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Albuquerque American Breakfast New Mexican New Mexico Rating: Very Good

Milly’s Restaurant – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Gil GardunoMarch 15, 2023April 5, 202611:28 AM

Until rather recently, if there was a wide diversity of opinion about Albuquerque’s restaurant scene, it wasn’t widely shared. Albuquerque’s two daily periodicals, the Albuquerque Journal and the Albuquerque Tribune as well as a number of alternative publications published weekly restaurant reviews, but opinions and observations expressed therein were rather one-sided. It wasn’t until about 2008 that crowd-sourced restaurant reviews really took off in the Duke City. Published in such online mediums as TripAdvisor (founded in 2000), Yelp (launched in 2004) and Urbanspoon (debuted in 2006), crowd-sourced review venues gave everyone an opportunity to become a “critic.” More than ever before “Joe and Jane Diner” had license to express rather colorful (sometimes bordering on libel) versions of their truth. One of the predictable outcomes of this open, honest and direct culture became the wide swath of differing opinions. This illustrated how different people can have distinctly different perceptions—each a snapshot of time–of their experience at a restaurant. Reviews for some restaurants run the gamut with some reviewers extolling every aspect of their visit as “fabulous” while others lambaste every facet of their experience. It’s almost as if two different restaurants are being reviewed. The differences are sometimes so very pronounced…

Albuquerque American Better Call Saul Breakfast New Mexico Culinary Treasures Trail Rating: Very Good Travel Channel Eats New Mexico

K&I Diner – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Gil GardunoJuly 16, 2022April 5, 20261:30 AM

In 1960, Albuquerque’s population reached 201,189, more than doubling the city’s tally from the 1950 census. The start of a new decade began an era of expansion, a construction boom in which the burgeoning city began experiencing unprecedented growth. A proliferation of shopping centers was built to serve new neighborhoods. Albuquerque was not yet overrun by horrendous, copycat chain restaurants. Family owned and operated mom-and-pop dining establishments–like the K&I Diner–were (and still are) your best bet for a great meal. 1960 (March 2nd to be exact) was also the year in which Irene Warner opened Grandma’s K&I Diner (named for her daughter Kay Hess and herself) in the heart of Albuquerque’s industrial district in the far South Valley. She ran the eatery with her family for 39 years until her death at age 82 in 1999. The matronly Irene was a fixture at her restaurant, a kind and gentle woman who made everyone welcome at her restaurant home. With a pronounced Southern drawl, she and her family kept things lively, often addressing their faithful patrons by “honey” or “sugar.” Kay passed away in 2018. The restaurant has undergone several ownership changes since Grandma Warner passed away, but other than some…

Albuquerque Closed in 2022 Gone But Not Forgotten New Mexico Rating: Excellent Southern

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

Gil GardunoDecember 5, 2021March 31, 20265:04 PM

My Air Force friend and colleague Al Garcia once shared one of those amusing anecdotes that will leave your head shaking in disbelief even as you’re practically rolling on the floor with laughter. According to Al who grew up in the Socorro area, his parents had to make a daylong trip to the big city (Albuquerque), leaving him and his sister at home to finish their chores. At around lunchtime, he and his sister got hungry and decided to prepare some rice. Never having cooked rice before, they poured an entire bag of rice into a pot, added water and turned the stove on high. In a few minutes, rice began spilling out over the pot like lava flowing from a volcano. Cooked rice covered the kitchen floor. Not wanting to anger their parents, Al and his sister decided to get rid of the evidence. They scooped up all the rice and fed it to their chickens. The chickens gorged themselves on the all-you-can-eat feast of rice, eating so much that they (and this is the part I found hard to believe) burst, fowl feathers exploding all over the yard. When their parents got home, Al and his sister…