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Gardunos

darthcarl

darthcarl

So I get stuck in Alberquerque for a weekend. The friend who's booty call got me stuck takes me to brunch on sunday before the 6 hour drive back to Tucson. OH MAN did it make the whole waste of a weekend worth it. Great tasting piles of food. and a pleasant burn that made me smile and my friend wince.

They have grown in the 13 years since my visit and I'm sad to say that the heat has been calmed. But I still love the fajita buffet and even with all the mex, tex-mex, new mex you find around here they can make my top 5 list.

http://www.gardunosrestaurants.com/


Funny story. I was in a bar when a guy came in and started yelling about how much Gardunos sucked. It seems the out-of-towner went to the bar and ordered a margarita with their best tequilla. Well as it turns out, their best tequilla is a 50 year old small batch, 100% blue agave, hand pressed, bottled in blown glass, signed and numbered Tequilla (note the capitol T). He had a $75 dollar margarita and didn't realize what he had done. he he he.
 
Gardunos was the highlight of our last trip to Albuquerque. In fact, it still ranks as the best Tex-Mex experience we can remember, and we eat that style quite a bit. We were ga-ga over their margarita list as well...and that was BEFORE we really got into good tequila.
 
There is this crazy idea that "chains can't be good". Gardunos is crossing that line. Although I don't know what the number of locations has to do with quality. I love the place.
 
We just wish that Gardunos would have enough success to be national, rather than regional, chain. Not sure if that would affect the quality, but we have really salivated at the thought of being able to eat at Gardunos on a regular basis.
 
LinNJoe said:
We just wish that Gardunos would have enough success to be national, rather than regional, chain. Not sure if that would affect the quality.
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Usually that is what affects the quality. Local chains are able to still use their local vendors for all the restaurants. National chains rely on shipments from food supply companies to maintain consistency.
 
and there is usually a little please-the-masses that goes on. then you start training cooks instead of chefs, have food cost issues, start buying decorations that look common, blah blah blah...I mean the Olive Garden developes recipes in it's Italian store, they really do. it's not just a marketing gimic. But look at all the jokes about how un-authentic they are. I don't know where the line is in people minds.

All this talk had made me hungry for Gardunos. I'm going there this week.
 
Tina Brooks said:
Olive Garden really is Italian??? Who knew.

I'm hungry for Gardunos now too... Can you pull a Radar with dinner for 4??
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Hopefully I'm not the only one who gets the M*A*S*H reference there...:)

- J
 
I finally just gave up and went alone. I held my self to just one item...well sort of...I had the 5 item combo plate. A relleno, a burrito, and 3 enchiladas. I planned on taking two enchiladas home anyway. I choose a combo of red and green sauce. The plate arrived looking like any other mexican combo plate in this great Valley of the Sun. But that first bite..the flavor followed by the late wave of light heat. Top it off with my old standby Mexican beer, Negra Modelo, and Gardunos once again wins my praise.
 
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