Good

California Pizza Kitchen – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Gil Garduno6:51 PM

No, your eyes aren’t deceiving you. This is Gil’s Thrilling (And Filling) Blog, champion of the mom-and-pop restaurant, defender of the independently owned eatery, supporter of the family owned and family operated diner…and this is a review of a chain restaurant. No, this blog has not been hijacked by some corporate cabal bent on corrupting the American diet with homogeneous mediocrity…and no, this review was not written under duress or the promise of free food. It was written of my own free will, sound mind and full accord. Lest you condemn this seemingly traitorous affront, hear me out. Several years…