Category: Italian

Closed in 2020Gone But Not ForgottenItalianNevadaUnited States

Il Mulino of New York – Las Vegas, Nevada (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno1:06 AM

While it may seem that Las Vegas is one perpetual bachelor party with hundreds of drunken frat boys expressing themselves loudly through expletives while leaving a hazy trail of smoke in their wake as they converge upon casino after casino, Sin City does have its pockets of civility.  One such refuge is Il Mulino during the lunch hour when it’s a veritable island of isolation and paragon of propriety despite being mere feet from the maddening throngs.  Perhaps it’s that aspect of propriety that explains the absence of teeming masses during lunch. Yes, it’s THAT Il Mulino, scion of the…

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Johnny’s Homemade – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno6:14 PM

In the 1930s, Harland Sanders, the owner of a small service station in Corbin, Kentucky began an improbable journey that eventually led to the forging of a worldwide culinary empire.  In the living quarters of that service station, Sanders fed hungry travelers on his own six-seat dining  table.  Word of his culinary prowess spread and to accommodate throngs of hungry travelers stopping by solely for his food, he had to move his kitchen operation across the street to a motel and restaurant with a seating capacity of 142. The most popular item on his menu was fried chicken, made from…

AlbuquerqueClosed in 2012Gone But Not ForgottenItalian

Vivace – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno5:09 AM

NOTE: After serving Albuquerque for more than sixteen years, Vivace closed its doors for the last time on May26, 2012. Patrons of the Santa Fe Opera recognize Vivace as a musical composition or movement in a lively, brisk or vivid tempo.  The rest of us whose only experiences with classical music come from from watching a wascally wabbit being pursued by a red-faced Elmer Fudd may have heard the fast tempo of Vivace numerous times, but had no clue what it was we were listening to other than that the frenetic upbeat tempo matched the intensity of the chase. What…

AlbuquerqueBurgersClosed in 2016Gone But Not ForgottenNew Mexico Green Chile Cheeseburger Trail: 2011Pizza

Doc & Eddy’s – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno11:50 AM

Making your way in the world today takes everything you’ve got. Taking a break from all your worries, sure would help a lot. Wouldn’t you like to get away? Sometimes you want to go Where everybody knows your name, and they’re always glad you came. You wanna be where you can see, our troubles are all the same You wanna be where everybody knows Your name. –Cheers Lyrics America has become increasingly homogenized as corporate chains have used catchy jingles, universal name recognition and multi-million dollar media budgets to spread their tentacles across the fruited plain and entice gullible  customers…

AlbuquerqueClosed in 2012Gone But Not ForgottenItalianPizza

Amici – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno10:10 PM

“There are two laws of the universe — gravity, and everyone likes Italian food.” Neil Simon, American playwright and screenwriter A 2007 Harris Poll declared Italian food the most popular ethnic food in America, revealing that when Americans eat out, the cuisine of choice for nearly a quarter of them is Italian food.  Among the youngest group of respondents, those aged 18-30, the percentage is even higher.  Famous oenophile and food writer Dino Romano believes Italian food is so popular because humans are genetically predisposed to eat as many things that are good for us as possible.  Romano believes Italian…

Closed in 2011Gone But Not ForgottenNew MexicoPizzaRio Rancho

Rocco’s Pizzeria – Rio Rancho, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno6:16 AM

In an age of sensory bombardment, we all occasionally experience a phenomenon known as an “earworm.” Earworm is a literal translation of a German term for a song (particularly an annoying one) stuck in someone’s head. For some it’s the Gilligan’s Island theme song. For others, it might be “It’s a Small World” or the Beatles’ “Yellow Submarine.” In the 1960s, one television commercial was responsible for an earworm that afflicted many of us in the Albuquerque viewing area. It was a commercial for Peppino’s Pizza Joint and the words to its annoyingly catchy jingle were “The p-pizza’s p-perfect at…

AlbuquerqueClosed in 2025Gone But Not ForgottenPizza

Straight Up Pizza – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno11:07 AM

Hall of Fame New York Yankee Yogi Berra is renown for his malapropisms, notorious flubs that made him one of the most quoted personalities in the sports world.   “You better cut the pizza in four pieces because I’m not hungry enough to eat six” is one of his classic examples of misspeak.  In a more serious vein, Pulitzer Prize award-winning writer Anna Quindlen, used pizza in an analogy  “Ideas are like pizza dough, made to be tossed around.” Profound quotes all, but perhaps the one which best expresses the sentiment most Americans feel about pizza–which we consume at the rate of approximately…

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‘O Eating House – Pojoaque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno6:57 PM

Until the 1990s, Poeh (also known as the Pueblo of Pojoaque) lived up to its name. In Tewa, the traditional language of six of New Mexico’s eight northern Pueblos, “Poeh” means pathway. That’s all Poeh seemed to be–a pathway to somewhere else.  Located fifteen miles north of Santa Fe on U.S. 84/285, Poeh didn’t seem to draw a second glance from speeding motorists on their way to Taos.  That was the case until the 1990s when the late Poeh governor Jake Viarrial and other tribal visionaries led an economic renaissance that established thriving Pueblo businesses, including flourishing gaming operations. Today…

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RedBrick Pizza – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno1:41 AM

The American culture of instant gratification may be precipitating the decline of the independent neighborhood pizzeria. In recent years, this traditional bastion of pizza preparation has been largely supplanted by ubiquitous pizza delivery companies with their gratuitous gimmicks, copious coupons and promises of breakneck deliveries. Pizzaiolis, the artisans who deftly toss and craft prandial perfection in the form of circular, precisely seasoned and superbly sauced oven-baked flat-bread have been unseated by pimply teenagers slathering ketchup on cardboard spheres then setting land speed records to ensure the day’s special of five for the price of one reaches its intended destination within…

Closed in 2011Gone But Not ForgottenNew MexicoPizzaRio Rancho

Frattellis – Rio Rancho, New Mexico

Gil Garduno4:24 AM

In New York City, pizza by the slice is as ubiquitous as towering skyscrapers. Many of the city’s nearly 3,000 pizzerias serve pizza by the slice. Most have been doing so since the end of WWII when recently returned American veterans who 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. At about two bucks a slice, it’s usually pretty decent thin-sliced pizza blanketed with cheese. A widespread presence doesn’t mean the practice is universally approved of. The other…

AlbuquerqueItalianPizzaRating: Very Good

JC’s New York Pizza Department – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Gil Garduno8:46 PM

Gil’s immutable law of thermodynamics posits that the enjoyment of even the best pizza is correlative with the length of time which has expired since it was removed from the oven.  Pizza tastes best right out of the oven when it is steaming hot and the aromas waft upwards to provide an almost sensual olfactory massage.  That flavor and olfactory appreciation diminishes as the pizza grows colder and your belly fuller.  This law is absolutely immutable, but it also has an equally immutable corollary: the flavor of a great pizza actually improves after it’s been refrigerated overnight.  It helps, of…