Tag: Patio

BreakfastBreakfast BurritosFarmingtonNative AmericanNew MexicoRating: Excellent

Juniper Coffee & Eatery – Farmington, New Mexico

Gil Garduno12:01 AM

Before heading off for an overnight stay in Farmington back in February, 2023, I scoured the internet for suggestions on where to have breakfast.  My criteria was simple:  preferably a Navajo owned-and-operated eatery.  Restaurants who spell New Mexico’s official state vegetable “chili” wouldn’t be considered.  Yelp came through on its listing of the ten best restaurants for breakfast in Farmington.  At the very top of that list was Juniper Coffee and Eatery on College Blvd.  Little did I know how enthusiastically and overwhelmingly that choice would be endorsed later by people with whom I shared a dinner table and many laughs.  Serendipity certainly played a role in my breakfast venue of choice. Serendipity also played a role in that the address for the LorAmy’s Valentine’s Dining Experience presented by James Beard Award Finalist Justin Pioche and the address of Juniper Coffee and Eatery were one and the same.  Justin had borrowed the venue from his friends at Juniper for the exclusive one night Valentine’s Day extravaganza.  As the only unaccompanied diner at the event, I had the great privilege and blessing of being seated next to the great chef’s three aunts and one uncle.  When I asked them what Farmington restaurant…

CorralesDog FriendlyNew MexicoPizzaRating: Very Good

Village Pizza – Corrales, New Mexico

Gil Garduno3:48 PM

Research has proven that taste buds are dulled by high altitude and cabin pressure, so as an aircraft climbs, our sense of taste diminishes by as much as 30 percent. That explains why many passengers praise airline food on flights in which meals are actually served. It’s probably not that the food is good; it’s more likely that their sense of taste is diminished. Alas, it’s not solely high altitude and cabin pressure which can diminish the sense of taste. On this blog I’ve catalogued some of those factors: the use of spices (i.e., cumin) that mask the purity, earthiness and richness of red chile; the use of inferior ingredients that can’t mask the lack of quality; the impairing effects of alcohol on the senses of smell and taste; improper preparation time and so forth. One factor I have not touched upon is “too much of a good thing.” At Village Pizza, the pizza buffet  (discontinued since the Cabrona Virus) was so inviting, so tempting, so alluring that you were bound to consume more than you should. In all its glory and splendor, the pizza buffet was as enticing as the sirens of Greek mythology who lured nearby sailors with…

AlbuquerqueAmericanBrewery-PubClosed in 2025Dog FriendlyGone But Not ForgottenNew MexicoTacos

Sobremesa Restaurant & Brewery – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno12:01 AM

In June, 2021, Eater.com published a list of “the 21 Essential Restaurants in Albuquerque.” Unlike so many “clickbait” articles from national publications purporting to tell New Mexicans which restaurants across the Land of Enchantment serve the “best this” and the “best that,” the Eater feature was penned by Justin De La Rosa who actually knows this state very well.  In fact, in 2015 Justin earned a “Local Hero Award” from Edible New Mexico as “best food writer.” If you’re wondering what constitutes an “Essential Restaurant,” Eater’s erstwhile national critic Bill Addison defined the term to mean “indispensable to their neighborhoods, and eventually to their towns and whole regions,” to “ultimately become vital to how we understand ourselves, and others, at the table.”   In other words, restaurants accorded the “essential” designation by Eater are more than among the best restaurants in their town.  They are transcendent presences that feed the soul as well as the stomach. It’s a virtual certainty that Mary & Tito’swould make the list after having been named one of America’s 38 Essential Restaurants in 2018<.  It’s also no surprise that restaurants (Campo at Los Poblanos and Frenchish) helmed by multiple-time James Beard Foundation Chef of the Year…

Diners Drive-Ins and DivesFood Network Eats New MexicoNew MexicanNew MexicoRating: N/R (Not Rated)Taos County

Ranchos Plaza Grill – Ranchos De Taos, New Mexico

Gil Garduno12:01 AM

If you’ve read or studied the history of New Mexico, you’re probably aware that life wasn’t easy for Spanish colonists. As with other efforts to colonize North America, Spanish settlers quickly found themselves insufficiently provisioned for the agrarian lifestyle they sought to establish and maintain. Wholly dependent on water to produce and maintain crops and farmland, they quickly found out rainfall in the desert Southwest was fickle and unpredictable. When winter came, the harsh realities of a poor crop yield set in. Settlers often had to resort to taking the food of their Indian neighbors, often by duplicitous means. Throughout the seventeenth century the Spanish population in New Mexico never exceeded more than 3,000, about one-sixth the number of Pueblo residents.  Clashes between Spanish settlers and soldiers and various Pueblos were largely predicated by the indignities Pueblos suffered at the hands of the Spanish. Then came severe drought, higher than average temperatures and very little rainfall.  Significant crop losses, livestock death and starvation made life tenuous. These conditions were exacerbated by raiding Navajos and Apaches seeking to supplement their own dwindling foodstuffs by preying on other inhabitants of the colony. Ultimately these events contributed to the Pueblo Revolt of 1680…

AlbuquerqueClosed in 2023Dog FriendlyGone But Not ForgottenMexicanNew Mexico

El Cotorro – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno12:01 AM

There’s a scene in the 2006 lucha libre (Mexican professional wrestling) comedy film Nacho Libre in which Nacho’s ectomorphic tag team partner Esqueleto (“the skeleton”) orders two grilled, buttered and chile-dusted elotes (corn-on-the-cob) from a street vendor. Esqueleto graciously attempts to hand one to Nacho who rebuffs the offer, knocks the elotes to the ground and bellows “get that corn out of my face!” That antagonistic act so enraged Esqueleto that he leaped on Nacho’s back and attempted to throw his corpulent partner to the ground. The sight of the two golden elotes tinged with red chile on the ground was funny at the time, however, after consuming the elotes at El Cotorro, we would consider knocking elotes to the ground an act of sacrilege and sheer madness. It’s no wonder Esqueleto was so upset. Sure we’ve had elotes elsewhere…plenty of elotes at a plethora of elsewheres, in fact, but only at El Cotorro have elotes made us swoon in appreciation. El Cotorro, which translates to “the parrot” in English is not what you might expect from a Mexican restaurant of that name. It’s not a restaurant named for the stereotypical squawking “Polly wants a cracker” parrot mascot some kitschy…

AmericanBrewery-PubBurgersClosed in 2025Dog FriendlyGone But Not ForgottenNew MexicoRio Rancho

The Local Brewhouse – Rio Rancho, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno12:01 AM

Before reading any further, the biggest take-away from this review is that the Local Brewhouse serves the best burger in Rio Rancho.  That’s not only what the marquee says.  It’s what City of Vision diners know.  My Kim and I, too.   “Service is horrible”  “The management has to train there employees.”  “Worst service ever! I can’t stress on how bad the service was.”  “Nice views. Lousy service and rude staff.”  “Service sucks. Waited 20mins between beers.”   Those are one-star reviews on Yelp for The Local Brewhouse in Rio Rancho.  At the extreme opposite are five star reviews extolling the service some Yelp reviewers found unacceptable: “Shout out to Rhiannon, our server for friendly, prompt, and efficient service.”  “Had a big gathering and they could not have been more accommodating! Super friendly.”  “The service is the best in the state.”  “5 stars all the way. Great service. Great food. Great beer.” For better or worse, many of us–90% according to Infographics read online reviews before visiting a business and 88% of us trust  those online reviews.  Our quandary as consumers is learning to filter the outliers–the reviewers who accord one-star ratings on Yelp and TripAdvisor for the very same things…

AlbuquerqueClosed in 2024Gone But Not ForgottenSpanishTapas

MAS Tapas Y Vino – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno12:01 AM

From Mas Tapas Y Vino’s Facebook Page: It has been a magnificent run, and we’ve been delighted to serve you. However, the time has come for us to close our doors and reimagine our restaurant. Please stay tuned as we unveil an exciting new concept by Hotel Andaluz. Had Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra written Don Quixote in the 21st century instead of in 1605, the title character’s quest in life might not have been to revive the chivalric virtues and values of adventurous knights. His quests might well have instead taken him on tapas bar-hopping adventures throughout Madrid, Spain. In his edible escapades, he would have fought the incursion into Spanish tapas traditions. Instead of tangling with windmills, he would have squared off against golden arches and a creepy crown-wearing burger mascot. Quixote’s sidekick Sancho Panza would have certainly earned his surname. Madrid, perhaps even more than Ernest Hemingway’s beloved Paris is a “moveable feast.” The practice of chasing after those diverse and delicious little dishes known as “tapas” is called a “tapeo” and no city does tapas bar-hopping as well as Madrid. In Madrid tapeos have achieved near cult status. They are a cultural event, a rite of passage…

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…

AlbuquerqueDog FriendlyHot DogsNew MexicoRating: N/R (Not Rated)Sandwich

Clowndog Hot Dog Parlor – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Gil Garduno11:22 PM

Remember the good old days when the only taboo related to the All American hot dog was the felonious act of adding ketchup.   In the movie “Sudden Impact,”  Clint Eastwood as “Dirty Harry” Callahan declared rather emphatically “Nobody, I mean nobody puts ketchup on a hot dog.”  Barack Obama, the 44th president of the United States was nearly as ardent, asserting that ketchup on a hot dog is “not acceptable past the age of 8.” Not that much later, diehards still consider it a mortal sin to add ketchup to a hot dog.  Nary a dissenting voice, however, is raised at today’s “anything goes” attitude toward hot dog toppings. Well, maybe almost anything goes.  When I shared Clowndog Hot Dog Parlor’s menu with my dear friend Becky Mercuri, author of the The Great American Hot Dog Book, she declared “I’m not averse to different toppings but frankly, I draw the line at spaghettios and fruit loops.”  She’s not kidding when she says she’s not averse to different toppings.  Her magnificent tome includes recipes for about a hundred hot dogs and their toppings from across the fruited plain, recipes she tested herself.  Throughout the process, she found herself “continually amazed…