Category: Albuquerque

AlbuquerqueNew MexicanNew MexicoRating: Very Good

Santiago’s New Mexican Grill – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Gil Garduno12:49 PM

In Act II, Scene II of Romeo and Juliet, the immortal soliloquy “what’s in a name” is uttered for the first time. In business, the power of a name in branding a company is everything. A name can either attract or repel customers. Ralph Liftshitz, for example, didn’t think his birth name had enough panache to succeed in business so he changed his name to Ralph Lauren. Today, the Ralph Lauren brand is synonymous with providing quality products and creating vibrant lifestyles. The power of a name in branding a restaurant can make all the difference in the world, especially in ascribing the quality of authenticity. A Middle Eastern restaurant named “Bob’s Kebabs” would certainly not fare as well as…

AlbuquerqueMariscosMexicanRating: Good

Bandido Hideout – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Gil Garduno12:04 AM

Lucha libre, a Spanish phrase loosely translated into English as “free-style fighting,” is not just a genre of professional wrestling, it is the poor man’s theater in Mexico.  For a mere pittance, the common man can treat his entire family to an incredible world in which classic battles of good versus evil are waged by stalwart heroes (los technicos) and compelling villains (los rudos). Throngs of frenetic fans suspend their disbelief as muscular luchadores perform spectacular high-flying moves and execute joint-wrenching holds in the squared circle.  Lucha libre’s theatrics are enhanced by the presence of wrestlers whose identities are protected by colorful masks designed to evoke archetypal images of animals, heroes and gods.  The luchadores take on the persona represented…

AlbuquerqueJapaneseNew MexicoRamenRating: Excellent

O Ramen – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Gil Garduno7:30 PM

“Food, like a loving touch or a glimpse of divine power, has that ability to comfort.” ~Norman Kolpas According to most online definitions, the term “soul food” defines the cuisine associated with African-American culture in the southern United States. In wide use since the 1960s, the term originated and came into heavy use with the rise of the civil rights and black nationalism movements. Though still most widely associated with the African-American culture, over the years “soul food” has become synonymous with basic, down-home cooking, especially of comfort foods…and as Cracked magazine puts it, soul food is “the real reason why white people like Cracker Barrel.” While the term “soul food” has, by definition, been culturally limiting and exclusive, in…

AlbuquerqueBrewery-PubClosed in 2023Dog FriendlyGone But Not ForgottenItalianNew MexicoPizza

Lava Rock Brewing Company – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno6:28 PM

NOTE:  The Lava Rock Brewing Company is no longer affiliated with M’Tucci’s.  The review below remains online for your reading pleasure, but please don’t use it as a guide to the restaurant’s menu. Mark Twain, who quit school at age twelve after having completed the sixth grade, would go on to be widely acknowledged as the father of American literature.  Despite being largely self-taught–valedictorian of the school of hard knocks and salutatorian of street smarts–Twain acknowledged in his posthumously published essay “Taming the Bicycle” that the self-taught man “seldom knows anything accurately” and “does not know a tenth of as much as he could have known if he had worked under teachers.”   That would have been especially true if…

AlbuquerqueClosed in 2021Dog FriendlyGone But Not ForgottenNew MexicoSouthwestern

Backstreet Grill – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno9:55 AM

Old Town Albuquerque. Locals love it. We appreciate its unique architecture and have tremendous affection for its character and personality. We hold its religious celebrations in reverence and admire the passion with which its secular fiestas are celebrated. We delight in reminding “colonists” that it’s older than many New England cities which dominate history books. Old Town is where we take all our friends and family who visit us. Much as we love it…and we do love it, many of us don’t visit Old Town as much as its proximity and charm might warrant. Ask locals why they don’t frequent Old Town and the more “honest” ones will likely tell you it’s because it’s no longer solely ours. We have…

AlbuquerqueMexicanNew MexicoRating: Very Good

Taqueria Mexico – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Gil Garduno12:09 PM

“Baby let’s make a run for the border, I’ve got a hunger only tacos can stop. I know exactly what I’ll order Three tacos two tostadas and a soda pop.” ~Jennifer Lopez (Eric Cartman from South Park) Ironically, every time Taco Bell has made its own run for the border, it invariably winds up scurrying away like a frightened cur (the chalupa-loving Chihuahua), its nachos bellgrande tucked between its legs.  Mexico hasn’t even had to build a wall to keep Taco Bell away. During multiple forays into the Land of Montezuma, the Mexican dining public very loudly and very clearly derided “America’s favorite Mexican restaurant” for what it is—uninspiring Mexican-inspired food. Cultural critic Carlos Monsivais likened Taco Bell’s attempt to…

AlbuquerqueClosed in 2026Dog FriendlyGone But Not ForgottenNew MexicoSeafood

Slapfish – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno12:01 AM

Every year, a jolly, bearded (some might also say fat) gentleman leaves the comforts of his home to celebrate an event that comes only once a year. Throughout the year he’s visited good little mom-and-pop restaurants across the Land of Enchantment and rewarded them with kind reviews wrapped in polysyllabic words and alliterative phrases. On this special day, my Kim’s birthday, the bearded gentleman isn’t quite as jolly for as faithful readers know, once a year I agree to take my cookie-baking bride to the Olive Garden. It’s a deal we have, albeit one that makes me feel like Faust in the Christopher Marlowe play. Faust, for the non-English majors among you was a scholar who sells his soul to…

AlbuquerqueVietnamese

Saigon Far East – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED*)

Gil Garduno9:08 PM

NOTE: In November, 2020, Saigon Far East closed its doors and relocated to 25 The Way where it is now called Saigon City. Breaking a paradigm. That’s a modern corporate buzz phrase that essentially means approaching a situation or routine from a different perspective instead of the standard or typical way. In the parlance of dining out, breaking a paradigm means eating somewhere other than the “usual suspects.” That means getting out of your rut and visiting a restaurant you’ve never visited, especially one that no one has recommended to you.  If Gil’s Thrilling… had a mission statement it would be to introduce you to restaurants which break your paradigms. For many diners, breaking a paradigm is eating at a…

AlbuquerqueBarbecueDog FriendlyNew MexicoRating: Very Good

Nexus Blue Smokehouse – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Gil Garduno11:33 AM

Tim “The Toolman” Taylor just didn’t get the concept of “low-and-slow.”  During barbecue week on Taylor’s “Tool Time” television show, his buddies from NASA told him the secret to quickly igniting a grill was to use rocket fuel (“liquid oxygen with a skosh of hydrogen and for fun, a little soupcon of cilantro for flavoring”).  Predictably, the grill fired up in a world record time of 2.6 seconds.  Also to be expected, the grill exploded like a rocket, flying off into the wild blue yonder.  That was par for the course for the accident-prone Taylor who once installed a jet engine on his lawnmower. Thankfully the pitmaster extraordinaire at Nexus Blue Smokehouse, understands the sweet, smoky, seductive low-and-slow science and…

AlbuquerqueClosed in 2020Gone But Not ForgottenMexicanNew MexicoTacos

Dia De Los Takos – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno7:47 PM

NOTE: Although Dia De Los Takos has closed, founder-owner-chef Dominic “Dom” Valuenzuela has launched a new restaurant called Tako Ten.  Look for a review soon. Felix, a character in Adi Alsaid’s young adult fiction book North of Happy was asked what makes a taco perfect. “It’s a taco that tastes as good as the idea of a taco itself. A taco that’ll hold steadfast through memory’s attempt to erase it, a taco that’ll be worthy of the nostalgia that it will cause. A taco that won’t satisfy or fill but will satiate your hunger. Not just for tonight but for tacos in general, for food, for life-itself, brother. You will feel full to your soul. “But!” he added, a callused…

AlbuquerqueBurgersClosed in 2023Gone But Not ForgottenNew Mexico

Santa Fe Bite – ABQ – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno12:49 PM

In 1940, Thomas Wolfe penned You Can’t Go Home Again, a novel whose deeply existential title prompted more than water cooler conversations.  It prompted profound philosophical discourse, internal reflection and pangs of nostalgia about better days remembered.  Readers pondered if it was true that “you can’t go back home to your family, back home to your childhood.”  Realists concluded the novel’s title meant you can’t return to a place of another time and expect that everything would be exactly the same.  Optimists  took it a bit further, positing that while some things may change, other things don’t change and some things might actually be better. Wolfe’s novel came to mind when we first heard a legendary Santa Fe institution had…