Garduno’s is fighting to stay alive after it was revealed to the restaurant and then to the public that the local restaurant chain owes $750,000 in state taxes and $143,000 to the city in rent at its Balloon Fiesta Park location, more than a year’s worth.

Although they’re under wraps on discussing just what the heck happened, general comments indicate the blame is being directed at a former executive who said they were doing things correctly but apparently were not.  If that’s at all the case, we have yet to find out.

This institution has been around for over 40 years and fed, entertained, and margarita’ed you and your family and your visiting out of town friends many times over.  If you still love their food and the crazy atmosphere, pay a visit and show your support by keeping the green flowing in while they try to stay on top of their debts.

My personal favorite has always been the Chile Rojo, a huge bowl of red with sirloin tips and a half dozen other garnishes.  Red meat + red chile = happy me.

Not one of their workers has yet to be laid off, despite an obvious cash problem.  Kudos to Gardunos for that.

Looks like we are getting Food, Inc. after all!  It has been playing in Santa Fe but the City Different wasn’t good enough and now at Century Rio there will be showings beginning on 7/31, if the press release that I recieved is correct. 

If the rumors are true, everyone should head down to see this interesting little take on what we put in our mouths every day….

No?  Well, how about if it were about 3 times the size of a normal burger and came with enough cheese and green chile to stuff a black hole?

Good, glad you’re interested.  Now, you might have to drive down to Mesilla, this is true, but there are lots of great eats in the area, from Chope’s in La Mesa, to Little Diner in Canutillo, to some amazing grub in a car wash in El Paso.

In Mesilla, a little cafe tries to petition the Guinness people to add them to their list:  Peppers Cafe builds a bigger burger.

Restaurants in Albuquerque are either PASS or they are FAIL. Pretty simple.

Go to any other large city and you’ll see lots of restaurants with big “A”s or “B”s in their windows. Sometimes you’ll see a “C”. In fact, many chowhounds will insist that an ethnic restaurant graded “A” can’t really be all that good or authentic – its the B and C ones worth seeking out.

To bring the Duke City in line with all of these other progressive urban areas, it has been proposed that we, too, use the ABC method. And let the battle begin!

Its the New Mexico Restaurant Association vs. City of Albuquerque and city councilor Trudy Jones!

Each has their own talking points, arguments, and rebuttals. Here they are in a nutshell:

City of Albuquerque: “The old rules are outdated and behind the times and we must change them.”
NMRA: “The new rules embrace new technology but badge restaurants for six months based on inspection results that were likely fixed on the spot.”

I’m still reading everything and forming an opinion; since this is my blog I’ll be spouting it soon, don’t worry.