Tag: Tacos

AlbuquerqueFood TruckMexicanNew MexicoRating: N/R (Not Rated)Tacos

Taco Bus – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Gil Garduno12:01 AM

Perhaps no mobile conveyance in the Land of Enchantment has ferried as many interesting people on as many colorful journeys as the “Road Hog,” the psychedelic bus which shuttled its passengers from Haight-Ashbury to Woodstock to Llano Largo, New Mexico. The Road Hog’s 1969 arrival in Llano Largo heralded the start of the “summer of the hippie invasion” as The Taos News called it. There unwashed masses settled into a Utopian agrarian commune they called the Hog Farm. The Road Hog with its familiar duck hood ornament and Grateful Dead-style tie-dyed design became a common sight in Peñasco, my childhood home.   Everyone–from sanctimonious adults to horny teenagers–visited the Hog Farm.  The former feigned shock and outrage at the audacity of the hippies frolicking in their altogether.  The latter gaped in astonishment at the nubile nymphs parading a boldness exceeding the rather benign porn of the time.  By road, our home was several miles away from the Hog Farm.  By hiking over the river, through the woods and up the hills behind our home we could easily walk to the Hog Farm.  My friends and I grabbed many an eyeful and a good education in anatomy and biology every time we…

BernalilloMexicanNew MexicoRating: Good

Antojitos Lupe – Bernalillo, New Mexico

Gil Garduno1:24 AM

Gustavo Arellano, the brilliant and hilarious author of Ask a Mexican, an erstwhile syndicated satirical weekly newspaper column published mostly in weekly alternative papers, used to be one of my go-to sources of entertainment and information, particularly regarding our common and beloved Spanish lexicon. His inimitable wit and perspective is amusing and enlightening. Take for example his translation of the word “antojitos.” in an article published in his then parent newspaper, the Orange County Weekly, Arellano observed that “the Spanish menu entry antojitos translates as “appetizers,” but the expression connotes more than mere snacks. It derives from the noun antojo, which describes the cravings unique to pregnant women. Antojitos, then, is “little cravings,” and Latinos know that their before-the-main-meal bites should be so appetizing that expectant females snarl at husbands to seek these delights at ungodly hours.” Expectant mothers snarling! Ungodly hours! Obviously antojitos should be good enough to elicit the type of carnal response usually reserved for something more than special…something great. One could surmise that in a sense, antojitos are the Mexican equivalent of dim sum, but where antojitos translates to “little cravings,” dim sum translates to “a bit of heart” or “heart’s delight.” In either case, Mexicans are…

AlbuquerqueNew MexicanNew MexicoRating: Very Good

Cocina Azul – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Gil Garduno3:37 AM

Ever the lexicologist, my first inclination at seeing the mantra “panza llena, corazon contento” emblazoned on any restaurant’s menu is to ponder the veracity of the audacious claim that filling the belly can leave diners contented. The venerable New Mexican dicho which translates from Spanish to “full belly, happy heart” was, after all, conceived at a time when food wasn’t nearly as plentiful as it is today. Enchanting as it may be, New Mexico is a land which can be harsh and unforgiving as my forefathers found out when, for centuries, they eked out a meager subsistence from an austere terrain amidst the ravages of climatic extremes. As the popularity of buffets serving humongous helpings of pitiful pabulum will attest, any restaurant can accomplish the “full belly” feat, but it takes something special to truly make the heart happy. February, 2010 saw the launch of a New Mexican food restaurant which has been accompanying that feat since its opening. Fittingly Cocina Azul, the “blue kitchen” not only uses the slogan “panza llena, corazon contento” on its menu, its exterior signage invites diners to “get your chile on.” The original Cocina Azul is located in the venerable building that for generations…

AlbuquerqueNew MexicoRating: Good

Garduño’s of Mexico – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Gil Garduno5:32 PM

All too often faulty premises are based on a lack of information or experience. Take for example, British author Simon Majumdar, a recurring judge on the Food Network’s Next Iron Chef competition who once declared “given how abysmal Mexican food is in London, I always thought that it was a cuisine made up of remains from the back of the fridge.” It wasn’t until Majumdar experienced tacos de tripa at a restaurant in Guadalajara, Mexico that he achieved an epiphany and fell in love with Mexican food. He called it a meal that changed his life.   Similarly, many of my colleagues from Arizona perceived Mexican food as lacking personality–a misconception borne from their culinary experiences with Phoenix area Mexican food. When business travel brought them to Albuquerque, we exposed them to New Mexican and Mexican food the way it’s done in the Land of Enchantment. It was love at first taste. The addictive properties of capsaicin-blessed New Mexico chile ensnared their affections and haven’t let them go to this date. The very favorite restaurant of many of them became Garduño’s of Mexico. Over the years, Garduño’s has become the favorite of many of its guests—New Mexicans and visitors alike.…

AlbuquerqueBarbecueFood TruckNew MexicoRating: Very Good

Mighty Mike’s Meats – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Gil Garduno8:01 PM

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 believe, but we uncovered a barbecue restaurant so bad our one visit risked turning us both off barbecue completely (and no, I won’t be reviewing it because if you can’t say anything nice…).  If our lifelong love for barbecue was to be restored, it was really important that our next barbecue experience be absolutely amazing and that it happen quickly (like getting back on the proverbial horse that bucked us off). The very next day, I decided to take my Kim to a food truck whose reputation for stellar smoked meats precedes it.  Thank you, Mighty Mike for living up to the expectations and hype.  Make that thank you for exceeding the expectations and hype! I hate to think that because of one horrendous experience, we might have deprived ourselves of barbecue for a long time, that we might not have experienced what may well be the best barbecue we’ve ever had in Albuquerque.  Thank you, Mighty Mike. Legendary raconteur and television personality Anthony Bourdain…

New MexicanNew MexicoRating: N/R (Not Rated)

Comet II – Santa Rosa, New Mexico

Gil Garduno12:01 AM

Shake the hand that shook the hand of…The Vitamin Kid.  At 87-years young, the Vitamin Kid–once the fastest runner in Guadalupe County–has slowed down just a bit, but he’s still as sharp as a tack, retaining an encyclopedic memory of details that would make a great novel.  Fittingly, a novel–specifically Rudolfo Anaya’s immortal Bless Me Ultima—is where many of us became acquainted with the fleet-footed Vitamin Kid, one of Antonio Márez’s best friends.  While Márez, Ultima’s precocious protagonist, is based loosely on author Rudolfo Anaya, the Vitamin Kid was based on Johnny Martinez who’s also become a legend in the Land of Enchantment.   Johnny Martinez and Rudolfo Anaya were friends and neighbors in Santa Rosa during more innocent times.  Back then you could hang out by the river with your friends all day long, but everyone skeddaled home before it got dark.  Dusk was when La Llorona began her vigil on the riverbanks wailing into the night and searching for children to drag, screaming to a watery grave.  Johnny remains wary of the river to this day.  Mostly, however, his memories of growing up in Santa Rosa are of more pleasant times–of the youthful adventures he shared with lifelong and new…