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AlbuquerqueItalianNew MexicoRating: Excellent

Il Localetto Rossi Italian Cuisine – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Gil Garduno12:01 AM

Academy Award-nominated actor Stanley Tucci and I share a selfsame perspective on eating well:  “To me, eating well is not just about what tastes good but about the connections that are made through the food itself. I am hardly saying anything new by stating that our links to what we eat have practically disappeared beneath sheets of plastic wrap. But what are also disappearing are the wonderful, vital human connections we’re able to make when we buy something we love to eat from someone who loves to sell it, who bought it from someone who loves to grow, catch, or raise it. Whether we know it or not, great comfort is found in these relationships, and they are very much…

AlbuquerqueMexicanNew MexicoRating: N/R (Not Rated)Tacos

La Zenita – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Gil Garduno12:01 AM

In his immortal play Romeo and Juliet, William Shakespeare used two lines to convey that the naming of things is irrelevant: “What’s in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell just as sweet.”   My friends Bruce and Loren Plata like to remind me that in Hebrew, the name “Gil” represents a “small goat,” an animal that definitely doesn’t smell quite as fragrant as a rose.  My retort, of course, is that “goat” is an acronym for “greatest of all time.”  So, relevant or not, names do have meanings and can provide a lifetime of notoriety.   Most of us just hope our names aren’t something that can be made fun of. In…

AlbuquerqueBrunchBuffetClosed in 2026Gone But Not ForgottenMexicanNew Mexico

Los Felix – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno12:01 AM

As we strode into Los Felix on a windy Saturday in May, we espied a very attractive young lady pointing an extendable selfie stick at her face as she spoke a thousand words a minute.  “Great,” we figured “another self-absorbed Gen Xer sharing the mundane details of her day on social media.”  Boy were we wrong.  That young lady turned out to be Gaby Camez, a social media influencer who posts restaurant reviews on Facebook.  Gaby’s site, Comiendo Rico en Albuquerque, is a celebration of the Duke City’s Mexican restaurants. Even if you’re not fortunate enough to speak and understand Spanish, you’ll love her site, especially the enthusiasm and respect with which she treats a restaurant’s bounty.   When we got…

AlbuquerqueAmericanNew Mexico

Hollow Point Cuisine – Albuquerque, New Mexico (REDESIGNATED)

Gil Garduno12:01 AM

NOTE:  This review is no longer accurate.   According to The Bite: In other distillery news, >Hollow Spirits is moving into the building vacated by Bosque Brewing’s Heights Public House. The third-largest distillery in the state, Hollow Spirits has switched gears more than once with their original downtown Albuquerque location, which now operates strictly as a production facility and events space. Their new spot in the Heights will be open to the public, with a 5,000-foot patio in addition to indoor space, but no reports yet on what will be coming out of the kitchen. In every profession–from teachers to NFL players–some people exhibit qualities of greatness far beyond their peers. They seem to have been born to excel at what they do,…

AmericanMadridNew MexicoNew Mexico Culinary Treasures TrailNew Mexico Green Chile Cheeseburger Trail: 2011Rating: Excellent

The Mine Shaft Tavern – Madrid, New Mexico

Gil Garduno12:01 AM

“You load sixteen tons and what do you get? Another day older and deeper in debt. St. Peter, don’t you call me cause I can’t go. I owe my soul to the company store.” Those immortal lyrics, hauntingly performed by crooner Tennessee Ernie Ford describe with a poignant reality, the plight of the American miner even onto the 20th century. By payday, which came at month’s end, miners did indeed owe their souls to the company–for the company house in which they were living, for groceries to feed their families, for doctor bills and even for the tools they used to mine. They were paid in scrip which could only be spent at the company store, leaving them no choice…

Dog FriendlyItalianNew MexicoPizzaRating: OutstandingRio Rancho

M’tucci’s Moderno – Rio Rancho, New Mexico

Gil Garduno4:23 PM

“If I can make it there, I’ll make it anywhere It’s up to you, New York, New York <” ~Frank Sinatra Jeff Spiegel, the much-missed managing partner of the insanely popular M’tucci’s family of restaurants once described flagship restaurant M’tucci’s Italian Restaurant (previously M’tucci’s Kitchina) as “as good as anything we did in New York City.” That is really saying something considering over the course of 23 years, Jeff and his wife, life and business partner Katie Gardner owned and operated eleven restaurants in The Big Apple. Those eclectic eleven were highly regarded dining establishments, earning praise and acclaim from the dining public and media alike. One, The West End Bar & Grill, was a legendary Columbia University institution and…

AlbuquerqueItalianNew Mexico

Trombino’s Bistro Italiano – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Gil Garduno12:15 AM

One commonality among conservatives and liberals is an unwaivering belief that “their side” is right and the other side is pretty stupid.  Idealogues on both sides wonder how the other side can be so wrong in their thinking. They both wonder why people on the other side refuse to listen to reason and to truths that are so obvious.  On a bilateral basis, both sides stubbornly hold to their beliefs, refusing to concede any merit to any matter contrary to their own.  Partisan affiliations get tied up in personal identities.  Any attack on our strongly held beliefs is a personal attack on us…and our brains are built to protect the self. When our personal convictions and beliefs are attacked, we…

AlbuquerqueAmericanDog FriendlyIndianNew MexicoRating: Very Good

Marigold Cafe – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Gil Garduno12:01 AM

It’s not all parents who can give birth to two children in a six week period, but that’s precisely what Harrison and Violet did.  In early October, 2019, they welcomed into the world a beautiful bundle of love they christened Jasmine.  Just before Thanksgiving six weeks later, they greeted their second “baby” when Marigold Cafe opened its doors in the Journal Center area retail space which also houses Restoration Pizza and Cabela’s.  Along with Torinos @ Home, these two bookend restaurants just may make the Journal Center area a dinnertime dining destination instead of just two other restaurants serving the burgeoning area’s lunch crowd. The Marigold Cafe is a breath of fresh air, introducing the Duke City to a heretofore…

AlbuquerqueBreakfastNew MexicanRating: Very Good

Monroe’s New Mexican Food – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Gil Garduno2:38 AM

If I’ve learned anything from dining at Monroe’s, it’s that I shouldn’t leave the restaurant with any regrets.  Invariably what I end up regretting most often is that I didn’t have the green chile cheeseburger, one of the very best in town, if not the Land of Enchantment.  It’s a green chile cheeseburger so good that I’ll order it during three consecutive visits before ordering anything else on the menu–and when I don’t order it, I lament not having had my ardor quelled by its utter deliciousness. Some may question how a restaurant with such an “Anglicized” appellation as Monroe’s can possibly proffer such an enchanting green chile cheeseburger, much less any other  excellent New Mexican cuisine.  Frankly, it could…

AlbuquerqueBakeryBreakfastJewishNew MexicoRating: Excellent

Horizon Bagels & Cafe – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Gil Garduno10:39 AM

The furthest thing you can see when you stare out into the sky––the line where the sky meets the earth––is called the horizon.  Now, contemplate the faraway rainbow when it appears on the horizon.  The rainbow is one of the most inspiring displays in nature–the spectacular, high-arching display of colors that stretches across the horizon at the tail end of a rainstorm. This prototypical display of  the colors of the ultraviolet spectrum (red, orange, yellow, green, indigo, violet) is brought on by sunlight refracting, reflecting, and dispersing as it passes through raindrops.  It’s magical!  No wonder fortune –a pot of gold–and good luck are often attributed to the mysterious arching rainbow. Now study the bagel.  If you slice it in…

CajunDog FriendlyNew MexicoRating: ExcellentRio RanchoSoul FoodSouthern

K’Lynn’s Cuisine – Rio Rancho, New Mexico

Gil Garduno5:29 PM

Before permanent signage was mounted, a tethered banner in front of K’Lynn’s Southern & Cajun Fusion in Rio Rancho listed a few of the delicious treasures available in the tiny restaurant: “catfish, BBQ, gumbo, po boys, jerk chicken, carne adovada fries & more!” Yeah, we did a double-take, too. One of those items just seemed a bit out-of-place? If you’re thinking “carne adovada fries” don’t belong on the list because they’re not Soul food, you’d be wrong. Carne adovada fries definitely belong on the list. So does jerk chicken which, by most conventional definitions, isn’t soul food either. The one item we thought to be out-of-place was “& more.” I mean what more could you possibly want listed on the…