Month: October 2025

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Cinnamon Sugar and Spice Cafe – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Gil Garduno3:20 PM

Back in the dark ages when I grew up–long before America became the kinder, gentler Utopia it is today (seething with cynicism)–it would have been inconceivable that boys and girls would receive trophies just for “participating.” Back then, we were expected to be competitive about everything. The battle of the genders was waged at home every night with my brothers and I pitting our brawn and bulk against the brains and gumption of our sisters, two of whom would go on to graduate as valedictorians and all of them much smarter than the recalcitrant Garduño boys. It rankled us to no end when our sisters reminded us constantly that “boys are made of snips and snails and puppy dog tails‘”…

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Earl’s Family Restaurant – Gallup, New Mexico

Gil Garduno12:01 AM

Two years after the end of the “second war to end all wars,”  a hamburger joint in Gallup first opened its doors.  What started out as a small burger place with scant seating (four stools and a couple of booths) has grown over the years to accommodate legions of loyal guests, some of whom have been frequenting Earl’s Family Restaurant practically since its inception.  Today, the seating capacity at Earl’s approximates 300.   That’s just barely enough to accommodate crowds during peak hours  Earl’s is open seven days a week fror breakfast, lunch and dinner. At nearly eighty years of serving Gallup residents and travelers along historic Route 66, Earl’s shows no signs of surcease. As you amble through the canopied…

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FAT OLIVES – Flagstaff, Arizona

Gil Garduno12:01 AM

Several years and a couple of tons ago, my friend “Macho” Mike Moretti and I were the type of trenchermen that all-you-can-eat Chinese restaurants feared so much they established strict time limits.  When a German restaurant on San Mateo offered a free dessert to any diner who could finish a gargantuan combination plate, we easily surmounted the challenge and asked for seconds.  Perhaps our most impressive culinary conquest transpired when Pizza Inn offered a “order one pizza, get the next size free” deal.  We ordered an extra large pizza and a large pizza then polished them off.  That was the last time I ever finished at least an entire pizza (about ten acres of pie) by myself.  That is, the…

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Lawry’s The Prime Rib – Las Vegas, Nevada

Gil Garduno1:10 AM

“What keeps me motivated is not the food itself but all the bonds and memories the food represents.” ~Michael Chiarello Many of my most cherished memories involve the act of eating and quite often those memories don’t involve the food itself.  The memories which sweeten most over time invariably involve the people with whom those meals were shared.  The act of degustation is infinitely more satisfying and the meals so much more pleasing when shared with loved ones.  In part because of the memories it evokes, one restaurant which will always hold a special place in my heart is Lawry’s The Prime Rib.  Every visit rekindles memories of my first visit and creates new memories to be revisited and cherished…

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Yardbird Southern Table & Bar – Las Vegas, Nevada

Gil Garduno12:01 AM

Momofuki in New York City, Peter Luger Steak House in Brooklyn,  Joe’s Stone Crab in Miami, Bourbon Steak in San Francisco, Border Grill in Los Angeles, Bouchon in Yountville, Emeril’s in New Orleans, Jaleo in Washington, D.C..  These are among the many restaurants on every true gastronome’s bucket list.  In addition to being helmed by some of the culinary world’s most celebrated luminaries, these pantheons of deliciousness share another commonality.  They all have a presence in Las Vegas casinos where well-heeled guests with plenty of disposable income come to gamble and to eat well. Whether celebrity chef restaurants in Las Vegas are as good as their originals is a matter of debate.  Award-winning restaurants throughout the fruited plain are similarly…

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Peter Luger’s Steakhouse – Las Vegas, Nevada

Gil Garduno12:01 AM

As a 1995 episode of Seinfeld illustrated, steak is not just a guy thing anymore. When Jerry took a blind date to the Old Homestead Steakhouse in New York City, he admitted “I’m not really that much of a meat eater” to which his date replied “You don’t eat meat? Are you one of those…” Questions about his masculinity persisted when she ordered a porterhouse medium rare and Jerry had a salad.  Although I’ve never gone so far as to order a salad at a steakhouse, I’m “one of those“–men who don’t particularly like steak.  Give me a fully dressed baked potato any day. It’s not as though I’ve never had an outstanding steak (The Hamilton Chop House in Durango and…

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LOTUS OF SIAM – Las Vegas, Nevada

Gil Garduno1:36 AM

In the August, 2000 issue of Gourmet Magazine, Jonathan Gold,  the only food critic to ever earn a Pulitzer Prize, called the Lotus of Siam restaurant in Las Vegas, Nevada “the single best Thai restaurant in North America.”  Not a disparaging word was heard or a dissenting opinion offered among the cognoscenti save for those who argued that the word “Thai” should be removed from from Gold’s audacious proclamation.  Lotus of Siam is THAT good! In the decade plus since Gold’s assertion, every reputable critic from every credible publication has jumped on the bandwagon, essentially echoing or adding to to the validation of the greatness that is the Lotus of Siam.  The superlatives are similar on every review you’ll read…

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El Agave Mexican Restaurant – Rio Rancho, New Mexican

Gil Garduno12:01 AM

Even the teetotalers among us recognize the importance of agave in the production of tequila and mescal.   What most of us may not fully appreciate is  agave’s diverse cultural and culinary significance, particularly in Mexico.  For example, the drought-resistant succulent plant has been used in medicinal treatments such as treating wounds, digestive ailments, and even as a remedy for coughs and sore throats.  It’s a source of natural sweetener and a healthier alternative to refined sugars.  Restaurants in Mexico use it to prepare salsas, marinades, desserts and even some traditional dishes.  Agave even plays a prominent role in indigenous cultures where it’s revered and valued.  Many of us use it to xeriscape our yards throughout the Southwest. Since October, 2017,…

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Hello Deli – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Gil Garduno12:01 AM

HELLO DELI (to the tune of Hello Dolly) “Hello Deli, this is Joe, Deli would you please send up a nice corned beef on rye. A box of RITZ, Deli and some Schlitz, Deli Some chopped liver and a sliver of your, apple pie. Turkey Legs, Deli hard boiled eggs, Deli and a plate of those potatoes you french fry, oh Don’t be late, Deli I just can’t wait Deli, Deli without breakfast, I’d just die.” ~ Frank Jacobs (Writer for MAD Magazine) In 2016, BBC Travel lamented the imminent demise of the New York City deli.  “Not the corner markets or bodegas that appear on nearly every New York block,” but “the true New York City delicatessen: the brick and…

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Nora’s Cafe – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Gil Garduno12:01 AM

As a precocious sprout growing up in an agrarian hamlet in Northern New Mexico, I dreamt of travel and adventure.  My voracious reading habits included hours immersed in world book encyclopedias, world atlases and National Geographic magazines.   By my eighth birthday, I was creating maps of the world free-hand and knew more about history and our planet than most of my teachers.  I longed to visit and plunge myself in wonders and cultures that existed for me only in books.  My longing to experience the world outside of Peñasco was, in fact, the primary reason I joined the Air Force days out of high school.  While my service career did broaden my experiences, my desire to see and do even…

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Perea’s Tijuana Bar & Restaurant – Corrales, New Mexico

Gil Garduno12:36 PM

The curious appellation “Tijuana Bar” dates back to the 1920s when the 18th amendment to the Constitution established Prohibition in the United States during the period 1920 to 1933. Because Prohibition forbade the sale of alcoholic beverages, many Americans got their alcohol illegally or they went to Mexico. Tijuana was a popular vacation and honeymoon destination and it happens to be where Teofilo C. Perea, Sr. and his bride honeymooned in the 1920s. The newlyweds visited a bar called the “Tijuana Bar” and decided then and there to use that name should they ever open a bar. Bureaucracy being what it is, once a license to dispense alcohol is issued, it’s very difficult to change the name on the license–hence…