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AlbuquerqueAmericanClosed in 2007Gone But Not ForgottenNew Mexico

Starky’s – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno3:48 PM

Sometimes a new restaurant makes such a tremendous first impression that you’re torn between wanting to shout from the rooftops about your new find and wanting to keep your new find to yourself so that the new gem remains your carefully guarded little secret. Wanting to ensure the restaurant has a prosperous future, you’ll naturally take the former course and tell all your friends and neighbors about your newfound treasure–all the while keeping your fingers crossed that the incursion of “less deserving patrons” doesn’t change those things that made such a great first impression on you. Starky’s is such a restaurant. Situated on the site of the old Assets Grill restaurant (once hailed as one of the city’s very best restaurants), Starky’s is named in honor of a Portland, Oregon restaurant on Stark Street owned and operated by its proprietors for 25 years. Those proprietors, Doug and Archie (along with their friend Karl) relocated to Albuquerque where the weather is more agreeable. The triumvirate of Doug, Archie and Karl are a big reason savvy diners have been enjoying Starky’s. Not only have they brought a cosmopolitan panache and sophisticated menu to their new restaurant, but they’ve invigorated what used to…

Closed in 2010FusionGone But Not ForgottenNevadaUnited States

Chinois – Las Vegas, Nevada (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno6:16 AM

It’s been well established that world-famous chef and restaurant impresario Wolfgang Puck can talk the talk. Chinois, a critically acclaimed fine-dining fusion restaurant located in Santa Monica, California is, in the estimation of many, proof that he can also “walk the wok.” So successful was his original Asian and French influenced fusion restaurant that he launched a branch within the confines of the people watching Mecca of the Forum shops at Caesar’s. Prior to visiting Chinois, I read several reviews in which fulsome praise was lavished on the über celebrity chef’s Asian masterpiece. I’ve been accused of hyperbole, but compared to what I read about Chinois, my favorable reviews are understated. One reviewer proclaimed Chinois as “quite possibly the best restaurant in Vegas” while another described the menu as “a banquet of creative and flavorful tastes from beginning to end.” Some reviewers were even more profuse in their praise. After reading several diatribes of effusive burble, my expectations were sky-high. Those expectations were hardly dashed when I arrived too early for a sushi bar one critic described as “super fresh.” Studying the lunch menu delivered the promise of an exciting meal even sans sushi–even though the menu listed fewer than…

AmericanClosed in 2020Gone But Not ForgottenNevadaUnited States

Mesa Grill – Las Vegas, Nevada (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno2:06 AM

With an upset rematch victory over über Japanese iron chef Masaharu Morimoto in a 2003 Iron Chef competition, (arguably) America’s preeminent grill master and New York City restaurant impresario, Bobby Flay became more than a pretty face on several Food Network television shows and the CBS morning news. He cemented his credibility as a legitimate force with which to be reckoned in the world of fine dining where chefs have become larger than life glitterati. On October 7, 2004, he launched his first restaurant outside New York City within the confines of Caesar’s Palace which has become a Mecca for some of America’s premier celebrity chefs. A flame themed ambiance features a flamed patterned carpet, copper flames on the wall and even flaming ceilings. Also impressive were the teak wood and flagstone floors, but the star of the show is the 20-foot rotisserie with a grill and quesadilla oven. As frequently as Flay visits New Mexico, it was refreshing to see his menu peppered (no pun intended) with ingredients indigenous to the foods of the Land of Enchantment. Those menus use the correct spelling of the word “chile” which showed just how much Flay pays attention during his dining forays…

Closed in 2020Gone But Not ForgottenNevadaSandwichUnited States

Carnegie Deli (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno7:40 PM

Father Mark Schultz, the charismatic priest at the San Antonio De Padua church in Penasco, jokes that the reason Catholics are required to abstain from eating meat on Fridays is not because there’s a shortage of cows. That’s certainly true. There is more beef on the hoof in America than there are tax-paying citizens. That’s why it’s always puzzled me that sandwich restaurants in New Mexico are so chintzy with their meat portions. You’d think there really was a beef shortage (and an excess of bread and lettuce) considering the the typical Albuquerque restaurant sandwich is comprised of thin shards of beef buried under half a head of lettuce and enough bread to choke a mule. In the American megalopolises of Chicago and New York, sandwiches are piled skyscraper high with beef and it’s not a figment of your imagination when you actually experience the flavor of bovine amidst the constituent parts of a sandwich. You’d think Chicago and New York were closer to cattle ranches than New Mexico is, but I digress. This is a review on a Las Vegas deli from which restaurants in my beloved Land of Enchantment could learn much. In recent years, Las Vegas has…

Closed in 2023Gone But Not ForgottenItalianNevadaUnited States

Spiedini – Las Vegas, Nevada (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno4:39 AM

Spiedini is a magnificent sensory feast that begins when your olfactory senses first catch a whiff of the intoxicating emanations wafting from the kitchen as you drop your car off at the valet parking station. It continues as you step into the marble tiled floors of an ultra modern, visually appealing restaurant extravagance. Your tactile senses are aroused as you dip the fabulous focaccia bread into a marvelous mixture of virgin olive oil and Balsamic vinegar. Finally, your taste buds culminate the exhilarating experience as you savor each and every bite of a very memorable Italian culinary event. Just like the now defunct Las Vegas legend, the Venetian restaurant, Spiedini exemplifies the huge delta in quality between Italian restaurants in large metropolitan cities and those in my beloved New Mexico where the dearth in truly outstanding Italian establishments is lamentable. The brainchild of Viennese born Gustav Mauler, one of only 54 certified master chefs in the United States, Spiedini may be the very best Italian restaurant we’ve experienced west of the Mississippi. Attention to detail is one of the reasons. While the oily and unappealing travesty other restaurants call antipasto is enough to make any pasta proponent anti antipasto, once…

AlbuquerqueCajunClosed in 2008Gone But Not ForgottenNational Chain

Copeland’s – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno2:09 PM

Having lived 90 miles outside of “The Big Easy” for almost eight years, we were naturally filled with the spirit of laissez les bon temps roulette (let the good times roll) when we found out the 48th Copeland’s restaurant in America was launching on our backyard in Albuquerque’s West side in November, 2001. We had been back in Albuquerque for six years and were experiencing withdrawal symptoms that only a fix of heartily spiced Cajun cuisine could quell. Copeland’s we thought would be a welcome breath of fresh air for the Duke City, albeit not the steamy, salt-kissed air of the Louisiana coast. Copeland’s is a restaurant with which we were quite familiar when it wasn’t the national presence it is today, but a regional chain founded in 1983 and firmly ensconced in a tough Cajun market. Brainchild of restaurant impresario Al Copeland (who also founded Popeye’s and Zea’s), Copeland’s was a relatively inexpensive alternative to more costly Cajun restaurants in the Crescent City area. In terms of ambience and attitude, Copeland’s doesn’t really provide the type of sensory bombardment reminiscent of Mardi Gras in which excess is celebrated. In fact, it is relatively low-key compared to some New Orleans…

AlbuquerqueBuffetChineseClosed in 2011Gone But Not Forgotten

Yen Ching – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno5:54 AM

Have a yen for Chinese or Korean cuisine? Can your appetite be sated only by the nasal-clearing, smoldering heat of Szechwan style cooking? Are the cravings that consume you affixed on succulent sushi and eye-watering wasabi. If all four of these options sound good but you can’t make up your mind, there’s only one dining destination that–under one roof–can satisfy your appetite for all these palate-pleasing Asian cuisines. Yen Ching, a popular Northeast Heights restaurant named for a city in Northern China, specializes in Chinese, Korean and Szechwan cuisine and has an all-you-can-eat (AYCE) Japanese sushi bar to boot. Yen Ching is a veteran in Albuquerque’s cramped competition for Chinese food customers, launching nearly 20 years ago in the venerable Trade Winds hotel on Central Avenue. Years later, Kathy Chao and her husband Joe moved their restaurant to the Montgomery Crossing shopping center on the southeast corner of the Montgomery and Wyoming intersection, a location in which business has thrived. Long-timers might remember a second Yen Ching on Fourth Street. That restaurant didn’t last long after the Chaos sold it. Like many Chinese restaurants in the city, Yen Ching features an AYCE Chinese buffet for lunch and like most, this…

AfricanArizonaRating: N/R (Not Rated)United States

Cafe Lalibela – Tempe, Arizona

Gil Garduno12:21 AM

One of the first things that caught my attention during a 2006 visit to Cafe Lalibela were beautiful, brightly painted depictions of revered Christian events such as Christ carrying the yew hewn cross to Calvary. The art shouldn’t have surprised me. Ethiopia’s (especially the city of Lalibela’s) historical ties to Christianity span several centuries. Lalibela, the city for which the restaurant is named, is one of modern Ethiopia’s holiest cities and a center of pilgrimage for much of the country. With a population of very nearly 100% Ethiopian Orthodox Christian, Lalibela is renown worldwide for its monolithic churches built during the reign of 13th century monarch Saint Lalibela for whom the city is named. The names of several places in the modern town and the general layout of the monolithic churches themselves are said to mimic names and patterns observed by Saint Lalibela during the time he spent as a youth in Jerusalem and the Holy Land. Cafe Lalibela serves both vegetarian and non-vegetarian dishes, garnering several accolades (including Best Vegetarian restaurant in Phoenix by New Times magazine) for its unique cuisine. For me, it was more important that my vegan friend and colleague Karen enjoyed her introduction to Ethiopian…

AlbuquerqueClosed in 2007Gone But Not ForgottenJapaneseSushi

Eurasia Bistro & Sushi Bar – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno12:59 PM

In an ideal world, the culinary connotation of the term “Eurasia” would be a fusion of the distinct cuisines of both continents available all under one roof under which culinary adventurers would be like Venetian explorer Marco Polo tasting all the Silk Road has to offer. We should have realized that while the continents of Europe and Asia may be connected as a land mass (certainly not geopolitically), an Albuquerque restaurant featuring the cuisine of both continents is still far too novel a concept. While Eurasia turned out to be a misnomer, this contemporary Japanese restaurant may turn out to be one of the better, albeit more expensive restaurants launched in 2005. Situated on the site of the now defunct Minato restaurant (closed in October, 2004), Eurasia is, in almost every way, a radical departure its predecessor. Where Minato facilitated dining intimacy (including tatami rooms for private dining), Eurasia features an open dining room painted in a serene pallet. Two ceiling panels on either side of the industrial ductwork showcase the twinkling of the night sky on an ebony canvas (although nothing can compare to the night skies in Northern New Mexico.) While Eurasia’s menu may be considered traditional, it…

AlbuquerqueAmericanBreakfastClosed in 2010

Perennials Restaurant – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno2:23 AM

What most people seem to know about Perennials Restaurant is that it’s owned by the parents of Albuquerque’s own Neil Patrick Harris, a 1991 graduate of La Cueva High School, who at age sixteen, landed the lead role in Doogie Howser, M.D. The television series about a teen prodigy doctor propelled him into teen heartthrob status. After two visits to Perennials, I’m somewhat surprised that this bright, east-facing restaurant isn’t even better known for the terrific quality of its food. It seems to be especially popular for breakfast among the geriatric set, a demographic my stand-up comedian friend swears have two criteria for selecting a restaurant: tasteless or cheap. He also observes that among the “blue-hairs” as he calls them, women dining with their friends will figure out each person’s share to the penny while elderly gentlemen breaking bread with their friends practically come to blows over who will pay the bill of fare. I didn’t notice any bill settlement issues at Perennials and contrary to my friend’s theory regarding restaurants heavily patronized by retirees, the food is definitely not tasteless or cheap. Reasonably priced food of high quality and generous portions would be more like it. It’s easy to…

BarbecueMissouriRating: OutstandingUnited States

Super Smokers – Eureka, Missouri

Gil Garduno4:57 AM

Note: On January 6, 2006, The St. Louis Business Journal announced that Super Smokers closed unexpectedly. As it turns out, only one of the five St. Louis area restaurants remains open. This will add several miles to our trips to Chicago, but any detour that leads to outstanding barbecue is well worth it. St. Louis, Missouri isn’t widely recognized as one of America’s barbecue capitals as is cross-state barbecue bastion Kansas City, but perhaps it should be. St. Louis based Super Smokers may not just serve the best barbecue in the state, they have been certified as ‘cuing the very best pork in the world. The Super Smokers BBQ team has finished in the top ten in nine of twelve years competing at the World Barbecue Championship at Memphis in May, including a 2000 first place finish in the “whole hog” competition. Nicknamed “The Super Bowl of Swine,” Memphis in May is the largest pork barbecue event of its kind with more than 240 teams from all over the world participating. Meeting and exceeding the lofty quality standards and unwavering consistency required to win at the World Barbecue Championships has influenced the way Super Smokers conduct business at their St.…