Tag: Outdoor Patio

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Ex Novo Brewing Co. – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Gil Garduno12:01 AM

After years of design and construction, Ex Novo new taproom and restaurant opened its doors in July, 2024.  The 11,500-square-foot edifice is broken into two levels.  On the first level, you’ll find  the restaurant, kitchen, taproom, indoor seating and a large patio.  A full-service bar with food service can be found upstairs in the spectacular mezzanine.  A large outdoor patio accommodates one-hundred guests and will eventually provide live music.   An adjacent  cafe and deli called Sammy’s Cafe & Deli.opened in October, 2024. Sammie’s offers an all-day breakfast menu as well as some of the most sought-after sandwiches imaginable (a pastrami reuben, banh mi, Italian, etc.) Brought in to lead Ex Novo during its founding was Marc Quiñones, one of the…

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Villa Myriam Coffee Roastery – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Gil Garduno12:01 AM

Because of coffee’s olfactory-arousing properties and nuanced depth of flavors, it has the unique ability to evoke personal memories that transport java junkies to better times.  Every satisfying and stimulating sip of coffee relocates me to my Grandma Andreita’s kitchen table where I learned to love coffee brewed on her old wood stove.  For brothers David and Juan Certain, the aromas return them to Colombia where their grandfather founded Villa Myriam in 1961.   The brothers spent much of their childhood on the fields of their grandfather’s coffee plantation where they learned which coffee beans were the best. In 1999, Juan and David migrated to the US as political refugees during the hard times of violence in Colombia. After things settled,…

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Rio Grande Social – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Gil Garduno12:01 AM

When Lisa Wong, my friend and former colleague at Intel,  first cast her eyes on the Rio Grande, she couldn’t believe what she was seeing.  For years, she has captained dragon boat racing teams as they paddle the mighty Willamette River which is 40 feet deep and varies in width from 600 to 1,900 feet.  Though some 1,700 miles shorter than the Rio Grande, the 187-mile long Willamette dwarfs the Rio Grande.  There’s no way a dragon boat (forty feet long with seating for twenty paddlers) race could take place on the murky Rio Grande.  Never mind that in the 1990s one of Albuquerque’s most highly regarded restaurant was called the Rio Grande Yacht Club.  Our pathetically water-poor Rio Grande…

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Zacatlán – Santa Fe, New Mexico

Gil Garduno12:01 AM

As a naive and impressionable child with a vivid imagination, my most frightening weekly ordeal was walking home from Catechism, especially when teachings centered around the devil and his demons. For some reason we weren’t taught about a loving God. Instead it was drilled into us that if we’re not “good” we’d go to Hell.  Strangely such concepts as forgiveness and goodness were described rather abstractly while the devil (undoubtedly a progenitor of today’s elected officials) and sin were made real enough to traumatize us all.  The devil was everywhere waiting to ensnare us into sin and drag us (wailing and gnashing our teeth) into Hell. Walking home at twilight after another fire and brimstone lesson made me long for…

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Bawarchi Indian Cuisine – Albuquerque, New Mexico (REBRANDED)

Gil Garduno12:01 AM

NOTE: Although Bawarchi quickly earned praise and acclaim from the public and the media alike, corporate support was lacking.  Bawarchi, a burgeoning chain with locations in 23 states, seemed more interested in expanding across the fruited plain than it did in supporting its local affiliate.  Within three years, the Khan family had rebranded its name to “Royal Hyderabad.”  It’s not only the name that changed.  New recipes were developed, some items were dropped from the menu and other items were added.  In November, 2025, Royal Hyderabad launched its second location, this time on Albuquerque’s ever-expanding west side.  The new restaurant is a 4,000-square-foot space that can accommodate 110 people.  Please visit my review of Royal Hyderabad for more information. When the…

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Rustico Italian Kitchen – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno12:01 AM

What does it say about a restaurant when it runs out of food?  Nine times out of ten, you’d probably say it’s either brand new and doesn’t yet have a feel for its traffic volume or their inventory management just isn’t very good.  Our inaugural visit to Rustico Italian Kitchen on a bright Sunday morning introduced us to another reason.  The restaurant was so busy the previous night that diners polished off everything on the menu save for pizza and salad.  For denizens of Albuquerque’s far northeast heights, that’s actually reason for celebration.  It means outstanding Italian food has finally made a triumphant return to this quadrant of the city. Not that many years ago, I lamented that with the…

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Indigo Crow Cafe – Corrales, New Mexico

Gil Garduno11:55 PM

Now I lay myself down to sleep I pray oh lord my soul to keep Cause if I should die before I wake I hope up in Heaven they’ve got lobster and steak It’s a sin if Heaven ain’t got an Indigo Crow Best food down here up there they’ve gotta know. A Sin if Heaven ain’t got an Indigo Crow But if they don’t then why the hell should I go. Now I’ve tried every joint around here I’ve had green chile stew, I’ve had had my root beer But when I want to treat my taste buds right I know this place is drop-dead tight It’s a sin if Heaven ain’t got an Indigo Crow Best food down…