Category: Rating: Good

Good – good food, decent service, and a clean environment; provides a satisfactory, dependable, and standard experience

AlbuquerqueNew MexicoRating: GoodThai

Thai Spice – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Gil Garduno6:31 PM

“Thai food ain’t about simplicity. It’s about the juggling of disparate elements to create a harmonious finish. Like a complex musical chord it’s got to have a smooth surface but it doesn’t matter what’s happening underneath. Simplicity isn’t the dictum here, at all. Some westerners think it’s a jumble of flavors, but to a Thai what’s important, it’s the complexity they delight in.” ~Chef David Thompson Complexity of flavors, disparate elements, a jumble of flavors…these are the expectations diners have come to expect from Thai restaurants. The underlying foundation of Thai cuisine, going back to Chinese influences as early as the 10th century, is to achieve a satisfying and exciting taste experience through the relationship between five fundamental tastes: sweet,…

AlbuquerqueBar & GrillIrishRating: Good

Two Fools Tavern – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Gil Garduno12:32 AM

Read the table tent placards at the Two Fools Tavern and you’ll learn that this is where the craic is mighty. An old Gaelic term pronounced “crack,”craic refers to the lively essence of the pub experience, a unique and sometimes loud combination of good friends, good times and of course, good pints. Craic is a word for which there is no exact English translation even though there are some 9,000 pubs in the Emerald Isle. In Ireland, pubs, or public houses, are a focal point of the community–as much as the local church. It’s where friends gather for camaraderie and commiseration. The sale and consumption of alcoholic libations is perhaps the pub function with which most Americans are familiar. Most…

AlbuquerqueBurgersNational ChainRating: Good

Fuddruckers – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Gil Garduno5:08 PM

The audacious proclamation on Fuddruckers door, logo and Web site, “The world’s greatest hamburgers available” may not be quite complete. Add the words “somewhere else” and most will agree, you probably have a more accurate description of this tremendously popular restaurant chain which actually trademarked the “world’s greatest hamburgers” logo.  Trademarks, much like speeches made by politicians, television commercials and magazine ads aren’t always completely truthful.  Only the internet can be believed. Founded in 1980 by restaurant impressario Phil Romano (of Romano’s Macaroni Grill fame), Fuddruckers has expanded to more than 250 locations across the world including such purveyors of American culture as Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Kuwait.  The theme at most of the fast casual franchises is 1950s and…

AlbuquerqueJapaneseNew MexicoRating: GoodSushi

Sushi Gen – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Gil Garduno12:56 AM

Years ago while at Intel I co-managed an enterprise project with Nora, a diminutive Vietnamese lady who later left the company and moved to San Diego.  I expected her to say she her move was prompted by a desire to be closer to family or to her childhod home.  Instead what she most looked forward  to about relocating to San Diego was the availability of all-you-can-eat (AYCE) sushi bars.  Her answer validated why she and I worked so well.  We had a very symbiotic relationship and were able to land our project not only successfully, but better than any other Intel site had done.  We both loved Asian food of all types. Nora left Albuquerque a couple of years before…

Food TruckMexicanNew MexicoRating: GoodTacos

Birrieria Y Tacos Alex Tijuana Style – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Gil Garduno11:01 PM

If you’ve noticed an increase in the number of recent visits on this blog to Mexican restaurants, credit much of that to Pati Jinich, ebullient host of the James Beard Award-winning and Emmy nominated PBS series Pati’s Mexican Table   Although we record the Saturday airing of Pati’s Mexican Table, we don’t usually watch it until Sunday…right before lunchtime.  It’s no wonder, therefore, that what we’ve been craving for lunch is Mexican food. It’s nigh impossible not to be utterly charmed (if not outright besotted) by the lovely Pati Jinich.   Her huge likeability quotient is the byproduct of a genuine warmth and self-effacing humor which come across with her every thickly-accented utterance.  She’s down-to-Earth and genuine, taking absolute joy in …

AlbuquerqueBreakfastNew Mexico Culinary Treasures TrailRating: GoodSteak

Western View Diner & Steakhouse – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Gil Garduno5:20 AM

Since the 1930s, neon signage has been a prominent and vital part of Route 66 as it meanders through Albuquerque. From the foothills of the Sandias in the east to the parched desert expanse of the west, Route 66 is festooned with vibrant neon signage that cuts a luminous swath through the city. The nocturnal spectacle of glowing neon might be the siren’s call that has drawn generations of “cruisers” to Central Avenue. One of Albuquerque’s most prominent neon spangled signs celebrates Route 66 as it spans across all four lanes of Central Avenue near its intersection with Coors Boulevard Southwest. Literally at the shadow of that span is the Western View Diner & Steakhouse which has been pleasing weary…

AlbuquerqueDog FriendlyIrishRating: Good

O’Niell’s Irish Pub – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Gil Garduno4:50 PM

Despite several efforts by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) to make it more user-friendly, the Food Pyramid has never been that easy to understand. Could confusion be one of the reasons 73.6% of American adults are either overweight or obese (according to the Centers for Disease Control)? Based on that alarming percentage, you’d think the pyramidal nutritional guide has chocolate as its base topped with pizza, burgers and cheesecake tapering to a whipped cream covered point. Perhaps to alleviate confusion, in June, 2011, the USDA replaced the ubiquitous food pyramid with a graphic depiction of a plate which (ostensibly) should make it easier for us to determine if we’re balancing our meals nutritionally. Hopefully the size of the…

AlbuquerqueAsianNew MexicoRamenRating: Good

Fun Noodle Bar – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Gil Garduno6:05 PM

By definition, many, if not most noodles are fun.  No, not fun as in luxuriating in a tub filled with ramen (albeit non-edible, synthetic noodles) with real tonkatsu (pork bone) broth.  Yeah, that really is a thing in Japan.  Nor does my contention that noodles are fun have anything to do with the Simpsons episode in which Bart was threatened with “forty whacks with a wet noodle.”  It doesn’t even have anything to do with the Beach Boys classic “Fun, Fun, Fun” song.  It especially has nothing to do with those buoyant polyethylene foam “noodle” tubes people bring to swimming pools. In a classic example of Gil style “swerve,”  Fun refers to Chinese noodles made from rice flour or some…

AlbuquerqueBreakfastNew MexicanRating: Good

Garcia’s Kitchen – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Gil Garduno5:21 PM

One of the central themes of William Faulkner’s magnus opus Absalom, Absalom! is that no two people experience the same thing. Of the four characters who narrate the story, none of them is completely reliable because each has a personal bias, a unique frame of reference based on personal experiences to call upon. Readers are left to determine those biases and how they affect the telling of the story. With the passage of time, one of the characters experiences the memory of the events differently than she experienced the events when they happened. Similarly, no two diners experience the same meal. Sure, they may partake of the very same entrees, but how they perceive their dining experience may be tainted…

AlbuquerqueNew MexicanNew MexicoRating: GoodRio Rancho

Stripes Burrito Co. – Albuquerque & Rio Rancho, New Mexico

Gil Garduno10:44 AM

A survey of the eating habits and lifestyle preferences of various burrito consumers was recently commissioned by a fast food chain.  The survey of than 1,000 respondents between the ages of 13 and 50 unveiled especially surprising revelations about the culinary habits of millennials.  As Mic, an online presence which purports to “help young people process the present” noted: “Millennials apparently don’t have a lot of sex or money, but boy do they make out well in the burrito department.”  For millennials, the burrito is not just a source of delicious sustenance.  It’s a panacea for dateless nights, awkward conversations and pockets with more lint than coins.  It’s also a buffer for some of the adverse effects associated with alcohol.   A whopping 53% of…

BernalilloMexicanNew MexicanNew MexicoRating: Good

Ruby’s Tortilleria – Bernalillo, New Mexico

Gil Garduno9:55 AM

“A tortilla can be the, I would say, the most meaningful, the symbol of the Mexican cuisine, it’s the heart of the Mexican cuisine, the soul … the most recognizable element of the Mexican cuisine.” ~ Hugo Ortega James Beard Nominated Chef In 1519, when Hernan and his Spanish conquistadors arrived in Mexico, the indigenous people had never seen anyone like the bearded strangers attired in imposing armor made of iron.  These light-skinned strangers, some of whom had eyes of blue or green, arrived in “floating mountains” significantly larger than the canoes used by the natives.  The arrival of the strangers coincided with an Aztec prophecy, leading Montezuma, the Aztec ruler, to believe that perhaps Cortés was the Aztec god…