Albuquerque Archives - Page 65 of 82 - Gil's Thrilling (And Filling) Blog

Old Town Pizza Parlor – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Gil GardunoJuly 29, 2012April 3, 20264:56 PM

Although it seems Albuquerque’s population experiences an unprecedented population growth every decade, perhaps the ten-year period which most transformed the Duke City from an expansive frontier cow town to a modern metropolitan city was the 1950s. At the start of the decade, the city’s population was 96,815, but bolstered by a post-World War II boom, the population more than doubled to 201,189 by 1960. No successive decade has seen such growth. With J.C. Penney’s, Sears and Montgomery Wards (as well as Woolworth’s) all located on Route 66, downtown was the the economic heart of the community. Consumers reveled in the availability of…

Albuquerque Rating: Good Thai

Orchid Thai Cuisine – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Gil GardunoJuly 28, 2012April 4, 20268:58 PM

Sydney, Australia has “Thai Tanic” and “Thai to Remember.” In Manila, The Philippines, it’s “Thai Kingdom Come.” Arlington, Virginia boasts of “ThaiPhoon.” “Thai One On” is a Salt Lake City favorite. San Francisco diners frequent “Thai Me Up,” while in Mildenhall, England “En-Thai-Sing” is all the rage. Then there’s “Beau Thai” in Portland, Oregon; “Bow Thai” in Margate, Florida; and “Once Upon a Thai” in Chicago, Illinois. When it comes to Thai restaurants throughout the English-speaking world, it’s a wordplay wonderland. Urbanspoon lists some eighteen Thai or Asian fusion restaurants in Albuquerque specializing in or which include Thai food, none…

Albuquerque Closed in 2014 Gone But Not Forgotten New Mexican

Serafin’s Chile Hut – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil GardunoJuly 8, 2012July 17, 20189:15 AM

Albuquerque’s Nob Hill district is arguably the Duke City’s cultural and culinary hub with a widely eclectic mix of restaurants. Despite its culinary diversity, one dining demographic that hasn’t been well represented has been New Mexican cuisine. It’s not through lack of effort, however, as several New Mexican restaurants have opened and closed in the area, most being very short-lived. In late December, 2010, Dennis Serafin made a concerted effort to change the fortunes of New Mexican restaurants in the Nob Hill region by launching his eponymous “chile hut.” Since then the highly regarded Cecilia’s Cafe has also entered the…

Albuquerque Closed in 2012 Gone But Not Forgotten Vietnamese

Miss Saigon Bar & Grill – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil GardunoJuly 7, 2012July 17, 201812:38 AM

When it closed on Broadway in 2001, the three-time Tony Award-winning musical Miss Saigon had been seen by some six million people during a running of 4,092 performances, making it the sixth longest running show in Broadway history. Outside of Broadway, Miss Saigon was opened by 26 theater companies worldwide, translated into eleven different languages and played in 23 countries throughout the world. The epic musical even had an eight performance run in Albuquerque’s Popejoy Hall in 2003. During of our inaugural visit to Miss Saigon Bar & Grill in July, 2012, the restaurant was celebrating an eight month run…

Albuquerque Closed in 2017 Gone But Not Forgotten Steak

Marcello’s Chophouse – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil GardunoJune 30, 2012July 17, 20184:18 AM

Steak–even the word conjures stereotypes of power brokers in suits and ties. There’s just something about sizzling, flame-kissed beef that seems to appeal to the wheelers and dealers and movers and shakers among us. Steak may just be the ultimate power food! That power is also wielded in the ultimate thumbing of the nose at vegetarians when carnivores emphasize that they didn’t claw their way to the top of the food ladder only to eat vegetables. Vegetarians may retort that steak is antithetical to a healthful lifestyle. To carnivores, however, it’s not as important that steak may not be good…

Albuquerque American Closed in 2015 Gone But Not Forgotten

Cafe Bleu – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil GardunoJune 13, 2012November 28, 20237:32 PM

Today Huyen Wylie might smile a little when she describes herself as having been one of the Vietnamese “boat people,” but it’s not because she finds anything evenly mildly amusing about the term. She was but ten years old when her family braved the choppy waters of the South China Sea in their quest for freedom. It was their third attempt. As with many families, fleeing their homeland was an act of desperation undertaken by people persecuted by an oppressive communist government. It was a perilous journey fraught with uncertainty and danger. Still, risking death on the open seas was…

Albuquerque Barbecue Food Truck Rating: N/R (Not Rated)

Dudley’s Barbecue – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Gil GardunoMay 27, 2012April 6, 20269:07 PM

The United States Department of Agriculture defines barbecue as “any meat cooked by the direct action of heat resulting from the burning of hardwood or the hot coals therefrom for a sufficient period to assume the usual characteristics” including the formation of a brown crust and a weight loss of at least thirty percent.” To the citizens of the great state of North Carolina, that definition is heresy, an example of government ineptitude and maybe even reason enough to secede from the union. Everyone in the Tar Heel state knows barbecue is all about pork. In fact, the words “barbecue”…

Albuquerque Closed in 2012 Gone But Not Forgotten Mexican

Mamba’s Kitchen – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil GardunoMay 25, 2012July 17, 20189:18 AM

When my friend Ryan “Break the Chain” Scott and I first visited Mamba’s Kitchen, we deliberated the genesis of the restaurant’s name. The possibilities were intriguing. The restaurant must be named for the black mamba, one of the world’s most venomous snakes, I thought. Ryan surmised then quickly dismissed the notion that the restaurant’s name honors Kobe Bryant, the Los Angeles Lakers star who calls himself the “Mamba” because he wants to have the type of basketball precision the snake has (it can strike with 99 percent accuracy at maximum speed, in rapid succession). Could it share the Mamba sobriquet…

Albuquerque Brazilian Closed in 2014 Gone But Not Forgotten

Jamon’s Frybread Cabana – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil GardunoMay 25, 2012July 17, 20181:04 AM

Several years ago when dinosaurs roamed the earth, multi-player gaming meant sitting at a table and playing board and card games with friends actually sitting across the table from you as opposed to the disembodied online kind of ‘friends.” My compadre Brad and I had been trounced several times by our pop culture savvy spouses at Trivial Pursuit, a primitive game contemporaneous with throwing rocks at mastodons. After four games, we finally had a chance to win one, but it came down to the toughest question Kim and Vicki could muster in a pop culture category which had been our…

Albuquerque Bakery Closed in 2012 Gone But Not Forgotten

Just A Bite! – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil GardunoMay 9, 2012July 17, 20187:25 PM

An April, 2009 article in the Taos News reveals just how much cultural attitudes have changed in the county in which I grew up toward men in the kitchen. The article profiled a Taos High School culinary arts team–comprised of three boys and one young lady–which triumphed over 16 other New Mexico schools in a state-wide cooking competition to earn a berth on the national stage. In the dark ages when I attended high school, any male student deigning to admit to enjoy cooking would have been dismissed as a (select your own pejorative) and might even have incurred physical harm. When I enrolled…

Albuquerque Closed in 2020 Gone But Not Forgotten Mariscos Mexican

El Sarape – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil GardunoMay 5, 2012November 28, 20237:12 AM

Before the advent of political correctness, the unchecked use of controversial stereotypes was rampant throughout America. Starting in the 1930s, for example, ethnic caricatures in the guise of tchotchkes (salt shakers, cookie jars, plant pots and the like) could be seen in households throughout the fruited plain. Neon-spangled roadside five-and-tens dotting the motorways and byways were primary culprits in the sale of kitschy, tacky knickknacks propagating such stereotypes as mammies, cigar-store Indians and the Mexican peasant taking a siesta while reclining against a saguaro. The sleeping Mexican, often called Pancho, was particularly prominent throughout the Southwest. Generally attired in huaraches,…