Category: Rating: Very Good

Very Good – Good to very good food; generally solid; delivers consistent quality, strong technique, and a comfortable, enjoyable dining experience

New MexicanNew MexicoNew Mexico Green Chile Cheeseburger Trail: 2009New Mexico Green Chile Cheeseburger Trail: 2011Rating: Very Good

Benny’s Mexican Kitchen – Bosque Farms, New Mexico

Gil Garduno1:45 PM

“Whenever I need to leave it all behind Or feel the need to get away I find a quiet place, far from the human race Out in the country Whenever I feel them closing in on me Or need a bit of room to move When life becomes too fast, I find relief at last Out in the country.” In today’s dog eat dog rat race world (two bad animal metaphors in one sentence), who doesn’t dream of a peaceful idyll to which you can escape? Somewhere out in the country. *Appropriately the group expressing that sentiment so well in…

BakeryBreakfastNew MexicanNew MexicoRating: Very GoodTaos County

Michael’s Kitchen – Taos, New Mexico

Gil Garduno5:56 PM

Murphy’s Law postulates that “if anything can go wrong, it will.” This rather pessimistic and oft-quoted expression has become a catch-all when everything seems to go askew. Murphy’s Law is blamed when you’re in the slowest line at a grocery store behind people who can’t find their checkbooks. It’s the reason the toast you accidentally drop off the table lands butter side down. It’s why the loudest and rudest people always sit in front of you at a movie theater. Murphy’s Law is also the reason the restaurant you brag most about will invariably have an “off night” on the…

AlbuquerqueMexicanNew Mexico Culinary Treasures TrailRating: Very Good

El Modelo – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Gil Garduno3:25 PM

Growing up in the 60s in a bucolic village in Northern New Mexico, we had no idea about such things as political correctness and multi-culturalism. It would be decades before the ascendency of the “woke” movement.  My friends included descendents of Montezuma, scions of the Spanish explorers, Native Americans from a nearby Pueblo and even a few “white” kids.  None of us really thought about things like “inclusion” and “diversity.”  We lived it! Being kids, there was naturally a lot of good-natured name-calling and teasing, but even when tempers flared, I can’t recall racial stereotype-based derogatory terms ever used in anger. …

CaliforniaRating: Very GoodSeafoodUnited States

Crab House at Pier 39 – San Francisco, California

Gil Garduno7:09 PM

Every town has them–the touristy attractions every out-of-town visitor wants to hit and locals avoid like a Lobo basketball team coached by Ritchie McKay. To visitors, these attractions represent what your town is all about and nothing you tell them will dissuade them from thinking so.  After all, your local Chamber of Commerce paints these attractions as “can’t miss” and “absolutely must see.” Generally packaged with these touristy attractions are  dining destinations that promise to deliver authentic local flavor–the cuisine de culture so to speak. In Albuquerque that generally means a meal at a New Mexican restaurant–usually one with the…

BurgersEspañolaNew MexicoNew Mexico Green Chile Cheeseburger Trail: 2009Rating: Very Good

Stop And Eat Drive In – Española, New Mexico

Gil Garduno3:46 AM

Stop And Eat–Although it seems this 50s style drive-in has always been at its Paseo De Oñate location, it hadn’t yet opened in 1598 when don Juan de Oñate led his expedition of Spanish colonists to the east bank of the Rio Grande near its confluence with the Chama River. That’s where they founded San Gabriel, New Mexico’s first capital at a site close to present day Española, home of the Stop And Eat restaurant. While Stop And Eat might sound like a mandate, it’s really more of a strong suggestion that will visit your brain every time you drive…

MariscosMexicanNew MexicoRating: Very GoodSanta Fe

Mariscos Costa Azul – Santa Fe, New Mexico

Gil Garduno1:07 PM

Costa Azul…The Blue Coast…the name evokes images of pristine sandy beaches, translucent blue waters, lush verdant jungles and brightly plumed birds. For Santa Fe diners, the name may also evoke involuntary salivation and pangs of hunger which can be quelled only by the incomparably fresh and delicious mariscos (seafood) at one of the City Different’s best Mexican restaurants, Mariscos Costa Azul. For years, the word “mariscos” was synonymous with Santa Fe’s two Mariscos La Playa restaurants, about which the New York Times wrote, “Yes, even in landlocked Santa Fe, it’s possible to find incredibly fresh and well-prepared seafood served in…

EspañolaNew MexicanNew MexicoNew Mexico Culinary Treasures TrailRating: Very Good

El Paragua – Española, New Mexico

Gil Garduno4:05 AM

If small businesses are the backbone of American commerce, then the good old-fashioned lemonade stand is the spinal cord.”  That sagacious metaphor (for which I unfortunately cannot take credit) is an apt description for how El Paragua transcended its humble beginnings to become one of the culinary crown jewels of Northern New Mexico. In 1958, the Atencio brothers, two precocious entrepreneurs growing up in the enchanting Española valley did the old-fashioned lemonade stand one better.  They built a stand in which they sold their mother’s tacos and tamales.  The stand’s overhanging roof provided respite from the rain, hence the name…

AlbuquerqueRating: Very GoodSpecialty

Boba Tea Company – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Gil Garduno3:17 AM

On June 7, 2005, the launch of Albuquerque’s first made “you suck” acceptable in polite vernacular. Long a pop culture term of mock derision, “suck” refers, in this case, to the drawing in of liquid refreshment by creating a vacuum in the mouth. More specifically, it refers to the act of sucking through an oversized straw, the tea, milk tea, hot tea, slush and smoothie beverages at the Boba Tea Company. The Boba Tea Company is the brainchild of Vi and Hoa Luong, the enterprising duo which made Cafe O one of the city’s best restaurant launches (and lunches) in…

AlbuquerqueJapaneseRating: Very GoodSushi

Shogun Japanese Restaurant – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Gil Garduno3:28 AM

It stands to reason that what is conceivably one of Albuquerque’s best sushi restaurants is named for the Shogun, the title accorded the supreme ruler of Japan for about eight centuries. What most people may not realize, however, is that sushi originated in China as a method to preserve fish by pickling and fermentation. Sushi, as we know it today, began to take form in the 18th century Japan when seafood vendors wrapped fish with seaweed and rice as an edible and decorative package which ultimately evolved into the roll (maki) style. The nigiri style, consisting of a piece of…

New MexicoNew Mexico Culinary Treasures TrailRating: Very GoodSteak

Texas Reds – Red River, New Mexico

Gil Garduno3:09 PM

Note: On Wednesday, November 3rd, 2004 Texas Reds burnt to the ground, but like a Phoenix, it has been rebuilt, albeit no longer as a two story monolith on Red River’s main street. In 2006, Texas Red’s also launched a second Colfax county restaurant, this one in Eagle Nest. What does the alpine village of Red River in the picturesque Moreno Valley have in common with San Marcos, Texas, the beautiful gateway to the Texas Hill Country? Aside from both being heavily populated by Texans, they both can boast of a Texas Reds restaurant. The original Texas Reds has been…

IllinoisKoreanRating: Very GoodUnited States

Kimchy Cabana – Niles, Illinois

Gil Garduno3:18 PM

To the unenculturated, the pungent emanations of Korean kimchy (pickled and fermented cabbage) are malodorous and offensive to the olfactory senses. To the Korean people, however, kimchy is so much more than a national dish; it’s a family treasure handed down from one generation to another over the millenniums. The influx of Korean war brides following the Korean War and beyond has meant the gradual introduction into the American mainstream of kimchy and other Korean culinary arts. Having experienced Korean cuisine from coast to coast, it has always impressed me to find Korean food remarkably consistent–usually at least good and…