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March 5, 2021

Gil's Thrilling (And Filling) Blog

Follow the Culinary Ruminations of New Mexico's Sesquipedalian Sybarite. 1209 Restaurant Reviews, More Than 11,700 Visitor Comments…And Counting!

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Italian / Rated 25 / Rio Rancho

JOE’S PASTA HOUSE – Rio Rancho, New Mexico

November 13, 2020November 14, 2020 - 73 Comments.

Once a year, despite my protestations and whining, I agree to take my Kim to the Olive Garden. It’s a deal we have, albeit one that makes me feel like Faust in the Christopher Marlowe …

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Albuquerque / New Mexico / Vietnamese

Saigon City – Albuquerque, New Mexico

November 7, 2020November 12, 2020 - 4 Comments.

My brother in blogging Ryan Cook describes his first day in Vietnam: “So, my first stop in Vietnam was the capital, Hanoi. My honest first impressions… what the hell have I let myself in for. …

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Albuquerque / Dog Friendly / New Mexico / Sandwich / Tacos

Street Food Sensations – Albuquerque, New Mexico

November 6, 2020November 12, 2020 - 1 Comment

Restaurant Insider, which touts itself as “your source for restaurant news, trends, information, tools and conversation” has observed that one of the catalysts most instrumental in driving a changing culinary landscape are Generation Z (anyone …

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Albuquerque / Chicken / Food Truck / New Mexico

Wing It Up – Albuquerque, New Mexico

November 1, 2020November 9, 2020 - 7 Comments.

Bizarre Foods host Andrew Zimmern has nothing on my friend Ralph Guariglio. Zimmern who claims to love such “exotic cuisine” as fermented walrus anus probably wouldn’t touch some of the…er, interesting foods Ralph enjoyed during …

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Albuquerque / Mexican

Taco Cabana – Albuquerque, New Mexico

October 30, 2020November 1, 2020 - 9 Comments.

In 1972, English author Diana Kennedy, the doyenne of Mexican cuisine, penned The Cuisines of Mexico, a Mexican cookbook in which she described Texas’s Mexican food as “inauthentic,” coining the term “Tex-Mex.”  Kennedy essentially drew …

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Albuquerque / Dog Friendly / Mexican / New Mexico / Tacos

Duke City Taco – Albuquerque, New Mexico

October 22, 2020October 28, 2020 - 20 Comments.

Observer: You’ve said that you can do anything with a taco, except put ketchup on it? Danny Trejo: That’s it! [Laughs]. Observer: Do people try to do that? Danny Trejo: Yeah, some people think that …

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Albuquerque / Dog Friendly / Mariscos / Mexican / New Mexico

Sharky’s Fish and Shrimp – Albuquerque, New Mexico

October 18, 2020October 18, 2020 - 13 Comments.

Never mind your tired, your poor or even your huddled masses yearning to breathe free. Carlos Zazveta, the effusive proprietor of Sharky’s Fish & Seafood told us to bring our dogs, our cows and our …

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Albuquerque / Barbecue / Food Truck / New Mexico

Rev’s BBQ – Albuquerque, New Mexico

October 17, 2020October 31, 2020 - 2 Comments.

You might think that the food truck industry is an ultra-competitive dog-eat-dog business in which purveyors aren’t very gracious when discussing fellow food truck operators. Considering how they often jockey for a limited number of …

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Albuquerque / Barbecue / Food Truck / New Mexico / Rated 24

Mighty Mike’s Meats – Albuquerque, New Mexico

October 15, 2020October 15, 2020 - 7 Comments.

Thank you, Mighty Mike! Thank you for restoring our faith in barbecue just one day after my Kim declared “I don’t want to have barbecue for a long time.”  Readers might find it hard to …

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Albuquerque / American / Breakfast / Brunch / Dog Friendly

Cafe Lush – Albuquerque, New Mexico

October 7, 2020October 15, 2020 - 10 Comments.

Urban Dictionary, that oft hilarious, veritable cornucopia of slang, jargon and streetwise lingo, defines “lush” as “someone who drinks a lot.” (Actually, there are several pages of similar definitions for “lush” in the “peoples’ dictionary,” …

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Food Truck / Mexican / New Mexico / Santa Fe

Master Food Truck – Santa Fe, New Mexico

October 6, 2020October 5, 2020 - 4 Comments.

Drive eastward on Airport Road in Santa Fe toward Cerrillos and you just might wonder if you accidentally traipsed into the Twilight Zone and somehow found yourself in Los Angeles.  At the very least, you …

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Breakfast / Cajun / Corrales / Dog Friendly / New Mexico

C3’s Bistro – Corrales, New Mexico

September 30, 2020October 1, 2020 - 24 Comments.

A case could be made that “Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood,” the name of a 1977 hit by Santa Esmeralda, could well be a lament about New Mexican cuisine (in addition to being the background …

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Dog Friendly / Mexican / New Mexico / Rio Rancho

Elotes Del Rancho – Rio Rancho, New Mexico

September 25, 2020January 23, 2021 - 12 Comments.

“Now you’re just being uppity.”  That’s my Kim putting me in my place the second I begin to crow haughtily about some highbrow or nouveau way to prepare something ordinary.  Tandoori salmon pizza…that’s so me.  …

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Albuquerque / Mexican / New Mexico

La Guelaguetza – Albuquerque, New Mexico

September 24, 2020September 26, 2020 - 15 Comments.

“I am tenacious. And I love to eat.  I go into the field and see some delectable things they’re cooking, wild plants perhaps, and think, ‘Oh my God, I have to write about this.’ I …

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Albuquerque / Food Truck / Indian / New Mexico

Tikka Spice Food Truck – Albuquerque, New Mexico

September 19, 2020October 1, 2020 - 4 Comments.

“Fly once more like you did before, Sing a new song chicken tikka!” ~Chiquitita Misheard Lyrics You might think by virtue of my name and then gangling gait, school mates at St. Anthony’s in Penasco …

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Breakfast / Mexican / New Mexico / Rio Rancho

Federico’s Mexican Food – Rio Rancho, New Mexico

September 16, 2020September 29, 2020 - 7 Comments.

in February, 2020, Chef’s Pencil crunched the numbers of Google searches  for ethnic cuisines to determine the most popular ethnic cuisines in America. The two most popular ethnic cuisines were deemed to be Mexican and …

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Dog Friendly / Italian / New Mexico / Pizza

FORGHEDABOUDIT SOUTHWEST ITALIAN – Las Cruces, New Mexico

September 13, 2020September 19, 2020 - 22 Comments.

Genius, it’s oft been said, is ninety-nine-percent perspiration and one-percent inspiration.  Apply that equation to Bob Yacone and you’d be selling him far short.  So would the cliche “giving one-hundred-percent.”  Add a few more hundred …

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Burgers / Dog Friendly / New Mexico

Arrey Cafe – Arrey, New Mexico

September 10, 2020September 12, 2020 - 6 Comments.

About halfway between Truth or Consequences and Hatch on I-25, you may have espied a billboard audaciously proclaiming “world’s finest green chile cheeseburger.”  That billboard has always piqued my curiosity and prompted such questions as …

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Albuquerque / Chinese / Dog Friendly / New Mexico

Noodle Works – Albuquerque, New Mexico

September 5, 2020September 28, 2020 - 1 Comment

“To witness the birth of a noodle is a glorious thing. I have listened, spellbound, as an 85-year-old noodle chef in Beijing told me why the act of making noodles helped him make sense of …

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Albuquerque / Dog Friendly / National Chain / New Mexico / Seafood

Storming Crab – Albuquerque, New Mexico

September 5, 2020September 12, 2020 - 19 Comments.

Archaeologists believe there’s a scientific explanation for contemporary  humankind’s  predilection for seaside vacations and trips to the beach.  Evidence–stone tools used to cut through animal flesh–seems to support the theory that the first humans migrated …

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Dog Friendly / Mexican / New Mexico / Rio Rancho

Cazuela’s Mexican Grill – Rio Rancho, New Mexico

September 4, 2020October 9, 2020 - 15 Comments.

Here’s an interesting bit of Jeopardy level trivia which you might contemplate the next time you dine at this Rio Rancho spot: In the Spanish golden age, a “cazuela” was the gallery located above the …

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Donuts / Santa Fe

Whoo’s Donuts – Santa Fe, New Mexico

August 29, 2020September 1, 2020 - 3 Comments.

When my corporate group had its employees, a high-performing contingent of information technology professionals, take a strengths assessment, the results were contrary to the stereotypes often painted about techno-geeks. None of us, for example, were …

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Food Truck / Mexican / New Mexico / Tacos

Birrieria Y Tacos Alex Tijuana Style – Albuquerque, New Mexico

August 23, 2020September 1, 2020 - 4 Comments.

If you’ve noticed an almost inordinate number of recent visits on this blog to Mexican restaurants, credit much of that to Pati Jinich, ebullient host of the James Beard Award-winning and Emmy nominated PBS series …

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Albuquerque / Mexican / Middle Eastern / New Mexico / Tacos

URBAN COCINA – Albuquerque, New Mexico

August 22, 2020September 14, 2020 - Leave a Comment

if you believe the idea for delivery food started with Domino’s Pizza and its promise of 30-minute delivery or free, you’d be sadly mistaken.  Nor did take-out originate with Chinese restaurants in California and their …

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Albuquerque / Food Truck / Mexican / New Mexico / Tacos

Changos – Albuquerque, New Mexico

August 16, 2020August 23, 2020 - 2 Comments.

Darn that Google! Even though I used very specific Boolean operands to target my search for “Changos” in “Albuquerque,” Google returned results for Changos in Puerto Peñasco, Mexico. It wasn’t until studying the photos for …

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Food Truck / New Mexican / New Mexico

Stuffed Lust Sopaipilla Company – Bernalillo, New Mexico

August 14, 2020August 23, 2020 - 26 Comments.

“Of the seven deadly sins, lust is definitely the pick of the litter.” ~Tom Robbins, Skinny Legs and All “Why,” my Kim wondered aloud “would a food truck call itself Sopaipilla Lust.” Obviously reflecting on …

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American / Bernalillo / Brewery-Pub / Burgers / Dog Friendly / New Mexico

Bosque North Brewery & Taproom – Bernalillo, New Mexico

August 12, 2020August 14, 2020 - 17 Comments.

“Are you going to explain how to pronounce “bosque?,” my Kim asked when she espied me working on this review.  Though her Spanish vocabulary is rather limited, she pronounces the five or six hundred Spanish …

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Albuquerque / Asian / Japanese / New Mexico / Ramen

Oni Noodles – Albuquerque, New Mexico

August 7, 2020August 9, 2020 - 5 Comments.

In retrospect, the monsters and bogeymen who frightened impressionable children of my generation were pretty lame. Perhaps the most lame of them all was Frankenstein, a lumbering behemoth who walked around with his arms outstretched …

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Bar & Grill / New Mexico / Rio Rancho

O’Hare’s Grille & Pub – Rio Rancho, New Mexico

August 6, 2020August 8, 2020 - 3 Comments.

Céad míle fáilte, an Irish greeting meaning “a hundred thousand welcomes” preempts any menu listings at O’Hare’s Grille & Pub. At times, especially during happy hour and before Covid, it seemed a hundred thousand patrons …

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Albuquerque / Chocolate / Closed in 2020 / Gone But Not Forgotten / New Mexico / Specialty

Cocoa Flora – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

July 27, 2020November 18, 2020 - 3 Comments.

In a 1995 episode of Seinfeld fittingly titled “The Switch” Jerry asked his devious friend George Costanza how he could switch from dating Sandy, a dour woman who didn’t laugh to dating her roommate Laura, …

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Albuquerque / New Mexico / Vietnamese

T & T Gas N Mart – Albuquerque, New Mexico

July 24, 2020July 28, 2020 - Leave a Comment

“Eat here and get gas.”  Even in more naive and innocent times, the connotation of that double-entendre wasn’t lost on adults or children, all of whom giggled when they espied the classic sign on the …

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Albuquerque / Hawaiian / New Mexico

Kimo’s Hawaiian BBQ – Albuquerque, New Mexico

July 21, 2020August 4, 2020 - 3 Comments.

For over a quarter century, the most popular section in New Mexico Magazine (the nation’s oldest state magazine, by the way) has been a humorous column entitled “One of Our Fifty is Missing.” The column …

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Albuquerque / Dog Friendly / Mexican / New Mexico

Guaca Guaca Tacos & Beer – Albuquerque, New Mexico

July 18, 2020July 19, 2020 - 2 Comments.

What culinary voluptuaries consider exotic and delicious, timorous eaters might find distasteful and even nauseating. With M.F.K Fisher as their muse, culinary voluptuaries–the truly adventurous diners among us–don’t let themselves be drawn into a vortex …

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Bar & Grill / Dog Friendly / New Mexico / New Mexico Green Chile Cheeseburger Trail: 2009 / Pizza / Rio Rancho

Turtle Mountain Brewing Company – Rio Rancho, New Mexico

July 14, 2020July 16, 2020 - 14 Comments.

The Tewa name “Oku Pin” which translates in English to “Turtle Mountain” has three meanings of significance to the people of Okay Owingeh, one of New Mexico’s great Tewa speaking Northern New Mexico Pueblos. “Oku …

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Albuquerque / Brunch / Dog Friendly / Fine Dining

Vintage 423 – Albuquerque, New Mexico

July 12, 2020July 18, 2020 - 15 Comments.

My friend Bill Resnik, a professional stand-up comedian for more than two decades, performs a bit in which he “translates” Spanish terms for linguistically challenged audiences.  “Paseo del Norte,” for example, translates to “Paseo of …

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Albuquerque / Dog Friendly / Indian / New Mexico / Rated 24

Curry Leaf – Albuquerque, New Mexico

July 11, 2020July 13, 2020 - 19 Comments.

Leonard: Is it racist that I took you to an Indian restaurant? Priya: It’s okay, I like Indian food. Leonard: Or as you probably call it back home, food. ~Big Bang Theory (Season Four, Episode …

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Mama Zahira Foodies – Albuquerque, New Mexico

March 4, 2021March 4, 2021

Red or Green–New Mexico’s Food Scene is on Fire: February, 2021

March 1, 2021March 2, 2021

Bamboo Grill – Albuquerque, New Mexico

February 27, 2021March 4, 2021

S-A Barbecue – Albuquerque, New Mexico

February 22, 2021February 28, 2021

Alicea’s NY Bagels & Subs – Rio Rancho, New Mexico

February 19, 2021March 4, 2021

Ms. Gennie’s House of Chicken – Albuquerque, New Mexico

February 13, 2021February 25, 2021

Ruthie’s Bagels – Albuquerque, New Mexico

February 10, 2021February 20, 2021

Kabab House – Albuquerque, New Mexico

February 9, 2021February 25, 2021

Salty Catch – Albuquerque, New Mexico

February 5, 2021February 12, 2021

Dion’s Pizza – Albuquerque, New Mexico

February 3, 2021February 10, 2021

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

February 1, 2021February 10, 2021

Tako Ten – Albuquerque, New Mexico

January 30, 2021February 12, 2021

Upscale Burgers & Shakes – Rio Rancho, New Mexico

January 27, 2021February 10, 2021

M’Tucci’s Twenty-Five – Albuquerque, New Mexico

January 23, 2021January 29, 2021

Urbano Pasta Kitchen – Albuquerque, New Mexico

January 18, 2021January 22, 2021

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