Category: Italian

AlbuquerqueNew MexicoPizza

Tony’s Pizzeria – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Gil Garduno12:01 AM

Why is it so hard to convince others to change their minds and hearts? That’s a question philosophers, psychologists and even curious hoi polloi like me have pondered over for millennia. Perhaps never has that question been brought to the fore as during recent political events. Sadly, the question takes on even more of a personal bent when you believe someone else’s views betray something inherently rotten about their character—or when someone else believes the same about yours. Rightly or wrongly, we’re wired to believe people’s views are barometers of their moral conscience. Psychologists have long posited the existence of…

AlbuquerqueGelatoItalianNew MexicoPizzaRating: N/R (Not Rated)

Johnny’s Pizza – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Gil Garduno12:01 AM

“He’s been helping make pizza since he was three.”  Johnathan Khalil’s mom beamed as she confirmed she’s not the “Johnny” for which Albuquerque’s newest New York style pizzeria is named.  Johnny is her soon-to-turn-18-year-old son.  Can you imagine how cool it would be to be a teenager with a pizza parlor named for him?  Johnny must very popular.  The pizzeria named for him certainly is.  On the day of our inaugural visit–two weeks and one day–after its 29 May 2026 launch, the line was literally out the door.  Johnny’s is scantly 1,200 square-feet so accommodating throngs of diners will be…

AlbuquerqueDog FriendlyNew MexicoPizzaRating: OutstandingRio Rancho

Thicc Pizza Co. – Albuquerque & Rio Rancho, New Mexico

Gil Garduno12:01 AM

As you’ve read on the tagline for Gil’s Thrilling (And Filling) Blog, your humble blogger fancies himself somewhat of a sesquipedalian (a person who tends to use big words).  My logophilia (the love of vocabulary) is a lifelong affliction, both in English and in Spanish.  Despite my “affair” with words, one word-related term which just doesn’t always describe me is neologist (someone who uses new words). This is especially true about slang terms in fashion among the pop-culture-oriented youth.  When it comes to such terms, I’m not far removed from groovy, bread and copacetic.  It’s certainly not that I’m not…

AlbuquerqueNew MexicoPizzaRating: ExcellentSandwich

Slice & Dice – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Gil Garduno5:37 PM

You might remember a 2004 documentary called Supersize Me in which writer-producer Morgan Spurlock explored the consequences on his health of a diet consisting solely of McDonald’s food for one month.  Spurlock has nothing on Dan Janssen who as of 2019 had eaten almost nothing but pizza for nearly thirty years.  That’s pizza for lunch and dinner every day of the year for just about three decades.  Janssen is certainly no believer in the old adage that variety is the spice of life because the only spice with which he tops his pizza is oregano.  Nor does variety extend to…

Bar & GrillDog FriendlyNew MexicoNew Mexico Green Chile Cheeseburger Trail: 2009PizzaRating: Very GoodRio Rancho

Turtle Mountain Brewing Company – Rio Rancho, New Mexico

Gil Garduno3:27 PM

The Tewa name “Oku Pin” which translates in English to “Turtle Mountain” has three meanings of significance to the people of Okay Owingeh, one of New Mexico’s great Tewa speaking Northern New Mexico Pueblos. “Oku Pin” was the the Indian name given to Dr. Alfonso Ortiz who obtained worldwide prominence as an anthropologist and ethnologist until his death in 1998. Ortiz was born and raised in San Juan Pueblo which in 2006 officially changed its name to Okay Owingeh. “Oku Pin” is also the Tewa name for Sandia Peak, the 10,678-feet high mountain which provides a spectacular backdrop for Albuquerque,…

AlbuquerquePizzaRating: Very GoodSaladSandwich

Dion’s Pizza – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Gil Garduno3:35 PM

Toga! Toga! Toga! Ever since the misfit Delta Tau Chi fraternity threw the most debaucherous toga party ever in the 1978 “teensploitation” comedy Animal House, the toga party has been ingrained in the college party culture. The genesis of the toga party goes back much, much further than Animal House. Toga parties, in fact, precede collegiate life in the fruited plain by many hundred years. The first toga party was actually organized in ancient Greece in honor of the Greek god Dionysus, the deity of the grape harvest, wine-making and wine, of ritual madness, fertility, theater and religious ecstasy (that’s…

AlbuquerqueItalianNew MexicoPizzaRating: Excellent

Luigi’s Ristorante & Pizzeria – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Gil Garduno7:40 AM

Luigi’s is the eponymous brainchild of Luigi Napolitano whose very last name translates to citizen of Naples, the city from which his mother Tina emigrated more than four decades ago. Tina is the bread-baking, pasta-making dynamo in the kitchen and is also responsible for many of the restaurant’s homey touches.  Tina painstakingly hand-sewed the delicate lace covering over each lamp (below) as well as the curtains over each booth.  Other homey touches include viney plants hanging from pillars throughout the restaurant and a framed picture of the Mona Lisa hanging above the buffet. Tina, a spry octogenarian, is one of…

AlbuquerqueDog FriendlyItalianPizzaRating: Very Good

Il Vicino – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Gil Garduno3:54 AM

Undoubtedly the most oft-quoted line on Robert Frost’s poem “Mending Wall” is “good fences make good neighbors.” Frost, a four-time Pulitzer Prize award winning American poet certainly didn’t have Il Vicino (“the neighbor”) in mind when he penned his prose. Fortunately fences are no obstacle to patrons of this popular contemporary Italian trattoria. A well-regarded neighborhood eatery with three Albuquerque locations, Il Vicino is probably best known for its wood-oven pizza and award-winning brewery with popular micro-brewed ales but it offers much more than that. Known in some circles for prized beers, Il Vicino has a private wine label designed…

ItalianNew MexicoPizzaRating: GoodRio Rancho

Aldo’s NY Pizzeria – Rio Rancho, New Mexico

Gil Garduno3:35 PM

Being within walking distance of Intel, my place of employment for eighteen years, made this old fashioned pizzeria an easy choice. Excellent pizza and a surprisingly varied menu (especially for such a small storefront) made it the right choice!  During Fab 9’s halcyon days Aldo’s, then named “Venezia,” was (along with the legendary Smokehouse) a virtual second home to Intel employees.  Aldo’s has  long been the right choice for Rio Rancho residents, many of whom have their familial roots in New York City just like Aldo’s NY Pizzeria has. Moreover, Aldo’s has deeper roots in the mother country where pizza…

AlbuquerqueItalianRating: Good

Mario’s Pizza & Ristorante – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Gil Garduno2:25 PM

In the 1978 movie Same Time Next Year, Ellen Burstyn’s character lamented that her husband considered his years in the Army the best years of his life. When Alan Alda’s character, her partner in a 26-year adulterous affair, commiserated that many men felt that way about their time in the military, Burstyn retorted, “but he spent two years as a prisoner of war.” Only a husband who wants to sleep on the couch would admit to any source of happiness outside of marriage… and only an honest answer to the loaded question “does this dress make me look fat“ is…

2003 James Beard Foundation (JBF) "Best Chef - Southwest" Winner2022 James Beard Foundation (JBF) Outstanding RestaurateurArizonaJames Beard Foundation (JBF) Award Nominees & WinnersPizzaRating: OutstandingUnited States

Pizzeria Bianco – Phoenix, Arizona

Gil Garduno12:01 AM

To celebrate the 100 year anniversary of pizza in America, Ed Levine, the creator/founder of Serious Eats,  ate nothing but pizza for an entire twelve month period, taking a representative pulse of the best from among thousands of pizza purveyors. His terrific tome, Pizza A Slice of Heaven, published in 2005,  provides a definitive guide to a much-loved product that in its elemental form is simplicity itself–bread, cheese and whatever toppings a pizzaioli artisan might care to add. To the surprise of many, Levine declared the best pizza in America (and the world, for that matter) to be made in the…