'The Bars and Restaurants of Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul' a road map to the shows' cafés, dives and saloons

You can’t cook with Walter White, but you can eat with him thanks to the book “The Bars and Restaurants of Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul.”

Penned by the British author Aimee Macpherson, who also worked on “Better Call Saul” as an assistant to a producer, the book compiles the cafés, dives and saloons featured in both shows’ Albuquerque locations.

'The Bars and Restaurants of Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul' a road map to the shows' cafés, dives and saloons

Macpherson pored through location lists, the “Breaking Bad” Wiki page and her own on-site lists to locate the eateries where Walter White (Bryan Cranston) and Jesse Pinkman (Aaron Paul) ordered plates of enchiladas, curly fries and black coffee. The project took about five years.

“I have a soft spot for Juanita’s Comida Mexicana in Barelas,” Macpherson said, aka Bienvenidos Amigos in “Better Call Saul.”

In the show, Nacho (Michael Mando) witnesses the intimidation of his father, Manuel, by the Salamanca clan, concealed from view outside. Nacho’s view of his father is tense yet passive.

“It was filmed at night, but it’s not open at night,” Macpherson added.

“It’s a small, personable, unique space,” she continued. “They do a very good breakfast burrito.”

The crew also shot Loyola’s Family Restaurant at night in the “Breaking Bad” episode “Shotgun.” Mike Ehrmantraut (Jonathan Banks) offers Jesse the dinner he ordered for himself to help Jesse through drug withdrawal. Mike frequents Loyola’s in both shows to eat and lead business meetings. It was a place for pitching deals, deflecting crooked propositions and dining in relative safety. The restaurant also appeared in “Better Call Saul” when struggling public defender Jimmy McGill (Bob Odenkirk) talks business in “Uno.”

“Loyola’s looks exactly the same,” Macpherson said. “Some of them are very every day. A lot of them don’t have a contemporary aesthetic. They’ve just got a lot of character.”

Garcia’s Kitchen, along with the Dog House, were introduced on “Breaking Bad” during a montage of Jesse dealing meth in the “Crazy Handful of Nothin’” episode. Garcia’s Central Avenue location was the only one used in the show.

“They didn’t shoot inside,” Macpherson said. “They used the exterior.”

The restaurant appears in a brief daytime time-lapse in “Bullet Points,” using a wide shot to anchor the building’s location. It’s not until the episode “Shotgun” that the exterior merits a longer feature, when Jesse collects Mike from the restaurant. He’s just reversed the car down the alley to shake off Banger #1, who’s headed toward him on foot with a shotgun.

Twisters Burgers and Burritos, in Albuquerque’s South Valley, formed the setting of Gustavo Fring’s Los Pollos Hermanos, complete with chile curly fries. Los Pollos serves as a fast-food joint that operates as a front for Fring’s (Giancarlo Esposito) drug smuggling operation. Both “Breaking Bad” and “Better Call Saul” invested the humble Twisters with mythical significance as well as an eerie presence where weary travelers can find fried chicken sandwiches or a drug kingpin. The scripts are very specific about what the characters eat at the legendary eatery.

The drinks fountain where Jimmy overfills the sugar in his coffee as he spies Hector Salamanca (Mark Margolis) paying the restaurant a visit now serves as a recessed counter filled with “Breaking Bad” photos and memorabilia. The counter features a letter organizer full of handwritten notes left by fans.

“They don’t have the same mesh baskets because fans are stealing them,” Macpherson said.

The Dog House Drive-In is a take-out joint with a neon sign running the length of the building. It features a dachshund wagging his tail and biting into a blinking train of sausages. The inside of the Dog House is closed to customers, so fans can’t see the Technicolor cinder blocks featured in “Better Call Saul.” You can sit outside like Jimmy McGill and Kim Wexler (Rhea Seehorn) in “Fifi.”

Taco Sal’s neon Route 66 sign reigns over Menaul Boulevard in a beckoning glare. In “Breaking Bad,” Taco Sal’s dining tables sit at the front of the restaurant, framed by decorative windows and vintage signs.

The location appears several times in “Breaking Bad.” Skyler White (Anna Gunn) and her sister Marie Schrader (Betsy Brandt) hand out handmade “missing” signs for Walt. At the end of season two, Walt meets Jesse at Taco Sal and announces his decision to retire from meth-making, a short-lived fantasy.

Macpherson moved to Albuquerque from London in 2014 to be with her now-husband. The University of New Mexico Press assigned her the book. She worked on “Better Call Saul” from season two through part of season five.

“I only left because I was about to have a baby,” she said.