Tag: Chicken Fried Chicken

AmericanBurgersClosed in 2025Gone But Not ForgottenNew MexicoRio Rancho

Upscale Rio – Rio Rancho, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno12:01 AM

NOTE:  Upscale Rio shuttered its doors for good on 4 December 2025. My friend Schuyler used to joke that every meal we enjoyed together was “upscale” because “up” was the direction his scale climbed when we finished our marathon meals.  We were quite the trenchermen in our youth, bona fide threats to any all-you-can-eat buffet in town.  Back then–as impoverished junior noncommissioned officers in the Air Force–ten dollar meals were near the upper end of we could afford with an occasional fifteen dollar splurge.  Back then, some thirty years ago, you could get quite a bit of food for ten dollars.  Fast forward a few decades and the term “upscale” has a different meaning for both of us.  We have…

AlbuquerqueChickenDog FriendlyNew Mexico

Chile Chicken Nashville Hot Chicken – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Gil Garduno12:01 AM

My brother Mario–seven years younger, much better looking and quite a bit smarter–and I have shared many memorable firsts. There was the time I taught him how to drive on our dad’s 1965 standard transmission Chevrolet pickup truck.  He was a quick study, soon terrifying our grandmother with drifting skills Formula D drivers would envy.  I took him to his first championship wrestling match at Albuquerque’s Civic Auditorium where we watched “Rapid” Ricky Romero dispatch “Yellow Belly” Robley.  Mario would go on to similarly dominate high school wrestling opponents (though unlike Robley, he didn’t pull “foreign objects” from his trunks with which to beat his opponents).  Already in our grizzled 30s, we once beat two much younger (and ostensibly more…

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66 Diner – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Gil Garduno3:56 AM

Known as “America’s Highway” and celebrated by author John Steinbeck as the “Mother Road,” the legendary Route 66 meandered across 2,448 miles of the fruited plain, crossing three time zones and eight states as it traversed from Chicago to Los Angeles. For many—especially destitute sharecroppers fleeing Oklahoma’s devastating Dust Bowl—Route 66 held the promise of a better life. For others, Route 66 brought a sense of connectedness with parts of America previously considered difficult to reach. For them, Route 66 engendered a frontier spirit of adventure, greatly expanding their vacation options and travel opportunities. For hundreds of communities strewn along the two-lane blacktop, Route 66 was also an engine of economic prosperity, creating tremendous opportunities for entrepreneurs large and small.…

Bar & GrillNew MexicoRio Rancho

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

Gil Garduno1:36 PM

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 crammed into this popular Irish themed pub.  Frequented as much (if not more) for its quality cuisine as for its libations, this pleasant pub is renowned among foodies for its desserts, Irish entrees and a chef staff’s willingness to depart from conventional pub foods into the realm of gourmet cuisine of various ethnicities. Serving the City of Vision since 1996, O’Hare’s has survived an onslaught of interlopers in a very competitive  market.  One of the reasons for its success is continuity.  Founders Michael and Diana…