New Mexican Food

In a comment, Bob asked about my “favorite Mexican food restaurant” in Albuquerque.

To answer, I need to begin with some qualifiers.

First, New Mexican cuisine is distinct from Mexican, which has numerous subsets, of course. The New Mexico distinction is chiles, which while part of many Mexican dishes, are to New Mexicans like sauce is to pasta for Italian food. Hence, the state question: Red or green? Chiles are the Pueblo Indian contribution to conventional Mexican food.

Second, my favorite New Mexican restaurant isn’t in Albuquerque. It’s in Santa Fe: Maria’s New Mexican Kitchen. And I like the enchiladas at the Pink Adobe Cafe, though it has gone from one set of owners to another and just last month back to the first, so who knows.

And third, I don’t have a favorite in Albuquerque, though several are OK.

SnoLepard refers to Garduño’s, but the only one of that local chain that I particularly liked was the one on North Fourth, now closed.

I used to think that the Church Street Cafe was exceptional, but it has been disappointing lately.

El Pinto has a delightful physical ambience, especially when the weather permits dining in the courtyards. But El Pinto had become hit or miss for both the food and the service recently. In fact, most recently, it has been miss and the prices keep climbing to pay for all the vanity photos on the walls (and there is the fact that it was George W. Bush’s favorite).

Sadie’s has the hottest chiles. Monroe’s has the best prices and is always tasty. La Hacienda in Old Town was Bill Clinton’s favorite, but not mine. Some like Los Cuates, but I can’t say.

And none of these is the least bit fancy — if you count tablecloths and menus that aren’t plastic-coated as some sort of threshold for fancy.

But even so-so New Mexican food is ahh-some — it makes me hungry just writing about it. And you do understand, that the hotter the chiles the greater the reward. The capsaicinoids result in increased metabolism (also perspiration, runny nose and teary eyes). And the pain leads to a release of endorphins, the body’s natural painkillers, which reward us with blissful feelings.

Hey, they’re all my favorites.

6 thoughts on “New Mexican Food”

  1. Ay god, thanks for making me very hungry and homesick.

    Look, I’d take crappy New Mexican food right now.

    But back to the point, I agree with your list. I never liked El Pinto, I always found it overpriced and bland. Sadies when it was in the bowling alley was a favorite, but when they built the new place, the food changed. I used to love Gardunos but I had a meal there last year that was genuinely awful. They’ve gone to frozen stuff and that is BAD. Dos Hermanos is ok, but just ok.

    So I agree with you, ABQ has several ok places but nothing rockin’

    My favorite places are down south, Chopes in La Mesa and Nopalitos in Las Cruces are my go-tos.

    Actually, lately my best friend and I have a routine down pat. She makes rellenos and rice, I make chicken enchildas and a pot of beans and then wherever we sit down to eat it suddenly becomes my most favorite place in the world.

  2. Yeah, this post made my mouth water. I haven’t had any Mexican or New Mexican in just over a year and I miss it.

    Tonight Pla is sauteing shrimp in garlic with Thai spices. No doubt that will also hit the spot.

  3. To truly qualify, the red chile has to be homemade, not canned or bought. Garcia’s has one of the best I’ve tasted, they also make their own tortillas, the best in Burque, IMO, hands down. The ones on fourth street are the best.

  4. Ken – as a Santa Fean it’s hard for me to believe Maria’s and the Pink would be on top of your northern chile fix list. Neither of these places have had decent food for years, although the bar at both places is still cozy and inviting. I guess Maria’s still has great tortillas but that’s not chile. Horsemen’s Haven, La Choza, Guadalupe Cafe, and probably dozens more belong at the top of that list. The chile is often better up north in Espanola, Velarde, Nambe.

    I’ll admit I get nervous eating chile in Albuquerque because I’ve had so many disappointments. I generally don’t try. I’ll need to stop by Sadie’s some day and give it a shot.

  5. It appears that a composite opinion is “go to Santa Fe or stay at home.”

    Online reviews are certainly not glowing. La Hacienda gets “more atmosphere than flavor” and 72% do not recommend. Los Cuates has 17 5-star ratings but also 6 1-star ratings. Monroe’s and Garcia’s get 3½ out of 5 stars.

    Unless Karen and her best friend invite us to join them at their “most favorite place in the world,” I think we’ll try Monroe’s …. or Garcia’s …. or fish and chips?

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