Albuquerque Archives - Page 64 of 82 - Gil's Thrilling (And Filling) Blog

Albuquerque Closed in 2013 Gone But Not Forgotten Mexican New Mexican Rating: Excellent

Rey’s Place – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil GardunoNovember 25, 2012March 31, 202612:00 PM

Rey’s Place has relocated and now shares space with La Familar, the terrific Mexican restaurant owned by Michael “Rey’s” lovely bride Luz. La Familiar is located at 1611 4th Street, N.W. Its menu includes all the wonderful foods you’ve loved for years at Rey’s Place: gorditas, enchiladas, caldo de rez and so much more. Whether you visit for excellent Mexican food or Michael’s mellifluous guitar and sensational singing voice, Rey’s La Familiar will soon become one of your favorite restaurants. Call Rey’s La Familiar at 808-242-9661 for more information. Human brains are wired so that the way we perceive…

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

Kim Long Asian Cuisine – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED 1 JULY 2015)

Gil GardunoNovember 24, 2012March 31, 202611:24 AM

Growing up on a relatively unsophisticated Northern New Mexican diet featuring such staples as beans, tortillas and chile could hardly be considered a training ground for gastronomic appreciation. Though I thoroughly enjoyed my mom’s cooking it was hardly with the realization that I was feasting on one of America’s very best regional cuisines. Frankly, in the 1960s, only someone with prescience would have thought New Mexican cuisine could eventually garner worldwide acclaim. My siblings and I actually thought we were deprived because we weren’t eating Wonder bread sandwiches, pizza and Big Macs. Similarly, my friend and Intel colleague Huu Vu…

Albuquerque Burgers Closed in 2015 Gone But Not Forgotten New Mexico Green Chile Cheeseburger Trail: 2009

Route 66 Malt Shop – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil GardunoNovember 14, 2012July 17, 20183:21 AM

In a May, 2009 edition of New Mexico Magazine feature celebrating “20 reasons Rail is Cool Now,” the magazine’s staff and contributors shared the best things to experience via the New Mexico Railrunner Express.” A Duke City notable was root beer at the Route 66 Malt Shop and Grill, then about three miles from the nearest Railrunner depot. The magazine encouraged readers to “order a frosty mug of homemade award-winning root beer, or make it a float.” While you’re at it, the magazine suggested “sinking your teeth into the signature Blue Cheese Green Chile Burger. Dee-lish.” Ironically just as the magazine…

Albuquerque Closed in 2013 Gone But Not Forgotten New Mexican New Mexico

Prickly Pear Bar & Grill – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil GardunoOctober 27, 2012July 17, 20187:37 PM

Philip Stanhope, the 4th Earl of Chesterfield offered the following advice to his son: “There is time enough for everything in the course of the day, if you do but one thing at once, but there is not time enough in the year, if you will do two things at a time.” To Chesterfield, focusing on a singular task was not only a practical way of structuring one’s time; it was a sign of intelligence. “This steady and undissipated attention to one object, is a sure mark of a superior genius; as hurry, bustle, and agitation, are the never-failing symptoms of…

Albuquerque Breakfast Brunch Buffet Closed in 2014 Gone But Not Forgotten Latin American

La Fonda Del Bosque – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil GardunoSeptember 30, 2012July 17, 201812:24 AM

In the millennium year, after years of planning and lobbying, the dream was finally realized of a haven dedicated to the preservation, promotion, and advancement of Hispanic culture, arts, and humanities. In 2000, the National Hispanic Cultural Center (NHCC), launched along the Camino Real in the Albuquerque’s historic Barela’s neighborhood. The Center is an architectural anomaly in a largely adobe-hued area, its unique structures including a renovated hacienda-style school, a stylized Mayan pyramid with interior elements modeled on Romanesque architecture and a torreon (tower) housing a 4,000 square foot concave fresco depicting over 3,000 years of Hispanic history. Ironically the…

Albuquerque Closed in 2014 Gone But Not Forgotten New Mexican

ZS&T’s Great Grub – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil GardunoSeptember 29, 2012July 30, 20207:45 PM

“Here’s an idea: Quit playing on the Internet and get over to 5017 Menaul, N.E. for lunch. And dinner.” That’s not Gil Garduño admonishing you to take a break from the invaluable research you’re conducting on the Internet. That’s ZS&T’s Web site inviting you to what could very well be one of the best Duke City restaurants you’ve never heard of, a restaurant so confident in its cooking that its Web site boasts, “If you don’t think it’s the best food in Albuquerque, we’ll refer you to a good Ear, Nose and Throat doctor to get your taste buds adjusted.”…

Albuquerque Closed in 2016 Gone But Not Forgotten New Mexico Rating: Outstanding Vietnamese

May Hong – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil GardunoSeptember 1, 2012March 31, 20262:39 AM

In late 2002, long-time proprietor and friend James Nguyen sold May Hong. Fortunately he kept this wonderful jewel in the family, selling it to his lovely and talented sister-in-law. Best of all, he didn’t relinquish ownership until fully ensuring she could perfectly prepare the recipes that have made May Hong one of the two or three best Vietnamese restaurants in the Duke City. That short list, by the way, includes James’ second restaurant Cafe Dalat. May Hong (along with Saigon Vietnamese Restaurant) is somewhat of an anomaly in that it’s not located anywhere near Albuquerque’s tightly-knit Vietnamese neighborhoods, most of which…

Albuquerque Closed in 2012 Gone But Not Forgotten Italian

Ravioli Italian Kitchen – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil GardunoAugust 25, 2012July 17, 20187:59 PM

The older I get, the more my favorite part of the Academy Awards every year is the teary-eyed tribute to all the famous screen legends who passed away during the preceding twelve months. The montage of glitterati greatness on the “In Memoriam” segment not only provides a much-needed respite from self-absorbed acceptance speeches and tedious dance numbers, it evokes a flood of memories and emotions as viewers pause to remember the movie makers who have touched us all. Similarly, the closure of a favorite restaurant gives diners pause to reflect on meals we’ve had at restaurants gone, but not forgotten.…

Albuquerque Closed in 2013 Gone But Not Forgotten Sandwich

Christy’s Food Factory – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil GardunoAugust 21, 2012July 17, 20181:48 PM

A few years ago at the urging of an obviously taste-deprived, chain restaurant loving colleague, I had breakfast at a misnomer of a restaurant named Goody’s, a now defunct restaurant on Yale. He bragged about Goody’s breakfast burrito being as good as Milton’s Family Restaurant, sacrilege if it was ever uttered. A business trip provided the opportune time to debunk my colleague’s blasphemy. Not only did Goody’s version of a breakfast burrito provide one of the most insipid breakfasts I can remember, it led to a sacred pledge that defines my last meal in Albuquerque each and every time the…

Albuquerque Closed in 2018 Gone But Not Forgotten Steak

The Town House Restaurant – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil GardunoAugust 4, 2012December 11, 20183:53 PM

America’s highway system expansion which began in the 1930s not only “shrank” America, it introduced the entertaining, educational–some might say bizarre–phenomenon of the roadside attraction. Entrepreneurs competed with each other to create gawk-inspiring, curiosity motivating, must-see-to-believe attractions to snare the attention of motorists and motivate them to part with some of their money. Neon lights festooned Route 66 while fiberglass and concrete statues became part-and-parcel of America’s highways and byways. This was true roadside art which became a part of the fabric of Americana, albeit a kitschy tradition fading with the passage of time (which aptly describes many of the…

Albuquerque Chicken Closed in 2014 Gone But Not Forgotten Specialty

El Pollo Picante – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil GardunoAugust 1, 2012July 17, 20188:32 AM

Pollo asado, marinated grilled chicken, has been a staple in Mexico for years, but save for those pockets within metropolitan areas heavily populated by scions of Mexico, it hasn’t made significant inroads throughout the fruited plain. Mexican grilled chicken restaurants seem to fly under the radar, unbeknownst to much of the local populace outside the Mexican neighborhoods in which they’re clustered. Many grilled chicken sahops–even in Albuquerque– operate in ramshackle, lilliputian buildings not much larger than roadside stands. In the 1980s, El Pollo Loco, a Mexican grilled chicken chain expanded into the United States, launching in about a dozen states…