“Hotter than a sizzling flat-top,
More powerful than a wood-fired grill,
Able to stack towering flavors in a single bite…
Look, up at the Sawmill!
It’s a James Beard semifinalist
It’s the king of the grill…
It’s The Patty Man!“
Chef Sean “The Patty Man” Sinclair is a self-effacing guy, more like mild-mannered reporter Clark Kent than his “man of steel” alter ego. You won’t see Chef Sinclair run into a phone booth to don his apron and toque nor will gawking crowds point toward him and utter “Look! In the kitchen, it’s a cook. It’s a chef. It’s Sean Sinclair.” Despite having been a semifinalist in the James Beard Foundation’s “Best Chef – Southwest” honors for 2025, he’s chosen a path that’s not as likely to garner such recognition as his previous stint as the executive chef at Level 5 at Albuquerque’s Hotel Chaco in Albuquerque
Despite having served as a sous chef at the world-renowned, multiple-time three-Michelin starred restaurant The Inn at Little Washington, Chef Sinclair has left the more glamorous world of fine-dining to focus on more humble culinary ventures. In October 2025 and transitioned from executive chef at Level 5 to pursue entrepreneurial ventures with Heritage Companies (New Mexico’s largest independent hotel brand). At Heritage’s sprawling Sawmill Market, Chef Sinclair’s entrepreneurial ventures include Hook It Up Fish & Chips and a new burger concept he named “The Patty Man.”
Chef Sinclair’s (it seems unnatural to refer to him as “Entrpreneur Sinclair”) first restaurant impresario venture with Heritage was Hook It Up, a fish and chips concept he introduced in March, 2026 and later expanded to another Albuquerque food hall, Park Square Market. Look for a stand-alone Hook It Up restaurant to launch in Santa Fe’s Eldorado Hotel & Spa in the very near future. In large part, the success of Hook It Up inspired the affable chef to open a new restaurant called Patty Man. Patty Man burgers are patterned (though not an exact duplicate of) after the chef’s award-winning green chile smash burger. In 2019, that burger won Santa Fe’s New Mexico Green Chile Cheeseburger Smackdown, an event sponsored by Edible New Mexico.
In early fall 2026, a second instantiation of Patty Man is slated to open in the state capital as part of the new Santa Fe Market food hall (150 Washington Ave, just north of the Plaza). The downtown Santa Fe Market food hall is also being developed by the team behind Albuquerque’s Sawmill Market. Chef Sinclair hopes eventually to launch stand-alone versions of The Patty Man. Admittedly he’s very much aware of the glut of burger restaurants and upcoming Albuquerque launch of In-N-Out, but he believes quality will win out. He gets no argument from me, nor from my dear friend Bill Resnik who joined me during my inaugural visit to The Patty Man.
Bill and I consider our frequent lunch outings “community service.” He reminds me that community service can either be painful or quite rewarding. The Patty Man ranks very highly among the latter. After having thoroughly enjoyed our meal, we actually ran into The Patty Man himself. Chef Sinclair had just finished dining with his family. Naturally we peppered him with questions and expressed our appreciation for some of the best burgers we’ve had in quite a while. The humble chef agreed with me that Patty Man’s eponymous “The Patty Man” burger is even better than the Green Chile Cheeseburger Smackdown award-winning burger.
One of the things that makes The Patty Man burger even better is the house-made Shokupan milk buns (renowned for their feathery, pillowy crumb and slightly sweet, milky flavor). As a canvas for the other ingredients, the milk buns are outstanding. Each burger is crafted with an 80/20 (meat blend is 80% lean meat and 20% fat by weight) hand-formed beef patty. As volcano-eaters, Bill and I found the green chile both flavorful with earthy roasted undertones and pleasantly piquant. Chef Sinclair’s goal is to lay a foundation of “made from scratch cooking and locally sourced ingredients that will allow for affordable pricing and high level of value.”
The Patty Man menu lists four burgers (including a veggie burger and a “Kiddo” burger for youngsters), a patty melt, and a burger bowl. Your best bet is to order the combo meal which includes French fries and a fountain drink. Malted milkshakes (vanilla, strawberry and chocolate) are also available. Bill and I ordered the first two burgers on the menu and had them cut in half so we could both experience each. Frankly, each of us should have ordered both of them. First to be enjoyed enormously was the eponymous The Patty Man burger (lettuce, tomato, pickle, onion, Tucumcari Cheddar, Hatch green chile, special sauce and the aforementioned Shokupan milk bun.
Bill was an early adaptor when the smash burger craze hit. The burgers he makes at home are his measure of how good a restaurant’s burgers are. When he enjoys a restaurant’s smash burger, you know it’s pretty darn good. The first thing Bill noticed about The Patty Man burger is its Maillard reaction (a complex chemical process where amino acids and reducing sugars react under heat to produce hundreds of different flavor, aroma, and color compounds. In Bill’s estimation, the Patty Man is replete with those different and complex flavors and aromas. Quite simply, it’s outstanding.
As a connosieur of Oklahoma onion fried burgers, I was somewhat skeptical that even a chef of Sean Sinclair’s caliber could create a burger nearly as good as those we love most from Johnnie’s Hamburgers & Coneys at El Reno, Oklahoma. Patty Man’s OKC burger (shaved and griddled onions, American cheese, pickles, mustard, Shokupan milk bun) is close. The onions are caramelized to absolute perfection, but there weren’t quite enough of them. My preference is for onions draping along the buns and blanketing the beef. A second patty and more, more, more onions would have made this very, very good burger even better.
Bill and I are probably the only two people in Albuquerque not at all excited about the upcoming launch of In-N-Out. For us, there’s no way it can compete with The Patty Man. It is truly one of the best burger establishments to open its doors in several years.
Patty Man
Sawmill Market
1909 Bellamah Avenue, N.W.
Albuquerque, New Mexico
(505) 498-2982
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LATEST VISIT: 9 July 2026
# OF VISITS: 1
RATING: N/R
COST: $$
BEST BET: The Patty Man, OKC Burger
REVIEW #1529