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AlbuquerqueBreakfastClosed in 2022Gone But Not ForgottenNew MexicanNew Mexico

Rutilio’s New Mexican Foods – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno5:04 PM

Although its nickname may be “The Hub City,” Belen actually translates from Spanish to “Bethlehem,” which itself is a Hebrew word for “House of Bread.” Meander through the city and it’s not the aroma of freshly baked bread that will waft toward you. During  autumn, hazy smoke plumes drift upward from rotating steel-meshed drums, alerting your nostrils to the the smoky-sweet-pungent perfume of green chiles being roasted. Much of that chile is grown in nearby farms throughout Valencia County. At any other time of year, it’s the fragrant bouquet of red and green chiles being simmered on restaurant and home…

AlbuquerqueNew MexicanNew MexicoRating: Very Good

Duran’s Station – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Gil Garduno2:28 PM

Homer Simpson: “Five-alarm chili, eh? (Takes a bite) One…two…Hey, what’s the big idea?” Ned Flanders: “Oh, I admit it. It’s only two alarm, two and a half, tops! I just wanted to be a big man in front of the kids.” One-alarm, two-alarm, three-alarm…since the 1850s, American fire departments have relied on alarm systems to alert firefighters to the severity of a fire and the staff required to battle the conflagration. Typically the higher the number of alarms, the more severe the fire and the greater the complement of firefighters required to fight it though the precise meaning of an…

AlbuquerqueBurgersNew MexicanNew MexicoRating: Good

Hurricane’s Cafe – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Gil Garduno8:02 PM

“What is it with you New Mexicans and your fascination for natural disasters?” my Maryland transplanted friend Jessie Miller once asked me. When I inquired as to what he was talking about, he elaborated that two of his favorite Duke City restaurants are named for natural disasters. “Natural disasters,” I asked. “I don’t know of any restaurants named “Forest Fire” or “Drought,” the only New Mexico occurring natural disasters that came immediately to mind. He laughed, “what’s ironic about the restaurants I have in mind is that they’re named for hurricanes and twisters, two natural disasters that don’t occur in…

AlbuquerqueAsianNew MexicoRating: ExcellentVietnamese

Viet’s Pho – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Gil Garduno12:59 PM

“”Vietnam. It grabs you and doesn’t let you go. Once you love it, you love it forever.” ~ Anthony Bourdain Most of us have never been to Vietnam. It’s possible, maybe likely, that most of us will never make it to Vietnam…at least not in a corporeal state. That’s an important distinction because for years, we’ve already been visiting Vietnam. We’ve been magically transported to Vietnam every time Anthony Bourdain visited. Bourdain had the rare ability to develop intimate connections with the cultures and people he encountered in his travels then translate those connections into expressive and relatable narratives. He…

2025 James Beard Foundation "Best Chef - Southwest" SemifinalistClosed in 2025Dog FriendlyFine DiningGone But Not ForgottenItalianNew MexicoSanta Fe

Sassella – Santa Fe, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno12:01 AM

In Cold Tuscan Stone, the first in a series of spellbinding mysteries set in Italy, author David P. Wagner did such a magnificent job in developing relatable characters and creating a sense of place that I felt myself transported to the world of Rick Montoya, the affable protagonist in David’s series.  Through David’s vivid imagery, I could almost taste, smell and experience la dolce vita of the Italian countryside.  I laughed with delightful voyeurism at the bumpkinly naivete of Herb and Shirley, an American couple who came to Italy to find an Italian chef for a restaurant they planned to…

Brewery-PubColoradoDog FriendlyIrishRating: N/R (Not Rated)United States

Shamrock Brewing Co. – Pueblo, Colorado

Gil Garduno1:46 PM

When my friend David Wagner, author of the spell-binding Rick Montoya Italian mysteries, invited us to dinner at the Shamrock Brewing Co. in his hometown of Pueblo, Colorado, I quickly leapt to the conclusion that Shamrock just might be the inspiration for O’Shea’s Irish Pub, the favorite gathering spot for Rick Montoya and other English-speaking expats living in Rome.  I pictured “a decor that could best be described as mid-century modern, that century being the seventeenth” with wood being the dominant feature.  My picture included a “professional tavern owner” with an appropriated name, maybe something like Guido Shamrock, would preside…

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Los Primos Mexican Grill – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno2:29 PM

When you’re young and dumb and have an inflated sense of invisibility, you commit some youthful indiscretions that often evoke pangs of regret and remorse during your wizened years.  Invariably your reflections prompt the question “could I really have been that stupid?.”  Sometimes, however, those indiscretions are mischievous and harmless, prompting pleasant memories, maybe even laughter.   Indiscretions of the latter type invariably involved my favorite primos Edward and Lawrence.  When my primos visited us in Peñasco, all their Duke City slickness and urban sophistication went out the window and they became rural ruffians like us. One of my favorite…

AlbuquerqueBurgersMexicanNew MexicoRating: Good

Caveman Burgers – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Gil Garduno5:25 PM

“It’s so easy, even a caveman can…find it.” The Geico commercial depicting metrosexualized troglodytes living in contemporary America came to mind when I couldn’t find CaveMan Burgers on Central Avenue. While your typical caveman about town would probably have googled the restaurant’s address, this homo-dumbassicus took for granted that when KRQE reported CaveMan Burgers was “on Central near Coors,” it was in immediate proximity to Coors, not blocks away. I also took for granted that there would be clear signage, if not a prominent storefront, pointing out exactly where this primitive-themed purveyor of prodigious burgers is located. Thankfully serendipity won…

AlbuquerqueColombianDog FriendlyNew MexicoRating: Very Good

Ajiaco Colombian Bistro – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Gil Garduno2:37 PM

If your perception of Colombia is of a nation beleaguered with drugs, terrorism and violence, you may just have to recalibrate your thinking. In 2014, for the second consecutive year, a WIN-Gallup poll conducted in 65 countries revealed that Colombia earned the distinction of being the world’s happiest country. Known as the “Barometer of Happiness and Hope,” the survey reported that of 1,012 Colombian respondents, 86 percent consider themselves “happy” while only 2 percent report themselves as “unhappy.” The United States, by the way, ranked as only the 31st happiest nation surveyed. So what could possibly account for Colombia’s surprisingly…

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The Kitchen by 135 Degrees – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno10:40 AM

Note from The Kitchen by 135 Degrees Facebook Page: 12 December 2019 : The Kitchen by 135 Degrees will be closing to the public to focus on catering and private events at our location. We are very grateful to all of you who supported us this past year. Once described as the “enfant terrible of the gastronomic scene,” curmudgeonly English food critic Jay Rayner pondered “Why would anyone want to take a good piece of meat and cook it until it has the texture of shoe leather, but none of the utility? Why would they want to put something in…

AlbuquerqueAmericanBar & GrillBrewery-PubClosed in 2020Dog FriendlyGone But Not ForgottenNew Mexico

1933 Brewing Co. – Rio Rancho, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno8:43 PM

“Why don’t they pass a constitutional amendment prohibiting anybody from learning anything? If it works as well as prohibition did, in five years Americans would be the smartest race of people on Earth.” ~Will Rogers “I’ll drink to that.”  Such was the rampant sentiment with which Americans welcomed the repeal of the notorious 18th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which had prohibited “the manufacture, sale, or transportation of intoxicating liquors…”  For more than a decade Prohibition had not only wrought dramatic increases in alcoholism and crime, it had created a lucrative black market for liquor.  Gangsters such as Al Capone…