But if you are a small business and/or restaurant with an upscale target market and a really polished image, it might not be the best thing for you, especially if you’ve opened recently. Google for “groupon sucks” and the #1 hit you will see is a blog post from a spa marketing company talking about how discounting is not always the best way to attract new customers. It is certainly food for thought and a great post, but targeted at “luxury” goods like hundred-dollar treatments and the like.

What if your per-check average is well under $20? Is it such a bad idea to discount, then?

A friend just told me that they were hesitant to try a local restaurant because it always looks empty. I know for a fact that the restaurant’s food is quite good and told him so. They have a dining room too big for their needs and that hurts them with walk-by traffic, as my friend’s perception shows. This place might benefit from a quick-and-dirty campaign to get more people in the door. Or perhaps you can skip giving half the money to Groupon and just go to the restaurant. Do we have a deal? Good. Also try out another local place experimenting with Groupon – but just go instead of buying the coupon. Their sandwiches are amazing.

Despite the acclaim from its fame as the best green chile cheeseburger in the state, a visit to Badlands Burgers in Grants today showed nothing but an empty dining room, piled up mail, and a disconnected phone number.

Badlands Crowned Green Chile King (Gallup Independent)

Badlands Urbanspoon Page

Bummer.

However, I do have some nominations for best specimens of the fryolater arts.  Send me yours!

1.  Buttermilk donut at Enchantment Chocolates.  Holy crap.  Crunchy, deep brown, tangy.

2.  Onion “loaf” at Owl Cafe.  This was my most recent little fried bender and it was worth every crunchy batter bite.  Their fries are good, too, but these onion tangles are darn tasty.

3.  (R.I.P.) Fried pickles at Independence Grill.

This occurred during a time that ingredient costs were skyrocketing AND they were renewing their commitment to local producers, organic meats, and free-range anything-they-could-afford.

So, folks rebelled.  ”Eight bucks for coffee and a slice of PIE?!!!”  ”$10 for a vegetarian noodle bowl???  You gotta be f’ing with me.”  No longer the divey hipster hangout, Flying Star won new enemies where it used to have fans.  And I stuck up for them, knowing how hard it is to run a sustainable (read: profitable) restaurant.  And they are/were still packed – so obviously it hasn’t killed their entire patron base.

I also compared them to the Grove Cafe & Market, posing the pragmatic situation thusly:  If the Flying Star were to start BRAND NEW right now with its menu and prices as they currently exist, they would be just like the Grove.  And that leads me to my point – I had my moment at the Grove the other day, when I ordered a cappucino and a cookie.  A rather smallish cookie.  I paid SIX BUCKS, and had an immediate negative reaction, asking the cashier just how much that cookie was, anyway ($1.99).  It was the cappucino at $3.50, which came delivered as a latte, that sent the total up to the sky.

So…. now what?  The Grove’s coffee is still far better than Flying Star’s, but Cafe Giuseppe rules all plus they know that a single cappucino should be about 5 ounces total, not 12.  Oh, and they have gelato that is better than anything outside of Silver City in the whole state.

If you want to do something a little different but not crazy over Valentine’s Day, head out of town just a few miles to the green pine trees of Cedar Crest and the Greenside Cafe.

The owner/chef Jay Wulf is of the Range Cafe / Standard Diner clan and has been giving those in the East Mountains a better alternative for the last few years, with reliable morning-noon-night hours that keep nearly everyone happy.

On top of that, Jay likes to do wine dinners and special  occasions like he’ll be doing for Valentine’s Day.

Some teaser menu items from the evening pre-fixe meal:  crab cake salad, homemade truffles, pepper steak….

Here’s his info from the website (greensidecafe.net):

http://www.greensidecafe.net/valentine.pdf

Yet, if you wanted to make your own, you could add the ideal cheese for melting – American.  Or, you can go a little more upscale and flavorful, even if the results won’t be quite as silky in the end.

I think you cannot go wrong with a cheesemaker that’s a mere few miles from where I grew up in America’s Dairyland:  Widmer’s Cheese Cellars in Theresa, WI.

Getting a big ol’ pile of shrink-wrapped bars is a holiday tradition, but you can have the delicious love, too – their prices online are identical to in the store.  You’ll only pay shipping, and they’re even pretty cheap in that regard, too!

For the top of the line, 10 year aged Cheddar is as rich and decadent as Parmesan, for slivers on a salad or whatever use you can dream up.  On burgers, I’d probably go a little more mellow, like Provolone, salty and tender.

Here’s to green chile meets meat meets cheese!

I noticed when it occurred and wondered why I didn’t visit the cozy little spot more often.  Sometimes I hit Mannie’s instead, but Loyola’s was also one of those places that made you feel almost like a regular even if you were not.

Someone who went there as often as I would have liked to was a fantastic writer on Duke City Fix who goes by “Masshole in Fringecrest”, and he wrote a poetic tribute to Loyola and her legacy.

Enjoy.

I ate at Perennials a while ago and it was fine.  That’s about all I have to say, sorry Harrises!

But any locally owned establishment that isn’t serving bad food is a good place to support and give your love and money to – the Chili’s and Outbacks of the world will do just fine.  Or not.  And that wouldn’t be horrible, either.

The Travis.

Grandma Warner’s K & I Diner has been in business off and on (mostly on) for over a generation, and when I made the drive down Broadway it took me through years of Albuquerque history on my way to a fantastic diner meal surrounded by old farm and kitchen paraphrenalia tacked on the walls.

I had an enormous pancake, yellow with flavorful cornmeal, and a side of carne adovada, perfect for dredging in my pancake-pseudo-cornbread thing.  But the legendary Travis is a whole ‘nother deal.  A smothered burrito completely encased in a pile of french fries.  I think that Man vs. Food guy should come on down for the Travis challenge.

Now, with nearby businesses closing, the K & I is threatened by lack of lunch traffic.  (Burritos Alinstante is under similar gloomy forecasts – I’ll feature them later….)  If you haven’t been, NOW is the time.  Take the extra few minutes to head south down Broadway and you’ll be in for a real treat.  Albuquerque eating at its most homey, colorful, and tasty.

You will not be disappointed, and Grandma Warner will be proud to keep the doors open for many more years to come.