Jess used to stay in Albuquerque and it’s a metropolis we’ve each visited many occasions, each for the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta and likewise for sightseeing round New Mexico in common.
One factor we each love about Albuquerque and New Mexico is the meals. New Mexican delicacies is an absolute delight, with a deal with the New Mexico chile plant, and we’ve eaten at some improbable eating places throughout our time in Albuquerque.
Reading: Best places to eat in albuquerque
With that in thoughts, I needed to share a few of our favorite places to eat in Albuquerque, overlaying each New Mexican meals and another choices. A few of these areas had been new to each of us, others had been favourites of Jess’s that she needed to share.
No matter meals you’re into, I’m certain you’re going to discover one thing you’ll love from the next selections, which we expect are amongst the perfect eating places in Albuquerque!
Table of Contents
The Best Eating places in Albuquerque
1. Sadie’s
After we arrived into Albuquerque, Jess was craving some New Mexican dishes, and so one in every of our first stops was an previous favorite of hers – Sadie’s. Sadie’s is a New Mexico establishment, began in the 1950’s and now expanded to three Albuquerque eating places – all targeted on serving up basic New Mexican delicacies.
When you’re undecided what which means, New Mexican meals is a cross-over between Native American staples and the provides that Spanish settlers had on them – ensuing in a delicacies that options blue corn, squashes, chile peppers, flour, and pork.
Add in a heaping of beans and cheese, and also you’ve acquired the concept. Almost each dish (okay, each dish) comes with purple or inexperienced chile (or each, should you ask for it Christmas fashion) – a sauce like affair that’s the signature of New Mexican delicacies.
Again to Sadie’s. As I stated, they’ve grown past their preliminary roots, however are nonetheless well-known for serving up good, no-fuss New Mexican meals, and are significantly recognized for his or her home-made salsa. We had an enormous pile of all issues New Mexican, and may fortunately suggest that you simply do the identical.
Best for: Conventional New Mexico delicacies
2. Indian Pueblo Cultural Centre
Talking of Native American tradition, a go to to the Indian Pueblo Cultural Centre is effectively price it when in Albuquerque, as I already talked about in my publish on my favorite issues to do in Albuquerque. Right here you possibly can be taught concerning the 19 surviving Native American communities in New Mexico – the whole lot from their historical past, by means of to their artwork, cultures and meals.
However what higher approach to find out about their meals than by consuming it? Which is simply what you are able to do on the on-site restaurant – the Pueblo Harvest Cafe, the place they serve up Native fusion fare, incorporating Native flavors and components into up to date meals.
We visited for breakfast, and it’s secure to say that this was a really glorious feast. We tried quite a lot of dishes, and I can extremely suggest the blue corn pancakes – though we really feel you gained’t be disillusioned with something on the menu. Positively a superb place to eat in Albuquerque.
Best for: Tasting Native American Pueblo fare
3. Los Poblanos Historic Inn & Natural Farm
Because the title suggests, this restaurant is part of the Los Poblanos Historic Inn, which in its present type was constructed in the 1930’s – though the land has been run as a ranch for some time longer than that. Right now, it’s open as a phenomenal resort providing luxurious lodging, a fine-dining restaurant expertise, and an natural lavender farm.
We took a tour of the property and learnt a bit concerning the historical past and structure of the property and the households who lived right here. Now on the register of historic places, Los Poblanos presents an perception into the lives of among the individuals who made this nook of New Mexico their house, and feels nothing in any respect just like the Albuquerque you will have imagined from common TV exhibits.
We additionally learnt concerning the farm to fork ethos of the restaurant – the property has 25 acres of land, they usually attempt to use as many regionally grown and sourced components as attainable in the restaurant. We additionally met the resident peacocks, who wander round as in the event that they personal the place.
On to the meal. As we’d been invited to dinner, we had been introduced with beautiful scrolls with our names on, which additionally had our featured menu. The meals was completely scrumptious – up to date and basic in an off-the-cuff superb eating setting with a reasonably European really feel. We sat outdoors on the terrace, though indoor seating choices are additionally accessible.
Best for: A relaxed superb eating expertise
4. Farm & Desk
Because the title suggests, Farm & Desk is a restaurant, but additionally a farm – break up between 9 acres of grazing land, and a couple of acres of produce. Which means while you eat you possibly can gaze out at the place a lot of the meals in your plates comes from, which is each a stunning view and implies that it’s exhausting to discover meals a lot brisker!
In operation since 1996, Farm & Desk is among the hottest brunch (and eating) areas in Albuquerque, and after our eating expertise, it’s not exhausting to see why. The meals is improbable (you could have to strive the trio of pastries), superbly introduced, and the views from the sunny terrace are fantastic.
We additionally appreciated that we had been free to roam the gardens, see the place our meals was coming from, and that the proprietor, Cherie Montoya, took the time to meet us and stroll us by means of among the property and produce farm. That is undoubtedly an important spot for brunch.
One final tip – spare a little bit of time to go to La Parada, the next-door retail store and sister enterprise, which is housed in a 200 year-old adobe constructing. That includes gadgets from native artisans and artists all over the world, it’s effectively price a little bit of your time exploring.
Best For: A very improbable, prolonged brunch
5. Canine Home
And now for one thing fully totally different. The Canine Home is a Route 66 basic which has been serving up their signature foot lengthy chile coated scorching canines for over fifty years. So that they should be getting one thing proper.
It’s not precisely a superb eating expertise, but it surely’s undoubtedly an expertise, the recent canines are scrumptious, the value is improbable and it’s a basic piece of Route 66 and Albuquerque historical past. You possibly can eat in or take out, and naturally they’ve extra than simply scorching canines – different New Mexican freeway staples just like the inexperienced chile cheeseburger can be found.
Best For: Nice worth quick meals with a dose of nostalgia
6. Route 66 Diner
Need to consider you’re residing in the fifties – sipping milkshakes, selecting music on the Wurlizter, and paying cents for a gallon of fuel? Effectively, look no additional than the Route 66 Diner, which might give you almost all these issues in a enjoyable, classic fashion diner.
Also Read: Steak and cheese egg rolls
It’s acquired just about the whole lot you’d need from a fifties themed diner, together with fantastic decor, costumed employees, and the wonderful neon lighting – hallmark of Route 66. Don’t miss the wall of indicators outdoors!
Best for: Milkshakes, burgers and that 1950’s Route 66 vibe
7. Meals vans
Albuquerque actually has one thing for everybody, no matter sort of eating expertise you’re searching for. When you’re extra the eat on the hoof while sight-seeing, then Albuquerque has you coated with its meals truck scene!
An excellent place to expertise the meals truck scene in downtown Albuquerque is on the Civic Plaza on a Tuesday, the place plenty of meals vans will arrange store. We discovered plenty of choices, together with a BBQ meals truck & a frozen yoghurt meals truck once we visited – and because it was a scorching day, we took benefit of the frozen yoghurt!
Yow will discover out extra about which meals vans are the place at this fb web page and likewise on this map, which ought to checklist current areas for among the extra common meals vans in the town.
Best For: Tasty meals on the go
8. Scalo Northern Italian Grill
If for some purpose you might be beginning to hanker for one thing a bit totally different to Mexican or New Mexican delicacies (selection is all the time good!), then we will undoubtedly suggest the Scalo Northern Italian Grill. This presents up glorious Italian superb eating, with enormous parts and a improbable choice.
In addition to staples like pizza and pasta, Scalo presents an important vary of different Italian dishes, from Antipasti to fish and meat dishes. I can significantly suggest the Fritto Misto and the Costola Breve – the previous being fried seafood, the latter being an unimaginable sluggish roasted beef short-rib. Carry an urge for food right here although – parts are beneficiant!
Best For: Glorious Italian meals in an upscale setting
9. Golden Crown Panaderia
A little bit of a curve-ball this one – however one in every of our favorite meals experiences in Albuquerque, so it’s being included anyway. The Golden Crown Panaderia is a household owned bakery in Albuquerque which specialised in New Mexican baking. Their Inexperienced Chile bread in explicit is improbable, they usually have among the finest biscochito’s in the state.
In addition to bread, they do sandwiches, pizzas and pastries, so that you undoubtedly gained’t go away hungry, plus after all they provide a variety of drinks. This place is an actual Albuquerque gem, so be sure to go to.
Best For: Filling your self with unimaginable baked items
10. Vary Cafe
The Vary Cafe is a restaurant that seeks to present an genuine American diner expertise however with a contemporary, regionally impressed twist. Menu gadgets embody such staples as Mac & Cheese and their well-known Meatloaf.
Observe, diner was made well-known by an look on US TV present Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives, though that was in its earlier guise because the Customary Diner. That model closed in September 2020, and was changed by the Downtown Vary Cafe. A lot has remained the identical, together with lots of the menu gadgets, so we’ve left it on this checklist. There are a number of Vary Cafes in Albuquerque, this one particularly is at 320 Central Southeast.
There are after all loads of different choices, together with burgers, New Mexican staples and fish and meat choices – undoubtedly one thing for everybody. Positively price a go to.
Best For: As their tagline says: “Ordinary food done well”
11. Church St Cafe
While the previous city of Albuquerque is effectively price visiting, it’s not a spot that many locals usually come to – being typically targeted on the vacationer commerce, with retailers, eating places and museums catering to guests for essentially the most half. There are a selection of places to eat right here, however essentially the most repeatedly visited and advisable is the expansive Church St. Cafe – a Tardis like property that appears to go on without end.
Housed in one in every of Albuquerque’s oldest buildings (round 300 years previous), there are many seating choices, and we opted to dine outdoors. The meal selections focus very a lot on New Mexican eating, with the restaurant open all through the day.
Best for: New Mexican Delicacies in the Outdated City
12. Papa Felipe’s
One other of Jess’s go-to places from her time residing in Albuquerque was Papa Felipe’s, positioned a brief drive from the place she used to stay. It has been serving up nice worth tasty Mexican and New Mexican meals for over 35 years.
It’s significantly good worth at lunch time after they have quite a lot of lunch specials on supply, which we took full benefit of, but it surely’s price visiting any time of the day for a tasty feast of native favourites.
Don’t miss the sopapilla’s – a fried pastry that you simply’ll smother in honey for desert and eat heat.
Best for: Genuine nice worth Mexican & New Mexican delicacies in relaxed environment.
13. Grove Cafe and Market
The Grove Cafe and Market in downtown Albuquerque is a superb metropolis centre location for brunch, assembly pals, and consuming scrumptious native meals.
It was additionally the primary place in Albquerque that I had a breakfast burrito in, which is a vital a part of any New Mexico journey – a state the place just about the whole lot could be served in a burrito. That is no dangerous factor.
Also Read: Calories in a shot of fireball
In addition to fantastic brunches, breakfasts and lunches (or simply espresso), the Grove Cafe and Market is, because the title suggests, a market. So you possibly can decide up the whole lot from recipe books to granola as you sip your espresso.
Best for: Metropolis centre informal brunch with pals
14. El Pinto
A New Mexico establishment, Jess was super-excited to have the chance to go to El Pinto on our journey to Albuquerque. Operating since 1962 (though tremendously expanded since then), this household owned restaurant creates completely improbable New Mexican delicacies – and has been voted as the town’s finest New Mexican restaurant.
Eating right here is a superb expertise, with a variety of wonderful meals to select from, not to point out the biggest Tequila Bar in New Mexico. Additionally they make their very own line of inexperienced chile sauces and salsas, produced on website. Lastly, we had been thrilled to meet their on-site chickens who provide them with eggs, and be taught concerning the deal with sustainability.
We had a fully unimaginable meal (and drinks) right here, and on one in every of our journeys to Albuquerque this venue was the final restaurant we visited in Albuquerque. It was an exquisite place to have fun the tip of our journey!
Best For: An upscale New Mexican eating expertise
15. Owl Cafe
As this publish has already hopefully made clear, there’s all kinds of eating choices in Albuquerque, from superb eating to meals vans, and the whole lot in between. When you’re after some basic New Mexican diner-fare (with enormous parts!), you then want to add the Owl Cafe to your checklist.
Established in 1986 in Albuquerque, the Owl Cafe has been serving improbable meals for over thirty years, together with their well-known OwlBurger, shakes, New Mexican classics and way more.
Parts are very beneficiant, and also you’ll even be served their well-known beans and inexperienced chile on arrival.
Best For: Traditional Diner Fare, New Mexico fashion
16. Vernon’s Speakeasy
Established in 2017, Vernon’s Speakeasy is a relative newcomer to the Albuquerque restaurant scene. So on a current go to to the town, we had to strive it out for ourselves.
This presents a singular eating expertise – echoing the “Speakeasies” of Prohibition-era America, the place bars would usually masquerade as eating places. To get in, you entry a reasonably nondescript door, and you’ve got to bear in mind the password that you simply’re given on reserving.
The inside may be very darkish, and the serving employees are all in interval costume, which makes all of it really feel very genuine.
After all, all this may be largely pointless if the meals wasn’t good, and in this space, Vernon’s Speakeasy delivers in spades. We had the steak, which is what they’re recognized for, and we’d say this was among the best steaks we’ve ever had.
Costs are actually on the excessive facet (particularly for Albuquerque), however the meals and presentation make it price it, particularly for a special day. In addition to meals, there’s a wide variety of beers and naturally, prohibition fashion cocktails!
Best For: Traditional American Effective Eating and Steak
17. Frontier Restaurant
If you’re in the realm of the College of New Mexico, then a cease at Frontier Restaurant must be in your meals checklist. In operation since 1971, they’re well-known for his or her breakfast choices and candy rolls, in addition to quite a lot of New Mexican classics from burritos to burgers.
Costs are good, they usually’re additionally open from 5am – 1am seven days every week, that means this additionally makes an important cease for an early (or late!) meal. There’s additionally room for over 300 individuals right here, so it’s uncommon you’ll have to wait lengthy for a desk, or reserve in advance.
One other college favorite in this space is Saggio’s, which is effectively price stopping by even when simply to check out their spectacular inside decor. After all, you may want to eat right here too – this Italian restaurant serves up a variety of wonderful dishes from Pizzas to Pasta!
Best For: New Mexican meals and breakfast close to the College of New Mexico
18. Crimson Ball Cafe
An Albuquerque and Route 66 establishment since 1922, the Crimson Ball Cafe was sadly closed for a few years. Nevertheless, it re-opened in September 2018, and are serving up their classics once more, together with their Wimpy burger which dates from 1922!
Additionally they serve up Mexican and new Mexican dishes, and the brand new proprietor was a former worker on the cafe, so the custom carries on.
Best For: New Mexican and Informal Eating
Map of the Best Eating places in Albuquerque
That can assist you plan out which Albuquerque eating places is likely to be close to your lodging or sight-seeing plans, we’ve put collectively this map, which incorporates all of the eating places in our checklist. You can too see this map on Google right here.
Additional Studying in your New Mexico Journey
This isn’t our first publish on New Mexico, nor will it’s our final! We spent 5 week’s street tripping the state, plus Jess lived in Albuquerque for a interval, and we’ve tons extra info we’ll be sharing. Listed here are some assets to aid you out:
- The official Go to Albuquerque web site, with a great deal of info on what to see and do
- My information to the highest issues to do in Albuquerque
- Jess’s epic information to attending the Albuquerque Worldwide Balloon Fiesta
- One thing a bit totally different – our expertise having afternoon tea in Albuquerque
- Our information to exploring Route 66 in Albuquerque, in addition to a two week Route 66 itinerary
- When you’re in the realm, you may want to go to Santa Fe, in which case try our information to issues to do in Santa Fe
- My information to the New Mexico Area Path
- The New Mexico Nomad journey weblog – a improbable useful resource for all issues New Mexico
And that sums up a few of our favorite places to eat in Albuquerque! After all, we couldn’t cowl all of the areas in the town, and we’re certain we’ve missed a number of high eating spots.
One factor is for certain although, Albuquerque has some improbable eating choices! When you’ve acquired a favorite that we missed – tell us in the feedback under, and as all the time, thanks for studying!
Disclaimer – So you already know, Go to Albuquerque hosted us at eight of the eating places above, though we all the time coated our personal gratuities and alcoholic drinks. Being hosted didn’t affect inclusion in the checklist – we’ve solely listed our favourites! See extra about our code of ethics for a way we work with companions.
Also Read: What to send when someone dies instead of flowers
