Want Your Restaurant Listed? Call advertising at 505-823-3317 or E-mail Venue Menu
ADVERTISEMENT: Save 20% at more than 150 restaurants with a 6 or 12 month prepaid subscription to the Albuquerque Journal or Journal North. Save Now!
Next time you're passing Luigi's, pull in
Luigi's fooled me for many years, frankly. I'd been merrily driving down Fourth Street, headed toward an appointment with some delicious hole-in-the-wall or seeking new, exciting restaurants, all the while passing by the humble building with the sign always advertising an all-you-can-eat lunch or seafood buffet.
(Thursday, February 04, 2010)
Nibbles: Cafe Istanbul
I ordered to-go meals for my wife and me. Both were specials du jour at $6.49 each. We were very pleased with the flavors and bounty of the meals. I ordered the tasty falafel sandwich and the gyro. Both came on pita bread and stuffed with lettuce, tomato and a creamy yogurt sauce. I ate all of the falafel sandwich and the next morning — yes, for breakfast — had half of the gyro. And each special came with a small side of yummy hummus and one-half of a pita slice, a Turkish cookie, two olives and two mini sour pickles.
(Thursday, February 04, 2010)
Thai influence exerts itself in Nob Hill
Perilously close to Orchid Thai is Albuquerque's newest spot to get your papaya salad and Pad Thai fix — the west side's reliable oasis Thai Cuisine has spawned a sister outpost in eastern Nob Hill.
(Thursday, January 28, 2010)
Flavors of India, treatment from heaven
On a cool night after a long weekend of catching up with chores and/or watching football, it's nice to let someone else do the cooking. And good food comes with exceptional service at Santa Fe's popular India Palace.
(Thursday, January 28, 2010)
Nibbles: Cyprus Grill
A surprise was the starter for the lunch my wife and I recently shared. The menu called it Pizetta ($10), and it was surprisingly plentiful and very good. A not-so-mini pizza, it had a thin crust topped with mozzarella cheese, spinach, artichokes, kalamata olives, sun-dried tomatoes and mushrooms. It could be a meal in itself.
(Thursday, January 28, 2010)
Nibbles: Jinja Bar & Bistro
For openers my friend Pete and I split an hors d'oeuvre of pot stickers ($5.95). Though the menu said four, the waiter brought six. They were plump and were especially tasty when dipped in an accompanying sauce.
(Thursday, January 21, 2010)
It's only lunch, but well worth the drive
Around here, most old buildings you might find yourself in are adobe, possibly with a lot of wood structural elements. Not so the 200-year-old haven just off the main drag in Corrales. It was built with cut-and-dried earth slabs called "terrones," and seems to keep tenants a long time. The most recent occupant? A New Mexican restaurant about to celebrate its 75th anniversary, Perea's Tijuana Bar & Restaurant.
(Thursday, January 21, 2010)
Nibbles: Saffron Tiger — Indian Cuisine Express
My wife and I each ordered a two-entree combo ($6.25 each) at this East Indian fast-food restaurant. She had the Raja Shrimp with sliced bell peppers, mildly flavored with tamarind and cilantro. On the same plate was half an order of naan bread and Tiger rice with peas, which were flavored with cumin seed and bay leaves. She also got a side order of Tiger pockets ($1), which consists of three small, tasty fried pastries stuffed with potatoes and peas.
(Thursday, January 14, 2010)
Feed your inner sophisticate at Capitol
San Isidro Plaza, the commercial area just off Cerrillos Road that includes Lowe's and the Regal Theaters, has an interesting assortment of restaurants, most of them mom-and-pop operations. You can find tasty food of all sorts here: tender beef and chicken at Josh's BBQ, garlicky Middle Eastern favorites at Cleopatra's, fancy coffee at Tribes and New Mexican favorites at Plaza Southside Café. Other places offer ice cream, Asian dishes or Mexican-style tacos.
(Thursday, January 14, 2010)
Charlie's packs 'em in through both doors
Charlie's Front & Back Door is a study in complements — a dark (and formerly smoky) nest of a dive bar fit for pretending the sun has vanished below the horizon shares a kitchen with a better-lit dining room flanked by cushy booths and dark wood furniture borrowed directly from my childhood.
(Thursday, January 14, 2010)
Enthusiasm a key ingredient at Cazuelas
It shouldn't be this way — a server, every bit as pleasant and gracious as I'd expect at a fine-dining destination, bringing us chips and salsa in a homey Mexican joint behind Intel. The sheer size of Intel practically guarantees that any decent restaurant in walking distance will do well, and on that strength diverse menus to please lunchtime crowds are built. At Las Cazuelas, the focus is Mexican seafood from ceviche to platters, even after an expansion into a new space in 2007.
(Thursday, January 07, 2010)
Nibbles: Brasserie La Provence
Whenever I read aloud a menu in French/English, I always think the meal is bound to be delicious. Neither my wife nor I was disappointed at a recent dinner at La Provence. In fact, my mouth waters just thinking about it.
(Thursday, January 07, 2010)
Food at Plaza Southside worth the wait
When I called the Plaza Café Southside to ask if they opened for breakfast, the man on the other end of the phone chuckled.
(Thursday, January 07, 2010)
Nibbles: Relish
First thing you notice at this Downtown restaurant is the absence of tables to eat, though there's a narrow counter with three stools and a metal bench. But this is basically a to-go business.
(Thursday, December 31, 2009)
Diner serves up comfort with a view
On the western edge of town is a most lovely view — the whole eastern horizon stretched out, sparkling with urban details from streetlights to window panes. On the gentle upslope of Central Avenue exiting the city near Coors sits the Western View Diner, a home to hungry travelers and families for decades.
(Thursday, December 31, 2009)
Tabla is rich, despite austere ambience
Chef Estevan Garcia has created a great, New Mexican-inspired menu for the newly renovated restaurant at the Hotel St. Francis. The night of our visit, the food and professional service rivaled that at some of Santa Fe's better-known restaurants. Of course, we expected good service since we shared the dining room with only two other customers.
(Thursday, December 31, 2009)
Nibbles: Zea Rotisserie & Grill
Caesar salad is on the menu at this restaurant, but to make the salad its own, the business changed the first letter and transposed the next two. The result is the name Zeasar salad ($4.95). The dressing was barely visible, so I asked for and got a small cup of the thick dressing that made all the difference.
(Thursday, December 24, 2009)
Fresh look, same great food in Chimayó
After more than a year of remodeling and restoration, New Mexico's historic Rancho de Chimayó looks like a million bucks — but kept its reasonable prices.
(Thursday, December 24, 2009)
Sushiya a welcome respite from heavy fare
When holiday consumption has stretched your "festivus corpus" to the gills, relief can be found in several ways — restraint seems most logical, but what fun is that? Alternatively, you can eat food that tiptoes lightly on both the tongue and the body at Sushiya in the Northeast Heights.
(Thursday, December 24, 2009)
Packed with variety, Louie's is fresh, fun
From breakfast with organic eggs, panini sandwiches and crepes to lunch of hearty burgers, salads and sandwiches, Louie's offers fresh choices in a cheerful downtown location. Situated on the corner of Alameda and Galisteo, next door to the Galisteo Bistro, Louie's is the reincarnation of another locally owned restaurant, 8:15 Early, in a more visible spot.
(Thursday, December 17, 2009)
Lucia a refined, subtle dining experience
Albert Bilotti is a mainstay of the Albuquerque restaurant and chef scene, whether he's racking up accolades at his previous flagship, Kanome, or consulting with places as diverse as New York Pizza Department or Slate Street Café, even catering for film productions. Those who've missed his creations since Kanome closed in 2002 have reason to visit the former La Posada, recently re-opened as Hotel Andaluz, with Bilotti's restaurant Lucia front and center for three meals a day.
(Thursday, December 17, 2009)
Nibbles: Paisano's Italian Restaurant
The first thing the waitress served my wife and me, before we ordered, was a basket of rolls and bread slices with a small plate of mild spices in olive oil for dipping. It was so tasty that we ate almost all the rolls and bread before our meal arrived.
(Thursday, December 17, 2009)
Nibbles:Chef's Bistro
A slow reading of the menu drew my eyes to the page with New Orleans cooking. I'm a fool for the fried oyster po' boy sandwich that I used to eat on Sundays after tennis at my favorite family restaurant-bar on Magazine Street.
(Thursday, December 10, 2009)
venue 
Save Now!
Illustration/Cathryn Cunningham
E-mail Story
Print Friendly