Category: Rating: N/R (Not Rated)

AlbuquerqueAmericanBrewery-PubDog FriendlyNew MexicoRating: N/R (Not Rated)

377 Brewery – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Gil Garduno12:01 AM

Could have.  Would have.  Should have.  These are perhaps the three saddest statements a coach can utter about the team he or she leads.   Essentially, that coach is saying “we’re not good enough,” “having potential is not enough” and “moral victories don’t count.”  In 1987, Jim Mora, coach of the perpetually woeful New Orleans Saints addressed the media after a close loss to the San Franciso 49ers.  “Could’ve, should’ve, would’ve,” he declared, “I’m tired of saying “could’ve..”  His fiery diatribe lit a fire under his Saints which proceeded to go on a nine game winning streak. Could have.  Would…

AlbuquerqueAmericanBrunchDog FriendlyNew MexicoRating: N/R (Not Rated)

Rio Grande Social – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Gil Garduno12:01 AM

When Lisa Wong, my friend and former colleague at Intel,  first cast her eyes on the Rio Grande, she couldn’t believe what she was seeing.  For years, she has captained dragon boat racing teams as they paddle the mighty Willamette River which is 40 feet deep and varies in width from 600 to 1,900 feet.  Though some 1,700 miles shorter than the Rio Grande, the 187-mile long Willamette dwarfs the Rio Grande.  There’s no way a dragon boat (forty feet long with seating for twenty paddlers) race could take place on the murky Rio Grande.  Never mind that in the…

AlbuquerqueDog FriendlyNew MexicoPizzaRating: N/R (Not Rated)

Gimani: A Slice Bar – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Gil Garduno12:01 AM

“You better cut the pizza in four pieces. I’m not hungry enough to eat six.” ~Yogi Berra In New York City, pizza by the slice is as ubiquitous as towering skyscrapers. Many of the city’s nearly 2,000 pizzerias serve pizza by the slice. Most have been doing so since the end of World War II when recently returned American veterans who had served in Italy craved the sliced pizza they had enjoyed during their service. Heck, in the Big Apple, you can even find pizza by the slice proffered by sidewalk vendors. According to my friend, the late, great Italian…

2024 James Beard Foundation (JBF) Outstanding Restaurant FinalistFine DiningNew MexicoRating: N/R (Not Rated)Santa Fe

The Compound – Santa Fe, New Mexico

Gil Garduno12:37 AM

“It’s good…New Mexico good.”  As a proud New Mexican, it galls me to hear apologists demean, denigrate and otherwise concede (quite erroneously) that restaurants  in the Land of Enchantment are good, but not as good as restaurants elsewhere.  It’s as if New Mexico’s restaurants can’t possibly be as good because…well, we’re New Mexico and we’re just not supposed to be very good.  Look at where we rank in so many quality of life categories.  It’s akin to University of New Mexico (UNM) Lobo basketball fans being content to make it to the “Sweet 16,” a goal no Lobos team has…

AlbuquerqueAmericanDog FriendlyNew MexicoRating: N/R (Not Rated)

Dave’s High Desert Grill – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Gil Garduno12:01 AM

It’s easier, by far, to define and describe Japanese and Chinese cuisines than the melting pot (literally and figuratively) that is American cuisine.  It’s the same with French cuisine and Italian cuisine.  Virtually every cultural culinary tradition had been influenced by the traditions of neighboring countries while managing to retain elements that are unique to that particular cuisine.  American cuisine, on-the-other-hand is pretty much a mishmash of every other cuisine, near or far.  To say American cuisine consists of the cooking style and traditional dishes prepared in the United States is to sell that cuisine short.  Immigrants, in particular, have…

BreakfastBreakfast BurritosBrunchLas CrucesNew MexicoRating: N/R (Not Rated)Waffles

A Bite of Belgium – Las Cruces, New Mexico

Gil Garduno12:01 AM

Jerry: “Don’t you know what it means to become an orgy guy? It changes everything. I’d have to dress different. I’d have to act different. I’d have to grow a mustache and get all kinds of robes and lotions and I’d need a new bedspread and new curtains I’d have to get thick carpeting and weirdo lighting. I’d have to get new friends. I’d have to get orgy friends. … Naw, I’m not ready for it.” ~Seinfeld In the sixth season of Seinfeld, Jerry is dating Sandy, a “non-laugher” who seems unamused by his jokes. When Jerry goes to Sandy’s…

BurgersDog FriendlyNew MexicoRating: N/R (Not Rated)Steak

Adobe Deli – Deming, New Mexico

Gil Garduno12:03 AM

In 2009  I had the great privilege of helping compile the inaugural New Mexico Green Chile Cheeseburger Trail along with the scintillating, four-time James Beard award-winning author Cheryl Alters Jamison; the brilliant Kate Manchester, founding publisher of Edible Santa Fe; and one of New Mexico’s finest ambassadors, Martin Leger, then advertising manager for the New Mexico Department of Tourism.  We discussed dozens of potential candidates for inclusion into the inaugural Trail.    Narrowing down those “most worthy” was like selecting the best and brightest stars on a clear, cold New Mexico winter night. Between the four of us, we had (over…

BakeryNew MexicoRating: N/R (Not Rated)Sandwich

Diane’s Bakery & Deli – Silver City, New Mexico

Gil Garduno12:01 AM

In 2011, New Mexico Magazine recruited several local food writers and asked us to introduce readers to ten of “New Mexico’s Best Eats” in several categories:  Best Green Chile Cheeseburger, Best New Mexican Soul Food, Best Fine Dining, Best Enchiladas, Bet Vegetarian New Mexican Food, Best Road Food, Beste Local Seasonal Ingredients, Best Contemporary Native American Food, Best Chocolate and Best Carne Adovada.   For the most part, writers waxed eloquent about “the usual suspects” in Santa Fe and Albuquerque. The most noteable exception was Lesley S. King, a distinguished writer who graced New Mexico Magazine’s as the “King of…

FrenchNew MexicoRating: N/R (Not Rated)

La Vie Est Un Bistro – Silver City, New Mexico

Gil Garduno12:01 AM

In 2013, the New York Times published an article titled “Looking for Big Flavors in a Small Town.”  The article extolled the dining scene in “Silver City, an old mining town in the southwestern corner of the state, which has “seen its creative spirit extend to the local food scene.”   Leave it to your roving gastronome to arrive in Silver City ten eleven years too late.  When the New York Times visited, Silver City was home to the Curious Komquat, where Chef Rob Connoley earned  James Beard semi-finalist honors for Best Chef – Southwest.  Chef Connoley, by the way, moved…

BrunchCorralesDog FriendlyMexicanNew MexicanNew MexicoPizzaRating: N/R (Not Rated)Spanish

Mulas – Corrales, New Mexico

Gil Garduno12:01 AM

How many times have you heard an elected official referred to as a “jackass?”  In the village of Corrales, that term could conceivably not be used as a pejorative.  Every year during the last weekend of the Corrales Harvest Festival, a pet mayor is named.  If the newly elected mayor is unable to fulfill his or her duties, a pet mayor pro tem is named to assume the duties of the mayoral office.  Corrales has long prided itself on being a paragon of democratic values and inclusivity though the winning candidate is usually a dog or a horse.  In 2022,…

AlbuquerqueGreekMediterraneanNew MexicoRating: N/R (Not Rated)

Gyros Shack – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Gil Garduno12:01 AM

When my dear friend Adelchi Parisella introduced me to Greek food at Gyros Mediterranean back in the early ’80s, I thought to myself “now this is the food of the gods.”  As curious as any cat, I naturally researched whether or not the Greek gods of Mount Olympus actually did eat gyros and patates.  The only two “foods” I could recall the gods eating were ambrosia and nectar.  Research revealed that while ambrosia and nectar were the gods main source of substance, the haughty  mythological beings actually consumed other foods, none of which were gyros and patates. Dionysius, the the…