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Albuquerque Closed in 2012 Gone But Not Forgotten Mexican

Salsas Grill – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil GardunoOctober 9, 2009July 21, 20182:18 AM

Salsas Grill features outstanding cuisine served with a Guatemalan flair, style, grace and hospitality. Affable proprietors Olga and Sigfrido Paz and their daughter Angie have decorated the restaurant with colorful nick knacks (mostly bowls and plates adorned with fruits and vegetables) from their native Guatemala. They have decorated the menu with Mexican, Guatemalan and New Mexican favorites prepared exceptionally well and served with class. Sigrido attends to his customers with a polite demeanor and genuine warmth while Olga crafts her culinary creations. Salsas Grill is nestled on the west mesa, offering a spectacular romantic view overlooking the city of Albuquerque and the spectacular Sandia Mountain range to the east. Its address is Coors, N.W., but that’s only because it’s most…

Albuquerque Closed in 2015 Gone But Not Forgotten New Mexican

Albuquerque Tortilla Company Family Restaurant and Carry Out – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil GardunoSeptember 10, 2009July 21, 20188:15 PM

Fearful that her dim-witted and loose-lipped husband would tell everyone in the village his good fortune in having found three bags of gold, the woodcutter’s wife concocted a plan. She had her husband buy her a one-hundred pound bag of flour and when he returned with the flour, she told him to lay down and rest for a while. While her weary husband slept, the woman made tortillas from the entire one-hundred pound bag of flour, so many tortillas the stacks climbed to the ceiling. She then carried the tortillas outside and threw them all over the ground. When the woodcutter woke up the next morning, he was amazed to find tortillas covering the ground. His wife told him it…

Albuquerque American Closed in 2009

Hurley’s Coffee, Tea and Bistro – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil GardunoSeptember 9, 2009July 21, 20182:01 PM

“May you have food and raiment, a soft pillow for your head. May you be forty years in heaven before the devil knows you’re dead.” — An Irish Blessing Cynics who used to deride Irish food as the worst in the planet would have cautioned you to say a prayer before you ate it, but not necessarily in Thanksgiving for what you were about to receive. For years the Emerald Isle has captured the imagination with its numberless shades of lush greens, smooth as silk whiskey, stout Guinness beer and poetry that can bring you to the depths of desolation or the heights of alacrity. What the land of saints, sinners and poets had not, until recently, ever been known…

Albuquerque Closed in 2013 Gone But Not Forgotten Mariscos Mexican

Mariscos La Playa – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil GardunoSeptember 6, 2009July 21, 20182:54 PM

While New Mexico has always had restaurants featuring the cuisine of the country of Mexitli of Tenochtitlan (Mexico), the distinction between Mexican and New Mexican cuisine has always been somewhat obfuscated. There are a number of reasons for this. For as long as I remember, restaurants which serve cuisine we now recognize as uniquely New Mexican (characterized among other things by the use of piquant red and green chiles instead of jalapeno) have billed themselves as Mexican restaurants. The term “New Mexican food,” is, in fact, relatively new as the Land of Enchantment has more recently taken an active stance in promoting its cuisine as something distinctly delicious and different than Mexican food. The situation has been exacerbated by ancianos (New Mexico’s elderly population), even the…

Albuquerque Closed in 2009 New Mexican

Quesada’s New Mexican Restaurant – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil GardunoAugust 14, 2009July 21, 20189:52 AM

When we get together, native New Mexicans of my generation who grew up in the state’s mountainous regions sometimes reminisce about trudging a mile or more in feet-deep snow to get to school. We wonder how we survived the furious snowstorms which killed reception for weeks to all four (yeah, four) Albuquerque television stations in the dark, pre-historic days before color television (not to mention, cable), the Internet and iPhones. Mostly, we trumpet the fact that we were weaned on chile–and not just any chile. We grew up eating the most gastronomic distress-inducing, tongue-searing, sweat-arousing chile possible–the type of chile which embodies the axiom that with some New Mexican food, pain is a flavor. Listen to us and we’ll have you believe that in…

Albuquerque Barbecue Closed in 2012 Gone But Not Forgotten

Johndhi’s BBQ – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil GardunoJuly 10, 2009July 21, 20184:45 AM

With the wafting aroma of smoked meats, Johndhi’s, a charming smokehouse restaurant on picturesque Rio Grande Boulevard welcomes you to Bar-B-Querque, a well-earned and time-tested sobriquet. Known as Geezamboni’s since its inception in 1988 until a name change in 2005, Johndhi’s is a North Valley institution popular all year round. Owned and operated by John Nellos of Albuquerque’s first family of barbecue (the philanthropic Nellos clan owns three Quarters restaurants in the Duke City), Johndhi’s has an ultra hip, mega casual feel to it that belies the converted home structure in which it sits. The artsy ambience includes French posters, multi-hued Mexican ceramic masks and pictures adorning the walls. Strewn about the restaurant’s many nooks and crannies are interesting accoutrements such as an antique…

Albuquerque Buffet Chinese Closed in 2011 Gone But Not Forgotten

Evergreen Buffet – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil GardunoJune 28, 2009July 22, 20184:18 PM

America held hostage! That was the aptly named title of an ABC late-night news program anchored by Ted Koppel from November, 1979 through January 20, 2001. For 444 days, the mighty United States of America was indeed paralyzed while 52 Americans were held hostage–tied and blindfolded–in the U.S. Embassy in Iran. The captors were student revolutionaries incensed at the United States decision to admit Iran’s deposed Shah for medical treatment. The moment Ronald Reagan took the oath of office, those hostages were released. An adoring nation welcomed the returning heroes, lavishing them with gifts and accolades. Among the gifts was a tiny box from Major League Baseball commissioner Bowie Kuhn. Within that box was a lifetime pass to any major…

Albuquerque Brunch Closed in 2013 French Gone But Not Forgotten

Brasserie La Provence – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil GardunoJune 14, 2009July 22, 20183:35 AM

The French have long cultivated the idea–some would say myth–that their cuisine is the very best in the world. This self-aggrandizing hype has been carefully and condescendingly orchestrated for centuries. Even Alice B. Toklas, the American writer far ahead of her time (in 1954, she published a literary memoir with a recipe for “hashish fudge”) was caught up in the myth. Toklas wrote “The French approach to food is characteristic; they bring to their consideration of the table the same appreciation, respect, intelligence and lively interest that they have for the other arts, for painting, for literature, and for the theatre.” Where other nations prepare and serve food, the French festoon the tables with cuisine. Where cultural mores in America…

Albuquerque Closed in 2010 Gone But Not Forgotten Mediterranean

Charcoal Mediterranean Grill – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil GardunoJune 7, 2009July 22, 20186:33 PM

If comedian Jeff Foxworthy was Armenian, his repertoire of one-liners might include such gems as, “You know you’re Armenian if you have philo dough, string cheese or See’s candy in your freezer.” Or perhaps, “You know you’re Armenian if you serve hummus and tabbouleh with your taco chips.” Then there’s the classic, “You know you’re Armenian if you shovel food on other people’s plates when they aren’t looking.” Who can forget the oft-told “You know you’re Armenian if you think pilaf is one of the four food groups.” A quick Google of Armenian food will return results that reveal Armenian’s self-deprecating sense of humor regarding their culinary culture. Search results will also show the culinary influence of the regions and…

Albuquerque Closed in 2011 Gone But Not Forgotten

Cafe Choroni – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil GardunoJune 6, 2009August 24, 20199:53 PM

In the late 1970s before political correctness taught us how racist we all are, it seems every man born to the last name Gonzalez, whether or not they liked it, sported the nickname “Speedy.” Speedy was, of course, the “fastest mouse in all of Mexico” in the popular Looney Tunes animated series. The premise of the cartoon was that Sylvester, a tuxedo cat with an exaggerated lisp, terrorized a horde of mice trying to abscond with cheese from the cheese factory under his charge. Only the intrepid Speedy, a sombrero wearing machismo mouse on perpetual hyper-drive could deter the “gringo pussy gato.” Amid cries of “¡Ándale! ¡Ándale! ¡Arriba! ¡Arriba!” (colloquial Mexican Spanish for Come on! Hurry up!), the excessively energetic Speedy usually gave…

Albuquerque Chinese Closed in 2018 Gone But Not Forgotten

Best Lee’s – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil GardunoApril 13, 2009March 9, 20198:01 AM

When John Lucas, Elizabeth Eisner Reding and Mike Reding, three trusted gastronomes who frequent this blog, heartily recommended I try Best Lee’s, my initial reaction was, “they’ve got to be kidding.” Our sole visit to Best Lee’s in Rio Rancho exemplified the mediocrity and boring “sameness” that plagues many of New Mexico’s Chinese restaurants–a homogeneity my discerning friend Bill Resnik refers to as “copycat menus full of candied, fried and breaded mystery meats that all taste the same.” It’s a good thing Chinese Restaurant News (CRN) doesn’t read my blog. CRN, a highly respected monthly trade publication serving the more than 43,100 Chinese restaurants across America, selected Best Lee’s as one of America’s best Chinese restaurants for 2008. In fact, during the “year…