{"id":61689,"date":"2025-04-11T00:02:34","date_gmt":"2025-04-11T06:02:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nmgastronome.com\/?p=61689"},"modified":"2026-04-05T18:35:47","modified_gmt":"2026-04-06T00:35:47","slug":"joes-pasta-house-rio-rancho-new-mexico-under-new-ownership","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nmgastronome.com\/?p=61689","title":{"rendered":"Joe’s Pasta House – Rio Rancho, New Mexico"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Joe’s Pasta House, a Rio Rancho Institution<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Much as they might wish for it to happen, no restaurateur can make<\/em> their restaurant THE hometown favorite. \u00a0It happens organically and it happens only by the unanimous will and consent of the people.\u00a0 Similarly, it takes the acclamation of the dining public for a restaurant to become THE heartbeat of a community–where residents go to interact with one another in a convivial spirit of sharing a great meal. A restaurant has to prove itself every single time with every single guest.\u00a0 It must offer a combination of memorable food, a homey look and feel and mostly, personable, attentive service.\u00a0 There can be no such thing as a “bad day.”\u00a0 To find the template for how a restaurant becomes the heartbeat of a community and the undisputed favorite restaurant in a hometown you need look no further than Joe\u2019s Pasta House, a paragon of service excellence and culinary deliciousness where all guests are treated like family.<\/p>\n

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Always Inviting Dining Room<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

While dining out has always been an essential part of Rio Rancho’s cosmology, in its nascent days residents had to drive down the hill or across the river to enjoy restaurants that weren’t national chains. Then in 1999, Joe and Kassie Guzzardi assumed ownership of the eponymous Joe’s Pasta House and began the process of winning over denizens of the City of Vision.\u00a0 For 23 years, the Guzzardis and Rio Rancho have shared a reciprocal love affair.\u00a0 Joe’s is a restaurant we’re proud to call our own and much as we’d like to think it’s our secret and exclusively ours, it’s much too good not to be discovered by the Duke City citizenry.\u00a0 In May, 2018 Yelp compiled its first ever Top 50 Places to Eat in Albuquerque<\/strong><\/a>. The highest ranked restaurant in this enumeration of exceptional eateries was Joe\u2019s Pasta House. Among the 1,500 or so restaurants in the metropolitan area, none is as beloved by Yelpers as is Joe\u2019s. With nearly 300 reviews (as of 26 May 2018), Joe\u2019s has an average rating of 4.5 stars.<\/p>\n

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Joe’s Pasta House Retains Its Warmth and Hospitality<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

On September 1, 2022, a transition occurred that should have been marked by a chef’s toque flying at half staff and marked by a “Joe and Kassie Guzzardi Day” in the City of Vision.\u00a0 Though many loyalists might consider that day a sad one, through our tears we should celebrate that the Guzzardis are moving on to a well-deserved retirement in Florida.\u00a0 Kassie asked me to convey a sincere “thank you<\/em>” for the amazing support and encouragement they received over the years” from so many New Mexicans.\u00a0 She also assured me that Joe’s Pasta House remains in great hands. Though Joe and Kassie will no longer be a peripatetic presence at their beloved restaurant, familiar faces remain: Executive Chef Rick, General Manager Andrea, Sous Chef Paul and Server Manager Chuck.<\/p>\n

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Legendary House Baked Bread With Bruscetta<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

After the change of hands became official, the new owners posted a reassuring note on their Facebook page: \u201cWe are the Shariff Family and the new owners of Joe\u2019s Pasta House. We are honored as a family to own, operate, and manage this iconic restaurant. Our number one goal and promise is to maintain the authenticity, quality, and traditions of Joe\u2019s Pasta House and to continue to create amazing experiences and memories with you all.We are so grateful for the community of people that have been longstanding customers of Joe\u2019s Pasta House. You are part of the Joe\u2019s Pasta House family, and you add to the wonderful atmosphere. If you see us around, please introduce yourself and say hello! Humbled and excited to start this new journey with you all \u2013 Cheers<\/em>!”<\/p>\n

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Side Salad With Blue Cheese Dressing (As Much As Our Server Can Carry)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

For my Kim, who has long had a crush on Joe and his “dreamy blue eyes<\/em>,” stepping into Joe’s Pasta House for the first time since the change in ownership was traumatic.\u00a0 She’s used to getting a warm hug from Joe every time we visit.\u00a0 Fortunately, both Andrea and Chuck, fixtures at Joe’s Pasta House for years, assured us “nothing will change about the menu, the staff or the restaurant.\u00a0 It will still be Joe’s Pasta House<\/em>.”\u00a0 Our visit was also made a bit less painful because we were seated next to my friend and colleague Garth Colasurdo and his beautiful family.\u00a0 It was Garth’s first time at Joe’s Pasta House, but judging from the yummy noises emanating from their table, it won’t be the last.<\/p>\n

Perusing the menu gave us the same euphoric sensation we always have at Joe’s, a realization that we’re about to enjoy another great meal.\u00a0 Tony, one of our favorite servers, ferried over a plate of Joe’s sliced, warm bread <\/em><\/strong>with the restaurant’s incomparable bruscetta<\/strong><\/em>.\u00a0 A few years ago, I met Joe and Kassie at their restaurant at the wee hour of six A.M..\u00a0 While there are myriad chemical processes that occur when bread is baking in an oven, those processes are the furthest thing from your mind when aromas envelop you.\u00a0 Joe’s bread is legendary…and that bruscetta is the very best in New Mexico.\u00a0 If the aromas of baking bread are its advertising, who needs a Madison Avenue marketing campaign.<\/p>\n

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Mama Diana’s Tortellini & Meatball Soup<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

It’s become increasingly rare to find a “simple salad” at a restaurant.\u00a0 Instead, you’re likely to find composed salads, many ingredients arranged on a plate so that they look like a pretty picture.\u00a0 At Joe’s you can still get a side salad <\/strong><\/em>and it’s comprised of lettuce (not spinach or “mixed greens”), cherry tomatoes and the salad dressing of your choice.\u00a0 My choice is always “as much blue cheese as you can carry<\/em>” and Joe’s delivers with creamy, rich dressing punctuated generously with chunks of real blue cheese.\u00a0 You can also order a wedge salad, Greek salad, Caesar salad and a Spinach salad.\u00a0 They’re all good, but along with the bread they’ll fill you up and you certainly don’t visit Joe’s to fill up on bread and salad.<\/p>\n

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Layered Eggplant, a Staple at Joe’s<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

15 October 2022<\/strong>: The only soup currently on the dinner menu is Mama Diana’s tortellini and meatball soup <\/strong><\/em>(cheese tortellini with house meatballs, fresh spinach and tomato in a seasoned chicken broth).\u00a0 It’s quite good, especially the oversized meatballs and tortellini bursting with cheese.\u00a0 Two crusty, toasted crostini slices swimming in the broth are so much better than croutons.\u00a0 They’re easier to dip and soften in the delicious seasoned broth.\u00a0 If history holds true, look for other soups to be added to the menu, perhaps as specials.\u00a0 Joe’s has always offered some of the very best soups in the metropolitan area.<\/p>\n

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Spaghetti with Meat Sauce<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

15 October 2022<\/strong>: \u00a0When handed the menu, my eyes immediately scoured it for Joe’s layered eggplant <\/strong><\/em>(lightly breaded eggplant stuffed with ricotta cheese, saut\u00e9ed spinach and bacon, topped with marinara sauce and mozzarella cheese), my very favorite eggplant dish in the universe.\u00a0 It’s listed as an appetizer, but it’s entree-sized and often choice for dinner.\u00a0 Even with dinner companions “sampling” several forkfuls, a generous plating ensures there’s plenty for me.\u00a0 On the rare event some of it is ferried home, it’s even better the next day.\u00a0 This dish has long been a favorite at Joe’s which can probably boast of several signature dishes the eggplant among them.\u00a0 We’ve tried a number of times to duplicate this dish and haven’t come close.<\/p>\n

On April Fool’s Day in 1957, a British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) broadcast purported to show a family in Switzerland harvesting spaghetti from the family spaghetti tree<\/strong><\/a>.\u00a0 Spaghetti was relatively unknown back then in the United Kingdom so the BBC was deluged by viewers asking for advice on growing their own spaghetti tree.\u00a0 Decades later, CNN named this broadcast “the biggest hoax any reputable news establishment ever pulled<\/em>.”\u00a0 For my Kim, spaghetti is no joking matter.\u00a0 Her favorite Italian dish is spaghetti with meat sauce<\/strong><\/em>, especially the way it’s prepared at Joe’s.\u00a0 She’s a sauce minimalist whereas her husband can bathe in the stuff.\u00a0\u00a0 She reminds me that the only reason I don’t ever order it is that I lack the dexterity to wrap the pasta around my fork.\u00a0 Touche.<\/p>\n

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Meatball Parmigiana Sub<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Pasta dishes at Joe’s have been so reliably wonderful that my eyes don’t ever seem to venture toward the burgers and sandwiches section of the menu. \u00a0It’s very unlikely I’ll ever try Joe’s 1\/2 pound burger–unless it’s adorned with another half-pound of New Mexico’s sacrosanct green chile. \u00a0Sandwiches are another matter. \u00a0Every red sauce restaurant I frequented on the East Coast served hall-of-fame quality sandwiches. \u00a0Joe’s offers four of my Boston area favorite subs (though we called them “grinders” in Massachusetts): meatball parmigiana, sausage parmigiana, chicken parmigiana and eggplant parmigiana.<\/p>\n

17 November 2023<\/strong>: The meatball parmigiana<\/strong><\/em> is much like those I’ve longed for–with one exception. \u00a0Instead of baseball-sized meatballs that don’t fit between bread, Joe’s uses smaller (about ping pong ball sized) meatballs. \u00a0There are enough meatballs that you can pluck some from the cozy confines of their bready home and enjoy them separately. \u00a0A blanket of molten parmigiana and Joe’s wonderful red sauce cover those meatballs. \u00a0Joe’s housemade sandwich bread (some of the best in the metro) is lightly toasted . \u00a0All subs are served with French fries though a small salad may be a better pairing.<\/p>\n

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Fried Mozzarela<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

11 May 2024<\/strong>: Most of us probably had our introduction to mozzarella sticks during our childhood. \u00a0We probably believe we’re enjoying a modern culinary invention. \u00a0Instead, however, the concept of breaded cheese sticks goes back as far as the 14th century in Paris, France where a recipe for breaded cheese sticks was published in an early cookbook. \u00a0That recipe called for Meunster cheese, not mozzarella (which was not common outside of Italy). \u00a0The dish was called pipe farce. \u00a0Mozzarella sticks became popular across the fruited plain in the 1970s when pizza joints started offering this American-Italian creation.<\/p>\n

At Joe’s Pasta House, fried mozzarella<\/strong><\/em> (freshly breaded and deep-fried hand-cut mozzarella wedges served with marinara sauce) will remind you why you fell in love with this appetizer. \u00a0Bite into one of the golden orbs before they’ve had a chance to cool down a little may burn your mouth a bit. \u00a0Once cool enough to enjoy, each bite rewards you with stretchy mozzarella. \u00a0My Kim likes them sans sauce while her saucy husband likes as much sauce as is possible to apply. \u00a0Joe’s marinara sauce is muy magnifico.<\/p>\n

\"Penne
Penna Alla Vodka<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

11 May 2024<\/strong>: Penne alla Vodka is an Italian dish claiming more than \u00a0two “origin stories.” \u00a0There are two Italian origin stories. \u00a0One claimant believes vodka sauce ws first conjured at a restaurant in Bologna. \u00a0The Williams-Sonoma Essentials of Italian insist it was created in Rome by a chef who worked for a vodka company and wanted to popularize the spirit. \u00a0There are also two origin stories emanating from New York City. \u00a0One of them posits that vodka sauce originated in the 1970s, the other in the 1980s. \u00a0Whatever its origin, vodka sauce has become a very popular Italian pasta dish.<\/p>\n

On appearance alone, penne alla pasta<\/strong><\/em> differs significantly from other Italian red sauces. \u00a0Essentially, vodka sauce is a pink sauce is somewhere between a tomato sauce and an Alfredo sauce in terms of color. \u00a0It’s a thin, smooth pink sauce with a tomatoey bite tempered by a cream finish. \u00a0In the cooking process, tomatoes caramelize and meld with the vodka sauce. \u00a0 Vodka (as with most spirits) evaporates easily duringt the cooking process, its particles drifting into the air and carrying aromas along for the ride. \u00a0As you enjoy your penne, those particles waft flavorful aromas to the back of your mouth. \u00a0This creates a heightened sense of euphoric enjoyment. \u00a0Okay, that’s the technical explanation as to why penne alla vodka works. \u00a0It’s not on the test so you don’t have to memorize it. \u00a0Just enjoy the best penne alla posta in New Mexico at Joe’s Pasta House.<\/p>\n

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Manicotti Bolognese<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

11 May 2024<\/strong>: \u00a0My Kim is much more monogamous (in terms of food) than I am. \u00a0It’s easy to predict what she’ll order at Joe’s. \u00a0Invariably it’s spaghetti light on the meat sauce. \u00a0It surprise (maybe even stunned) me when she ordered manicotti Bolognese<\/strong><\/em> (with sauce on the side). \u00a0Three manicotti stuffed with cheese make up an order. \u00a0Even sans sauce, this is a delicious dish–decadent and rich. \u00a0The Bolognese sauce (attributed to the Italian city of Bologna) livens it up. \u00a0My Kim insisted I try the maniotti both ways–with or witout sauce. \u00a0Predictably, my preference was to be sauced.<\/p>\n

11 April 2025<\/strong>:\u00a0 YouGov, a global online community of 26 million people sharing their opinions daily polled its readers about lasagna. \u00a0Respondents to a\u00a0YouGov survey<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0indicated lasagna has an 83-percent popularity rating. \u00a0If you\u2019re among those 83-percent who love lasagna, get yourself to\u00a0Joe\u2019s Pasta House\u00a0in Rio Rancho. \u00a0Yelp compiled a list of the best lasagna in both the United States and Canada. \u00a0The lasagna at Joe\u2019s ranked 20th in the country, making it the only restaurant in New Mexico to make the list. \u00a0 Regulars at Joe\u2019s (and visitors like my brother-in-law Tim) attest to the greatness of Joe\u2019s lasagna. \u00a0It\u2019s created with layers of love.<\/p>\n

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Joe’s Famous Lasagna<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The lasagna<\/strong><\/em> (made with beef and Italian sausage topped with homemade tomato sauce and melted mozzarella cheese) is indeed worthy of its accolades.\u00a0 It’s one of several items available on the lunch, dinner and seniors menus (for guests 60 years and over. Senior dinners include salad and ice tea or coffee).\u00a0 Served in a casserole dish, the lasagna arrives steaming hot at your table. Lasagna noodles are layered with love and topped with Joe’s fabulous sauce.\u00a0 \u00a0The sausage and beef combination is a winner with the sausage lending a nuanced fennel flavor that gives Italian sausage its uniqueness among different types of sausage.\u00a0 There’s a wonderful balance between the sweet-savory sauce and the salty, mild mozzarella, both of which work together like a well-orchestrated ballet.<\/p>\n

11 May 2024<\/strong>: \u00a0While Joe’s offers a nice selection of desserts which are ferried to your table for you to gawk at, sometimes you want something other than one of the sumptuous, heavily frosted cake desserts or cannoli. \u00a0Sometimes you’re craving spumoni<\/strong><\/em>, the layered Italian “ice cream” dish with scoops of three flavors, chocolate, pistachio and maraschino cherry. It may remind you of the Neopolitan ice cream mix of vanilla, strawberry and chocolate you’ve likely enjoyed. Spumoni is \u00a0actually a milk sherbet. Sherbet is not quite ice cream and not quite sorbet and has the addition of dairy \u2014 usually milk or buttermilk. This gives it a slightly creamier texture than sorbet, as well as a lighter, pastel color. \u00a0 Ironically spumoni originated in Naples (where the term “Neapolitan” comes from). \u00a0Obviously the citizenry of Naples loves multiple flavors of their milk sherbet.<\/p>\n

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Spumoni<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

NOTE<\/strong>:\u00a0 On 15 May 2025, Duke City diners won’t have to make the trek to Rio Rancho to enjoy the City of Vision’s best restaurant.\u00a0 On that date, Joe’s Pasta House will be launching an Albuquerque location, this one off Paseo and Louisiana.\u00a0 To give the second instantiation of Joe’s the familiar flavors we’ve all come to know and love, Joe’s \u00a0head chef will be moving to Albuquerque.\u00a0 Shellie Corlew has been named general manager of the Albuquerque Joe\u2019s Pasta House.\u00a0 As a frequent visitor to the Rio Rancho institution, I’m very happy that Andrea (general manager) and Chuck (server manager) are staying put.\u00a0 They make every visit feel like coming home.<\/p>\n

Much as we\u2019ll miss visiting with Joe and Kassie, it\u2019s reassuring to know not much else has changed at Joe\u2019s Pasta House.\u00a0 It\u2019s still Rio Rancho\u2019s best choice for great food and service.\u00a0 NOTE<\/strong>:\u00a0 You can read my original review of Joe\u2019s Pasta House here<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n

Joe’s Pasta House<\/strong>
\n3201 Southern Blvd., S.E.
\nRio Rancho, New Mexico<\/strong>
\n(505) 892-3333
\nWebsite<\/strong><\/a> | Facebook Page
\nLATEST VISIT<\/strong>: \u00a011 May 2024
\n1st VISIT<\/strong>: 15 October 2022
\n# OF VISITS<\/strong>: 3
\nRATING<\/strong>: Outstanding<\/strong><\/span>\u2013A stand-out; delivers a memorable dining experience through a harmonious blend of exceptional food, attentive service, and consistent quality
\nCOST<\/strong>: $$
\nBEST BET<\/strong>: Layered Eggplant, Spaghetti with Meat Sauce, Side Salad, Meatball Parmigiana Sub, Penne Alla Vodka, Fried Mozzarella, Manicotti Bolognese, Lasagna
\nREVIEW #1298 <\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Much as they might wish for it to happen, no restaurateur can make their restaurant THE hometown favorite. \u00a0It happens organically and it happens only by the unanimous will and consent of the people.\u00a0 Similarly, it takes the acclamation of the dining public for a restaurant to become THE heartbeat of a community–where residents go to interact with one another in a convivial spirit of sharing a great meal. 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