{"id":268,"date":"2014-08-07T15:33:30","date_gmt":"2014-08-07T21:33:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nmgastronome.com\/?p=268"},"modified":"2026-03-31T19:14:40","modified_gmt":"2026-04-01T01:14:40","slug":"el-norteno-albuquerque-new-mexico","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nmgastronome.com\/?p=268","title":{"rendered":"El Norte\u00f1o – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"El
El Norte\u00f1o On Montgomery and Wyoming<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

No Mexican restaurant in Albuquerque has a pedigree that approaches that of El Norte\u00f1o, a venerable elder statesperson in the Duke City’s burgeoning and constantly evolving Mexican restaurant scene. El Norte\u00f1o has been pleasing local diners for more than a quarter of a century as evinced by its perennial selection as the city’s “Best Mexican” restaurant. Respondents to the Alibi’s<\/a> annual “best of” poll accorded El Norte\u00f1o that coveted accolade against increasingly more formidable competition every year for seven consecutive years.<\/span><\/p>\n

Launched in 1986 by Leo and Martha Nu\u00f1ez, El Norte\u00f1o is an Albuquerque institution, a Mexican restaurant which can’t be pigeonholed for serving the cuisine of one Mexican state or another. That’s because El Norte\u00f1o offers traditional Mexican specialties while staying true to the Land of Enchantment, using only peppers grown in New Mexico. In 1993, Monica Manoochehri and her husband Kamran took over the restaurant, maintaining the exceptional standards established by her parents.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"A
Three salsas and chips at El Norteno<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

As consistently excellent as it has been, El Norte\u00f1o became one of those restaurants even its most loyal patrons may have begun to take for granted. We all knew it was in a class by itself with incomparable cuisine; warm, friendly service and a homey ambiance in which all guests felt welcome. We thought it would always be there, but in July, 2008, an early morning conflagration caused extensive damage to this treasure which at the time of the fire was situated at 6416 Zuni, S.E.. With its closure, a little piece of all of us was tragically, seemingly irreplacaebly gone.<\/span><\/p>\n

In December, 2008, El Norte\u00f1o reopened at 1431 Wyoming, N.E., (just north of Constitution) the former site of Cafe Miche<\/a>, one of the city’s very best French restaurants. Cafe Miche’s elegant French appointments were replaced by more colorful, thematically Mexican trappings including the art of Diego Rivera and other Mexican artists. Just as in its former home, El Norte\u00f1o treats all diners like welcome guests. Just as in its former home, Monica performed culinary magic as only she can.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Queso
Queso Fundido with Chorizo<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

As elegant as its new digs were, frequent guests will tell you they just didn’t seem as welcoming and warm as the original, more humble and more homey Zuni location generations had come to love. Even Monica will tell you she felt much more comfortable in her original restaurant home than in the more spacious, more ostentatious strip mall setting her restaurant occupied. <\/span><\/p>\n

In November, 2012 Monica launched a second instantiation of El Norte\u00f1o on Wyoming and Montgomery just a few miles north of its Wyoming and Constitution location which closed when its lease elapsed. The restaurant is situated in the corner space once occupied by Yen Ching, a popular Chinese eatery coincidentally also consumed by fire. Monica’s new restaurant includes an expansive banqueting room (which hosted Friends of Gil III<\/a>) and a panaderia in which such popular Mexican and New Mexican pastries as biscochitos, empanadas, conchas and even sopaipillas will be available for dessert or take-home.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Tostadas
Tostadas de Ceviche<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

While El Norte\u00f1o holds a firm grasp on the hearts and appetites of Duke City diners, it’s not just locals who traverse to this family-owned and operated gem. As an unabashed ambassador for New Mexico’s restaurants, I’m often surprised that Land of Enchantment residents don’t always grasp just how highly regarded our restaurants are across the country. Restaurants such as El Norte\u00f1o paved the way for the pantheon of restaurant gems which have recently earned acclaim from the Food Network.<\/span><\/p>\n

In the year 2000, Michael and Jane Stern conceived Roadfood.com<\/a> as a Web site devoted to finding the most memorable local eateries along the highways and back roads of America. One of their favorites for years has been El Norte\u00f1o which they visit during their frequent sojourns to the Land of Enchantment. In rating El Norte\u00f1o’s horchata among the very best in the country for their terrific tome, 500 Things To Eat Before It’s Too Late<\/a><\/em>, the Sterns called El Norte\u00f1o “Albuquerque’s home of meals that are true Mex, not Tex-Mex or New Mex<\/em>.”<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Carne
Carne Asada<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

When Chile Pepper<\/a> <\/em>magazine published a “best of zest<\/em>” feature, a mainstay for years was El Norte\u00f1o which the magazine rated as one of the very best Mexican restaurants in the country. According to Kamran, his wife’s restaurant was even named “best authentic Mexican restaurant in America<\/em>” in 1999 by no less than Gourmet<\/em> Magazine<\/em>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Both the culinary unadventurous and the “epicurious” diners will find something to their liking at El Norte\u00f1o. Until 2005, El Norteno offered a daily lunch buffet, a repast for the rapacious, but not necessarily adventurous, diner. The lunch buffet offered pretty standard fare prepared exceptionally well–some of the best beans in the city, terrific rice, lively enchiladas and the most tender carne adovada imaginable–as well as some departures into the realm of culinary audacity such as menudo and chipotle sauced chicken.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Some
Some of the best horchata in America<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

True epicureans, however, will always order off the menu because we recognize that El Norte\u00f1o is probably the one restaurant in Albuquerque where the distinction between the cuisines of New Mexico and Old Mexico is most discernible. You can get enchiladas, burritos and tacos anywhere. Give us barbacoa (meat from a cow’s cheek), lengua (tongue), cabrito (young goat) and nopalitos (nopal leaves). <\/span><\/p>\n

El Norte\u00f1o is most appreciated by discerning diners who understand and crave authentic Mexican food as it would be prepared at the region in which it originated. Unlike many other Mexican restaurants in the city, El Norte\u00f1o doesn’t specialize in the cuisine of solely one of Mexico’s diverse regions; it celebrates Mexican cuisine from throughout the many states of Mexico. Authenticity is certainly a hallmark at El Norte\u00f1o!<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Cabrito
Cabrito al Horno Estilo Birria<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The charming Monica is the heart and soul of the restaurant, managing the kitchen, yet seemingly always finding time to check in on her guests. The charming and beauteous Monica is a real treat to converse with. She is personable, intelligent and possesses a smile that will light up a room. The wait staff reflects her customer orientation and is generally on-the-spot and friendly. Dining at El Norte\u00f1o is always a treat!<\/span><\/p>\n

The salsas are also a treat. A guacamole based salsa<\/em> ameliorated with jalape\u00f1o is only mildly piquant but rich in the buttery smooth flavor of well-ripened avocados. El Norte\u00f1o also specializes in a couple of salsas rarely seen in New Mexico, but common in the state of Puebla. They’re peanut-based salsas, including the salsa de cacahuates con Guajillo<\/em>, a peanut salsa with chile Guajillo. None of the peanut salsas are as cloying as the peanut sauces so prevalent in Thai foods.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Tamales
Tamales at El Norteno<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

El Norte\u00f1o’s appetizer selection includes many standard favorites such as queso fundido<\/em> served in various ways, but it also offers a fairly unique starter you don’t often find in Albuquerque–ensalada de nopalitos<\/em>, a refreshing salad made from tender nopal (a member of the cactus family sometimes referred to as a prickly pear) simmered in vinaigrette and served with tomato, onion, minced chiles and corn tortillas. It has a tangy flavor that salad savants will love. <\/span><\/p>\n

6 January 2013<\/strong>: Not on the appetizer menu, but on the mariscos (Mexican seafood) menu, is another excellent starter, tostadas de ceviche<\/em>. In all good ceviche, the briny-savory flavors of seafood should never be obfuscated by citrus juices or by the chopped tomato-cilantro-jalape\u00f1o-onion accompaniment. In other words, shrimp and fish should taste like shrimp and fish and not a seafood and lime Popsicle. El Norte\u00f1o accomplishes this very well, but also gives you several limes to add more citrus if you so desire.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Monica
Monica and Kamran, the owners of El Norte\u00f1o<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Where El Norte\u00f1o truly excels is in the art of preparing porcine perfection. Every pork-based entree is unbelievably tender (thanks in part to an overnight marinade in a mixture of lemon juice and olive oil) and uniquely delicious:<\/span><\/p>\n