Photo by menuinprogress.com blog

Thanks to Gustavo Arellano and a post that caught my attention from The Alibi, our most treasured fast food outlet is receiving some adoration in the wake of the Five Guys Burger chain press blitz. Yeah, it’s a chain. There are over 600 of them.

Sez Arellano,

“Allow me, then, to play the game: if we’re going to have a regional burger chain invade our county and go up against our In-n-Out’s and TK’s, why couldn’t it have been Blake’s Lotaburger, the country’s most-ardent proponent of what’s perhaps burgerdom’s greatest manifestation: the green chile hamburger?”

(Note, I have received a couple of emails from Five Guys reps asking me to come in and try their stuff. I absolutely will, but it is a rare chain restaurant that eventually gets a formal review. Maybe they’ll be one. Who knows.)

But Lotaburger gets Lotalove for its fries, the chile cheeseburgers, and just the fact that it is local and pretty gosh-darned good. Not utterly fabulous, not the best in the world, but just plain good.

How often do you get to enjoy something that is unpretentious, local, and good in that way? Enjoy your chile cheese fries and that strangely addicting shake flavor (that Blake’s claims is blackberry but always tasted very odd to me).

After a quick talk with the owners of El Bruno’s Restaurante y Cantina in Cuba it is revealed that the original location of Garduno’s on 4th Street in Albuquerque will be the second location for the beloved El Bruno’s.

For years El Bruno’s has been a welcome stop for all who travel the 550 (formerly the 44) between Bernalillo and Chaco Canyon, Durango, and Farmington. The chile is pleasantly hot, the food FAST, and the atmosphere relaxing like the rest stop it should be. No, it is not the absolute killer best New Mexican I have ever had, but it is really really good and better than anyone could hope for on that stretch.

It will be interesting to see if having the restaurant so close by will make Cuba not as interesting, or if the food will change, or even if I will finally visit one of the forgotten restaurants in Cuba that are probably pretty good and horribly neglected all these years.

This coming month the quotes are coming off and I’m going, dammit. Why? Single ingredient themes.

Here’s a few choice items from the list:
coconut
stone fruits
banana
tomatoes
soy
peanuts
coffee

She kind of had me at tomatoes, but banana sounds pretty interesting, too. Will there be plantains? Some old-school banana pudding with vanilla wafers? I could totally see them do that with the comfort food tendencies that are borne from their midwestern background.

After all, this is the restaurant that brought us Grandma’s peach pie, fantastic fried chicken, bacon fat popcorn, and Nellie’s own amazing coconut pie. Whoa. I just realized I might need to go to the coconut night as well. I’m having a thing for macaroons lately since being thrust back into the world of Orangette with the blog and reading her book and all.

As per the usual setup, it is $35/person with a table wine included, but tax+tip not included.

Anyway, at some point I found out that it is essentially a second location of Saggio’s, with some tweaks and minor menu changes. This is pretty neato since I like Saggio’s yet never seem to haul my butt over there. Perhaps I am frightened by the looming dessert case, or put off by the insane noise levels in there.

But I will have to investigate Fastino’s and let everyone else know they don’t just serve noodles. They even took it upon themselves to add a note to their sign that says, “Saggio’s!!!”

KRQE’s story may get views (and I’m not even going to link to them), but it is so far off the mark I’m a little pissed. They are not in trouble and it seems much of the controversy is at the behest of this story.

So, what are they doing? They are trying to trademark a name: “Bhang: The Original Cannabis Chocolate“, and beginning to manufacture the medical marijuana product in California for sales in California only. That’s it. I was only freaked out thinking they’d stop selling their heavenly truffles and gelato here in Albuquerque, but for now that seems to be not in danger. Whew.

Carry on, cannabis boys. Hopefully everything will work out – it looks like the patent office is starting to have second thoughts about allowing the whole trademark process in the first place. Sheesh. Make me some hemp truffles, too, eh? Those are legal here in NM.

Pick your favorite local restaurant that needs a little love.  Maybe they have the best breakfasts ever but that fading decor could use some sprucing up, or maybe its the kitchen items that need some expansion.  Doesn’t matter – just show some love and send the city’s “rock this restaurant” project to your favorite haunt for some TLC.

Nominate soon – they were supposed to stop accepting on 8/31, but have extended that temporarily!

http://rockthisrestaurant.com

One of my feeds is for anything mentioning “albuquerque restaurant” on Twitter.  It usually turns up job listings and the random effluvia, but once in a while there’s a milk-spitting gem:

http://twitter.com/juicyjoel/statuses/2748732686

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.

(Ever.)

That being said, there is a new Thai restaurant opening soon in the former space where Lotus Cafe bit the dusk on Osuna & San Mateo.  The new spot is called Thai Vegan, just in case it wasn’t clear what they specialize in.

Now, this is a pretty darn good idea, because it does not take a lot of tweaking to make Thai vegan.  Remove the meaty proteins?  Easy.  Remove fish sauce?  Ok, sure.  Done.  Most other ingredients are veggies, rice, coconut milk, spices.  Not too complicated, though the results can be absolutely stunning.

I’m excited to check it out and see if I can tell the difference.

This week there are some really amazing specials (like a Cantaloupe Bisque TODAY), so take a quick little drive and check out Jay’s cooking skills.  He’s open every single day with the latest hours on the mountain – that’s great news for you, even on a “school night”.

Greenside Cafe

Open weekdays at 7am, weekends at 8am, and open until 8pm weekdays, 9pm weekends.  Here are some other of the nifty specials this week (via Facebook):

Seabass Tacos:  Seared Pacific seabass, served with white corn tortillas, black beans, rice, fresh avocado and spicy grilled pineapple salsas

Buffalo Tortilla Burger: Grilled onions, pepper jack, all rolled up in a flour tortilla with a grilled 1/3 lb hamburger.

Watermelon Gazpacho

Beer poached bratwurst with saurkraut served OR Hebrew National Hot dog topped with homemade chile.

Oh, and don’t forget – Jay makes his own ice cream!!!