Albuquerque Archives - Page 71 of 83 - Gil's Thrilling (And Filling) Blog

Albuquerque American Closed in 2011 Gone But Not Forgotten

Rodeo Grill – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil GardunoAugust 21, 2010July 19, 20181:32 AM

“Who’s gonna fill their shoes?,” laments the legendary Country music crooner George Jones over the loudspeakers at the Rodeo Grill. “Who’s gonna stand that tall? Who’s gonna play the Opry and the Wabash Cannonball? Who’s gonna give their heart and soul to get to me and you? Lord I wonder, who’s gonna fill their shoes.” Ironically I was thinking something similar as we stepped into the kitschy and brash restaurant on Wyoming which purports to feature “nuevo vaquero chow.” My thoughts, though, were of the iconic figures of American pop culture and historical legacy–the cowboys portrayed in the movies of…

Albuquerque Closed in 2014 Gone But Not Forgotten New Mexican New Mexico Culinary Treasures Trail

Charlie’s Front Door – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil GardunoJuly 31, 2010May 31, 20251:36 AM

For almost four and a half decades, Charlie Elias, an avuncular septuagenarian with the energy of a teenager, has greeted his customers and treated them like welcome guests at his eponymous Northeast Heights restaurant and bar. Charlie doesn’t always make it to work nowadays, but his son Jamie, who’s probably the same age today that Charlie was when I first discovered this long-time family favorite, is now the restaurant’s official ambassador, a smiling presence who meets and greets all patrons with the same homespun, genuine friendliness as his father. Charlie was thirty-something when he launched his Front and Back Door…

Albuquerque Closed in 2015 Gone But Not Forgotten Mexican Rating: Excellent

Los Equipales – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil GardunoJuly 11, 2010July 19, 20183:27 AM

CLOSED ON FRIDAY, JUNE 26, 2015: Crafted from fibrous materials removed from maguey cactus and fixed with leather bands, equipales furniture graces the sala of many a New Mexican home and certainly many more homes south of the border. Originally produced for the comfort of Aztec landlords and priests, equipales furniture has been around since before Columbus. Even Montezuma, the nefarious ruler of Tenochtitlan, reputedly cherished a favorite equipale-type chair. It’s likely he sat on that chair while consuming a daily repast that may have included the traditional Aztec staples of the day: corn, chilies, beans, potatoes and other foods…

Albuquerque Closed in 2024 Gone But Not Forgotten Mexican New Mexico

Rincon Del Pollo – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil GardunoJuly 8, 2010July 14, 20243:03 AM

In 1928, the presidential campaign featured several slogans and ads promising an era of prosperity. The most memorable of these was a boast that the Republican administrations of Warren Harding and Calvin Coolidge had “reduced hours and increased earning capacity, silenced discontent, and put the proverbial ‘chicken in every pot.’ And a car in every backyard, to boot.” If a chicken in every pot is a measure of prosperity, then the Rincon del Pollo (Chicken Corner) Mexican restaurant on North Fourth must epitomize success and affluence. That’s because this diminutive eatery specializes in all things chicken, albeit al estilo Mexicano…

Albuquerque Closed in 2014 Gone But Not Forgotten National Chain Pizza

RedBrick Pizza – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil GardunoJune 12, 2010July 19, 20181:41 AM

The American culture of instant gratification may be precipitating the decline of the independent neighborhood pizzeria. In recent years, this traditional bastion of pizza preparation has been largely supplanted by ubiquitous pizza delivery companies with their gratuitous gimmicks, copious coupons and promises of breakneck deliveries. Pizzaiolis, the artisans who deftly toss and craft prandial perfection in the form of circular, precisely seasoned and superbly sauced oven-baked flat-bread have been unseated by pimply teenagers slathering ketchup on cardboard spheres then setting land speed records to ensure the day’s special of five for the price of one reaches its intended destination within…

Albuquerque American Closed in 2012 Gone But Not Forgotten National Chain

Zea Rotisserie & Grill – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil GardunoMay 31, 2010July 19, 20186:00 AM

Our first visit to Zea followed the day after it was savaged by an erstwhile Albuquerque Journal restaurant critic, but any trepidation we might have had quickly dissipated when we were greeted enthusiastically at the hostess station by Betty, the luminous former waitress at the incomparable and much missed (to this day, I dream of its timbale tuna) Nouveau Noodles restaurant in Tijeras. At Nouveau, Betty was a whirling dervish of perpetual motion and the restaurant’s consummate ambassador. As warm and effusive a waitress as you’ll find anywhere, Betty’s unabashed enthusiasm for Nouveau’s cuisine was evident in her flowingly eloquent…

Albuquerque Breakfast Closed in 2010 Gone But Not Forgotten New Mexican

Blue Cactus Grill – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil GardunoMay 15, 2010July 19, 20181:26 PM

In the early 80s I tried to impress my very traditional grandmother by taking her to a recently opened restaurant on Academy Boulevard. What was not to like? The restaurant shared the mellifluous name she had proudly worn for over fifty years. It was a locally owned and operated and had earned several awards. It boasted a multi-page menu. Surely Garduno’s of Mexico offered something she would like. It turns out the restaurant’s name was the only thing she liked. One nod of disapproval after the other ensued as she meticulously perused the menu, a compendium of Mexican and New Mexican appetizers,…

Albuquerque Japanese Korean Rating: Good Sushi

Sakura Sushi & Grill – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Gil GardunoApril 10, 2010April 3, 20264:08 AM

In describing “food porn,” The New Yorker once wrote, “The point is to get very close to what you are filming, so close that you can see an ingredient’s “pores” which then triggers some kind of Neanderthal reflex. If you’re flicking from channel to channel and come upon food that has been shot in this way, you will be hardwired as a human being to stop, look, and bring it back to your cave.” Madison Avenue, which is virtually synonymous with advertising, recognizes the impact food porn has on the American consumer. That’s why we’re bombarded with television commercials and…

Albuquerque American Closed in 2012 Gone But Not Forgotten

Chef’s Bistro – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil GardunoApril 3, 2010July 7, 20188:47 PM

It’s been called the “Harvard of cooking schools” and has been credited with having “changed the way Americans eat” by no less than the James Beard Foundation. World-reknowned French chef Paul Bocuse calls it “the best culinary school in the world.” It has trained more than forty-thousand culinary professionals and counts among its distinguished alumni such Food Network luminaries as Tony Bourdain, Anne Burrell, Cat Cora, Sara Moulton and Todd English. In the culinary world, the Central Intelligence Agency is known as “the other CIA.” The CIA is the Culinary Institute of America (CIA), a not-for-profit culinary school which confers…

Albuquerque American Closed in 2010 New Mexico Green Chile Cheeseburger Trail: 2009

Independence Grill – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil GardunoMarch 13, 2010August 6, 201810:30 AM

NOTE: The Independence Grill became another casualty of the economy, shuttering its doors on Sunday, March 14th, 2010. Below this review is a photo retrospective of some of the many things which will be missed about this terrific restaurant. On January 6, 1941 as President Franklin Delano Roosevelt closed his state of the union address to Congress, he described his vision for a better way of life through what he considered the four essential human freedoms: freedom to worship, freedom from fear, freedom from want and freedom of speech. Those four freedoms, now widely considered the central tenets of modern…

Albuquerque Closed in 2012 Continental Gone But Not Forgotten Rating: Excellent

Barry’s Oasis – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil GardunoMarch 10, 2010July 7, 201812:24 AM

I don’t know if there’s any veracity to the adage “don’t trust a skinny chef,” but one thing is for certain. Albuquerque has been trusting a very grumpy chef to prepare excellent meals for more than a quarter century. That grumpy chef is the irascible Barry Schuster, serving great cuisine in Albuquerque since 1979. One of the first things you see when you walk into the restaurant is a caricature of a somewhat younger Barry. Scrawled below his countenance are the words “grumpy chef.” Barry cultivates the image of a surly curmudgeon, but underneath that gruff exterior lies a heart…

Category: Albuquerque