I did what I was told so we could go ahead and begin our day of errands (bakery for bread, grocery shopping, gym, and cleaning our apartment). We decided that grocery shopping while hungry was dangerous and should thus be avoided so we began our search for food.
Nate requested New Mexican so we drove down a busy street near our apartment to search and came upon Mariachi Resturant located at 2110 Juan Tabo NE, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87112.
The dining room itself is tiny - only about 15 seats but the small space is packed with big flavor!
The menu has all the New Mexican favorites: burritos, chile rellenos, stuffed sopapillas, Indian tacos and of course your choice of red or green chile.
We were served an order of chips with salsa to start and the salsa was definitely housemade and a great recipe. The salsa wasn't too spicy but had a great garlic-y flavor to it. We liked the chips and salsa so much we even ordered seconds!
Decor: good, the small dining room was decorated with large prints (available for purchase) of New Mexican landscapes. It was kinda like eating at your grandma's house - cozy, warm, inviting.
Food taste: excellent, I ordered a beef burrito platter that was accompanied with Spanish rice and pinto beans and topped with "christmas" chile. For you non-New Mexicans or those of you who have never visited New Mexico, our state question is "red or green?" Any New Mexican food is not complete without chile; some prefer red because it has a smoky flavor while green can be either mild or hot. I prefer to get my food "christmas" which is a mixture of red and green chile. The burrito itself was absolutely stuffed with spicy ground beef and cheese and smothered in my favorite chile choice. The rice had a surprising spice added to it (I think it was cloves) but it made the rice so delicious! I normally will forgo beans because I do not care for them but I decided to try them and I'm so glad I did! They were cooked to tender perfection and a great lard flavor (yum!!!). At the end of the meal we were given a traditional New Mexican dessert: sopapillas and honey. Sopapillas are fluffy pillows of fried, doughy perfection. They aren't particularly sweet (hence why they're served with honey) but make a great end to a meal.
Food appearance: excellent, ok look at the picture above and you'll know exactly why they got this score!
Cleanliness: excellent, the dining room was spotless, booths and tables in great condition, trash out of sight.
Service: excellent, we were greeted warmly by the owners (older man and woman) and she came over to our table to get our drink orders and bring us chips and salsa while wearing an apron (how cute!). After we ordered she asked us if we had ever been there before and then said "you're going to love it and you'll be back" well she's definitely right on both counts!
Total: 14/15
It is great to finally have somewhere closely and local for good New Mexican food! You'll definitely be treated like family.
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