Tag: Huevos Rancheros

AlbuquerqueAmericanBreakfastBreakfast BurritosBrunchNew MexicoRating: Good

Brekki Brekki – Albuquerque and Rio Rancho, New Mexico

Gil Garduno12:01 AM

Brekki Brekki–To those of us who were around in the mid 70s, those two words might dredge up recollections of the citizens band (CB) radio vernacular.  Maybe even the Chuck Norris movie “Breaker!  Breaker!” with its perfunctory butt-kicking.  Though I pride myself on having a sesquipedalian vocabulary, I had never heard the term “brekki” used  as slang for breakfast” until watching the Irish television series “Jack Taylor.”  My research revealed “brekki” is not an Irish term for breakfast, but is in Iceland.  Yes, Iceland.  Jack Taylor’s backstory didn’t involve a stint in Iceland.  So, where did the Irish detective pick up the term.  Closer to home, why would a Duke City restaurant specializing in breakfast name itself “Brekki Brekki?” Paula, our delightful server didn’t know. She believes the term is Italian for breakfast, but verifiable evidence doesn’t seem to exist on the omniscient internet.  It’s conceivable the restaurant’s name is meant as a mnemonic, a word pattern designed to help people remember it.  At the very least, it’s a cutesy term.  Owner Robert Punya, who also founded and owns Poki Poki Cevicheria seems to like duplicated names.  If you haven’t had the pleasure of meeting Robert, you’re undoubtedly acquainted with…

AlbuquerqueAmericanBreakfastBreakfast BurritosDog FriendlyNew MexicanNew MexicoRating: Excellent

Hello Deli – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Gil Garduno12:01 AM

HELLO DELI (to the tune of Hello Dolly) “Hello Deli, this is Joe, Deli would you please send up a nice corned beef on rye. A box of RITZ, Deli and some Schlitz, Deli Some chopped liver and a sliver of your, apple pie. Turkey Legs, Deli hard boiled eggs, Deli and a plate of those potatoes you french fry, oh Don’t be late, Deli I just can’t wait Deli, Deli without breakfast, I’d just die.” ~ Frank Jacobs (Writer for MAD Magazine) In 2016, BBC Travel lamented the imminent demise of the New York City deli.  “Not the corner markets or bodegas that appear on nearly every New York block,” but “the true New York City delicatessen: the brick and mortar expression of the American immigrant experience, the very culinary soul of the city. “Some 80 years ago, New York City was home to three or four thousand delis. Today, there are less than 24.”  That true New York City delicatessen of which BBC Travel wrote showcased “the food of the Eastern European peasantry – smoked sausages and cured meats, smoked cabbage and offal stews and dark bread, salted fish and boiled dumplings.”  The primary draw to the New York…

AlbuquerqueAmericanBreakfastBreakfast BurritosBrunchCorralesRating: Very Good

Hannah & Nate’s – Albuquerque & Corrales, New Mexico

Gil Garduno2:46 AM

There are just some restaurants at which the stereotypical Ralph Cramden hungry man shouldn’t dine. Hannah & Nate’s might be one of them. It’s not that the food isn’t good. That’s certainly not the case. The troglodytic nature of men is such that we whine and complain when we have to wait more than two minutes for our meals and we become doubly obnoxious when the portions aren’t large enough to feed a small bull elephant. Thankfully, my Kim has been a great civilizing influence on me and I’m able to enjoy restaurants such as Hannah & Nate’s as much as she does. 17 May 2019: Hannah & Nate’s is a home decor and market cafe ideally suited for gentrified ladies with a lot of leisure time on their hands. It’s not a restaurant at which a boorish lout will sit patiently then be satisfied with what he would consider “finger foods.” Take for example the “beef & bleu” sandwich featuring sliced roast beef, caramelized onion and sautéed mushrooms topped with bleu cheese on grilled sourdough. It’s not four inches thick the way such men would want it and the bleu cheese isn’t powerful enough to give us the belch…

AlbuquerqueBernalilloNew MexicanNew MexicoRating: Very Good

Abuelita’s New Mexican Kitchen – Bernalillo and Albuquerque, New Mexico

Gil Garduno4:42 AM

Abuelita–perhaps no word in the vernacular of Spanish Northern New Mexico evokes such veneration, reverence and, for those of us who have lost these heaven-sent treasures, a melancholy ache not even time can erase. The abuelita is the family matriarch, the heart of the extended family and the sagacious matron to whom you go for counsel, consolation and cooking. For generations, New Mexico’s abuelitas have been nurturing their families with the simple foods passed down by their own abuelitas. Before the proliferation of New Mexican restaurants, abuelita’s was where the family congregated–no special occasion was necessary because any time with your abuelita was a special occasion. Dining at Abuelita’s New Mexican Kitchen in Bernalillo or Albuquerque won’t replace dining at your own abuelita’s, but you’re guaranteed a good meal, sizeable portions and genial, attentive service. As at your own abuelita’s home, there’s almost always something going on in the kitchen. Abuelita’s is open for breakfast, lunch and dinner every day but Monday and has been serving Bernalillo since 1984. Photographs honoring abuelitas of local patrons festoon the muted yellows and earth tones of the restaurant’s walls. Fittingly the shirts worn by the wait staff sport the motto “panza llena, corazon…

AmericanBetter Call SaulBreakfastLos Ranchos de AlbuquerqueNew MexicanNew MexicoNew Mexico Culinary Treasures TrailRating: Very Good

El Camino Dining Room – Los Ranchos de Albuquerque, New Mexico

Gil Garduno3:05 PM

Many of us who predate, however slightly, the explosion of institutionalized fast food retain a fondness for the remaining independent family restaurants whose arsenal in the competition for hungry diners consists of reasonable portions of great meals at budget-conscious prices all served by a friendly and accommodating waitsfaff. An Albuquerque restaurant which epitomizes those ideals is the El Camino Dining Room, captured brilliantly above by the fabulous photographer Deanna Nichols. The El Camino was built by Clyde H. Tyler in 1950, five years after the latest “war to end all wars” and 13 years after Route 66 was “straightened” so that it would bypass Santa Fe completely.  Albuquerque was much more innocent back then.  Some might even describe it as a “cow town trying to be a city.”  At the time, 44% of America’s population resided in rural areas and the Duke City’s population was only 96,800. Despite no longer being part of Route 66, one of the city’s busiest thoroughfares was 4th Street on which commerce was burgeoning.  It was the perfect location for an independent family restaurant, far from the cavalcade of Howard Johnson’s type restaurants which grew along the interstates. Similar to Howard Johnson’s which prided itself…

Dog FriendlyIce CreamNew MexicoRating: OutstandingTaos County

Taos Cow – Arroyo Seco, New Mexico

Gil Garduno11:13 AM

As with many foods “invented” before the widespread documentation and dissemination of information, the “origin” of ice cream is in much dispute with several claimants seeking credit.  Several of those origin stories are rather romantic in nature, mired in folklore and legend.  Among the historic people to whom the invention or introduction of ice cream have been incorrectly ascribed are King Solomon, Nero, Catherine de’ Medici, Montezuma and even King Charles II.  These origin stories are early examples of the fake news so prevalent in modern journalism.   Culinary historians agree the progenitor of ice cream as we know it today was based on sweetened water that was iced, ground into little pieces then decorated with various tasting toppings and fruits.  The expensive transportation of ice and snow from often distant mountains to the cities limited the widespread propagation of frozen ice teats.  It took technological advances across the millennia to make ice cream available to the masses. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Americans consume an average of 23 gallons of ice cream each year (so it’s not just President Biden).  Classic vanilla is the most popular flavor under spacious skies, accounting for more than 26 percent of the…

AmericanBakeryBernalilloBreakfastDog FriendlyNew MexicanNew MexicoRating: Very Good

The Range – Bernalillo, New Mexico

Gil Garduno2:43 AM

The phoenix of ancient Egyptian mythology was a sacred firebird of beautiful red and gold plumage said to live for centuries. At the end of its life, the phoenix built itself a nest of cinnamon twigs which it then ignited. Both the phoenix and the nest burned fiercely and were reduced to ashes from which a new phoenix arose. Similarly, the Range Cafe in Bernalillo was claimed by a fiery conflagration only to rise up from the ashes to exceed its former glory to become one of the most popular restaurants in New Mexico. Like the phoenix, the Range is a rare breed–one of the few locally owned and operated (non-chain) restaurants which at any given time (make that, almost all the time) has diners lining up for a seat. That may be because the Range offers the “familiar” in serving comfort foods and local favorites and serves them in the profuse portion sizes American diners love. The original Range debuted in September, 1992 in Bernalillo’s main street, Camino Del Pueblo. The restaurant was an instant success, quickly becoming more than a local favorite. Not quite three years later (on May 30, 1995), the Range went up in smoke–a huge…