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AlbuquerqueDog FriendlyRating: ExcellentSandwich

Oak Tree Cafe – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Gil Garduno1:29 PM

This isn’t Burger King! You can’t have it your way. You get it our way or you don’t get it at all. For some reason, human beings seem inclined to level criticism by the shovelful while apportioning praise and plaudits by the thimbleful. We seem genetically predisposed to put more stock into negativity than we are to believe the best of others. We consider compliments to be based on insincerity or ulterior motives. Even our television viewing preferences gravitate toward gratuitous depictions of misbehavior and depravity. We consider unwatchable any movie or television show portraying kindness and humanity. That grim indictment of humanity is, by virtue of its own unflattering characterization, itself an example of misanthropic pathos. In the spirit of John 8:7, I will cast the first stone at myself. For years, I heard about a humble little sandwich shop in which customer service was said to be more than a slogan; it was a way of doing business. Instead of embracing this supposed people-pleasing panacea, my first inclination was skepticism and a willingness to lump the Oak Tree Cafe with any number of other eateries which provide good service, albeit with transparent insincerity. You’re no doubt familiar with…

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Vibrance – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno11:33 PM

My Chicago born-and-bred brother-in-law Chuck considers being asked to lunch at a vegan restaurant akin to being asked to a Green Bay Packers pep rally. It’s a violation of a Windy City cultural norm–as inappropriate as telling a Chicagoan that: ketchup belongs on hot dogs, Mike Ditka and Da’ Bears could never beat the Detroit Lions, calling Mike Royko a mere journalist and that it’s okay to ridicule Harry Carey’s rendition of “Take Me Out to the Ballpark.” As with many Chicagoans, Chuck is an avowed meat and potatoes zealot (fanatic isn’t strong enough a word). Because he never would have acceded to my request to dine at a vegan restaurant, I waited until he answered “I’m up for anything” when I asked what he’d like for lunch. Yeah, it’s duplicitous and politician-like, but my Kim and I genuinely believed Chuck would like Vibrance. Vibrance. Even the name bespeaks of veganism (or militant veganism to a carnivorous Chicagoan). Ask any vegan and they’ll tell you their lives are indeed more vibrant since they made the lifestyle change to veganism. They’ll tell you they’ve improved their heart and gut health, lost weight, lowered blood sugar levels and reduced their risk of…

MexicanNew MexicoRating: Very GoodSanta Fe

Gabriel’s – Santa Fe, New Mexico

Gil Garduno12:25 AM

Located fifteen miles north of Santa Fe, just south of Pojoaque and within minutes of two garish native American casinos, Gabriel’s is a culinary oasis back-dropped by nearby cedar, cottonwood and pine tree-laden hills and the Santa Fe mountains further to the southeast. Gabriel’s entrance is flanked by unpeeled latillas, a “coyote fence” precursor to one of the best restaurant settings in the Santa Fe area. In the early spring and fall, weather permitting, the sprawling dining room and its Spanish colonial theme are often rebuffed in favor of an outdoor dining experience. For al fresco dining, there are few options to compare with Gabriel’s, a restaurant perhaps more renowned for its experiential qualities than it is for its cuisine. You won’t read a single review from a credentialed critic which doesn’t sing the praises of the restaurant’s ambiance. You will, however, read scathing indictments of Gabriel’s cuisine. Alex Heard of the Santa Fe New Mexican, for example, was brutally honest in his assessment: “my takeaway has been that it serves average food and not much more, closer to chain-restaurant quality than what you’re promised in its advertisements.” England’s The Guardian, on the other hand, put Gabriel’s on its list…

AlbuquerqueChineseDim SumRating: Outstanding

Ming Dynasty – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Gil Garduno1:48 AM

The Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) was renowned as one of the greatest periods of governmental and societal stability in the history of mankind. At its peak, the Ming dynasty made China a global superpower, influencing the known world in trade, culture and might. During this dynasty, agriculture developed significantly, dishes became more sophisticated, cookbooks were widely proliferated and noontime banquets became popular. Dishes such as sweet potatoes, corn, potatoes and sorghum were imported into China during this period while such local foods as the infamous “thousand-year egg” were introduced. Before long, history just might recognize the Ming Dynasty restaurant as one of, if not the, greatest Chinese restaurants in Albuquerque. Launched at 11AM on Sunday, April 27th, 2003, it returned our friend, proprietor Minh Tang and his loyal staff to the Duke City dining scene after the dissolution of an unsuccessful partnership that precipitated the closure of the great Beijing Palace. In Ming Dynasty, there’s a lot of addition by subtraction. Minh no longer has a partner to hold him back and he no longer offers a buffet that drew in patrons who didn’t necessarily know or appreciate real Chinese cuisine. Beijing Palace’s buffet was living proof that you shouldn’t judge…

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Scalo Northern Italian Grill – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Gil Garduno3:01 AM

CAVEAT EMPTOR:  The following review is based on visits prior to 2019 when Scalo shuttered its doors.  Scalo has since reopened. When we moved back to New Mexico on May 15, 1995, our first priority wasn’t where to live, but where to eat. Having been away for the better part of 18 years, there were so many old favorites with which to reacquaint ourselves and so many exciting new prospects we just had to try. By year’s end, we had visited 75 different restaurants (no chains). One of our favorite sources on where to eat was Albuquerque Monthly, a very well written publication which celebrated the Duke City’s culinary scene with an Annual Restaurant Guide and a “Best of Albuquerque” edition. On its tenth anniversary, the magazine created a “Best Of” Hall of Fame, listing the ten establishments–restaurants, bars, card stores, clothing stores, computer stores, galleries and more–which had received more “best of” votes during the decade than anyone else. The first establishment listed was Scalo Northern Italian Grill, which was also perennial selection on the magazine’s annual listing of the city’s top ten fine-dining restaurants (other mainstays still serving the city include the Artichoke Cafe, Prairie Star and the…

AlbuquerqueFood TruckNew MexicanNew MexicoRating: Very Good

Lollie’s New Mexican Food – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CONVERTED TO FOOD TRUCK)

Gil Garduno10:12 AM

NOTE:  Lollie’s New Mexican Food is now operating out of a food truck.  In the frontier wilderness of New Mexico–long before the advent of culinary schools and home economics classes–a cook’s credentials weren’t bestowed by some accredited institution of higher learning. Instruction in the culinary arts was most often imparted lovingly by mothers. Recipes were passed on from one generation to another, using ingredients often grown in the family farm and livestock raised locally. “Credentials” were earned by reputation and the word of mouth of satisfied diners (most often family members, neighbors and visitors). A good cook was known about far and wide. Lollie Padilla can relate to the New Mexican culinary traditions of yore, having worked next to her mother (to whom the restaurant is dedicated) in learning to cook homemade, wholesome New Mexican dishes at a very young age. On April 3rd, 2013, Lollie launched the eponymous Lollie’s New Mexican Food restaurant in the Barelas-South Valley area in which she was raised as were generations of her family. Two things are immediately obvious: Lollie was a very good student and her mother was a very good cook. Don’t let the restaurant’s motto “Proudly Serving The Southwest” confuse you.…

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Papaburgers – Los Ranchos De Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno2:18 AM

Back in the 1960s, A&W’s Papa Burger was a rite of passage for me. By age nine, I had surmounted the phased progression through A&Ws burger family–Baby Burger, Mama Burger and Teen Burger–and was ready to prove my mettle with the largest of A&Ws burger family, one beefy behemoth only my dad, a paragon of masculinity, had ever ordered. Earning the right to order one was acknowledgement that I was growing into a man. Polishing one off brought newfound respect from my younger brothers, both of whom longed for the day my dad would order a Papa Burger for them. In the 1960s, A&W’s burger family signified a formidable line-up of burgers served in more than 2,000 A&W restaurants throughout the fruited plain and Canada. Each member of the burger family was represented by cartoonish fiberglass statues, the largest of which was the Papa Burger, a bald, vested gentleman holding a large frosted mug on one hand and a gigantic burger on the other. Papa Burger stood eight and a half feet tall and the frothy mug of root beer was three feet tall. Driving on Chavez Avenue just west of Fourth Street and espying a restaurant called Papaburgers brought…

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Fareast Fuzion – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno12:01 AM

A Journal of Consumer Research study published in 2012 revealed that consumers equate eating meat with their concept of masculinity. To the dismay of spinach-lovers like Popeye, respondents indicated meat has a more masculine quality than vegetables. Study participants considered male carnivores to be more masculine than their vegetarian counterparts (ostensibly Bill Clinton was more masculine when he scarfed up Big Macs than he is now that he’s a vegetarian). “To the strong, traditional, macho, bicep-flexing, all-American male, red meat is a strong, traditional, macho, bicep-flexing, All-American food,” wrote the researchers. “Soy is not. To eat it, they would have to give up a food they saw as strong and powerful like themselves for a food they saw as weak and wimpy.” Researchers acknowledged that with a diet rich in manly meats, equally manly health conditions such as heart attacks are inevitable. So, if we shouldn’t eat meat, what should we paragons of masculinity eat? Certainly not quiche or kale! Bruce Feirstein told us in 1982 that “Real Men Don’t Eat Quiche.” Sure, that title was a tongue-in-cheek satire of masculine stereotypes, but could there be a grain of truth there somewhere? More recently, an author who goes by the…

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Farina Alto – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno8:35 AM

FROM FARINA ALTO’S WEBSITE:  A new chapter of Italian dining is coming to the Northeast Heights this December. Cantina Hospitality Group, the team behind beloved New Mexico restaurants like Brekki Brekki, Poki Poki Cevicheria, Tamashi, Thai Boran, and Sushi King, has announced its latest concept: Pazzi Ristorante Italiano — set to open in the former home of Farina Alto. Much thought, deliberation and market research usually goes into the naming of a business, but every once in a while, one linguistic aspect or another isn’t fully explored to the nth degree. Take for example Chevrolet’s problems marketing the Nova in Latin America where the term “no va” means “it won’t go” in Spanish. Even though the Nova sold quite well, the car’s name wasn’t without irony and humor. (Yes, I know the Nova story is an urban myth, but it helps illustrate my point.) Worse, a slogan for Frank Perdue chicken, “it takes a strong man to make a tender chicken,” translated (also in Spanish) as the equivalent of “it takes a sexually aroused man to make a chicken affectionate.” Obviously, the “Alto” portion of Farina Alto Pizzeria & Wine Bar in Albuquerque is intended to accentuate the “Heights” where the…

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Rolls & Bowls – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno2:46 PM

“The banh mi sandwich is really the only good argument for colonialism.” ~Calvin Trillin By most historical standards, the banh mi is a rather new entrant in the world culinary stage. Its evolution into the revered sandwich we know and love today began in 1859 with the French arrival in Saigon. Along with military occupation, the French brought their c’est delicieux cuisine to Southeast Asia…although to be clear, the colonial rulers never had the benevolent intent of introducing the Vietnamese to their more “refined” cuisine. The French, in fact, initially forbade their subjects from partaking of such stables as bread and meat, believing the Vietnamese diet of fish and rice kept them weak. In time, wealthy Vietnamese who embraced French rule were allowed to purchase sandwiches from expensive bakeries which constructed them on French baguettes (which were too pricey for the poverty classes). One of the culinary traditions the French brought to Vietnam was casse-croute, a term which translates literally to “break or crush the crust,” but which more often translates to “snack.” Among the most popular snacks was a traditional French baguette which the “upper crust” served with a plate of cold cuts, pate, ham, cheese and butter. Is…

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Pop-Up Dumpling House – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno12:01 PM

“And her dumplings were so light they would float in the air and you’d have to catch ’em to eat ’em.” ~Author: Fannie Flagg Think you know dumplings? Believe you’ve tried almost every type of dumpling there is? That’s what I thought until discovering a Wikipedia page called “List of dumplings” which essentially opened up a large world of ne’er sampled dumplings. For the glass-is-half-full types among us, this list is a challenge…an opportunity to broaden our dumpling horizons. Alas, such a horizon (and waist) broadening experience will mean crossing many borders. Not surprisingly, not every dumpling type is to be found in the Duke City, although you just might be surprised at just how many types of dumplings you can find within our little slice of heaven on Earth. Your veritable “around the world in fifty dumplings” tour should start at Ming Dynasty where the dim sum menu showcases such Chinese dumpling treasures as crab Rangoon, har gow (shrimp dumplings), shumai (steamed dumplings stuffed with prawns), sausage buns, steamed barbecue pork buns, shrimp stuffed bean curd and several others prepared so authentically and so well you might swear you’re in Hong Kong. For a dumpling tour of Japan you…