Welcome to Gil’s list of my favorite dishes in 2025.   These dishes were selected not for complex culinary preparations and exorbitant price points, but for the simple preparation of dishes that taste as if they were prepared by a chorus of angels in a celestial kitchen. These are the dishes most indelibly imprinted on my memory engrams…the first dishes that come to mind when I close my eyes and reflect on the past year in eating. As with previous yearly compilations, every item on this list was heretofore unknown to my palate before 2025. Every dish was a delicious discovery from within New Mexico’s sacred borders. In chronological order, my “best of the best” are:

February, 2025

Mena’s Burger From Ramona’s Mexican Cafe in Albuquerque: By any other name Mena’s burger (tortilla burger with American cheese, green chile, lettuce, pickles, tomato and a special secret sauce) is a green chile cheeseburger, albeit not constructed within traditional burger buns.  Somehow Ramona’s kitchen staff manages to create a tortilla pocket that limits spillage (otherwise the special sauce would have been all over my shirt).  To say this is one of the best green chile cheeseburgers in New Mexico would not be an understatement.

Green Chile Cheeseburger From Isleta Grill on the Isleta Pueblo:  The two-time winner of the New Mexico State Fair’s Green Chile Cheeseburger Challenge doesn’t get as many visitors as the nearby Isleta Resort & Casino, but the food at the Isleta Grill is much better.  That’s especially true of the green chile cheeseburger which ranks up there as one of the very best burgers (top three) to have won the challenge and certainly one of the very best green chile cheeseburgers in New Mexico.

March, 2025

Mud Pie from Yo Mama’s Grill in Socorro: When our server delivered the mud pie (Oreo cookie crust, coffee ice cream, and fudge topping topped with whipped cream and toasted almonds), I had to ask where the rapelling equipment was so we could climb it.  Seriously, this is a very generous slab of deliciousness.  Beyond awing us with its sheer size, it enthralled us with its coffee flavor.  On a Monday morning in which I didn’t have my morning barrel of coffee, the ice cream really hit the spot.  This may well be the best mud pie I’ve ever had.

April, 2025

Elotes From Rio Tacos in Albuquerque: Rio Tacos’ elotes, flawless golden nuggets sprinkled with queso cotija and paired with plenty of personality from lime and chile, are superb.  But then, so is everything we’ve tried at this delightful Mexican eatery we don’t visit quite often enough.  Many restaurants offer elotes, Mexican street corn served on the cob, but few do it nearly as well as Rio Tacos.  Technically they’re “esquites” but great flavor trumps label accuracy this time.

May, 2025

Reuben Deluxe From Mucho Gourmet Sandwich Shoppe in Santa Fe:  Mucho’s Reuben Deluxe (a mound of thinly sliced pastrami, big eye Swiss cheese, sauerkraut or crunchy coleslaw, served with thousand island dressing on toasted light rye bread) is among the very best in New Mexico.  My preference is with sauerkraut though if you prefer sweeter notes, the coleslaw should work very well with the thousand island dressing.  This is a wonderful sandwich with shards of lean, well-seasoned pastrami blanketed by molten Swiss.

Charlie’s Backdoor From Los Altos Grill in Albuquerque: Few things in life are as good as Charlie’s Backdoor (sour cream and green chile baked into layered enchiladas topped with a white Swiss-American cheese) served with Spanish rice and beans.  It’s joy and rapture on a plate.  My taste buds were ecstatic at every bite of this delicious plate, the piquancy of fruity green chile and saltiness of the white cheese coalescing.

June, 2025

Mufaletta From Sergio’s Bakery & Cafe in Albuquerque:  Having lived for eight years on the Mississippi Gulf Coast just 90 miles from New Orleans, we were frequent consumers of the Crescent City’s best muffulettas.  Only on very rare occasions have we discovered a restaurant offering a muffuletta in the Land of Enchantment and most of those places were short-lived.  To say we’ve missed one of the most delicious sandwiches in the world is an understatement, so it was a thrill to discover that Sergio’s offers a superb muffuletta as a Friday special.

July, 2025

“Bison” From Blackbird Coffee House in Albuquerque Old Town: Our server’s most enthusiastic recommendation and very favorite cup of coffee at Blackbird’s is the curiously named Bison (espresso, buttered toffee, sea salt and milk).  Even without red chile, it was one of the best cups of coffee to ever cross my lips.  The combination of buttered toffee and sea salt is magical.  This is a swoon-worthy cup masterfully poured with latte art as good as some of the art sold in nearby galleries and stores.

Roti From Eat My Thai in Albuquerque: It’s not often we visit a Thai restaurant without enjoying mangoes with sticky rice.  It’s not every Thai restaurant that offers “Mountain Flat bread with condensed milk, also known as “roti.”  Roti is unleavened flatbread made from whole wheat flour in kitchens throughout South Asia, the Caribbean and Africa.  Typically called “chapati” at Indian restaurants where it may be served with chutney, it’s best served as a dessert with sweetened condensed milk.  The wonderful contrast of smoky, savory flatbread with sweet, rich milk is addictive.

August, 2025

Tiropita From Dorothea’s Fine Greek in Albuquerque:  One shareable sure to delight turophiles is the tiropita (sheep’s milk feta baked in filo, thyme and lavender topped with sesame seeds and honey). Few things in life are as delightful as the melodic crisp of a fork penetrating phyllo dough then scooping up a forkful of absolute decadence.  The contrast of salty, briny, slightly sour feta and floral honey is especially delicious.  Pity the poor gods of Mount Olympus who didn’t know the pleasures of eating tiropita (whose origins are in ancient and Byzantine cuisine).

Pork Lechon Kawali from Barkada’s ABQ in Albuquerque: If you love New Mexican chicharrones (and what New Mexican doesn’t), you’ll love pork Lechon Kawali.  Call them amped up chicharrones.  They’re crispier and even more flavorful than most chicharrones.  Unlike chicharrones, they retain more fat and have more pork meat.  The skin and outer surface is where the delightful crunch happens.  Inside, the pork is meltingly tender and absolutely delicious.  This dish is served with a slightly tangy garlic white rice and fried cabbage.  It’s a wonderful meal…even without the red chile.

Catfish From Anthony’s Grill in Santa Fe:  At Anthony’s, I delighted in the very best catfish and hush puppies I’ve had since leaving Mississippi in 1995.  Yes, catfish, that bottom-feeding, mud-dwelling fish that very few (if any) restaurants in New Mexico seem incapable of preparing well.  I’ve often analogized that the catfish at New Mexico’s restaurants as “coated in sawdust” and as “desiccated as a mummy’s dandruff.”  If you’re of the mind that Mississippi ranks at the bottom of the barrel (where it rates comparably to New Mexico) in most quality of life categories, you don’t know catfish.

September, 2025

Sugar’s Burger From Aly’s @ Sugar’s in Embudo: Sugar’s Burger starts on a grilled sesame bun topped with Sugar burger sauce, a six-ounce Angus beef patty, lettuce, tomato slices, sauteed onions, melted cheese, sauteed mushrooms with garlic, bacon and green chile.  That’s A LOT going on in one burger.  Fortunately the grilled sesame bun is formidable enough to maintain the burger’s integrity.  The Sugar burger is a towering behemoth replete with gigantic flavor to match.  Even with all the ingredients with which it shares the sesame bun, the green chile shines.

Foie Gras Done Two Ways From the Pioche Food Group in Farmington:  The very best meal I experienced during 2025 was a nine course extravaganza served by the Pioche Food Group.  Every item served could have made it onto this list, but one item stood out just a bit more.  Thats the foi gras done two ways.  My favorite preparation style has long been as a pâté where its rich, buttery and delicate flavor and distinctive fatty consistency shine.  The mousse-like pâté was superb!  It’s much too rich to enjoy in copious portions, but it impressed itself on our taste buds for a long time.  Tia’s contribution to this plate was an outstanding seared foie gras topped with fennel.  Peaches, long the agricultural pride of the Navajo nation, provided a wonderful sweet-tangy counterbalance to the foie gras.

October, 2025

Lamb and Okra Soup from Nora’s Cafe in Albuquerque:  Nora’s offers three soups on the daily menu and a soup of the day.  After enjoying the lamb and okra soup so much we might not ever experience the others.  Generous bite-sized chunks of tender lamb and fresh, slightly herbaceous okra make this elixir absolutely mouth-watering.   Served with every meal at Nora’s is hospitality and kindness, a hallmark of a family ownership group who will treat you like family.

Tula’s 505 From Tula’s Kitchen in Albuquerque:  It’s no secret that my favorite pizza style is Detroit style.  Baked in a rectangle pan with a light and airy crust, and caramelized edge, it’s similar to Sicilian style pizza.  Tula’s 505 (Tula’s cheese blend with New Mexico green chile, pepperoni and Italian sausage drizzled with marinara and served with a side of Dion’s famous ranch dressing (ask for green chile ranch)).  Green chile on a pizza is genius.  Green chile on a Detroit style pizza is inspired.  This savory, saucy pie is an absolute delight.  Though the green chile would barely register on the Scoville heat scale, Dion’s green chile ranch punches up the piquancy quite a bit.

November, 2025

Karaikudi Lamb From Royal Hyderabad in Albuquerque:  Karaikudi cuisine is known for its heat and complexity. Key spices often include star anise, cinnamon, cloves, fennel seeds, peppercorns, cumin, and dried red chilies.  Those dried red chilies make their presence felt–in a good way, of course.  Karaikudi lamb is one of those rare dishes that will titillate and scald your taste buds, but you won’t ever want to stop eating it.  You’ll definitely discern the complexity of the ingredients with which it is prepared.

December, 2025

Unagi Dan From East Asian Kitchen in Albuquerque: East Asian Kitchen glazes its unagi with teriyaki sauce which many Japanese restaurants call “unagi sauce.”  It’s a rather sweet sauce so I was grateful that the chef was rather frugal in applying it.  A generous slab of unagi draped over a Japanese omelette (made by rolling together several layers of fried beaten eggs) over rice.  It had been several years since I last had unagi dan which made me so thankful East Asian Kitchen prepares it so well.

Börek from Anatolia Mediterranean:  Several years, I proclaimed Anatolia’s pistachio baklava the very best I’ve ever had. Anatolia is no one-trick-pony. Their meat dishes are spectacular as are the Turkish delights.  It’s easy to understand why börek is irresistable to those of  us who love savory pastries.   Picture thin sheets of pastry (not philo, but dough stretched out to waifishly thin consistency) layered with cheese, spinach or minced meat and baked until crispy and gold.  These melt-in-your-mouth treats are likely a “must have” every time we visit Anatolia in the future.

That’s it, dear readers, a compilation of the best dishes I enjoyed in 2025.  Believe me, it was a struggle to limit this list.  Several very worthy candidates were left out.   You’ll note that many of the dishes on this “best of the best” list aren’t the high-brow, fine-dining dishes on most lists.  In fact, many of them are of the “cheap eats” variety  Being inexpensive doesn’t make them any less delicious.

Please feel free to share your own “best of the best” New Mexico dining choices for 2025 by commenting to this post. Who knows? Maybe in 2026 they’ll make it to my list, too.