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AlbuquerqueClosed in 2013Gone But Not ForgottenSandwich

Christy’s Food Factory – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno1:48 PM

A few years ago at the urging of an obviously taste-deprived, chain restaurant loving colleague, I had breakfast at a misnomer of a restaurant named Goody’s, a now defunct restaurant on Yale. He bragged about Goody’s breakfast burrito being as good as Milton’s Family Restaurant, sacrilege if it was ever uttered. A business trip provided the opportune time to debunk my colleague’s blasphemy. Not only did Goody’s version of a breakfast burrito provide one of the most insipid breakfasts I can remember, it led to a sacred pledge that defines my last meal in Albuquerque each and every time the friendly skies take me away from the Land of Enchantment. My sacred pledge is that my last meal in Albuquerque will always be one worthy of the last meal for a “dead man walking.” More often than not, that meal is at Christy’s Food Factory, a mere mile or so from the Albuquerque International Airport. A sandwich would have to be pretty darn good to be a potentially last meal ever. The sandwiches at Christy’s Food Factory are! Whether you partake of Christy’s Food Factory as a dine-in, carry-out or catering option, you’re in for a treat. Christy’s has been…

Food Network Eats New MexicoNew MexicanNew MexicoRating: ExcellentTaos County

Orlando’s New Mexican Cafe – Taos, New Mexico

Gil Garduno12:07 AM

During his 2005 visit to Taos for the taping of the Food Network’s Food Nation program, über-celebrity chef Bobby Flay, likely the best known grill chef in the world, probably didn’t do as much to put Orlando’s New Mexican restaurant on the culinary map as you might think. Ditto for all the many first place awards hanging on the restaurant’s walls–“Best Mexican Food in Taos County” every year since 2005, best red chile, best green chile, and more than 25 other awards.  Flay’s visit and the accolades on the wall are merely validation of what locals and visitors in the know have long known: Orlando’s is a “must visit” dining destination in Taos. Located in El Prado, a “suburb” of Taos about two miles northwest of the world-famous Taos Plaza, Orlando’s is as colorful a restaurant as you’ll find in Northern New Mexico.  Its marquee is that of a huarache-shod, mustachioed skeletal figure attired in a Mexican sombrero and serape.  In his left hand, he holds a bottle of hot sauce with the label “Taos.”  His bony right hand holds a skillet with a single flaming red chile, which does not–as some might surmise–denote the manner of his demise. The skeletal…

AlbuquerqueClosed in 2018Gone But Not ForgottenSteak

The Town House Restaurant – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno3:53 PM

America’s highway system expansion which began in the 1930s not only “shrank” America, it introduced the entertaining, educational–some might say bizarre–phenomenon of the roadside attraction.  Entrepreneurs competed with each other to create gawk-inspiring, curiosity motivating, must-see-to-believe attractions to snare the attention of motorists and motivate them to part with some of their money.  Neon lights festooned Route 66 while fiberglass and concrete statues became part-and-parcel of America’s highways and byways.  This was true roadside art which became a part of the fabric of Americana, albeit a kitschy tradition fading with the passage of time (which aptly describes many of the statues themselves).  Among the most famous statuary art are life-sized fiberglass statues of stocky steers (corpulent cows and beefy bulls, if you prefer) which became the symbol of steakhouses along the motorways and byways.  Ironically, this statuary was not designed for use as symbology for restaurants.  In the 1950s, Bob Prewitt, a manufacturer of fiberglass trailers created life-sized fiberglass animals to prove the trailers were large enough to accommodate the real thing.  Soon the manufacture of animals became the primary focus of his business.  He created almost as many types of animals as Noah took on board his ark.  The…

AlbuquerqueChickenClosed in 2014Gone But Not ForgottenSpecialty

El Pollo Picante – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno8:32 AM

Pollo asado, marinated grilled chicken, has been a staple in Mexico for years, but save for those pockets within metropolitan areas heavily populated by scions of Mexico, it hasn’t made significant inroads throughout the fruited plain. Mexican grilled chicken restaurants seem to fly under the radar, unbeknownst to much of the local populace outside the Mexican neighborhoods in which they’re clustered. Many grilled chicken sahops–even in Albuquerque– operate in ramshackle, lilliputian buildings not much larger than roadside stands. In the 1980s, El Pollo Loco, a Mexican grilled chicken chain expanded into the United States, launching in about a dozen states including New Mexico. Today, the chain operates in five western states (Nevada, Arizona, Utah, Texas and California) as well as in Illinois (and in episodes of Breaking Bad), but despite expanding beyond its grilled chicken niche to include burritos, quesadillas, salads and more, it hasn’t been able to compete significantly with the popular pseudo Mexican concept restaurants. After Albuquerque’s erstwhile El Pollo Loco restaurant–which operated on San Mateo (in the location which currently houses Siam Cafe)–closed, it would be more than a decade before another Mexican grilled chicken restaurant would open in a heavily-trafficked commercial area.   In May, 2012,…

AlbuquerquePizzaRating: Good

Old Town Pizza Parlor – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Gil Garduno4:56 PM

Although it seems Albuquerque’s population experiences an unprecedented population growth every decade, perhaps the ten-year period which most transformed the Duke City from an expansive frontier cow town to a modern metropolitan city was the 1950s.  At the start of the decade, the city’s population was 96,815, but bolstered by a post-World War II boom, the population more than doubled to 201,189 by 1960.  No successive decade has seen such growth. With J.C. Penney’s, Sears and Montgomery Wards (as well as Woolworth’s) all located on Route 66, downtown was the the economic heart of the community.  Consumers reveled in the availability of products and clothing heretofore available only through catalogs.  To show off the high fashion available at those department stores and especially at Kistler-Collister (ironically situated near the city’s eastern outskirts) as well as the city’s hubs of haberdashery, fun-seekers headed for the Old Town Society Hall in the vicinity of Rio Grande and Central for spirited dancing. Route 66 was festooned with vibrant neon signage that cut a luminous swath through the city.  Only the historic Old Town district was spared the nocturnal spectacle of glowing and flashing neon.  Savvy diners still managed to find their way to the Old Town…

AlbuquerqueRating: GoodThai

Orchid Thai Cuisine – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Gil Garduno8:58 PM

Sydney, Australia has “Thai Tanic” and “Thai to Remember.” In Manila, The Philippines, it’s “Thai Kingdom Come.” Arlington, Virginia boasts of “ThaiPhoon.” “Thai One On” is a Salt Lake City favorite. San Francisco diners frequent “Thai Me Up,” while in Mildenhall, England “En-Thai-Sing” is all the rage. Then there’s “Beau Thai” in Portland, Oregon; “Bow Thai” in Margate, Florida; and “Once Upon a Thai” in Chicago, Illinois. When it comes to Thai restaurants throughout the English-speaking world, it’s a wordplay wonderland. Urbanspoon lists some eighteen Thai or Asian fusion restaurants in Albuquerque specializing in or which include Thai food, none of which evoked once a pun a name.  Now operating for more than ten years (it launched on May 10, 2012), Orchid Thai Cuisine is seemingly all-of-a-sudden an elder statesman among Thai restaurants, one of four in the Duke City with more than a decade of continuous operation.  It doesn’t seem that long ago Orchid Thai Cuisine was a newcomer creating quite a buzz in Nob Hill. In its decade plus, Orchid Thai has garnered perhaps more acclaim and accolades than any other Thai restaurant in town.  As you enter the restaurant, you’ll espy an “I love me” wall postered…

ArizonaBurgersUnited States

In-N-Out Burger – Chandler, Arizona

Gil Garduno2:48 PM

During a 2011 episode of Break the Chain, the enlightening and entertaining food-centric radio program hosted by the brilliant Ryan Scott, Larry McGoldrick, the professor with the pulchritudinous palate, made some rather unkind comments about Blake’s Lotaburger, an exclusively New Mexico institution.  I cautioned him that local listeners might show up at the radio station armed with pitchforks and torches. That’s how much New Mexicans love the burger franchise whose motto reminds them that “If you are what you eat, you are awesome.” It’s not always easy to express your opinion about something as sacrosanct and beloved as Lotaburger, but inspired by Larry’s honesty, let me share my thoughts about In-N-Out Burger, a California institution that’s beloved beyond the Golden State, a burger restaurant National Geographic named the second best burger in the fruited plain in its “Top 10 Best of Everything” for 2012.  When it comes to In-N-Out, I’m most definitely in the minority.  I don’t get it at all… I first found out about In-N-Out Burger in 1987 while developing psychometrics for the United States Air Force in San Antonio, Texas.  Two of my test-writing colleagues were native, In-N-Out Burger obsessed Californians who never seemed to take off…

AmericanCaliforniaRating: N/R (Not Rated)United States

Indigo Moon Cafe, Wine and Cheese Shop – Cambria, California

Gil Garduno5:34 PM

It might be easy to dismiss Cambria as a “jumping off” point to some of California’s most spectacular and  popular sites…until you actually visit Cambria.  That’s when you discover that there is plenty to see and do in this picturesque seaside village on the Central California Coast which Forbes.com declared “one of America’s prettiest towns.”  It’s a town virtually surrounded on three sides by towering pines and Monterey Cyprus which form a natural canopy over the beachside boardwalk.  To its west is the shimmering Pacific Ocean with some of the most pristine, unspoiled beaches in the state. Cambria virtually unfolds along the fabled Highway 1 at exactly the halfway point–240 miles–from both San Francisco and Los Angeles.  Just barely above sea level, Cambria may not have the dramatic cliff-side vistas for which Big Sur is renowned, but its beaches are much more approachable.  So are the elephant seals which frolic and lounge on the Piedras Blancas rookery a few miles away.  The most popular draws in the area are Hearst Castle, the European-style home of newspaper magnate William Randolph Hurst, and the numerous wineries and vineyards throughout the area. Within Cambria, you’ll find an eclectic shopping district with something for…

AmericanCaliforniaRating: N/R (Not Rated)United States

Nepenthe Restaurant – Big Sur, California

Gil Garduno11:11 AM

With all the travails and vicissitudes of  modern life, we can all use  a respite or safe harbor to which we can escape…where we can take a break from all our worries.  Big Sur, California, which most would consider an escape in and of itself has a dining destination which has been nourishing diners both physically and spiritually  for more than six decades.  It’s called Nepenthe, a Greek word which can be translated to “isle of no care,” “a place to find surcease from sorrow.” Lest you get the impression Nepenthe is a real-world Cheers tavern, it is oh, so much more.  First, if there’s a true paradise on Earth (other than New Mexico, of course), it may well exist on the Central California coast in Big Sur, a seaside idyll which will take your breath away and calm you with its vast expanse of tranquil waters and spectacular views of towering redwoods and precipitous cliffs in a climate that can only be described as perfect. If such a seaside idyll has a heart and soul, it is Nepenthe. The word “Nepenthe” first appears on the fourth book of Homer’s Odyssey, though its reference wasn’t as a place of respite,…

CaliforniaRating: N/R (Not Rated)SeafoodUnited States

Schooners Coastal Kitchen & Bar – Monterey, California

Gil Garduno8:20 AM

Cannery Row in Monterey in California is a poem, a stink, a grating noise, a quality of light, a tone, a habit, a nostalgia, a dream.” ~John Steinbeck Cannery Row, 1945 During basic military training in the Air Force, several of us who could speak multiple languages were asked to take the Defense Language Aptitude Battery (DLAB), the test the military services use to measure aptitude to learn a foreign language.  Fewer than five percent of people who take (or retake) the DLAB pass it.  Somehow I managed a high score and was extended an opportunity to attend the Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center at the Presidio of Monterey.   My response, one borne of ignorance and stupidity, was “I don’t want to go to Mexico.”  It had not dawned on me that the Monterey being offered was in California.  Over the years, I’ve revisited my decision frequently.  On one hand, the Air Force might have decided to have me learn Arabic or Iranian then stationed me on a remote mountaintop to listen to and decipher chatter.  On the other, the year or so spent in Monterey would have been glorious (other than the hours of poring over language tapes…

CaliforniaFine DiningRating: N/R (Not Rated)United States

Sierra Mar at Post Ranch Inn – Big Sur, California

Gil Garduno2:34 PM

Famous French mime Marcel Marceau once remarked “do not the most moving moments of our lives find us all without words.”  Without words, a rare state for someone who uses so many of them, aptly describes my reaction at gazing for the first time upon Big Sur with an awe and reverence few sights outside of New Mexico have ever inspired in me.  It eventually dawned on me that my friend Señor Plata may have best described Big Sur when he declared “God spent just a little more time creating Big Sur.”  Translating literally from the Spanish words “El Sur Grande” meaning “the Big South,” Big Sur is a fabled 90-mile expanse of coastline with breathtaking views of precipitous cliffs which plunge into the sea, rolling fog which creeps in slowly and shrouds those cliffs, towering redwood groves reaching toward Heaven, steep flower-strewn mountains, deeply turquoise waves made frothy by being beaten on jagged rocks,  and unspoiled beaches secreted in coves.  National Geographic Traveler named Big Sur one of the “50 Places of a Lifetime” and “One of the World’s Greatest Destinations.” Big Sur’s spectacular coastline twists and winds along the western flank of the Santa Lucia Mountain Range  on Highway…