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Welcome to Gil’s Thrilling (And Filling) Blog

Gil Garduno5:03 AM

If you got to this page expecting Gil’s Thrilling Web, you’re in the right place. Don’t let the new look and feel scare or fool you. This is the new home for the restaurant reviews on which you’ve counted for years–different format, same place. The transition from static Web to blog was inevitable and years in coming. There are several reasons why this transition makes sense. The main reason for me to move to a blog is that blogs are much more interactive than conventional Web sites. You, my dear readers, can leave comments about my reviews and let me know if you agree with my recommendations or if you believe I’ve totally missed the mark. In our increasingly connected and shrinking world, blogs are community while Web sites are islands. Please note that while Gil’s Thrilling (And Filling) Blog is more interactive, I hope not to publish any personal attacks (the type of which are replete in the blogosphere) on me or the restaurants I review. From among the hundreds of e-mails I’ve received over the past ten years, 99 percent of them have been positive and constructive. That’s the type of dialogue missing nowadays in our increasingly uncivil…

BurgersClosed in 2010Gone But Not ForgottenNew MexicoSanta Fe

Honnell’s Late Nite Burger – Santa Fe, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno3:50 AM

“America’s celebrity psychologist” Dr. Phil McGraw posits that how you interact with your partner in the first four minutes can set the tone for the day.  Those first and most crucial 240 seconds of each and every day can, in essence, dictate your entire mood and, in the long run, either keep your relationship intact or destroy it.  I’d add that even the first four minutes of your workday can have a profound impact on the rest of your day. If the first person with whom you interact is what Dilbert creator Scott Adams would describe as an “office vampire” your entire day will be impacted.  Office vampires are those people from whom a cheery “good morning” greeting will elicit a “what’s good about it” retort. They embody the axiom that misery loves company and are generally avoided like the plague.  Restaurants don’t have 240 seconds to set the tone for their patrons’ dining experiences. It’s been my experience that restaurants have about ten seconds to set the tone for your entire experience.  Restaurants have their own versions of the office vampire. These are generally the greeters whose chief (maybe sole) responsibility is to welcome diners and escort them to…

AlbuquerqueClosed in 2009New Mexican

Marlene’s – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno7:32 AM

And when you work with love you bind yourself to yourself, and to one another, and to God. And what is it to work with love? It is to weave the cloth with threads drawn from your heart, even as if your beloved were to wear that cloth. It is to build a house with affection, even as if your beloved were to dwell in that house. It is to sow seeds with tenderness and reap the harvest with joy, even as if your beloved were to eat the fruit. – Kahlil Gibran, The Prophet, 1923 For far too many people, work is a drudgery, a tedious, tiring and torturous routine done solely to earn a living. It is mentally draining and monotonous, physically exhausting even if not menial in the least. It makes getting up in the morning a prodigious challenge knowing you’re about fo face more of the same. It is a curse and a misfortune. It is a necessary evil. Conversely when you love your job and are able to work at something about which you are passionate, work is something to look forward to and relish. Kahlil Gibran described it best in saying “work is love…

Closed in 2011Gone But Not ForgottenMexicanSanta Fe

Los Mayas – Santa Fe, New Mexico

Gil Garduno8:35 PM

Diego de Landa Calderón, the former Bishop of Yucatán, is a dichotomous figure in the history of the new world.  On one hand, he is recognized as an invaluable source of information on pre-Columbian Mayan civilizations, but on the other, he was directly responsible for destroying much of that civilization’s history, literature and traditions. Given the responsibility of converting the indigenous Maya to Roman Catholicism, he instituted an Inquisition that ultimately ended with the notorious auto de fé, a ritual of public penance for condemned heretics.  Mayas who continued to practice “idol worship” after having been “converted” to Catholicism were the recipients of this torturous rite.  During one ceremony, he also burned more than 5,000 Maya cult images and a significant number of Maya codices which would have filled in many blanks as to Maya history and culture. In 1566 upon his return to Spain, Landa authored a book in which he catalogued the Maya language, culture, religion and system of writing.  From his writings, we now know just how much the ancient Maya diet contributed to our own modern foodstuffs.  While some of the foods of the Maya (and frankly of their modern-day descendants) are unfamiliar to many Americans, other foods are commonplace at the supermarket.  These include…

ArizonaClosed in 2018Gone But Not ForgottenNew MexicanUnited States

Los Dos Molinos – Springerville, Arizona (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno8:47 PM

Just how hot is the chile at Los Dos Molinos? The New York Times suggests you “travel with a fire extinguisher” and that “everything, with the exception of the margaritas, is incendiary.” New York magazine raves that “Not since Drew flashed Dave has Manhattan witnessed a hotter display than the one at Los Dos Molinos.” The Arizona Central dining guide asks “can you take the heat,” calling Los Dos Molinos “the lodestone for leather tongues.” Now these are all unimpeachable sources with impeccable credibility (at least when it comes to restaurants), but the source that got my attention quickest was a Garfield comic strip in which the irascible cat is challenged to a hot pepper eating contest by Jon, Garfield’s long-suffering human companion. In the first panel, Jon pops a jalapeno pepper into his mouth without breaking a sweat. Garfield follows with a cayenne pepper which Jon then one-ups with a Habanero which draws more than a bead of sweat. Not to be outdone, Garfield tosses a “Los Dos Molinos Death Pepper” into his mouth. The pepper is so incendiary that in dragon fashion, he shoots a massive fireball out of his mouth, scorching Jon in the process. Holding an…

Closed in 2010ColoradoGone But Not ForgottenSteakUnited States

The Hamilton Chop House – Durango, Colorado (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno6:17 PM

The Land of Enchantment with its 121,356 square miles of deserts, mesas, rivers, mountains, forests, cities and villages is the fifth largest state in the country.  In 2007, Albuquerque’s KOAT television station began a recurring series in which the station treated its viewers to an aerial perspective of many of the communities in its viewing area.  That unique bird’s eye view perspective was captured from Sky 7, the station’s news helicopter. In 2008, the station expanded its coverage, sending news anchor and New Mexico native Royale Dá skyward once again to show viewers the challenges faced by the communities featured on the series and how they are dealing with those challenges.  Royale was joined by city leaders from throughout the viewing area who boarded Sky 7 to share what makes their communities so special. One of the few cities visited in 2008 outside of New Mexico’s borders was Durango, Colorado, long a part of KOAT’s viewing area.  During the aerial tour of the city, Durango’s Director of Planning and Community Development Greg Hoch indicated that Durango actually has more restaurants per capita than the city of San Francisco. With a population of nearly 750,000 people, the city of San Francisco numbers just about 2,700 restaurants within its boundaries, giving…

BakeryBreakfastNew MexicanNew MexicoRating: Very GoodTaos County

Michael’s Kitchen – Taos, New Mexico

Gil Garduno5:56 PM

Murphy’s Law postulates that “if anything can go wrong, it will.” This rather pessimistic and oft-quoted expression has become a catch-all when everything seems to go askew. Murphy’s Law is blamed when you’re in the slowest line at a grocery store behind people who can’t find their checkbooks. It’s the reason the toast you accidentally drop off the table lands butter side down. It’s why the loudest and rudest people always sit in front of you at a movie theater. Murphy’s Law is also the reason the restaurant you brag most about will invariably have an “off night” on the day people you most want to impress visit. It never fails! This immutable law works like compound interest. The more you brag about a restaurant, the worse it will be for your guests. My brother George whose opinion on everything I value had told me for years that Michael’s Kitchen was one of the best restaurants in northern New Mexico. He appreciated its portion size, value and the quality of its New Mexican food (which the menu listed as “Spanish”). Our inaugural visit was compounded by mistakes. Going out on a rainy July night in 2003 when the Taos fiestas…

Closed in 2017ContinentalGone But Not ForgottenTaos County

The Trading Post Cafe – Ranchos de Taos, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno10:13 PM

There’s an old Lebanese proverb that says, “some men build a wine cellar after only finding one grape.” That proverb aptly describes the many rags to riches success stories among Lebanese immigrants to the Land of Enchantment, primarily to our state’s northern villages. Some of the state’s most prominent names in business–Maloof, Bellamah, Hanosh and Sahd–embody the spirit of that proverb. The progenitors of many of New Mexico’s Lebanese immigrants left Lebanon during the repressive Ottoman Empire, the main exodus occurring in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Escaping persecution and poverty, some arrived with nothing but aspirations, dreams and hopes. The frontier territory of New Mexico was replete with opportunity (and the prospect of freedom) for them. Like their Phoenician forefathers had done, many of them began as door-to-door peddlers, many eventually launching trading posts or general stores in the small villages in which they settled. The “Arabes” as they are sometimes still called by Hispanics were hard workers, shrewd businessmen, community-minded and family-oriented. They fit right in with the tight-knit Hispanic communities which shared similar values. Abdo Sahd, the family patriarch for one of Taos county‘s most prominent families, arrived in Las Vegas from Lebanon in 1889.…

AmericanClosed in 2015Gone But Not ForgottenNew MexicoNew Mexico Green Chile Cheeseburger Trail: 2009New Mexico Green Chile Cheeseburger Trail: 2011

Landmark Grill – Las Vegas, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno8:11 AM

Historian Ralph Emerson Twitchell once wrote, “Without exception there was no town which harbored a more disreputable gang of desperadoes and outlaws than did Las Vegas.” At one time, Las Vegas was considered virtually lawless, a shameless denizen of murderers, thieves, swindlers, prostitutes and others of ill repute. If you’re thinking I’m describing the formative days in which Las Vegas, Nevada was run by the Mafia, you would be understandably mistaken. The Las Vegas which earned an unparalleled reputation for lawlessness and corruption is Las Vegas, New Mexico, which is today a peaceful little city on the eastern fringes of the Sangre de Cristos, a city of 14,000 citizens which predates its Nevada counterpart by seventy years. Founded in 1835, the “other” Las Vegas as it is often called bears no resemblance to its namesake. Most questionable dealings today occur in the political arena and not in the streets. Las Vegas, New Mexico is now known for its gentility, culture and history, although the city is more apt to celebrate its 900 structures on the National Registry of Historic Places than it is the killings that occurred on the street following the arrival of the railroad. One of the city’s…

AlbuquerqueBar & GrillClosed in 2017Gone But Not Forgotten

Fox and Hound Pub & Grille – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno4:53 PM

English Parliamentarian and writer Samuel Pepys described the pub as “the heart of England and the church as its soul.” As England has become a more sectarian nation, the pub has essentially supplanted the church as the focal point of the community. Today there are nearly 58,000 pubs in the United Kingdom with almost every village and city in England having at least one.  Unlike American bars, saloons, taverns and inns which tend to have very pedestrian and forgettable names, English pubs tend to be unique and memorable. The reason, according to one urban myth, is so pub patrons can know where to direct the taxi cab after throwing down too many a pint. Whatever the reason, no sojourn across the English countryside would be complete without the entertaining travel game of finding the most unique pub name. More often than not you’ll espy pubs named after common objects (such as “The Plough”) and animals (The Swan being very popular), but every once in a while you’ll see a pub whose name defies explanation.  Not even in English legend and fable have such creatures as the Red Stag, Green Dragon or Flying Hippopotamus existed, so you have to surmise that…

Closed in 2008Gone But Not ForgottenMariscosMexicanNew MexicoRio Rancho

California Baja Grill – Rio Rancho, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno2:54 AM

Several years ago, I introduced my good friend John Bennett to the exhilaration of verbal sparring with the shopkeepers at the mercados of Juarez, Mexico, a vibrant border city in which aggressive bartering is considered not only an honorable sport, but the only way to ensure any semblance of a fair exchange. The shopkeepers expect it and will respect your attempts to purchase their baubles, bangles and trinkets at the price you believe is fair. When John decided to bring back some Mexican coins for his son, a novice numismatist, I advised him to get no more than a quarter’s worth of coinage. As usual he didn’t heed my advice and asked one of the shopkeepers to exchange a five dollar bill for as many coins as it would buy him. Not only did he clean out the shopkeeper’s register, the exchange rate being what it was, John wound up weighing down all his pants and shirt pockets with coins. Struggling to keep his pants up, he jingled all the way back across the border, looking and sounding like a circus clown in the process. He’s never lived down the experience. As we studied the menu at California Baja Grill…