AlbuquerqueClosed in 2013Gone But Not ForgottenMariscosMexican

Mariscos La Playa – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno2:54 PM

While New Mexico has always had restaurants featuring the cuisine of the country of Mexitli of Tenochtitlan (Mexico), the distinction between Mexican and New Mexican cuisine has always been somewhat obfuscated.  There are a number of reasons for this. For as long as I remember, restaurants which serve cuisine we now recognize as uniquely New Mexican (characterized among other things by the use of piquant red and green chiles instead of jalapeno) have billed themselves as Mexican restaurants.  The term “New Mexican food,” is, in fact, relatively new as the Land of Enchantment has more recently taken an active stance in promoting its cuisine as something distinctly delicious and different than Mexican food. The situation has been exacerbated by ancianos (New Mexico’s elderly population), even the descendents of Spain, many of whom refer to their cuisine as “Mexican.” It may be too early to prognosticate 21st century dining trends, but one that seems apparent is the introduction of diners to Mexican restaurants featuring cuisine from other than the northern Mexican states which specialize in the foods with which Americans are accustomed–burritos, enchiladas, tacos and the like. This trend includes high-end restaurants such as the fabulous Los Equipales, a fine-dining establishment patterned after some of the fine…

BarbecueBreakfastClosed in 2010New MexicoRating: ExcellentRio Rancho

Mad Max’s BBQ – Rio Rancho, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno4:44 PM

NOTE:  In March, 2010, Max and Fran Montano entered into a lease to buy agreement with an enthusiastic owner who continued to use the recipes which made Mad Max’s the very best barbecue in the Albuquerque area.  By September, 2010 the restaurant was closed.  Max and Fran will continue competing in competitions throughout the region and will also cater events.  They will be missed as much for their warmth and great humor as for their outstanding barbecue. Since the discovery of fire, man has viewed his domain as the great outdoors. The outdoors is from where man brought home the day’s victuals for early woman to prepare.  As the centuries progressed, descendents of troglodytic man (many of whom haven’t evolved much) have perceived cooking as a feminine affectation, taunting any other man who deigned to acquire culinary skills. In 1952, George Stephen invented the original Weber kettle grill and with his innovative design, sparked a backyard revolution that transformed man. As a result of the Weber grill, the XY chromosome complement was no longer a handicap (or more accurately, an excuse) for men throughout the world when it came to preparing meals for their families. With Stephen’s invention, grilling outdoors…

BurgersClosed in 2009Gone But Not ForgottenNew Mexico

Village Grill – Moriarty, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno5:53 PM

Since the mid 1920s, New Yorker magazine has been providing insightful commentary on popular American culture in all its star-spangled idiosyncrasies.  One of its most popular features in the 1970s  was the “American Journal” written by the inimitable Calvin Trillin who traversed the continent in search of where real people ate.  The “Walt Whitman of American eats” chronicled his dining experiences with the same enthusiasm with which he ate the native cuisines most appreciated by locals.  Peppering his reviews with humor, he culled a reputation as one of America’s best food writers. Trillin was adamant that America’s most glorious food was not the culinary fare proffered at the uppity upscale restaurants he cynically referred to generically as “La Maison de la Casa House, Continental Cuisine.”  Eschewing the trendy restaurants where “everything is served on a bed of something else,” he instead preferred the simplicity and authenticity of local specialties–posole in Santa Fe,  boudin in Louisiana, pumpernickel bagels in New York City and especially barbecue in Kansas City. Kansas City was also home to Trillin’s favorite burger, a declaration he made in 1970 in Life magazine about Winstead’s, a burger emporium he said served the best hamburgers in the world.  A…

AlbuquerqueClosed in 2009New Mexican

Quesada’s New Mexican Restaurant – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno9:52 AM

When we get together, native New Mexicans of my generation who grew up in the state’s mountainous regions sometimes reminisce about trudging a mile or more in feet-deep snow to get to school.  We wonder how we survived the furious snowstorms which killed  reception for weeks to all four (yeah, four) Albuquerque television stations in the dark, pre-historic days before color television (not to mention, cable), the Internet and iPhones. Mostly, we trumpet the fact that we were  weaned on chile–and not just any chile.  We grew up eating the most gastronomic distress-inducing, tongue-searing, sweat-arousing chile possible–the type of chile which embodies the axiom that with some New Mexican food, pain is a flavor.  Listen to us and we’ll  have you believe that in comparison, the  stuff served in most  New Mexican restaurants today is as wimpy as ketchup and as piquant as spaghetti sauce. Thankfully, the Internet has provided visual–albeit Photoshop image manipulated–evidence of the incendiary stuff on which we were weaned. A frequently forwarded image on many computers depicts a jar of Gerber Picante Sauce, but instead of the familiar cherubic baby with the tousled hair, pursed lips and smiling eyes, the red-faced baby on the manipulated image is in obvious and alarming…

AmericanBakeryBreakfastClosed in 2011Gone But Not ForgottenLos Ranchos de Albuquerque

Calico Cantina & Cafe – Los Ranchos de Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno12:22 AM

The first time my friends and I visited the Calico Cafe at its original Corrales location, we wondered if the restaurant suffered from an identity crisis. Exterior signage read “Calico Cafe” but the menus indicated we were dining at “Cowgirl’s.” Apparently the restaurant was initially christened Cowgirl’s, but a name change was court-ordered after a naming dispute with Santa Fe’s long-established Cowgirls BBQ restaurant. On December 2nd, 2004, the popular and intimate lunch and breakfast restaurant owned by Corrales residents Vernon and Angel Garcia, was consumed by fire. In 2006, the Calico Cantina & Cafe launched in a new and much expanded location, the 19,000 square foot Village Shops at Los Ranchos–in the heart of the original Route 66. Coupled with outdoor seating in a spacious patio, the Cafe now accommodates as many as 189 diners. The Village Shops at Los Ranchos is a burgeoning complex usually beset by the parking woes of popular destinations. The Calico Cantina & Cafe is an anchor tenant along with its sister restaurant Vernon’s Hidden Valley Steakhouse, located directly behind the Cafe’s bakery. Vernon’s, patterned after a probation era speakeasy, can be accessed through the Los Ranchos Liquors store. Thematically, the Calico Cantina &…

AlbuquerqueBarbecueClosed in 2012Gone But Not Forgotten

Johndhi’s BBQ – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno4:45 AM

With the wafting aroma of smoked meats, Johndhi’s, a charming smokehouse restaurant on picturesque Rio Grande Boulevard welcomes you to Bar-B-Querque, a well-earned and time-tested sobriquet. Known as Geezamboni’s since its inception in 1988 until a name change in 2005, Johndhi’s is a North Valley institution popular all year round. Owned and operated by John Nellos of Albuquerque’s first family of barbecue (the philanthropic Nellos clan owns three Quarters restaurants in the Duke City), Johndhi’s has an ultra hip, mega casual feel to it that belies the converted home structure in which it sits.  The artsy ambience includes French posters, multi-hued Mexican ceramic masks and pictures adorning the walls.  Strewn about the restaurant’s many nooks and crannies are interesting accoutrements such as an antique telephone painted in colors I often saw on a hippie bus bound for the Hog Farm near Peñasco where I grew up.   The framed poster most appealing to foodies like me depicts Dagwood Bumbstead precariously perched on his tip-toes on a chair with his trademark, multi-story sandwich in one hand as he reaches for a jar of olives with the other. From the outside, Johndhi’s has the appearance of a family home.  There is no glaring, sensory-bombarding signage screaming at passers-by telling…

Closed in 2016Fine DiningGone But Not ForgottenNew Mexico

High Finance – Sandia Crest, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno8:36 PM

“Getting high” on cannabis is known for increasing appetite.  According to High Times, a New York based magazine which advocates the legalization of marijuana, scientists now know why.  Those scientists have uncovered the part of the brain which makes cannabis users get the munchies for chocolate, pizza, peanuts and more.  It’s hoped that this discovery will help in developing pharmaceuticals to prevent anorexia and obesity. In New Mexico, the term “getting high” sometimes has different connotations–without the psychoactive effects but with the unfailing effect of getting the munchies.  That’s because getting high often means high altitude dining–at least that’s what it means to savvy diners who recognize that food seems to taste better at high altitude. Here’s some anecdotal evidence.  At the top of Pikes Peak, the Summit House lodge serves donuts that some people consider a highlight of their visit to Colorado’s most famous mountain.  At 14,115, high altitude recipe adjustments have to be made in order to achieve the crispy edges and sweet, soft innards of these fluffy, well-risen, ring-shaped, doughy gems.  If you bring them down to the lower elevation (7,200 feet) of Colorado Springs, they’re no longer fluffy or nearly as tasty. For getting high to…

AlbuquerqueBuffetChineseClosed in 2011Gone But Not Forgotten

Evergreen Buffet – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno4:18 PM

America held hostage!  That was the aptly named title of an ABC late-night news program anchored by Ted Koppel from November, 1979 through January 20, 2001.  For 444 days, the mighty United States of America was indeed paralyzed while 52 Americans were held hostage–tied and blindfolded–in the U.S. Embassy in Iran.  The captors were student revolutionaries incensed at the United States decision to admit Iran’s deposed Shah for medical treatment. The moment Ronald Reagan took the oath of office, those hostages were released.  An adoring nation welcomed the returning heroes, lavishing them with gifts and accolades.  Among the gifts was a tiny box from Major League Baseball commissioner Bowie Kuhn.  Within that box was a lifetime pass to any major or minor league baseball game. Upon hearing of this, then ABC college football analyst and avowed baseball hater, the irascible Beano Cook remarked, “haven’t they suffered enough?” Beano’s sentiment is my first reaction whenever I hear of a new Chinese buffet restaurant launching in Albuquerque.  In truth, however, Chinese buffet restaurants are so well patronized in the Duke City that the only suffering that occurs is after the meal.  That’s when gastroenterological distress sets in which prompts diners to lament…

AlbuquerqueBrunchClosed in 2013FrenchGone But Not Forgotten

Brasserie La Provence – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno3:35 AM

The French have long cultivated the idea–some would say myth–that their cuisine is the very best in the world. This self-aggrandizing hype has been carefully and condescendingly orchestrated for centuries. Even Alice B. Toklas, the American writer far ahead of her time (in 1954, she published a literary memoir with a recipe for “hashish fudge”) was caught up in the myth. Toklas wrote “The French approach to food is characteristic; they bring to their consideration of the table the same appreciation, respect, intelligence and lively interest that they have for the other arts, for painting, for literature, and for the theatre.” Where other nations prepare and serve food, the French festoon the tables with cuisine. Where cultural mores in America take a relaxed approach toward table manners, the French insist upon prim, proper and prudish etiquette at any repast. Where Americans practically inhale their food, barely stopping to taste it, the French savor their food. They actually focus on it and give themselves time to enjoy each and every morsel. Where our blood pressure elevates if we’re forced to wait more than two minutes at our fast food drive-ups, the French set a time and place for eating. They actually…

Closed in 2021Gone But Not ForgottenItalianNew MexicoSanta Fe

Mangiamo Pronto! – Santa Fe, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno9:27 AM

At first browse of a directory listing Santa Fe restaurants, the entree “Mangiamo Pronto!” (an Italian term which translates to “Let’s eat now!) might elicit the impression that the City Different has an eatery offering Italian fast-food: post-haste pasta, accelerated antipasto, insalata al instante.   You get the picture. At Mangiamo Pronto! you certainly won’t find desiccated pizza slices seared to a leathery sheen under heat lamp infernos just waiting for the next drive- or walk-up victim, er…customer, nor will you see a nattily uniformed wait staff running amok trying to fill orders even as new ones come in at a breakneck pace. Mangiamo Pronto! is, in many ways, the antithesis of a fast-food restaurant–even though entrees are prepared in advance then heated upon order.  In fact, one of the first things you see as you walk in is a glass case displaying the gustatory bounty d’giorno.  It’s almost as if the Roman deity Bacchus himself laid out a sumptuous feast of engorged panini sandwiches crafted on crispy crusted focaccia, artisanal piadini arrayed with gourmet ingredients, diet-devastating desserts, soul-comforting soups, crisp salads and so much more. True to its name, Mangiamo Pronto! won’t keep you waiting long.  Only scant minutes will elapse…

AlbuquerqueClosed in 2010Gone But Not ForgottenMediterranean

Charcoal Mediterranean Grill – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno6:33 PM

If comedian Jeff Foxworthy was Armenian, his repertoire of one-liners might include such gems as, “You know you’re Armenian if you have philo dough, string cheese or See’s candy in your freezer.”  Or perhaps, “You know you’re Armenian if you serve hummus and tabbouleh with your taco chips.”  Then there’s the classic, “You know you’re Armenian if you shovel food on other people’s plates when they aren’t looking.”  Who can forget the oft-told “You know you’re Armenian if you think pilaf is one of the four food groups.” A quick Google of Armenian food will return results that reveal Armenian’s self-deprecating sense of humor regarding their culinary culture.  Search results will also show the culinary influence of the regions and countries neighboring the ancient nation of Armenia.   Wedged in  what has been one of the world’s most volatile–some would say unstable–regions, Armenia is at the crossroads between the Middle East, Asia. Minor and Europe.  During the course of its storied history, Armenia was invaded in succession by Persians, Byzantines, Mongols and Turks, all of whom left their mark on the cuisine. It’s a Middle Eastern cuisine punctuated with dishes that are very aromatic and flavorful.  It is a cuisine that is…