Sopaipillas Archives - Gil's Thrilling (And Filling) Blog

Albuquerque Breakfast Breakfast Burritos Mexican New Mexican New Mexico Rating: Outstanding

La Sierra New Mexican Restaurant – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Gil GardunoJune 27, 2026July 1, 202612:01 AM

“I eat uno, dos, tres, quatro burritos Pretty soon I can’t fit in my Speedos Well, I hope they feed us lots of chicken fajitas And a pitcher of margaritas” ~Taco Grande by Weird Al Yankovic While perusing the slogans–One Bite And You’re Hooked; Cooked Slow, Served Hot, Loved Fast; Hot Chile makes Everything Better” on the windows of La Sierra, I half expected to see lyrics from the “Weird “Al Yankovic song “Taco Grande” (a parody of the song “Rico Suave”). What I didn’t expect was for La Sierra to live up to its self-aggrandizing hype. Of course, diners…

Albuquerque New Mexican Rating: Good

Los Cuates – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Gil GardunoJune 9, 2026June 10, 20263:18 AM

Of the five variations of twins that occur commonly throughout the world, the most common fraternal (non-identical) occurrence is male-female twins which transpire in about 40% of all twins born. Fraternal twins may share up to 50% of their genes and generally are no more similar or dissimilar than any other two siblings. Although technically not twins because they were “born” four years apart, the Duke City’s most famous twins are the Los Cuates restaurants (cuates being the Spanish word for twins), named for Antoinette and Marcus, the fraternal male-female twins of founder Frank R. Barela, an inspiration for all…

Corrales Dog Friendly New Mexican New Mexico Rating: Very Good

Perea’s Tijuana Bar & Restaurant – Corrales, New Mexico

Gil GardunoFebruary 27, 2026April 5, 202612:36 PM

The curious appellation “Tijuana Bar” dates back to the 1920s when the 18th amendment to the Constitution established Prohibition in the United States during the period 1920 to 1933. Because Prohibition forbade the sale of alcoholic beverages, many Americans got their alcohol illegally or they went to Mexico. Tijuana was a popular vacation and honeymoon destination and it happens to be where Teofilo C. Perea, Sr. and his bride honeymooned in the 1920s. The newlyweds visited a bar called the “Tijuana Bar” and decided then and there to use that name should they ever open a bar. Bureaucracy being what…

New Mexican New Mexico New Mexico Culinary Treasures Trail Rating: Very Good

La Posta De Mesilla – Mesilla, New Mexico

Gil GardunoAugust 3, 2025April 5, 202612:27 AM

If only walls could talk, you’d want the adobe brick walls at La Posta (The Inn) to recount their impressions of the veritable “who’s who” of Western history who once sought shelter within its fortified walls. You’d want those walls to reveal their thoughts of legendary outlaw Billy the Kid who hung out at La Posta on his road to notoriety. You’d want those walls to tell you about the steely presence of General Douglas MacArthur, who commanded Allied forces in the Pacific Theater during World War II. You’d want those walls to share their account of Generalissimo Pancho Villa,…

Albuquerque Breakfast Burritos New Mexican New Mexico Rating: Very Good

Papa Felipe’s Mexican Restaurant – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Gil GardunoMarch 20, 2025May 1, 20265:24 PM

In 2009, James Beard Award-winning food journalists Jane and Michael Stern published a terrific tome entitled 500 Things to Eat Before It’s Too Late. Despite the ominous (some might say fatalistic) name, the book is actually a celebration of the best dishes that are unique to this country. The Sterns, who have been focusing on quirky All-American food haunts since 1977, describe in delicious detail, the best dishes proffered at roadside stands, cafes, street carts throughout the fruited plain. In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, Michael Stern was asked if the inclusion of the words “too late” in…

2024 James Beard Foundation "Best Chef - Southwest" Semifinalist Breakfast Burritos James Beard Foundation (JBF) Award Nominees & Winners New Mexican New Mexico New Mexico Culinary Treasures Trail Rating: Excellent

Chope’s – La Mesa, New Mexico

Gil GardunoMarch 9, 2025May 1, 20264:00 PM

During my Kim’s inaugural visit shortly after we retired from the Air Force in 1995, we ran into a former Las Cruces resident now living in the nation’s capital. His near teary-eyed testimony about how much he missed Chope’s was more powerful than a Sunday sermon. When he kissed the hallowed ground in front of Chope’s, we knew he meant it. An elderly gentleman recounted the time Chope’s salsa was so hot it made him hiccup for three days. A middle-aged woman from Las Cruces rhapsodized about Chope’s chile rellenos, her testimony practically eliciting involuntary salivation in the impromptu audience…

Albuquerque Breakfast New Mexican Rating: Very Good

Monroe’s New Mexican Food – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Gil GardunoJuly 19, 2024April 3, 20262:38 AM

If I’ve learned anything from dining at Monroe’s, it’s that I shouldn’t leave the restaurant with any regrets. Invariably what I end up regretting most often is that I didn’t have the green chile cheeseburger, one of the very best in town, if not the Land of Enchantment. It’s a green chile cheeseburger so good that I’ll order it during three consecutive visits before ordering anything else on the menu–and when I don’t order it, I lament not having had my ardor quelled by its utter deliciousness. Some may question how a restaurant with such an “Anglicized” appellation as Monroe’s…

Breakfast Burritos New Mexican New Mexico New Mexico Green Chile Cheeseburger Trail: 2011 Rating: Excellent

Jerry’s Cafe – Gallup, New Mexico

Gil GardunoJuly 1, 2024May 1, 20262:31 AM

The Land of Enchantment is bisected north to south by the murky and mucky Rio Grande which meanders some 700 miles through the state. Throughout the millennia, the fourth longest river in America has been the often tenuous lifeline upon which New Mexico’s citizenry has relied for sustenance and for recreation. Its precious waters are multifarious in their use–from human and animal consumption to the sustainment of agricultural systems and so much more. Depleted over time by human dependence and a perpetual drought condition, it is nonetheless a linchpin for New Mexico’s future even as demand for its resources increases…

Las Cruces New Mexican New Mexico New Mexico Culinary Treasures Trail Rating: Outstanding

NOPALITO RESTAURANT – Las Cruces, New Mexico

Gil GardunoFebruary 27, 2023April 5, 202612:01 AM

Growing up in rural Northern New Mexico, my siblings and I thought all Mexican food was the same–the way my mom, grandmothers and aunts prepared it (which is to say it was outstanding). At the time New Mexicans hadn’t universally acknowledged that the genesis of our cuisine wasn’t solely Mexico. Back then, only the most savvy culinary historians were crediting Spanish and Native ingredients and preparation techniques as differentiating factors that made New Mexican cuisine unique. It also wasn’t that long ago New Mexicans were spelling our official state vegetable as “chili.” No, that’s not an episode of the…

Albuquerque Bernalillo New Mexican New Mexico Rating: Very Good

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

Gil GardunoDecember 10, 2022April 5, 20264:42 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…

American Better Call Saul Breakfast Los Ranchos de Albuquerque New Mexican New Mexico New Mexico Culinary Treasures Trail Rating: Very Good

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

Gil GardunoNovember 15, 2022April 3, 20263:05 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…