AlbuquerqueClosed in 2026Gone But Not ForgottenIce CreamMexicanNew Mexico

Pop Fizz – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno7:57 PM

NOTE: The review below is primarily for the Pop Fizz instantiation at the National Hispanic Cultural Center which closed during the Cabrona Virus.  Pop Fizz continued to operate at other locations, but did not have the comprehensive menu it once had.  Pop Fizz announced its closure in March, 2026. The geriatrically advanced among us who grew up during the golden age (1950s through the 1970s) of the “jingle” were constantly bombarded with earworm-inducing singing commercials, those catchy and memorable short tunes used to convey advertising slogans. We couldn’t help but sing along, often to the annoyance of our parents. When, for example, the Garduño family visited the big city (Taos), the kids would belt out the familiar jingle “Let’s all go to A&W. Food’s more fun at A&W. Have a mug of root beer, or maybe two or three.” Our dissonant din rarely persuaded our parents to take us to A&W. More often than not, we were ferried back to Peñasco for a home-cooked meal. Researchers suggest that women may be even more susceptible to earworms than men. That research was borne out when I suggested to my Kim that we visit Pop Fizz for lunch. Instead of asking what…

BarbecueBurgersNew MexicoRating: N/R (Not Rated)

Greg’s BBQ – Belen, New Mexico

Gil Garduno12:01 AM

On our journey to together forever, my Kim and I have shared meals at thousands of restaurants.  Even when we haven’t enjoyed those meals, without exception we’ve enjoyed our times together.  We share everything…almost.  Maybe the only thing we don’t completely share is the extent, breadth and depth of my passion for food.  You probably won’t believe this, but I’m one of those “live to eat” types who’s certifiably obsessed with food–to the point of looking forward my next culinary adventure before my current meal is even done.  I self gloss as a gastronome, but foodie, gourmand or bon viveur fit, too. In describing my Kim as “insouciant” about food, my thoughts immediately wandered to souffles and sous, two food-related words that sort of rhyme with insouciant.  Talk about being hung-up.  Some of my friends and frequent dining companions would also describe themselves as foodies, but their behavior belies that contention.  Perhaps because of the rarity with which I break bread with someone as preoccupied with the enjoyment of food, fate decreed that the brilliant Linda Johansen would become my boss.  Like me, Linda is a certified Kansas City Barbecue Society (KCBS) judge.  She’s also served several times as judge…

AlbuquerqueNew MexicoRating: ExcellentSandwich

Philly Steaks – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Gil Garduno8:02 PM

“I love the dignity in the name Philadelphia, but at heart, we’re Philly.” ~Lisa Scottoline New York Times Best-Selling Author “There are a couple of things you should know about Philadelphia,” my friend Vladimir “Speedy” Gonzalez told me before my first visit to the City of Brotherly Love. “First, Philadelphians are not rude. We may be blunt and direct, but that’s just passion.” Passion? I always thought he was a grouch. “Second,” he added, “you’ve got to know the process for ordering a Philly cheesesteak when you visit Pat’s King of Steaks. If you don’t, you’ll be sent to the end of the line.” Sure enough, the Pat’s counterman didn’t appreciate my typical twenty questions ordering approach and sent me back to the end of the line, halfway around the block. Apparently what Vladimir called passion is pretty pervasive in Philadelphia. There are dozens of examples of that passion in sporting events, including a notorious 1968 event in which Eagles fans booed and pelted Santa Claus with snowballs. There are also plenty of non-sporting examples. In 1998, the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission, which oversees taxis, mandated etiquette classes for the city’s cab drivers. Cynics called it “cabbie charm school” and…

AlbuquerqueMexicanNew MexicoRating: N/R (Not Rated)Tacos

La Reforma Brewery – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Gil Garduno3:27 AM

When my friend Schuyler saw the name of the restaurant on this review, he teased me that my life of dissipation, debasement and debauchery finally caught up with me.  “39-year-old juvenile delinquents like you belong in a reformatory.”   Being the mad scientist cerevisaphile he is, he also told it’s about time I ended my teetotaling ways.  “You’ve tried everything else.  Why not beer?”  Frankly, when my friend Ryan “Break the Chain” Scott first told me about La Reforma Taqueria, Brewery and Distillery, I had no idea what the context of the term “Reforma” meant, but doubted it had anything to do with a reformatory (which Wikipedia defines as “a youth detention center or an adult correctional facility popular during the late 19th and early 20th centuries in Western countries.” Mexican history, a subject in which I’m apparently woefully uneducated, recalls that La Reforma was the Mexican social revolution in the 1850s which led to the ouster of dictator Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna (you might remember him from The Alamo) and designation of Mexico as a nation state.   The revolution resulted in the creation of  the Mexican Constitution of 1857 which provided civil, political, and religious freedoms, and…

AlbuquerqueBrunchDog FriendlyNew MexicoRating: GoodSpanishTapas

VARA WINERY & DISTILLERY – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Gil Garduno3:53 PM

In 1620, King Philip III of Spain issued a royal decree mandating that each of the 19 recognized New Mexican Pueblos elect by popular vote, a governor, lieutenant governor and other officers as might be needed to carry on the Pueblo’s affairs. The decree required that elections take place at the close of a calendar year with installation into office occurring the first week of the new year. In commemoration of each Pueblo’s recognized sovereignty, each governor was presented a silver-headed Vara de Soberania (Cane of Sovereignty) with a cross inscribed on the sliver mount as evidence of the support of the Church.  This symbol of the governor’s commission and authority has been passed on to succeeding governors ever since. * In 1629, nine years after the Varas de Soberania were issued, Fray Garcîa de Zuñiga and Antonio de Arteaga smuggled vines out of Spain. In defiance of Spanish law prohibiting the growing of grapes for wine in the new world, they planted New Mexico’s first grapes on the east bank of the Rio Grande slightly north of the village of present-day San Antonio. Thanks to the audacity of the two Catholic monks, the major shortage of wine in the…

AlbuquerqueBrunchClosed in 2021Dog FriendlyGone But Not ForgottenMexicanNew Mexico

Urban Taqueria -Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno12:01 AM

My sagacious friend Bill Resnik is like a 6’5″ Yoda. Perhaps because he was a stand-up comedian for several decades, he seems to invite good-natured teasing from among our mutual friends and colleagues.  Like gunfighters sporting black hats in the westerns of yore, would-be comics seem to come out of the woodwork to challenge the fastest quipster in the west.  Instead of six shooters, the villains arrive sporting their put-downs, taunts and insults…and like the white chapeau-wearing good guy fighting on behalf of the forces of goodness and niceness, Bill dispatches them quickly with witty retort. I once asked Bill how he could put up with constant ribbing from colleagues and friends.  He reminded me that being offended is a choice.  As my Kim and I were enjoying our inaugural dining experience at the Urban Taqueria, we were witness to an example of two people choosing to be offended.  They strode to the counter, perused the menu and stormed out.  The very menu we found innocuous–even funny–apparently offended them so much that they eschewed the opportunity to enjoy a fabulous brunch.  Sadly, their behavior is something the Urban Taqueria has experienced virtually since its launch.  So what is it about…

AlbuquerqueBakeryClosed in 2021Gone But Not ForgottenMiddle EasternNew Mexico

Need-A-Pita – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno8:28 PM

If anniversary gifts are seen as a barometer for the health of a relationship, it’s a wonder any marriage involving men survives. Dozens of bad gift compilations across the internet would have you believe those of us with the XY-chromosome deficiency…er, pairing are notoriously bad gift givers. Instead of lavishing our spouses with romantic gifts indicative of our love, we give them practical things…such as universal remote controls, home brewing kits or outdoor pizza ovens we ourselves would like. Or we give them exercise equipment, not realizing the connotation might not be “I care,” but  “you’re fat.”  Then there are some of us who think the anniversary symbol for every year is plastic…as in a gift card.  Nothing says “after all these years, I don’t really know you” like giving your spouse a gift card. We can all learn from the example of Alex Abweh. For his 25th wedding anniversary, Alex drove his wife Neda to the space he had been remodeling for weeks in preparation of fulfilling her lifelong dream of opening a restaurant.  Neda, Alex told us, is a fabulous cook.  He raved about everything she prepares, lavishing special praise upon the pita she bakes.  “It’s unlike any…

AlbuquerqueAmericanClosed in 2021Gone But Not ForgottenNew Mexico

Rosemary – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno12:01 AM

“Eye of newt, and toe of frog, wool of bat, and tongue of dog, Adder’s fork, and blind-worm’s sting, lizard’s leg, and howlet’s wing– for a charm of powerful trouble, like a hell-broth boil and bubble.” Anyone who’s read Shakespeare’s Macbeth will recognize this incantation by three witches as they stir a boiling cauldron replete with the ingredients needed to conjure ghosts into their world so they can manipulate Macbeth, the future king.  Even among those of us who may have been required to memorize this famous stanza, the ingredients seem so malevolent.  Little did we know that most of those ingredients were actually rather innocuous.  Eye of newt, for example, was actually (depending upon which herbalist you consult) a daylily or mustard seed. Most of the ingredients imbued with magical properties which we ascribe to witchcraft are also used by chefs to conjure delicious aromas and flavors in their kitchens.  Among the most magical of those ingredients is rosemary, an incredibly versatile herb for which a very popular Duke City restaurant is named.  A sprig of rosemary hangs over the restaurant’s name like an accent mark used to emphasize the three words subtitling the name “Rosemary” on the restaurant’s…

AlbuquerqueAsianClosed in 2026Gone But Not ForgottenSushi

Pacific Paradise Tropical Grill & Sushi Bar – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno4:53 AM

Shangri-La. Eden.  Paradise. Heaven on Earth.  The concept of a remote and exotic utopia, a faraway haven or hideaway of idyllic beauty and tranquility, has long intrigued mankind.  Paul Gauguin, the famous French post-impressionist artist thought his persistent pilgrimage for Paradise was over when he moved to Tahiti in the tropical South Pacific.  Alas, his picturesque paradise, as with anything that seems too good to be true, was also discovered by French colonists who quickly transformed Tahiti into the antithesis of the “sensual loafer’s paradise” he had envisioned. For aficionados of Asian cuisine, paradise might be defined as a restaurant from whose kitchen emanates the culinary diversity of the Pacific: time-honored and traditional delicacies, contrasting yet complementary flavors, exotic and healthful ingredients, varied and interesting textures, exquisite freshness with all cuisine reflecting the geography, culture and history of its originating nation.  It would be a restaurant offering the culinary treasures of China, Japan, Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore, Mongolia, Korea and Hawaii and it would be an adventure in authenticity and deliciousness. There are several restaurants in the Duke City which proffer entrees from more than one Pacific nation.  The most ambitious, by far, is the aptly named Pacific Paradise Tropical…

AlbuquerqueBurgersClosed in 2021Gone But Not ForgottenNew MexicoSanta FeTaos County

The Burger Stand – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno2:44 PM

“If you need good hot grillin’, Try my burger stand. If you need a slice of thrillin’, I’m the baddest in the land. Any way you want it baby, I am your burger man.” ~Burger Man by ZZ Top Those of us invited on occasion to judge competitive food events try to follow a few very sensical but ironclad rules to ensure our evaluations are fair, balanced and accurate—or at least as accurate as any largely subjective matter can be. Though we commit these rules to memory, it’s very easy to forget about them and give way to unbridled desire, especially when you’re judging what has been deemed the best of the best, the most delicious of its genre. Such was the case when I was invited to serve as a judge at the 2018 Green Chile Cheeseburger Smackdown on September 8th, 2018. Before embarking on my delicious task, I went over my mental checklist of those rules. (1) Arrive hungry, but not too hungry. Check. My breakfast consisted solely of a banana and two cups of coffee. (2) Pace yourself and take small bites. With seven full-sized green chile cheeseburgers presented to us in ten-minute intervals, it’s important that…

AlbuquerqueAmericanBurgersClosed in 2022Gone But Not ForgottenNew Mexico

Brixens – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno12:01 AM

My friend Bill Resnik has and will always be one of my favorite dining companions. He’s a brilliant conversationalist and one of the very funniest people you could ever hope to meet (two hours after my appendectomy he had me in more stitches than the actual surgery). Back in October, 2017, he asked if I wanted to go to “the restaurant opened by the love child of Vixen and Blitzen” (two of Santa’s reindeer). It didn’t immediately dawn on me that he was talking about Brixens, the very highly touted new downtown restaurant in the heart of Central Avenue. Brixens is not named for the love child of any of Santa’s reindeer. Nor is it named for Brixen, a town in Northern Italy. Brixens is named for the brick accents, particularly on the west wall of the venerable Yrisarri building built in 1909. Located on the southwest corner of 4th and Central, the Yrissari building has cast its shadows on both the historic original route and the rerouted path of Route 66. For three decades, the bottom floor corner of that edifice was the home of Nick’s Crossroads Cafe after which it was occupied by the short-lived Cafe Bien whose…