Category: Albuquerque

AlbuquerqueBakeryJewishNew MexicoRating: Excellent

Ruthie’s Bagels – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Gil Garduno12:01 AM

George: “I came this close last night, and then I just sort of chickened out.” Jerry: “Well, that’s a big move, Georgie boy. Are you confident in the “I love you” return?” George: “Fifty-fifty.” Jerry: “Because if you don’t get that return, that’s a pretty big matzo ball hanging out there.” ~Seinfeld The 1980s comedy Seinfeld has been described as “a show about nothing” largely because it focuses on the minutiae of daily life.  A show about nothing is, of course, a faulty premise.  In the case of Seinfeld, the “nothing” may have referred to the simplicity of each episode’s narrative. More often than not, each weekly show focused on four people coming in and out of Seinfeld’s apartment or a coffee shop talking about their latest bad date.   In 2007, Chowhound, an online resource for food enthusiasts that includes an active community forum of knowledgeable contributors, published within that forum a post asking readers to share their favorite Seinfeld food moments.  Reading the more than 400 comments not only prompted a nostalgic revisit of some of my own personal favorite Seinfeld food moments, it clearly demonstrated that Seinfeld wasn’t a show about nothing.  It was undeniably a show about food. …

AlbuquerqueAmericanBakeryBreakfastBreakfast BurritosDog FriendlyRating: Excellent

The Flying Star – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Gil Garduno4:39 PM

In the ancient Chinese art and science of Feng Shui, flying stars are used to assess the quality of the energy flow (qi) in a given place at a given time. The positive and negative auras of a building are charted using precise mathematical formulas to determine the wealth, academic, career, success, relationships and health of a building’s inhabitant. By understanding the course of harmful and beneficial flying stars, appropriate Feng Shui cures can be employed to mitigate the effects of those harmful stars while enhancing the positive effects of the beneficial stars. While founders Jean and Mark Bernstein may not have renamed their successful local restaurant chain for the Feng Shui principles of flying stars, there’s no denying the qi (energy flow) at Flying Star is active, vibrant and positive. It’s been that way from the very beginning, even before their restaurant was rechristened Flying Star (likely for its meteoric rise in popularity). The Flying Star chain got its auspicious start in 1987 when the Bernsteins launched a high-energy restaurant named Double Rainbow in Albuquerque’s Nob Hill district. A franchisee of a San Francisco ice cream store of the same name, Double Rainbow was an immediate hit. It was…

AlbuquerqueBar & GrillClosed in 2023Fine DiningGone But Not ForgottenGreekNew Mexican

Nick & Jimmy’s Bar & Grill – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno11:46 AM

Legendary American chef, author and television personality Julia Child was often exasperated with what she perceived as American’s propensity for culinary laziness, once commenting that “the trend in the U.S.A. was toward speed and the elimination of work.” “Americans,” she noted, equated as “gourmet” such “horrible glop” as “TV dinners, frozen vegetables, canned mushrooms, fish sticks, Jell-O salads, marshmallows and spray-can whipped cream.“ Julia Child obviously didn’t know Dave Hurayt, a good friend and fellow gastronome who’s shared some wonderful recipes with me. While Dave may not have spent two years and nearly 300 pounds of flour attempting to bake the perfect loaf of French bread as Julia Child once did, he experiments painstakingly with the recipes he creates, laboring assiduously until those recipes achieve his high standards of perfection. Perfection can sometimes be painful as he found out while experimenting with a recipe utilizing burnt bourbon. Much like a mad scientist adding a catalytic chemical to a burning beaker, the results were dramatic. He blew the glass right out of his new KitchenAid oven. When a true kitchen warrior and gourmet such as Dave eschews his culinary domain and eats at one restaurant for seven out of nine consecutive…

AlbuquerqueClosed in 2022Gone But Not ForgottenNew MexicoRating: ExcellentSouthern

Ms. Gennie’s House of Chicken – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno5:04 PM

My Air Force friend and colleague Al Garcia once shared one of those amusing anecdotes that will leave your head shaking in disbelief even as you’re practically rolling on the floor with laughter.  According to Al who grew up in the Socorro area, his parents had to make a daylong trip to the big city (Albuquerque), leaving him and his sister at home to finish their chores.  At around lunchtime, he and his sister got hungry and decided to prepare some rice.  Never having cooked rice before, they poured an entire bag of rice into a pot, added water and turned the stove on high.   In a few minutes, rice began spilling out over the pot like lava flowing from a volcano.  Cooked rice covered the kitchen floor.  Not wanting to anger their parents, Al and his sister decided to get rid of the evidence.  They scooped up all the rice and fed it to their chickens.  The chickens gorged themselves on the all-you-can-eat feast of rice, eating so much that they (and this is the part I found hard to believe) burst, fowl feathers exploding all over the yard.  When their parents got home, Al and his sister…

AlbuquerqueClosed in 2022Dog FriendlyFood TruckGone But Not ForgottenMediterraneanMiddle EasternNew Mexico

Mediterranean Kitchen – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno12:01 AM

A few years ago if you told some of us we should follow a Mediterranean diet, we probably would have salivated at the prospect of having pizza and wine every day though we would have wondered how we could possibly lose weight on such an indulgent diet.  Today, the Mediterranean diet is widely recognized by dieticians as one of the most heart-healthy ways to eat.  Moreover, studies consistently show that a diet adhering to the principles of the traditional Mediterranean diet is one associated with longevity. In truth there is no one standard Mediterranean diet.  In fact, the term is rather generic and is based on the traditional eating habits of the sixteen or so countries which border the Mediterranean Sea.  Because of differences in culture, agricultural production, ethnic background, religion, economy and geography, eating styles vary among those countries and even among regions within each country.  There are, however, some commonalities. A Mediterranean-style diet typically includes olive oil as the primary source of fat; fruits, vegetables, bread and other grains, potatoes, beans, nuts and seeds in abundance; and only moderate amounts of dairy products, eggs, fish and poultry.  There is very little red meat in this diet and plant-based…

AlbuquerqueBurgersDog Friendly

Holy Burger- Albuquerque, New Mexico

Gil Garduno9:10 PM

During his 40-year career as a radio and television broadcaster for the York Yankees, Phil Rizzuto made “Holy Cow” his trademark exclamation. Similar to Yogi Berra, another legendary Yankee personality, Rizzuto became beloved for his snafus and humor: “Uh-oh, deep to left-center. Nobody’s gonna get that one! Holy cow! Someone got it.” In 1985 when the Yankees retired his uniform number 10, they paraded a live cow with a halo propped on its head onto Yankee Stadium. During the ceremony the “holy cow” knocked Rizzuto to the ground, an encounter he described thusly: “that big thing stepped right on my shoe and pushed me backwards, like a karate move.” The comedic broadcaster’s “Holy Cow” catchphrase became further cemented in pop culture during a 1997 episode of Seinfeld when Yankees owner George Steinbrenner gave George Costanza a key chain with Rizzuto’s likeness in honor of his induction into the Hall of Fame. When Rizzuto’s head was squeezed, it uttered (that’s uttered, not uddered) “Holy Cow.” Predictably Costanza lost the key chain while jumping over a pothole which was later paved over by construction workers. Every time a vehicle ran over the patched street, the key chain exclaimed “Holy Cow!” When I…

AlbuquerqueNew MexicoRating: GoodVietnamese

Lime Vietnamese Restaurant – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Gil Garduno12:00 PM

Kevin: What am I looking at here? Donna: It’s pho. Kevin: It’s what? Donna: Pho. Kevin: Well pho looks like a clogged sink. What are those chunks floating around in there? What is that? Donna: It’s chicken. You love chicken. Kevin: Do they make this outside? What is this? <pulls up a single basil leaf> Donna: Seasoning. Just try it. Kevin: <slurps up spoonful and contemplates flavor> Donna: Is it good? Kevin: <holds up finger and slurps up another spoonful; slaps palm on table> Kevin: Hold the pho-one. This is insane! This existed this whole time and you don’t tell me about it? Donna: Yeah and wait til you try the beef. Kevin: <look of utter surprise> This comes in beef? ~ Kevin Can Wait If you’ve ever introduced an unadventurous dining companion to the wonder of utter deliciousness that is Vietnamese cuisine, you can probably relate to that little snippet from the CBS comedy series Kevin Can Wait. Kevin exemplifies the culinary neophyte who is reluctant to try new foods, especially those which might be considered exotic or strange. Life’s travels and travails haven’t afforded them the opportunity to experience and enjoy such foods, so it’s up to us,…

AlbuquerqueAmericanBreakfastDog FriendlyNew MexicoRating: Very Good

Central Grill and Coffee House – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Gil Garduno9:26 AM

It’s been said that “when you feed those in need, you are feeding your soul.”  That is especially true when the giver is practicing selfless giving, a conscious, intentional approach to giving that not only benefits others, but comes during a time when the giver is in dire need of help as well.  When the New Mexico state government’s approach to the Cabrona Virus virtually closed down or limited restaurant operations across the state, it’s an understatement to say restaurateurs were really hurting.  Dozens of restaurants across the Land of Enchantment closed. Hundreds of employees were laid off.   It was during these trying times that several restaurateurs demonstrated truly heroic altruism, showing precisely what it means to be a great neighbor.   Among the most selfless givers were restaurateurs George and Alicia Griego, owners of Albuquerque’s Central Grill.   In 2020, George and Alicia were named the New Mexico Restaurant Association’s (NMRA) Restaurant Neighbor of the Year for 2020.  Though their popular eatery faced the same unpredictable operating conditions crippling other restaurants, George and Alicia looked for opportunities to help their neighbors.  In the spirit of Luke 10:25, they opened their hearts, providing thousands of boxes to feed school…

AlbuquerqueDog FriendlyJapaneseNew MexicoSushi

Sushi Freak – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Gil Garduno12:01 AM

Somewhere in Japan generations of traditional sushi chefs are rolling in their graves…and they’re not rolling sushi.  What set them off?  No one knows for sure, but it could have been a 2014 article in the San Diego Reader in which Jennifer Duarte, the co-owner of a San Diego based sushi restaurant named Sushi Freak boasted “I can teach any kid to become a sushi roller.  I could train you in five minutes.”  Sushi masters (itamaes) trained in Japan would argue that it takes years to learn and master the delicate art of making great sushi, that it’s significantly more complex and subtle a specialty than could possibly be mastered in five minutes by a kid.   The painstaking process of earning the exceptionally prestigious and revered title of itamae can take as long as ten years of rigorous training.  Itamae, which translates from Japanese to “in front of the board” literally means “this is the person in charge of all that happens on the (cutting) board where sushi preparation takes place.”  All that happens on the board includes being entrusted with the time-honored responsibility of artfully preparing sushi, guiding the sushi kitchen, pleasing the guests and even calculating the final bill…

AlbuquerqueBarbecueClosed in 2022Gone But Not ForgottenNew Mexico

Black Mesa BBQ – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno12:01 AM

“Barbecue may be our nation’s most democratic food. (Think small d-democratic, as in of the people, by the people, for the people.) That’s part of the problem: Egalitarian foods with elemental appeal oftentimes get short shrift.” ~John T. Edge for Gourmet Magazine When we first heard about a restaurant in Albuquerque’s South Valley offering “Texas style barbecue in the Land of Enchantment,” three questions came to mind.  First, of course, was “could this really be Texas style barbecue?”  “Texas is like a whole other country” in which there is no one style of barbecue.  Instead, barbecue varies from one region to another across the Lone Star State.  Pundits who refer to “Texas style barbecue” are usually talking about Central Texas barbecue hailing from the hill country region around Austin.  My second question was “why would an Albuquerque restaurant call itself “Black Mesa.”  New Mexico’s most famous Black Mesa is the sacred mountain within the confines of the San Ildelfonso Pueblo just north of Española.  It’s about 80 miles from the Duke City. My third question and maybe the easiest to answer was “why would someone open a barbecue restaurant here.”  “Here” is Coors Blvd. just about as far south as…

AlbuquerqueBreakfastBrunchDog FriendlyNew MexicoRating: N/R (Not Rated)Southern

Biscuit Boy – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Gil Garduno12:01 AM

In Boris Pasternak’s Dr Zhivago, a sagacious old Russian czarist caught up in the communist revolution lamented “Scratch a Russian and you will find a peasant.”  To paraphrase that immortal line “Scratch a cook and you’ll find a chemist.”  Think I’ve been ingesting pharmaceuticals?  Maybe you should ask Deonte “Dee” Halsey, the affable owner of Biscuit Boy about the influence of chemistry in cooking.  He would know!  Dee was actually a research scientist working for the U.S. Department of Architecture before figuring out teaching science actually pays more than doing science.  Dee has been teaching science and math for more than two decades now, imparting knowledge and wisdom to high school, middle school and elementary school students.  For the past two years or so, he’s also been spending weekends hawking some of the very best biscuits you’ll find in the Land of Enchantment.  On Saturday you can find him at La Esquinita, a center for cultural flourishment in the Barelas neighborhood.   A mixed-use development combining housing, food, arts and retail, La Esquinita is yet another reason to visit Barelas.  On Sundays “in season” he plies his sideline at the Rail Yards Market in Albuquerque.   Though he grew up in Los Angeles,…