I should have made a left at Albuquerque!

Re:I should have made a left at Albuquerque! (buffetbuster)

Thu, 02 Sep 2010 08:46:36 GMT

Monday June 15, 2009

My flight left mid morning, which gave me time for one more meal in Albuquerque. I headed to Lindy's Diner,

a corner restaurant, right on Rte. 66. The inside is spacious and neat and I like the neon skyline,

although I doubt that really matches with Albuquerque.

Having loved the cinnamon roll from the day before, I decided to try it here, too. This was more of the sweeter, gooey, covered in butter version of a cinnamon roll.

Served hot, it was a pleasure to eat. My main dish was what the waitress called one of their most popular dishes, the Pile Up.

What's not too like about bacon and hash browns, covered with tasty red and green chile and lots of cheese? This was my second visit to Lindy's and both times I have been very happy with the food and the service. Lindy's is an underrated Albuquerque restaurant.

Lindy's Diner
500 Central Avenue SW
Albuquerque, NM
505-242-2582

http://www.roadfood.com/Restaurant/Reviews/354/lindys-coffee-shop

From there, it was straight to the airport and the end of the vacation.

Re:I should have made a left at Albuquerque! (Foodbme)

Wed, 01 Sep 2010 16:06:22 GMT

I've driven the "Back Road to Sante Fe". It's a beautiful ride that takes you back in time. If the bus goes that route, they better have Barf Bags on-board. Lottsa twists & turns, Ups and downs!

Re:I should have made a left at Albuquerque! (buffetbuster)

Wed, 01 Sep 2010 15:58:23 GMT

Sunday June 14, 2009 cont.

Since I wanted some snacks for the hotel that night, I made one more stop at Golden Crown Panaderia for more biscochitos and cherry empanadas.

Then a nap at the hotel room. For my last dinner in Albuquerque, I chose Sadie's.

Located in the middle of a big shopping district, this is not your little mom and pop Roadfood restaurant. Even at 7:30 on a Sunday night, the place was crowded, although I did get a seat right away in the main dining room.

To start off the meal, an order of the sopaipillas.

These came out cold and just tasted mass produced. Much better were the homemade chips and salsa.

For my entree, it was the carne adovada stacked enchiladas,

one of the dishes they are best known for. Not bad, but nothing special. Considering all the great food I had already eaten on this trip, Sadie's was clearly a step below. There are too many other places in Albuquerque for me to eat before I would go back.

Sadie's
6230 4th Street NW
Albuquerque, NM
505-345-5339

Back to the hotel for the rest of the night.

More to come.....

Re:I should have made a left at Albuquerque! (kland01s)

Wed, 01 Sep 2010 14:15:18 GMT

We had lunch at the San Marcos Cafe about 5 years ago, strange trip because just before we hit Cerrillos we came across a production company filming a video for MTV, I think the guy was Neal Anderson. You just never know what you will come across taking the back roads in New Mexico!

Re:I should have made a left at Albuquerque! (buffetbuster)

Wed, 01 Sep 2010 13:22:48 GMT

No Nancy, if there was pie involved, the photo would be me chasing the dinosaur!

Re:I should have made a left at Albuquerque! (Nancypalooza)

Wed, 01 Sep 2010 13:21:18 GMT

Those San Marcos breakfasts look magnificent! Are you fighting that guy off for the last piece of pie in the last picture?

Re:I should have made a left at Albuquerque! (buffetbuster)

Wed, 01 Sep 2010 13:13:46 GMT

Sunday June 14, 2009

There are two main ways to get from Santa Fe to Albuquerque. Interstate 25 will get you from one to the other in just about an hour. If you have the time and want to see more scenery, take NM Rte. 14, also known as the Turquoise Trail. This is the road we took, partially because our breakfast destination, San Marcos Cafe in the town of Cerrillos, is on Rte. 14. Unfortunately, we had a bear of a time finding the place. We must of drove past it twice and the GPS was no help at all. But, at least it let us discover this interesting sign,

next to a gas station, while we were lost. No outside sign was apparent, so what clued in that this was the restaurant was the peacocks

roaming around in the yard. Hey, we even got to see one of the peacocks showing off his glorious tail

for a peahen. Hmmmm, I'm thinking she's seen this before and isn't too impressed!

The inside of the San Marcos Cafe is fairly large,

with plenty of room between tables and multiple dining rooms. We were seated in the small room on the right, which was attractively decorated.

We were very much impressed by the little touches. We asked for water and we got this well worn, but appropriate for here, pitcher.

The excellent hot chocolates arrived in San Marcos Cafe coffee mugs.

And the orange juice was fresh squeezed.

Here was the specials board,

with lots of tempting options. We started our meal off with a hot cinnamon roll.

Larger than most, it was extremely flaky and not overly sweet. We loved it! My entree was the Eggs San Marcos,

a dish of scrambled eggs inside a tortilla, covered with guacamole, plus green and red chiles. The chiles here had first rate flavor, with the green being much hotter. Johnny had the corned beef hash,

which was very tender, with a nice crispy outside.

Along with well done potatoes and over easy eggs, Johnny was very happy with his meal. Oh, and some really good homemade, warm and buttery bread

came with the meals.

San Marcos Cafe has an interesting history. There used to be a black tie wearing rooster named Buddy who greeted the guests and served as unofficial mascot. But Buddy passed away years ago and even without a replacement, we gave San Marcos Cafe high marks. Before we left, I did pose in the doorway

in the side yard, but forgot to give the John Wayne pose, like Michael Stern does in the Roadfood review.

San Marcos Cafe
3877 SR-14
Cerrillos, NM
505-471-9298

http://www.roadfood.com/Restaurant/Reviews/1397/san-marcos-cafe

Time was running short for Johnny's time in New Mexico, but we did make one more stop and that was at the New Mexico Musuem of Natural History in Albuquerque. They have lots of interesting exhibits here, but we were most impressed by the dinosaur displays.

And we couldn't help but take a fun photo outside the museum.

http://www.nmnaturalhistory.org/
It was time to take Johnny to the airport and say our good byes, since my flight didn't leave until the next morning. But, now that I don't have him holding me back anymore, I can FINALLY do some serious eating!

More to come.....

Re:I should have made a left at Albuquerque! (Foodbme)

Wed, 01 Sep 2010 04:31:50 GMT

The Picture of The Bulldog at Sugars suggests that maybe the dog went to that big restaurant in the sky. There's a plaque under the picture with the dogs name on it.

Re:I should have made a left at Albuquerque! (buffetbuster)

Tue, 31 Aug 2010 14:29:19 GMT

Nancy, I think you are right about that pad see ew, since that is a dish I have ordered in the past. And you would have enjoyed the adobe/Asian decor!

Re:I should have made a left at Albuquerque! (Nancypalooza)

Tue, 31 Aug 2010 14:23:39 GMT

I think that's a pad see ew? I'm not spelling that right I know, but basically the wide egg noodles.

I think I would feel right at home at Sugar's--all that stuff (with the exception of the barbecue sauce) looks straight out of a barbecue hut here.

Re:I should have made a left at Albuquerque! (buffetbuster)

Tue, 31 Aug 2010 14:05:25 GMT

Saturday June 13, 2009 cont.

Next stop was the town of Chimayo. I have been here on several occasions before, since the Roadfood landmark restaurant Rancho de Chimayo is located in Chimayo. Johnny and I even stayed in their inn, back on our previous trip. Unfortunately, the restaurant had a fire earlier in the year and they hadn't reopened yet. This time, we were here to visit El Santuario de Chimayo,

which is a Catholic shrine and is sometimes referred to as the Lourdes of America. One of the rooms has a round pit and the dirt in it is supposed to possess the power to heal. I did take a few photos on the way in to the shrine,

including the makeshift crosses on the fence. But, I eventually decided to put the camera away and just enjoy being at this holy site. Neither one of us is Catholic, but there is something special about this place.

Now, as long as we were here, we grabbed some late lunch at Leona's,

which is right next to the shrine. I will go ahead and apologize right now, because my food photos turned out horrible and most are too bad to post. There have a surprisingly large menu for such a little place. On each table is a menu stand,

but you actually place your order at the counter

and they bring the food out to you.

Our favorite item here was the delicious posole,

which was considerably hotter than the version we had earlier in the trip. We got a couple of tamales,

wrapped in corn husks and then shared them. The chicken tamale contained green chiles and was very mild. The pork tamale had red chiles and was fiery hot. There were a couple of other items, but my notes are sketchy and my memory fading. I know that we drank our food down with good Henry Weinhard root beers, a brand we had never tasted before. And we finished it with biscochitos,

wrapped in cellophane, that were sitting next to the register. A nice way to end the meal, but these were no way near as good as the fresh ones at Golden Crown Panaderia.

Leona's
17 Santuario Drive
Chimayo, NM
505-351-4569

http://www.roadfood.com/Restaurant/Reviews/1752/leonas

It had been a long day, so we went back to the hotel and napped. We did wake up in time for a late dinner. As much as we enjoyed all the great New Mexican food, we were ready for a change of pace. Warning to wanderingjew: you should just skip past this part of the trip report. Both of us love Thai food and after a quick search online, we found one right down the street.

The place was called Dara Thai

and the inside decoration is a strange combination of adobe/Asian. The menu looked pretty standard, but we both got a laugh out of a dish called Evil Jungle Princess.

We both got Thai iced teas to drink.

They were extremely strong, not sweet and we didn't care for them. Johnny got his usual appetizer, the chicken satay. The chicken had a strange texture,

but the peanut sauce was very tasty. For his entree, Johnny got the Gang Ga Puket,

which is chicken in a mild curry sauce. The dish also had tomato, pineapple, spinach and broccoli. The name of my dish never got written down in my notes,

but it was another dish of mild heat that contained flat noodles shrimp and broccoli. One of the things that was different here is that when we order in a Thai restaurant back home, they ask you how spicy you want it on a scale of 1-10. Here, we were asked on a scale of 1-5. Since I usually get a 7, I had to ask for 3 1/2!

Dara Thai was a nice change of pace for us and the people working there were very nice, but the food was just okay and I would not go out of my way to eat there again. Right down the street from Dara Thai, we spotted a Baskins-Robbins, so we stopped in for a cone. Chocolate peanut butter for me and mango tango for Johnny. From there, it was back to the hotel for the night.

Much more to come.....

Re:I should have made a left at Albuquerque! (buffetbuster)

Tue, 31 Aug 2010 10:46:17 GMT

Saturday June 13, 2009 cont.

We continued north to the small town of Embudo to eat at a place we were eagerly anticipating, Sugar's. We had driven right past this place earlier in the trip on the way to Taos, but it was already closed for the night. The reason we were particularly excited about Sugar's in the photo in the Roadfood review of the bulldog sitting on top of the wall, watching the customers eat.

We loved Sugar's

just based on how the place looked. Obviously, just a trailer with a tin front, it was screaming good Roadfood to us. They have a beautiful framed black & white photo of a bulldog,

who the restaurant is certainly named after. Being big dog lovers, we loved this touch! Here is a poor photo of the menu,

highlighted by the bbq and burger options on it. We placed our orders and then sat down in the lovely little picnic table area nearby.

Captain Combo struck again! His three meat choices

were ribs, brisket and sausage. The ribs

were very tender, but not fall off the bone, which is what we like. It provided a nice chew with lots of meaty flavor. Thumbs up! The brisket with the clear smoke ring, was even more tender. It was on the fatty side, but Johnny still liked it very much. Johnny described the sausage as being more like a kielbasa and not like a Texas hot link, with a crispy exterior and a nice snap when you bit into it. The only problem with the meats was that it came drenched in too much sauce. The sauce was very thick, on the sweet side, with maybe some vinegar and did provide a small amount of heat. We liked the sauce, but less would have been more in this case. My entree was the brisket burrito,

which also contained green chiles. The combination was addictive and was on the short list of best things I ate on the trip.

We split up the sides. The cole slaw

was finely chopped. I liked it better than Johnny, who thought it was too peppery. He was much happier with the potato salad,

which was also chopped fine and contained a heavy does of mayo, plus some pickle. The sweet beans,

with plenty of pork in it, were my favorite side. Johnny ate the cornbread

in a manner that he picked up from ChiTownDiner when we were in Memphis.

Sorry about the food photos having so many shadows. I have yet to master the art of outdoor food photography.

Sugar's gets high marks from us for the food and had we asked them to go a little lighter on the sauce, we would have liked it even more. The only disappointment is that we never saw a dog the entire time we were here.

We got back in the car and headed south, back towards Santa Fe.

Sugar's
1799 SR-68
Embudo, NM
505-852-0604

http://www.roadfood.com/Restaurant/Reviews/1389/sugars

Much more to come.....

Re:I should have made a left at Albuquerque! (buffetbuster)

Fri, 27 Aug 2010 10:58:35 GMT

Ivyhouse-
Looking forward to meeting you and your friend on the tour. It has been several years since I have been to Coyote Cafe, but I remember it being very good. The dishes were very creative and beautiful to look at. No doubt, a little pricey but worth it. The rooftop cantina is especially nice during the Summertime. Now that I think about it, more of my meals at Coyote Cafe were at MGM Grand in Las Vegas, although I think that location is no longer there.

Glad you are going to spend some extra days out there. You will love it!!!

Nancy-
No, I don't think that is typical for chorizo. Undoubtedly overcooked, but we liked it regardless.

Re:I should have made a left at Albuquerque! (Ivyhouse)

Fri, 27 Aug 2010 10:38:32 GMT

Hello Cliff,

I have been following your Albuquerque thread very closely. My friend Lisa and I will be on the New Mexico tour, and we are spending a few extra days in ABQ and Santa Fe. Your sightseeing and restaurant recommendations will come in very handy.

One of the restaurants we are considering in Santa Fe is Coyote Cafe. Have you ever been there and if so, what are your thoughts?

Thanks,

Karen

Re:I should have made a left at Albuquerque! (Nancypalooza)

Fri, 27 Aug 2010 09:13:13 GMT

Wow, that chorizo has totally left this mortal coil. Is it typical to see it served like that?

Re:I should have made a left at Albuquerque! (buffetbuster)

Fri, 27 Aug 2010 09:05:04 GMT

I love to hear that Bruce! Thanks.

mr chips-
We sure do wish you could join us on the bus tour this year. You will be missed!

Re:I should have made a left at Albuquerque! (Bruce Bilmes and Susan Boyle)

Fri, 27 Aug 2010 08:59:39 GMT

"a GCC from this place sounds like a "must do"!"

Cliff, it was many years ago but the GCC we had here was our favorite of those we tried. And the green chile was certainly hotter than all the others!

Re:I should have made a left at Albuquerque! (buffetbuster)

Fri, 27 Aug 2010 08:41:53 GMT

Saturday June 13, 2009

For breakfast, we decided to visit a place near the hotel that Johnny had never been to before. Horseman's Haven was in some of the older Roadfood books and I ate here with my mother about a decade ago. I remember it being very good, very small and connected to a gas station out on busy Cerrillos Road. That location closed down and I thought it had gone out of business. But, some research showed they had moved to a new location just down the road. When we pulled up and saw that the parking lot was full of police cars,

we knew we were in the right place. And all the officers

were sitting together at one table.

The new Horseman's Haven is much bigger now, with lots of comfortable booths. It does still has the same attractive Western decor,

including the obligatory tribute to The Duke.

Once again, I went with the huevos rancheros, Christmas-style.

A few more potatoes were have been preferred, but the chile here was extremely flavorful, including the extremely hot green chile. I sided my entree with some crispy, greasy and very good chorizo sausage.

Johnny went for the carne adovado.

The beef was so tender, it just fell apart as you tried to pick it up with a fork. There wasn't much heat to the thick sauce, but it was some of the best tasting chile on the trip.

In doing research for the upcoming vacation, I read that Horseman's Haven does an excellent green chile cheeseburger. They also have a terrifyingly hot chile know as Level 2, which doesn't appear on the menu. Not sure if I will try that, but a GCC from this place sounds like a "must do"!

Horseman's Haven
4353 Cerrillos Road
Santa Fe, NM
505-471-5420

We headed north and then west to Bandelier National Monument,

where homes of ancient Puebloans have been preserved. We stuck to the main loop trail, which is only about 1.2 miles, but there was so much to see, we spent over three hours here. Some of the sights:

As much as we enjoyed the hike, my favorite thing from Bandelier was this sign:

Is it really necessary to tell people not to handle bats. I wouldn't pick up a bat, even if someone was actually giving me a rabies shot at the same time!

We really enjoyed out time at Bandelier and if people going on the Roadfood bus tour are looking for someplace not too far from Albuquerque to do some outdoor sightseeing, this place comes highly recommended.

http://www.nps.gov/band/

After all the exercis in the hot sun, we were ready to eat!

Much more to come.....

Re:I should have made a left at Albuquerque! (mr chips)

Thu, 26 Aug 2010 18:32:48 GMT

my envy of those of you going on the trip grows larger every time I read this report. I hope you will all have a great time. By the way, I've been to a mexican rodeo in San Antonio, Texas and it was a wonderful experience and I hope tose of you who can will take advantage of the opportunity to see 1.

Re:I should have made a left at Albuquerque! (ChiTownDiner)

Thu, 26 Aug 2010 17:51:49 GMT

I'm with Stephen on this one...can't wait for the trip!

Re:I should have made a left at Albuquerque! (buffetbuster)

Thu, 26 Aug 2010 15:58:22 GMT

Friday June 12, 2009 cont.

Next up on the list of things to do was make a quick stop at the Five and Dime General Store,

a store located right on the Plaza. The Roadfood significance of the Five and Dime is that here is where Fritos Pie was invented and is still served in fine fashion.

The snack bar

is located in the back of the store. They do make several other things

beside the Fritos Pie, but that is all I have ever tried here. Over 30,000 sold a year, that is rather impressive! They still do it the way it has always been done, where they tear open a bag of Fritos and then warm chile is poured directly into the bag. After that, a layer of shredded cheese is piled on top. The combination of the chile, cheese and no longer crunchy chips are unbeatable. Here is one ready to eat!

Another nice little thing about them all being mixed into the one bag is that they are perfect for strolling around the Plaza with. In fact, back in Pittsburgh, you will see these listed on festival menus as walking tacos, since you can eat them while going mobile. One other nice little thing we observed here is that they don't hand the Fritos Pie directly to you. After they prepare it, they set it in a holder

especially designed for it. This makes it easier for the customer to pay, instead of juggling the food, your wallet and whatever else you are holding. And for those of you who like to send postcards back to your loved ones, the Five and Dime has the largest selection in the city.

There was a photo taken here of me in a sombrero, but I don't want to post it and infringe on wanderingjew's domain!

Five and Dime General Store
58 E. San Francisco
Santa Fe, NM
505-992-1800

http://www.roadfood.com/Restaurant/Reviews/1381/five-and-dime-general-store

Johnny and I did indeed enjoy our Fritos Pie while walking the Plaza, looking at the sights. Now, I have been to Santa Fe many times, but strolling the Plaza is still a "must do" on every trip. From the local Native Americans selling jewelry in front of the Palace of the Governors, to the beautiful architecture, there is plenty to see. Here are some photos from within a block or two of the Santa Fe Plaza.

After a couple hours of exploring, it was time to grab a bite to eat. A reasonable walk from the Plaza is Bert's Burger Bowl, so we hiked on over. The place looked cool on the outside,

in a retro 1950's sort of way. They do offer all kinds of different kinds of burgers,

including a Kobe beef burger, but we stuck to the basics and got the green chile cheeseburgers. And here is where I made a big mistake. I hadn't called into work for a few days, so I asked Johnny to collect the food and bring it outside, where I grabbed a table. Anyway, there was some things going on and I ended up being on the phone for almost an hour. Needless to say, my green chile cheeseburger had grown cold. It was still pretty to look at

and I can tell you that Johnny came away impressed, but this is not something that tastes as good cold. No big deal, since I wasn't exactly starving to death. And we both liked our creamy shakes, mine being the chocolate.

With us being back in Santa Fe in a few weeks, giving Bert's another shot will be a priority.

Bert's Burger Bowl
235 Guadalupe Street
Santa Fe, NM
505-982-0215

http://www.roadfood.com/Restaurant/Reviews/1379/berts-burger-bowl

We ended up doing a little shopping, since I had run short of socks and Johnny some other necessary items, before we headed out for our return meal to Bobcat Bite. Once again, I chronicled it here,
http://www.roadfood.com/Forums/Bobcat-BiteSanta-Fe-NM-m520346.aspx
so no reason to rehash it. But, I do kind of like this close-up shot taken of the burger.

I'll say it again..... Both Johnny and I consider Bobcat Bite the #1 Roadfood restaurant we have ever visited and nothing else comes close. It was that good!

The rest of the night was spent in the hotel yelling at the tv. My Pittsburgh Penguins were playing in game seven of the Stanley Cup Finals and my team was fortunate enough to win over an outstanding opponent, the Detroit Red Wings. Needless to say, I was on Cloud 9! This had been a great day!

Much more to come.....

Re:I should have made a left at Albuquerque! (buffetbuster)

Thu, 26 Aug 2010 14:24:52 GMT

Hey Foodbme, I thought Pittsburgh IS God's Country!

Actually, New Mexico is high on the list of places I may retire to someday.

Re:I should have made a left at Albuquerque! (Foodbme)

Thu, 26 Aug 2010 14:19:21 GMT

So Buffetbuster----- When are you and Cousin Johnny moving out here to God's Country???

Re:I should have made a left at Albuquerque! (buffetbuster)

Thu, 26 Aug 2010 10:49:59 GMT

cecif-
This was my seventh trip to New Mexico and Johnny's fourth. We have both spent plenty of time in Taos. As much as we like it there, we just wanted to see some new things this time.

Re:I should have made a left at Albuquerque! (cecif)

Thu, 26 Aug 2010 09:40:52 GMT

Forget PMs and emails... I still wanna know why you appear NOT to have stopped and eaten in Taos!

Still, great stuff, as ever & always!

Re:I should have made a left at Albuquerque! (ChiTownDiner)

Thu, 26 Aug 2010 08:07:46 GMT

Captain Combo looks different with the hairnet...

Re:I should have made a left at Albuquerque! (Michael Hoffman)

Wed, 25 Aug 2010 20:50:33 GMT

buffetbuster

Michael-
Maybe I should put my lawyer on speed dial!

It can't hurt.

Re:I should have made a left at Albuquerque! (Stephen Rushmore Jr.)

Wed, 25 Aug 2010 20:41:40 GMT

Cliff, your trip reports have gotten me fired about about this trip. Only a couple more weeks to go!

Re:I should have made a left at Albuquerque! (buffetbuster)

Wed, 25 Aug 2010 20:40:04 GMT

Michael-
Maybe I should put my lawyer on speed dial!

Re:I should have made a left at Albuquerque! (Michael Hoffman)

Wed, 25 Aug 2010 20:38:29 GMT

Damn! Will you cut it out