AlbuquerqueNew MexicanRating: Very Good

Padilla’s Mexican Kitchen – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Gil Garduno6:04 PM

“Why, this here sauce is made in New York City!” “New York City? Git a rope!” Uttered in a 1980s commercial for Pace Picante sauce, those lines expressed the ire of several hungry cowboys who threatened to string up the cook for serving a “foreign” salsa (translation: not made in Texas). That commercial also brings to my mind the annual issue in which–from 1999 through 2005–Hispanic magazine named its top 50 Hispanic restaurants across America. The sentiment so eloquently expressed by those ravenous cowpokes reflects just how many New Mexicans feel when Hispanic magazine listed among its top 50, only two or three New Mexico restaurants per year. It really rankled us when both Texas and California had four times as many selections. Just as you won’t find too many cowboys who appreciate salsa made in New York City, you won’t find many New Mexicans who will freely admit that Texas, much less California, can have edible Hispanic food. Hispanic magazine further lost any credibility among New Mexicans when that top 50 list included restaurants in, heaven help us, Georgia or Mississippi. Hispanic magazine did have a lot of credibility among the Albuquerque dining crowd when, for three consecutive years…

Closed in 2020Gone But Not ForgottenNew MexicoPizzaRio Rancho

Blue Grasshopper Brew Pub – Rio Rancho, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno9:40 PM

If you’ve ever wondered why the term “pink elephants” has long been recognized as a euphemism for a drunken hallucination, credit author Jack London. In his autobiographical tome, he described himself as “the man whom we all know, stupid, unimaginative, whose brain is bitten numbly by numb maggots; who walks generously with wide-spread, tentative legs, falls frequently in the gutter, and who sees, in the extremity of his ecstasy, blue mice and pink elephants.” When we first heard of the Blue Grasshopper Brew Pub in Rio Rancho, we wondered if it, too, was a euphemism for adult beverage overindulgence. Frankly, the reason behind the name is almost as good as Jack London’s euphemism. The sobriquet was bestowed upon co-owner Peter Apers by his mentor as he was teaching Apers to play the blues on guitar. One of that mentor’s favorite television personalities was Caine, the David Carradine character in Kung Fu whom the Shaolin master called “grasshopper.” Hence “Blues Grasshopper.” In 2014, Livability.com named the Duke City as “America’s best mid-sized city in the country for beer.” With nearly thirty brewery and tap room restaurants (as of this writing), Albuquerque metropolitan area cerevisaphiles certainly have their pick as to where…

AlbuquerqueBar & GrillNew MexicoRating: N/R (Not Rated)

Effingbar and Grill – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Gil Garduno10:49 PM

The late comedian and beloved social critic George Carlin might be surprised at how far America has come (some might say how much we’ve regressed) when it comes to uttering foul invectives, especially the “seven words” he postulated “you can never say on television.” While most of us still won’t vocalize the infamous “F-word” in polite company, its diminutive version has become part of our vernacular. Whether on screen or in print (or on shirts emblazoned with the abbreviation F.U. (which doesn’t stand for Florida University)) it’s “F this” and “F that.” It’s been said that the F-word is the most versatile word in the English language in that it can be used as an action verb, passive verb, adverb, noun, adjective and even conjunction. Make it a gerund by adding “ing” and the F-word’s utility as an adjective is virtually unlimited. Like something and it’s “effing great.” Hate something and it “effing stinks.” At the very least, a bar and grill with the unique name “Effingbar and Grill” will get your attention. It’s not until you visit that you’ll determine whether it’s effing good or effing bad. Our server jokingly apprised us that the “effing” part of the bar…

AlbuquerqueAmericanClosed in 2020Gone But Not Forgotten

Model Pharmacy – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno2:29 AM

Albuquerque’s Model Pharmacy is an anachronism–a genuine throwback to the days in which old fashioned drug counters shared retail space with lunch counters and soda fountains. In every sense, the Model Pharmacy is chronologically out of place as an independently owned, family operated business in a world of corporate conglomerations that dominate the pharmaceutical business (such as the megalithic Walgreen’s store directly across the street). The pharmacy’s apothecaries still prescribe and dispense drugs, but an even bigger draw than sundry medicines are the high-end European beauty products and perfumes on the venerable pharmacy’s shelves. Renown food author Jane Stern indicates on the Roadfood Web site she and her former husband and writing partner Michael have made a foodie standard that Model Pharmacy stocks “rare items she’s seen in no pharmacies anywhere else in the world.” The store’s retail section is a paradise for curiosity seekers who can spend hours browsing through hand-made cards, journals and stationary or scour the glass cases for Swiss Army knives, fine pens, coin purses and women’s jewelry. It wasn’t these curiosities or the pharmaceuticals that brought the Sterns to the Model Pharmacy. It was the lunch counter…and even in the lunch counter, nostalgia abounds. Suspended…

AlbuquerqueNew MexicanRating: Excellent

Ben Michael’s Restaurant – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Gil Garduno7:47 PM

During the height of the Italian Renaissance, humanist-philosopher Leon Battista Alberti posited the notion that “a man can do all things if he will,” a notion that birthed the concept of the Renaissance man. More than the contemporary Army challenge for American soldiers to “be all you can be,” a Renaissance man was expected to embrace all knowledge and develop capabilities as fully as possible in the areas of knowledge, physical development, social accomplishments and the arts. Perhaps the very best example of a Renaissance man is Leonardo da Vinci, whose gifts were manifest in the fields of science, art, music, invention and writing. Spend a few minutes with Ben Michael Barreras, chef and owner of the eponymous Ben Michael’s Restaurant on the fringes of Old Town, and you’ll quickly discern you’ve met a true Renaissance man. In his half century plus, he’s been (and still is) a pharmacist, a farmer, a contractor, a musician, a fisherman and a chef. Moreover, he’s a gentleman, emphasis on the word “gentle.” We found that out quickly upon asking if he carried Splenda or Equal. In a kind but serious tone, he admonished that he would never want to poison us with artificial…

Diners Drive-Ins and DivesFood Network Eats New MexicoNew MexicoPizzaRating: N/R (Not Rated)Santa Fe

Back Road Pizza – Santa Fe, New Mexico

Gil Garduno11:37 AM

My brother George has the right idea! Rather than braving the motoring madness that is traversing New Mexico’s highways at breakneck speeds and risking life and limb contending with America’s worst drivers (according to a 2014 report by Wallet Hub), he’ll take the back roads every chance he gets. Not only does he avoid frazzled nerves and minimize potential encounters with distracted, drunk and demolition derby caliber drivers, he gets to enjoy the scenery of enchantment and arrive at his destination unscathed. His blood pressure is better than mine. George will enjoy Santa Fe’s Back Road Pizza and not only because he doesn’t have to spend much time on Cerrillos to get there and not only because the street on which it’s situated has a posted speed limit of only 25 miles-per-hour. The pizza is very good, maybe even “worth risking rush hour to get there” good. Who says it’s good? The pizza-loving denizens of the City Different seem to accord it “best pizza” honors perennially in the Santa Fe Reporter‘s annual “best of” polls. It’s been one of Santa Fe’s “top 40 favorite restaurants” for more than eleven years running according to The Reporter who has also designated it…

AlbuquerqueClosed in 2018Gone But Not ForgottenPizza

Firenze Pizzeria – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno1:44 PM

“We’ve got a wood-burning pizza oven in the garden – a luxury, I know, but it’s one of the best investments I’ve ever made.” ~Gwyneth Paltrow There really is a lot of veracity in the axiom that “your eyes are the mirror to your soul” because eyes truly do provide visual clues as to what we’re thinking. Some psychologists would have you believe that your choice of pizza toppings is also a window to your soul. So what do your favorite pizza toppings say about your personality and behavior? One psychologist and longtime pizza lover would have you believe people who adorn their pies with pepperoni are “good team players, prepared to sacrifice their personal interests to those of the majority.” Another purports that people who prefer pepperoni have “been shown to “forget” obligations on occasion and miss out on opportunities at work and home.” Hmmm, contradictory assessments by two so-called experts. Perhaps such assessments say more about their creators than they do about the personality traits of subjects they claim to understand so well. Extending the premise that an accurate personality assessment could be discerned from your choice of toppings, why not a personality assessment based on your preference…

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2014: A Thrilling (And Filling) Year in Food

Gil Garduno10:34 AM

Tis the season…for year-end retrospectives in which the good, the bad and the ugly; the triumphs and tragedies; the highs and lows and the ups and downs are revisited ad-infinitum by seemingly every print and cyberspace medium in existence. It’s the time of year in which the “in-your-face” media practically forces a reminiscence–either fondly or with disgust–about the year that was. It’s a time for introspection, resolutions and for looking forward with hope to the year to come. The New Mexico culinary landscape had more highs than it did lows in 2014. Here’s my thrilling (and filling) recap. December 2014 saw the closure of 24 restaurants reviewed on this blog. We were just getting to know some of them (such as the exotic Rafiki Cafe and Taste of Peru) while others were venerable and beloved institutions we thought would always be open (Dagmar’s Restaurant & Strudel House and the Willard Cantina and Cafe). As some restaurants were shuttering their doors, hardly a week passed without an exciting and promising new restaurant launching. Transitioning to celestial kitchens in 2014 were beloved restaurateurs Leona Medina-Tiede of Leona’s Restaurante de Chimayo and Charlie Elias of Charlie’s Front Door. They will be missed. 2014…

AlbuquerqueClosed in 2017Diners Drive-Ins and DivesFood Network Eats New MexicoGone But Not ForgottenItalianRating: Outstanding

Torinos @ Home – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno11:18 PM

On Monday, October 21st, 2013 in a Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives episode entitled “Aces of Authenticity,” the Food Network introduced Torinos @ Home to the world. Just four years earlier–on 22 December 2009–i was one of, if not the very first critics to see greatness in what was then a tiny Italian eatery coaxing amazing flavors from its humble menu. Then ensconced in diminutive digs, it was obvious Torinos @ Home was destined for far better things. During my many return visits over the years, Torinos has never ceased to impress–even amaze–me. Quite simply it’s one of the very best restaurants of any genre in the Land of Enchantment. So what makes Torinos @ Home stand out from among so many Italian restaurants in New Mexico. It starts and ends with owners Chef Maxime and Daniela Bouneou who are absolutely passionate about what they do. They have a sincere desire to please their patrons with the very best food they can prepare and they strive to present it as a work of edible art. They relish the challenge of knowing that they have to win over each guest one meal at a time and recognize they can never have an…

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Gil’s “Best of the Best” for 2014

Gil Garduno10:44 AM

The advent of 2015 is nigh. It’s with great fondness and more than a little (blush) salivation that I bid adieu and auld lang syne to my most memorable dishes of 2014. These are the baker’s dozen dishes which are most indelibly imprinted on my memory engrams…the first dishes that come to mind when I close my eyes and reflect on the past year in eating. This compilation will show that 2014 may have been the year of the horse in the Chinese calendar, but in this gastronome’s calendar, 2014 was resoundingly the year of soup. Yes, soup, the most comforting of comfort foods. If, as Beethoven postulated “only the pure in heart can make a good soup,” New Mexican chefs are pure-hearted geniuses. My restaurant of the year, chef of the year, meal of the year, dish of the year and dining experience of the year all emanate from one magical location in one of the most magical cities in the world. Situated within the fabulous confines of the Hillside Gallery in Santa Fe, Epazote is spectacular and it is stunning. The two best of the best dishes it was my pleasure to enjoy in 2014 were Epazote’s foodgasm-inducing…

AlbuquerqueAmericanClosed in 2015Food Network Eats New MexicoGone But Not ForgottenNew MexicoRestaurant Impossible

Shade Tree Customs & Cafe – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno2:17 PM

For at least the past seven years, the most famous “biker cafe” in the Land of Enchantment has been the fictional Maggie’s Diner in Madrid on the Turquoise Trail. Constructed in 2007 for the made-in-New-Mexico comedy Wild Hogs, Maggie’s Diner was frequented by bikers of all ilks, whether they be white collar executives in the throes of mid-life crises or the stereotypically rowdy, raucous bikers who terrorize the Madrid’s citizenry and demand food and adult beverages gratis. After January 14th, 2015 when the Food Network aired a Restaurant: Impossible episode entitled “Revved Up,” New Mexico’s most famous biker cafe probably became the Shade Tree Customs & Cafe in Albuquerque. Chef-host Robert Irvine and crew spent a couple of days in October “transforming” the restaurant. The premise of Restaurant: Impossible is that within two days and on a budget of $10,000, Irvine will transform a failing American restaurant with the goal of helping to restore it to profitability and prominence. To make the show entertaining, any existing dysfunction or drama in the restaurant’s day-to-day operations is spotlighted in the fashion of all reality shows. If anything, what the show revealed is that when two worlds—a motorcycle shop and a restaurant—collide, issues…