A well-oiled machine

Among the renowned restaurant items in Albuquerque — El Modelo’s tamales and the Green Chile Bread at Golden Crown Panaderia come to mind — perhaps none is as iconic as Vaqueros at Vic’s Daily Café.

A marriage of huevos rancheros and chicken-fried steak, Vaqueros epitomizes the mix of New Mexican cuisine and diner food classics that has helped make Vic’s a favorite among locals and tourists alike since the 1990s.

The Vic in the restaurant’s name is Victor Pandazis, who launched the place in 1998. Before then, it was known as Andy’s — as in Andy Pandazis, Victor’s father. Its location on the south side of Osuna Road marks the southern end of the city’s unofficial breakfast corridor. Along with Vic’s, you’ll find Jimmy’s Café, Milly’s and Weck’s in the area from Osuna to the Journal Center, west of Interstate 25.

The narrow parking lot in front of Vic’s fills quickly. The lot to the east usually has plenty of spaces.

If my visits to Vic’s have taught me one thing, it’s this: expect a wait. It might be five minutes, it might be 30, but there usually is one, especially during lunch hour.

A cramped waiting area with a bench sits in front of the register. A second one just inside the entrance is more exposed to the elements. Many people choose to wait outside. You can gauge how busy it is when you drive into the parking lot by how many people are out there soaking up the sun and checking their phones.

I arrived a little before 11 a.m. on a recent weekday to find only a handful of people waiting inside. Upon checking in, I was given a pager and told it would be five to 10 minutes. The pager went off within five.

The three dining areas inside offer a mix of rectangular two-top tables and round tables that seat three to four. Servers weave between them expertly. Western and Native American art adorns the walls. It’s an older crowd, one that’s probably quite familiar with the work of Bob Seger, the Bee Gees and other musical acts who sound from the dining room speakers.

Like the name indicates, Vic’s is open seven days a week for breakfast and lunch.

The Breakfast Menu is comprised of a wide variety of sweet and savory dishes priced mostly in the $10 to $15 range.

The aforementioned Vaqueros ($15.99) highlights a list of Breakfast Specials at the top of the menu. The craggy-surfaced chicken-fried steak took up almost all of the shallow oval bowl it was served on. Under a cover of red sauce smothered with melted cheese, it resembled a plate of chicken parmigiana at first glance. But the peppery heat of the red chile that flooded the mouth after the first bite left no doubt that it’s a New Mexican dish, not Italian. The savory breading stayed crisp under the sauce, and the meat was more tender than tough. The two over-easy eggs underneath easily dispatched their runny yolks to enrich the sauce. Pushed over to one side of the plate were a pile of matchstick-like hash browns and some whole beans. Despite its prodigious size, the serving went down pretty easily.

My one gripe: The only equipment available to take on this sprawling plate was a small napkin wrapped around a rather petite fork and knife.

There are plenty of sweet choices on the menu in the form of waffles, pancakes, French toast and cinnamon rolls. I tried a half order of the Pecan French Toast ($10.49). The full order is only $1 more. The order arrived as two thick pieces of toast sprinkled with chopped pecans and cut into quarters around an airy scoop of butter. Instead of maple syrup, it’s served with honey that pairs well with the pecans, like a good breakfast cereal. The bread sponged up the honey so well that the whole thing ended up being a little dry. Consider asking for a side of syrup to augment it.

The Lunch Menu, even more varied than the breakfast one, is where the mix of diner and New Mexican food really stands out. Daily Blue Plates like liver and onions and meatloaf coexist with burrito, taco and enchilada plates and a Green Chile Cheeseburger with two patties ($11.49).

With 18 options in total, sandwiches make up the most diverse part of the lunch menu. I ordered the Reuben ($11.49) to go. Two slices of marble rye held a pile of shaved, lean corned beef, sauerkraut and Swiss cheese. Salty, a little sweet and with a snap of vinegar, it was very good. It comes with crunchy medium-thick fries.

The Pandazis’ Greek heritage is apparent in some of the artwork on the walls and dishes on the menu. Dolmas top the Greek salad, and an omelet called the Athenian comes with spinach, olives and feta cheese. The sandwich section includes a Gyros Greek Classic ($11.49) and Chicken Souvlaki ($11.49) served in pita bread. The latter was nicely done, the chicken carrying smoke from the grill and a lemony sting over a cooling dressing. The finely shredded lettuce added lots of crunch. It was also served with fries.

Lighter options include an impressive selection of Salads priced from $9.49 to $13.99. The eight Appetizers are priced around $10.

The friendly service that is one of the major draws at Vic’s was evident all around the dining room on this day. In one corner, a couple of tourists embraced the server before heading back out on the road. My server was cheerful and attentive. Although gluten-free options are not identified on the menu, she told me that gluten-free diners often order omelets. Corn tortillas can be used in place of the flour ones. The green chile is gluten-free but the red is not.

Now in its fourth decade of operation, Vic’s is a well-oiled machine, but the spirit of the staff shows that it hasn’t gotten lazy. So go ahead and take your pager and cool your heels. It will give you more time to prepare for the Vaqueros.