{"id":377,"date":"2012-11-14T03:21:17","date_gmt":"2012-11-14T09:21:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nmgastronome.com\/?p=377"},"modified":"2018-07-17T19:47:17","modified_gmt":"2018-07-18T01:47:17","slug":"route-66-malt-shop-albuquerque-new-mexico","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nmgastronome.com\/?p=377","title":{"rendered":"Route 66 Malt Shop – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\"\"<\/a>
<\/span> The Route 66 Malt Shop in Nob Hill<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In a May, 2009 edition of\u00a0New Mexico Magazine<\/em><\/a> feature celebrating “20 reasons Rail is Cool Now<\/em>,” the magazine’s staff and contributors shared the best things to experience via the New Mexico Railrunner Express.”\u00a0 A Duke City notable was root beer at the Route 66 Malt Shop and Grill, then about three miles from the nearest Railrunner depot.\u00a0 The magazine encouraged readers to “order a frosty mug of homemade award-winning root beer, or make it a float<\/em>.” \u00a0While you’re at it, the magazine suggested “sinking your teeth into the signature Blue Cheese Green Chile Burger. \u00a0Dee-lish<\/em>.” <\/span><\/p>\n

Ironically just as the magazine was hitting the newsstands, the Route 66 Malt Shop’s west-facing windows were scrawled with the alarming words “Lost Our Lease, Being Evicted.<\/em>” \u00a0To the consternation of hundreds of loyal patrons who\u00a0 signed petitions on the restaurant’s behalf, the\u00a0developer who owns the building in which the restaurant was housed apparently had other plans for it.\u00a0 Owners\u00a0Diane Avila and Eric Szeman were unable to reach an accord with their landlord and had to close the beloved institution they operated for so long.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
<\/span> Nostalgia abounds at the Route 66 Malt Shop<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

To call an 845 square foot hole-in-the-wall an institution is a testament to how firmly entrenched and highly regarded this classic 50’s themed mom-and-pop became in the course of its fourteen years in the Old Town area. With seating for only 20, dining was in cramped quarters, but that somehow only made the restaurant seem more comfy cozy.\u00a0 Diners got to know the affable, often loquacious owners and usually chatted up their neighbors in the close proximity tables, too.\u00a0 Dining at the Route 66 Malt Shop always seemed to have a communal feel to it.<\/span><\/p>\n

In August 2010, the little restaurant with a gigantic personality reopened in a venue more than twice the size of its previous Lilliputian digs.\u00a0 Now situated in a 2,200 square-foot space in the fashionable Nob Hill area (two blocks east of Carlisle), the new Route 66 Malt Shop resembles a classic neon-spangled 50’s diner with 21st century spit and polish inside and out.\u00a0 The spacious accommodations are buttressed against an apartment complex.\u00a0 From Central Avenue, the expansive concrete area in front of the restaurant may, at first glance, resemble a parking lot, but this area is intended for patio seating.\u00a0 That’s something else the previous location didn’t offer.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"66maltshop061\"
<\/span> Co-owner Eric Szeman has become a bit of a Duke City institution himself<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The interior is a mishmash of familiar and new.\u00a0 Thematic remnants from the original restaurant festoon the walls in the form of Route 66 brick-a-brack. The post art-deco restaurant pays loving tribute to America’s highway and is adorned with thematic posters and period antiques such as an old Coke-A-Cola machine and a retro gas pump. Nostalgia abounds throughout the restaurant, but conspicuous by its absence is Szeman’s conservative ideology which was unabashedly on display on the counter as you walked in to the original restaurant.\u00a0 It made for interesting banter between the owner and patrons who weren’t like-minded ideologically.<\/span><\/p>\n

The black-and-white checkerboard square tile motif from the original restaurant was retained as was the old-fashioned jukebox.\u00a0 \u00a0 The spacious kitchen is no longer visible from anywhere in the restaurant as was the tiny kitchen\u00a0 (if you could call it that) at the original.\u00a0 With a 30-foot long cook line (ten times larger than at the previous milieu), the capacious kitchen is a dream for Diane and Eric who have been able to expand their menu and even their serving hours, now offering breakfast, lunch and dinner. <\/span><\/p>\n

\"A
<\/span> A hot dog at the Route 66 Malt Shop<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Among the lunch and dinner menu additions are French and sweet potato fries, items for which the burger loving public long clamored.\u00a0 The Route 66 Malt Shop is now open from 8AM to 10PM every day, hours made possible because the restaurant is now staffed with employees nearly as enthusiastic as the owners.\u00a0 In fact, both Diane and Eric were absent during our inaugural visit to their new restaurant, the cooking duties being handled capably by their son.\u00a0 Though we enjoyed our meal immensely, we missed visiting with the personable owners, both being Mother Road institutions themselves.<\/span><\/p>\n

True to its name, it is indeed an old-fashioned malt shop, one of the few restaurants in the Duke City to offer “phosphates,” homemade root beer and even my New York City favorite, egg creams. \u00a0The home-made root beer on tap is brewed on site and served up in frosty, ice-code mugs. It’s definitely not the sweetest root beer you’ll ever have, but it’s full-bodied, hearty and has that lingering taste root beer aficionados (like me) love. Szeman calls it an “adult root beer” and the “Guinness of root beers.”\u00a0 It is wonderfully herbaceous and dry (like a fine, dry wine). Luke’s Root Beer Reviews<\/a> ranked this exclusive Route 66 offering the third best root beer in America. As good as it is by itself, it’s better as a float because the Route 66 Malt Shop uses Breyer’s Premium ice cream.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
<\/span> Dusen-Burger: Half-pound beef patty, grilled onions, green chile, blue cheese, lettuce, mustard, ketchup, mayo<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

“Get your kicks on Route 66<\/em>” is the mantra of nostalgic motorists who have lobbied for generations to preserve the heritage that is America’s “mother road”, the 2,448 mile highway commissioned in 1926 and decommissioned in 1985 and which traversed eight states between Chicago, Illinois and Santa Monica, California. “Get your green chile cheeseburger at the Route 66 Malt Shop<\/em>” has become the mantra for savvy Duke City (and beyond) devotees of outstanding burgers.\u00a0 Gourmet burgers remain the restaurant’s mainstay. <\/span><\/p>\n

All burgers come standard with green leaf lettuce, vine ripe tomatoes, sauteed or raw onions and pickle slices on a custom baked bun (toasted) with your choice of ketchup, mustard or mayonnaise.\u00a0 You can adorn your burger with\u00a0 your choice of Cheddar, American, Blue or Alpine Lace Swiss cheese for a pittance.\u00a0 Other options (at a cost) include mushrooms, green chile, avocado, bacon and blue cheese.\u00a0 Rapacious appetites can even ask for a double-meat burger (each patty weighing in at 1\/4-pound).<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
<\/span> Meatloaf Sandwich…A Huge slice of meatloaf smothered in grilled onions and Swiss cheese on rye bread (or you can have multi-grain bread)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The green chile cheeseburgers<\/em> feature a quarter pound of lean beef (best prepared at about medium) provided by a local non-chain butcher shop. It’s easily one of the juiciest (six napkins) cheeseburgers in town. It is endowed with piquant, seasoned green chile, not the cold chopped pretender other burger joints purvey. \u00a0It’s the favorite green chile cheeseburger of world famous sculptor Sonny Rivera<\/a>, an Albuquerque native and like him, it’s a New Mexico treasure.\u00a0 In 2009, this green chile cheeseburger was selected for inclusion in the New Mexico Tourism Department’s Green Chile Cheeseburger Trail<\/a>.
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

While fashionistas may frown on a blue and green ensemble, they would fawn over the Route 66 Malt Shop’s\u00a0bleu cheese green chile burger<\/em> in which the contrasting yet complementary tastes of oh so hot green chile and sharp bleu cheese compete and coalesce to provide a memorable taste sensation. The buns are toasted on the same grill as the meat patties, so they’re splashed with meaty juiciness. The patties are spritzed while they grill with Route 66’s own “special sauce” for additional moistness.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
<\/span> A basket of sweet potato fries<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

When you think formidable appetite, think the Route 66 Malt Shop’s Duessen-Burger<\/em>, a half-pound green chile cheeseburger with bacon, grilled onions, lettuce and tomato. It’s essentially a chopped steak and it’s thick, juicy and only for the most famished of diners.\u00a0 If a half-pound is just a tad more than you can handle, the Cadillac burger<\/em> offers the same toppings as the Duessen-Burger, but at a more svelte one-third pound.\u00a0 You won’t go away hungry, but you will go away planning a future visit.
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

If you’re a hot dog aficionado, the grilled\u00a0Two Lane Hot Dog\u00a0featuring a Hebrew National wiener is for you. It’s an oversized hot dog with oversized taste. \u00a0It’s absolutely not one of those bloated wieners that might make you wonder if it’s a compensatory machination of some sorts. \u00a0While not two inches in circumferences, these waifishly thin\u00a0wieners, allow a full-flavor experience:\u00a0wiener, mustard, relish and toasted buns. \u00a0These beauties are \u00a0sliced diagonally in half then are grilled to perfection. <\/span><\/p>\n

\"Pastrami
<\/span> Pastrami sandwich at the Route 66 Malt Shop<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The pastrami sandwich<\/em> is surprisingly good–even though the Route 66 Malt Shop uses a Boar’s Head pastrami which tends to be much more on the lean side than pastrami paramours like me prefer. \u00a0What makes this a more than passable pastrami is the way it is sliced–in razor-thin shards–and the lightly toasted house made light rye bread in which it is stacked thickly. \u00a0It is served with mustard–no cheese or pickles–just mustard the way it should be.\u00a0 Order it with a side of potato salad for an interesting textural and flavor contrast.
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

An even better sandwich, maybe the best of its kind in Albuquerque is the meatloaf sandwich, one of seven specialty sandwiches on the menu.\u00a0 This beautiful behemoth is two slices of meatloaf, each about half an inch thick, smothered in grilled onions and Swiss cheese on your choice of whole grain, rye or multi-grain bread.\u00a0 My friend Andrea Lin<\/a>, restaurant critic for the Albuquerque Journal<\/a>, has called it a “to die for” sandwich, an assessment that’s spot on.\u00a0 The meat loaf is moist and delicious with just a smear of a tangy barbecue sauce for contrast.\u00a0 The grilled onions are sweet tangles of deliciousness while the Swiss cheese lends a textural contrast.\u00a0 After having ordered my first Route 66 Malt Shop meatloaf sandwich in December, 2010, I may forever be torn between this sumptuous sandwich and a green chile cheeseburger.
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Seven-year
<\/span> Seven-year old Stevie Sunday will tell you the Route 66 Malt Shop’s burgers beat a Happy Meal any day…even on the day of the week named for him. (Photo courtesy of Bill Resnik)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

For sandwiches and burgers, there may be no better accompaniment than fries, either French fries or sweet potato fries.\u00a0 The Route 66 Malt Shop hadn’t been able to offer fries in its previous location, but now offers some of the very best in town.\u00a0 The sweet potato fries certainly are.\u00a0 They’re thick and perfectly fried to provide a crispy exterior and soft interior.\u00a0 They’re also served hot to the touch with a room-temperature ketchup.\u00a0 A basket of these tubers will easily serve two. <\/span><\/p>\n

Barbara Walters once said “A hot fudge sundae and a trashy novel is my idea of heaven<\/em>.” \u00a0Not only is the ice cream sundae simplicity itself–a scoop or two of ice cream, a sweet topping and the ubiquitous whipped cream and cherry on top–it is truly an American icon. \u00a0At the Route 66 Malt Shop, you can have the sundae your way (hot fudge, strawberry, cherry, raspberry, blueberry, pineapple and butterscotch) or you can have a banana hot fudge sundae in which the inimitable flavor combination of chocolate and bananas just melts in your mouth.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Scrumptious
<\/span> Scrumptious Sundaes<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The old-fashioned soda fountain features hand-scooped ice cream which can be fashioned into malts or shakes, sundaes, ice cream sodas, banana splits and who can forget black cows (a Coke float with chocolate syrup and chocolate ice cream) and brown cows (a Coke float with chocolate syrup).\u00a0 The malts and shakes are served teeth-rattling cold and so thick you might dispense with your straw and drink them straight. Malt and shake flavors include chocolate, vanilla, strawberry, cherry, raspberry, blueberry, pineapple, butterscotch, Oreo, peanut butter, banana, coffee mocha, sherbet shake, crunchberry shake, lime shake and root beer shake. <\/span><\/p>\n

Dessert du jour offerings showcase Diane’s skills with the sweet stuff.\u00a0 Alas, she bakes cakes and pies in limited amounts which usually don’t last long.\u00a0 Show up late and you’ll miss out and you certainly wouldn’t want to miss out on such sweet treats as the cinnamon rolls.\u00a0 Not overly thick or large, these sensational spirals are redolent with cinnamon and a sweet, buttery glaze.\u00a0 Ask for them to be served warm.
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"
<\/span> Diane’s homemade Cinnamon rolls<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Not only does the Route 66 Malt Shop claim a vast local fan base, it has won over all local restaurant critics and has snared national attention in such magazines as True West<\/em> and Sunset<\/em>. It’s a restaurant at which memories are made!\u00a0 In their new home, they’ll be making even more memories.<\/span><\/p>\n

Route 66 Malt Shop<\/span><\/strong>
\n3800 Central Avenue, S.E.
\nAlbuquerque, New Mexico<\/strong>
\nLATEST VISIT:<\/strong> 14 November 2012
\n# OF VISITS<\/strong>: 9
\nRATING<\/strong>: 21<\/span><\/strong>
\nCOST<\/strong>: $
\nBEST BET<\/strong>: Green Chile Cheeseburger, Bleu Cheese Green Chile Burger, Root Beer, Root Beer Float, Two Lane Hot Dog, Banana Hot Fudge Sundae, Meatloaf Sandwich, Homemade Cinnamon Rolls, Sweet Potato Fries
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Route<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In a May, 2009 edition of\u00a0New Mexico Magazine feature celebrating “20 reasons Rail is Cool Now,” the magazine’s staff and contributors shared the best things to experience via the New Mexico Railrunner Express.”\u00a0 A Duke City notable was root beer at the Route 66 Malt Shop and Grill, then about three miles from the nearest Railrunner depot.\u00a0 The magazine encouraged readers to “order a frosty mug of homemade award-winning root beer, or make it a float.” \u00a0While you’re at it, the magazine suggested “sinking your teeth into the signature Blue Cheese Green Chile Burger. \u00a0Dee-lish.” Ironically just as the magazine was hitting the newsstands, the Route 66 Malt Shop’s west-facing windows were scrawled with the alarming words “Lost Our Lease,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3432,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[440,25,681,262,574],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-377","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-albuquerque","category-burgers","category-closed-in-2015","category-closed","category-new-mexico-green-chile-cheeseburger-trail"],"yoast_head":"\nRoute 66 Malt Shop - Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED) - Gil's Thrilling (And Filling) Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nmgastronome.com\/?p=377\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Route 66 Malt Shop - Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED) - Gil's Thrilling (And Filling) Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In a May, 2009 edition of\u00a0New Mexico Magazine feature celebrating “20 reasons Rail is Cool Now,” the magazine’s staff and contributors shared the best things to experience via the New Mexico Railrunner Express.”\u00a0 A Duke City notable was root beer at the Route 66 Malt Shop and Grill, then about three miles from the nearest Railrunner depot.\u00a0 The magazine encouraged readers to “order a frosty mug of homemade award-winning root beer, or make it a float.” \u00a0While you’re at it, the magazine suggested “sinking your teeth into the signature Blue Cheese Green Chile Burger. \u00a0Dee-lish.” Ironically just as the magazine was hitting the newsstands, the Route 66 Malt Shop’s west-facing windows were scrawled with the alarming words “Lost Our Lease,…\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.nmgastronome.com\/?p=377\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Gil's Thrilling (And Filling) Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/nmgastronome\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2012-11-14T09:21:17+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2018-07-18T01:47:17+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.nmgastronome.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2005\/07\/66maltshop07-1024x550.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1024\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"550\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Gil Garduno\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Gil Garduno\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"11 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.nmgastronome.com\\\/?p=377#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.nmgastronome.com\\\/?p=377\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Gil Garduno\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.nmgastronome.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/423b9c3eeeb199e43ab4f1f584fa67bf\"},\"headline\":\"Route 66 Malt Shop – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)\",\"datePublished\":\"2012-11-14T09:21:17+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2018-07-18T01:47:17+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.nmgastronome.com\\\/?p=377\"},\"wordCount\":2216,\"commentCount\":19,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.nmgastronome.com\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.nmgastronome.com\\\/?p=377#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.nmgastronome.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2005\\\/07\\\/66maltshop07.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Albuquerque\",\"Burgers\",\"Closed in 2015\",\"Gone But Not Forgotten\",\"New Mexico Green Chile Cheeseburger Trail: 2009\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.nmgastronome.com\\\/?p=377#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.nmgastronome.com\\\/?p=377\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.nmgastronome.com\\\/?p=377\",\"name\":\"Route 66 Malt Shop - 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Please take a few minutes to tell me what you think. 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