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AlbuquerqueBakeryBreakfastClosed in 2012DonutsGone But Not ForgottenSpecialty

Paradise Donuts – Bosque Farms, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno5:41 PM

Though often boorish and crude, America’s favorite everyman philosopher Homer Simpson is prone to occasional bouts of insight. Who can argue with such Homeric sagacity as, “donuts, is there anything they can’t do.” At first browse that statement may appear clouded, make that glazed, but it’s a statement replete with credibility–and not solely with police officers. Cultural anthropologist Paul R. Mullins posits that one of the best ways to examine a culture is by looking at its eating habits and regional cuisines. He reasons that Americans don’t really have a culinary culture we can call our own, that the American…

New MexicanNew MexicoNew Mexico Green Chile Cheeseburger Trail: 2009New Mexico Green Chile Cheeseburger Trail: 2011Rating: Very Good

Benny’s Mexican Kitchen – Bosque Farms, New Mexico

Gil Garduno1:45 PM

“Whenever I need to leave it all behind Or feel the need to get away I find a quiet place, far from the human race Out in the country Whenever I feel them closing in on me Or need a bit of room to move When life becomes too fast, I find relief at last Out in the country.” In today’s dog eat dog rat race world (two bad animal metaphors in one sentence), who doesn’t dream of a peaceful idyll to which you can escape? Somewhere out in the country. *Appropriately the group expressing that sentiment so well in…

AlbuquerqueThai

Mai Thai Thai Cuisine – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno7:34 PM

When my buddy Bill Resnik invited me to try a new restaurant called Mai Thai, I immediately wondered if Albuquerque was experiencing a misguided retro renaissance to days gone by when kitschy Polynesian themed night clubs and restaurants were in vogue. For those of you too young to remember, in the 1960s, 70s and even early 80s, Americans held a huge fascination for the South Seas, an interest propelled by veterans returning from the Pacific theater after the second war to end all wars.  Presiding over the “Tiki” movement was an entrepreneur named Victor Bergeron who founded a popular Polynesian…

New MexicanNew MexicoNew Mexico Green Chile Cheeseburger Trail: 2011Rating: Excellent

El Bruno – Cuba, New Mexico

Gil Garduno3:49 AM

Fool that I am, after my first visit to El Bruno’s in 1997, I spent half an hour pondering how best to describe the restaurant in alliterative prose–adobe abode of amazing adovada, beguiling bastion of bountiful burritos, captivating citadel of chile con queso, earthen edifice of enchanting enchiladas–and while El Bruno is all of those and so much more, a simplified yet wholly accurate description would be “one of the five or six best New Mexican restaurants in the state.” El Bruno’s is almost equidistant between Albuquerque and Farmington, about 75 miles away from each. The drive is spectacular with a…

New MexicoPizzaRating: N/R (Not Rated)Taos County

Taos Pizza Out Back – Taos, New Mexico

Gil Garduno10:46 PM

“Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.” – Matthew 11:28 It’s unlikely the Taos Chamber of Commerce ever used that New Testament passage to lure visitors to Taos, but it would have made an excellent tourism slogan.  Taos, New Mexico seems to have a mollifying effect on weary souls.  It has been easing burdens and removing the yoke of the heavily laden for more than a millennium. Taos calls its visitors to spiritual odysseys, to commune with incomparable beauty and serenity, to imbibe the exotic melting pot of cultures.  It has inspired…

AlbuquerqueClosed in 2008Gone But Not ForgottenNew Mexican

The Chili Stop – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno1:54 AM

NOTE:  On November 15th, 2008, Ron Chavez sold the Chili Stop a mere four months after making green chile a religious experience.  I have not visited the Chili Stop since it changed hands and have heard mixed opinions on the Chili Stop post Ron.  I will update this review after my next visit. Over the years it’s been my experience that almost invariably, New Mexican restaurants which violate traditional New Mexican grammar don’t prepare the object of their grammatical faux pas very well.  The grammatical transgression of which I speak is forgetting the “i” before “e” rule and committing the…

AlbuquerqueItalianNational ChainRating: N/R (Not Rated)

Bravo! Cucina Italiana – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Gil Garduno8:21 PM

Perhaps the most memorable slogan to surface during the politics “dirtier than usual” Presidential campaign of 2008 was the frequently used American idiom “you can put lipstick on a pig, but it’s still a pig.” That expression is intended to mean something akin to putting a fresh coat of paint on a piece of junk and selling it for full price. In other words, it aptly describes most political campaigns which tend to be exhaustingly negative repeats of previous campaigns. I promised myself not to ever let my blog slink and slither into the unappetizing muck and mire of politics…

Closed in 2012Fine DiningFood Network Eats New MexicoGone But Not ForgottenNew MexicoRating: OutstandingSanta Fe

Aqua Santa – Santa Fe, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno9:49 AM

“But the moment I saw the brilliant, proud morning shine high up over the deserts of Santa Fe, something stood still in my soul, and I started to attend. There was a certain magnificence in the high-up day, a certain eagle-like royalty, so different from the equally pure, equally pristine and lovely morning of Australia, which is so soft, so utterly pure in its softness, and betrayed by green parrot flying. But in the lovely morning of Australia one went into a dream. In the magnificent fierce morning of New Mexico one sprang awake, a new part of the soul…

BreakfastClosed in 2017Food Network Eats New MexicoGone But Not ForgottenNew MexicanSanta Fe

Guadalupe Cafe – Santa Fe, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno9:07 PM

1974, Mexico’s Nobel laureate Octavio Paz wrote that “the Mexican people, after more than two centuries of experiments, have faith only in the Virgin of Guadalupe and the National Lottery.” Though perhaps not to the same degree of reverence as people of Mexican descent have for Our Lady of Guadalupe, many diners literally make pilgrimages to Santa Fe’s Guadalupe Cafe. You might say they trek to this beloved institution with a type of fervor which could be considered almost spiritual. The Guadalupe Cafe, long removed from Santa Fe’s Guadalupe District and Guadalupe Street, does indeed inspire a fierce devotion. It…

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Welcome to Gil’s Thrilling (And Filling) Blog

Gil Garduno5:03 AM

If you got to this page expecting Gil’s Thrilling Web, you’re in the right place. Don’t let the new look and feel scare or fool you. This is the new home for the restaurant reviews on which you’ve counted for years–different format, same place. The transition from static Web to blog was inevitable and years in coming. There are several reasons why this transition makes sense. The main reason for me to move to a blog is that blogs are much more interactive than conventional Web sites. You, my dear readers, can leave comments about my reviews and let me…

BurgersClosed in 2010Gone But Not ForgottenNew MexicoSanta Fe

Honnell’s Late Nite Burger – Santa Fe, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno3:50 AM

“America’s celebrity psychologist” Dr. Phil McGraw posits that how you interact with your partner in the first four minutes can set the tone for the day.  Those first and most crucial 240 seconds of each and every day can, in essence, dictate your entire mood and, in the long run, either keep your relationship intact or destroy it.  I’d add that even the first four minutes of your workday can have a profound impact on the rest of your day. If the first person with whom you interact is what Dilbert creator Scott Adams would describe as an “office vampire”…