Albuquerque Archives - Page 63 of 82 - Gil's Thrilling (And Filling) Blog

Paisano’s Italian Restaurant – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Gil GardunoDecember 28, 2012July 17, 20186:20 PM

For years, the Duke City dining scene has been infiltrated by a plethora of cookie cutter Italian “chain gangs.” Despite deep corporate pockets, the flash and panache of Madison Avenue marketing machines and scripted, saccharine service, the chains have failed to drive away the beloved local mom and pop establishments to which Duke City diners remain steadfastly loyal? One of the very best of the mom-and-pop lot is Paisano’s Italian Restaurant which was launched in the 1970s by Johnny Camuglia. Paisano’s gained a faithful following well before the plague-like incursion of the Olive Garden, Johnny Carino’s and others of that ilk. Four decades later under his son Rick, Paisano’s is still going strong thanks to doing things right for Duke City…

Albuquerque Better Call Saul Fine Dining Rating: Excellent

Savoy Bar & Grill – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Gil GardunoDecember 26, 2012April 3, 20269:16 PM

In 1881, the Savoy Theater in London’s trendy West End was built to showcase the brilliant Victorian era collaboration of W.S. Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan who composed fourteen comic operas. The Savoy was the first public building in the world to be lit entirely by electricity. It also has the distinction of being fronted by the only road in Britain where traffic is required by law to drive on the right-hand side. In 2006, the Savoy Bar & Grill was built in Albuquerque to showcase yet another brilliant collaboration, that of identical twin brothers Keith and Kevin Roessler who also own and operate Seasons Rotisserie & Grill in Albuquerque’s Old Town and Zinc Wine Bar & Bisatro in fashionable Nob…

Albuquerque Chinese Rating: N/R (Not Rated)

Yummi House – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Gil GardunoDecember 15, 2012April 6, 20269:01 PM

Years ago, I had the misfortune of working with a technical writer who couldn’t spell his way out of a paper bag. His punctuation was pathetic, his vocabulary vacuous and his writing peppered with malapropisms (the incorrect use of a word by substituting a similar-sounding word with a different meaning). Some comedians have made an art out of malapropisms, but there wasn’t anything funny about this terrible technical writer. How he passed English classes at a state school which will remain nameless, much less become a technical writer, is beyond me. Fortunately it didn’t take our employer long to realize the right thing to do about that writer was to let him go. In mock tribute to our departed former…

Albuquerque Closed in 2023 Gone But Not Forgotten Greek

Zorba’s Fine Greek Dining – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil GardunoDecember 8, 2012January 6, 20249:53 PM

“Tell me what you do with the food you eat, and I’ll tell you what you are. Some turn their food into fat and manure, some into work and good humor, and others, I’m told, into God.” ~Zorba the Greek The most obvious theme of the Nikos Kazantzakis novel Zorba the Greek is that life should be lived to its fullest–that its pleasures should be pursued with a lusty vigor. The embodiment of that attitude was the eponymous, life-affirming protagonist Alexis Zorba whose unrestrained joie de vivre didn’t diminish with advancing geriatric progression. If anything, Zorba’s exuberance and appetite for the pleasures of the flesh become more pronounced with age. His passions were governed by his senses, not by social…

Albuquerque Closed in 2013 Gone But Not Forgotten Italian Pizza

Fratelli Bistro – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil GardunoDecember 8, 2012July 17, 20189:39 AM

The ingredients with which you can top your pizza are limited only by your imagination. Crocodile and caviar? Been there, done that. In fact, a New York restaurateur will sell you a thousand dollar pie topped with four of the priciest caviars in the world. Blueberries, shrimp, cookies? That’s pretty tame stuff. A Swiss-based pizza chef laces his pizza with spiders and snakes (Jim Stafford, where are you now?). The Japanese propensity for invention is on display with a “mega pizza” monstrosity (Godzilla? Mothra?) that starts with a crust constructed of hot dogs wrapped in bacon and rolls of molten cheese. The center is built with hamburgers, cheese rolls, sausage, bacon, ham, bacon bits, mushroom, onion, pepper, garlic and tomato…

Albuquerque Closed in 2014 Colombian Gone But Not Forgotten

El Pollo Real – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil GardunoDecember 4, 2012July 17, 201812:43 PM

Jay : I’m home! Mmm, what smells so good? Gloria : I’m making chunchullo, a traditional Colombian dish, for dinner with the family tonight. Chunchullo. Jay : What is that… like, uh, tacos? Gloria : Yes, like tacos. Manny : No, it isn’t. It’s the small intestine of a pig. Jay : Oh, geez. Why can’t we eat regular food like normal people? Understandably, to this gastronome, the funniest scenes depicting the cultural clash between Gloria Pritchett and her family and friends involve food. In the true tradition of the Latin stereotype, Gloria, the curvaceous Colombian bombshell portrayed by Sofia Vergara on the hilarious television comedy Modern Family likes her food spicy-painfully so. Conversely, in true stereotypical “white person” fashion,…

Albuquerque Closed in 2014 Gone But Not Forgotten Mariscos Mexican

La Sirenita – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil GardunoNovember 26, 2012July 17, 20189:15 PM

My good friend and frequent dining companion Bill Resnik is one of the most altruistic and selfless people I have the privilege of knowing. Every year he grows out his naturally white beard so he can portray Santa Claus at hospitals and nursing homes throughout the metropolitan area. Because he stands 6’5″ most of his friends look like elves standing next to him and there’s probably not a chimney he can slide down, but when he dons his padded red and white Santa suit, he IS Santa. With his characteristic light-hearted and whimsical approach, he keeps children of all ages and dispositions spellbound, their wide-eyed wonder reflecting the magic of the season. The rest of the year when he’s not…

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 the flavor of food is actually a synthesis of how it looks, tastes, smells and feels. Four senses are actively…

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 who grew up in Vietnam had no realization that the simple foods on which he was raised would someday be…

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 was hitting the newsstands, the Route 66 Malt Shop’s west-facing windows were scrawled with the alarming words “Lost Our Lease,…

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 a weak and frivolous mind.” In university life as in the workforce of the 21st century, the notion that to…