American Restaurants in Albuquerque, Santa Fe and Northern New Mexico
Albuquerque - Corrales
Flying Star Café
Sun-Thurs: 6am-10pm
Fri-Sat: 6am-11pm (hours can change without notice)
$$ • Vegetarian Available • Gluten-free available • Booze Served • Craft Beer • Wine • Catering • Take Out / To-Go • Wireless Internet • Dog-Friendly
Winner of Best Casual Dining, Best Veggie Burger, Best Toast, Best Healthy Breakfast and Best Desserts in our restaurant polls. Sure, you go in thinking you’ll be good and get a skinny latte, scrambled egg whites and a side of turkey and green chile sausage, but five minutes later somebody’s saying “eclair” and the voice is coming from your mouth. But, boy, do they taste good.
 | | |  | | 2.86 rating (98 votes) |
Albuquerque - Downtown
2G's Bistro
Mon-Fri 8am-4pm
Sat 8am-3pm (hours can change without notice)
If you’re in the mood for generous portions of house-roasted meats in a simple setting, 2G’s Bistro is the place to go. What are these meats, you ask? Get a taste in the form of a Reuben, French dip, pulled pork slider, carne lunch burrito and more. Plus they have a $5 kids menu.
| | | | | No Votes Yet! |
ABQ Coffee Connection
Mon-Fri 7:30-4:00, Saturday 8:00-3:00 (hours can change without notice)
Cuisine: Bakery/Sweets, Coffee/Tea/Espresso, Deli/Sandwiches, Ice Cream/Smoothies/Gelato/Fro-Yo, American
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Al’s Big Dipper
Mon-Fri: 7:30am-4pm
Closed weekends (hours can change without notice)
Al’s still serves a hefty menu of inspired hot and cold sandwiches. There’s an emphasis on homemade touches, from the sweet onion jam on the roast beef sandwich to the cookie that comes with every order. Good salads, daily made-from-scratch soups and a new sandwich special every day keeps the lunch crowd on its toes.
Read more: Mina's Dish: Downtown restaurant news roundup (5/12/2011)
| | | | | 4.52 rating (65 votes) |
Artichoke Café
Lunch:
Mon-Fri: 11am-2:30pm
Dinner:
Sun-Thu: 5pm-9pm
Fri-Sat: 5pm-10pm
Happy Hour:
Mon-Fri: 3pm-6pm
Closed Sunday (hours can change without notice)
It just makes sense to order the steamed artichoke at the Artichoke Café. Slathered in lemon-caper oil and a raspberry vinaigrette, it makes a great starter before trying a heftier order of grilled curried chicken or sliced steak. Once your upscale lunch or dinner has concluded, adjourn to the sexy wine bar next door. The wine list is actually a bound leather tome featuring a massive assortment of wines. Prices start at a decent $28 or $30 a bottle and zoom into the upper stratospheres of frivolity. You can also order select vintages by the half-bottle or glass. You'll love the front-facing windows, curvy wooden bar and comfy seating.
Full review: Artichoke Cafe maintains excellence for 30 years ()
Alibi recommends: Any of their signature drinks will pair wonderfully with the menu. The raviolis are especially wonderful.
Vibe: High-end dining in a clean, classy locale
| | | | | 3.5 rating (92 votes) |
Café Lush
Mon-Fri 7am-2:30pm
Sat 8am-1pm
Closed Sun (hours can change without notice)
Café Lush is a daydream of the way things might be in some future hybrid of Europe and Albuquerque. It’s an urban café on a quiet street corner with a small menu of simple, well-crafted dishes and a pledge to use local, seasonal and organic ingredients whenever possible. But unlike cuisine from across the pond, the red and green chile here do not disappoint.
Read more: Locovore: Café Lush for life (11/10/2011)
| | | | | 3.41 rating (27 votes) |
Cecilia’s Café
Cecilia is the matriarch who dreamed up of one of Albuquerque’s best breakfast burritos and red chile. Setting close to the heart of Downtown on Sixth Street and Silver, Cecilia makes the food herself. The red chile here is no joke and the prices are a pretty great value, too.
Read more: Burque Burger Week: All the Best Burgers in Albuquerque (5/23/2019)
Full review: Cable darling, red chile queen ()
Full review: Jubilation: tortillas again! ()
| | | | | 2.58 rating (33 votes) |
Cheese & Coffee Café Downtown
Mon-Fri: 10am-3pm
Sat: 10:30am-2:30pm
Sun: Closed (hours can change without notice)
Cheese & Coffee has some 20 sandwich choices, including a fruit and cheese, a gyro and a French dip, awaiting the hungry diner. The Sicilian sandwich—a pepperoni, capicola and mozzarella concoction on French bread—is most excellent. Try a slice of the moist and springy house-baked lemon cake with just enough tartness to complement the rich cream cheese frosting.
Full review: Dish Jockey: A World of Sandwiches ()
| | | | | 4 rating (2 votes) |
Conchita’s Cafe
Mon-Fri 8am-2pm (hours can change without notice)
$ • Vegetarian Available • Gluten-free available • Catering • Take Out / To-Go • Outdoor Patio • Wireless Internet
If you’re looking for something light and fresh, try Conchita’s weekly five-dollar salad special or a six-dollar daily special such as the meatball sub. Other fantastic fresh dishes include a strawberry salad, a quinoa wrap and a taco plate. Sandwiches are a great choice here, too.
| | | | | 5 rating (1 vote) |
Dog House Drive In
Cuisine: American
The flashing neon dachsund beckons to hot dog mecca, where we indulge in not just the hot dogs but also essentials like tater tots and Frito pie. Get your dogs to go and race home to enjoy them with a few brews. Or go inside the Dog House, find a seat at the tiny counter and nurse one of their damn fine milkshakes.
Read more: Eat Your History: Classic diners on the Mother Road (8/2/2018)
Read more: P.M. (10/9/2008)
| | | | | 3.43 rating (35 votes) |
The Feel Good
Sunday-Thursday 11am-9pm
Friday-Saturday 11am-10pm (hours can change without notice)
The Feel Good shares a lineage of family recipes, palates and tastes. Passed down through the decades, this cultural DNA is very much alive here for luncheon or supper and continues to thrive. Efforts to preserve and nurture permeate the food—mostly soups, sandwiches and tartines—and culture and will leave you feeling, well, good.
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Holy Burger
Mon-Thu 11am - 10pm
Fri-Sat 11am-11PM
Sun:11am-9pm (hours can change without notice)
Cuisine: American
$$ • Vegetarian Available • Gluten-free available • Booze Served • Wine Bar • Craft Beer • Take Out / To-Go • Outdoor Patio
The New Mexico grass-fed Holy Cow burger comes on a brioche bun, while the equally yummy ahi tuna sandwich, veggie club and dinner salads offer bovine-averse diners a larger selection. Beer and wine, shakes, malts and floats are available to complete the sacrament.
Read more: Burque Burger Week: All the Best Burgers in Albuquerque (5/23/2019)
| | | | | 3.47 rating (27 votes) |
Ibiza at Hotel Andaluz
Mon-Thurs: 4pm-10pm
Fri-Sat: 4pm-midnight (hours can change without notice)
This rooftop bar offers a menu of small plates and specialty cocktails to relax with after a long day at work. The food here is fine, but the house-created cocktails—such as the the spicy and refreshing cucumber-jalapeño margarita—make a visit to Ibiza well worth the trip.
Full review: The view from Ibiza ()
| | | | | 3.48 rating (21 votes) |
Java Joe’s
$ • Vegetarian Available • Catering • Take Out / To-Go • Live Music • Outdoor Patio • Wireless Internet
Java Joe’s boasts a cool ’60s Haight-Ashbury feel but isn’t jam-packed with hippies or anything. It attracts a diverse crowd of cyclists, artists, musicians, hipsters and even grown-ups simply searching for a good cup of joe (albeit one made with house-roasted beans). From freshly baked scones and waffles to sandwiches and salads, the menu is simple and satisfying. Warning: Joe’s breakfast burritos may cause you to audibly but the regulars here will totally get it.
Read more: Gastronomic Love Letters (11/1/2018)
Read more: The Dish: Coffee Talkee (10/3/2019)
| | | | | 3.25 rating (63 votes) |
The Kosmos Restaurant
$$ • Vegetarian Available • Full Bar • Craft Beer • Wine • Take Out / To-Go • Outdoor Patio • Wireless Internet • Lounge
Located in the Factory on 5th art space, this tour de force of creative art and food tickles palates with farm-fresh Kosmic Burgers, fish and chips, house-made veggie burgers, mac and cheese, ribeye steak or pork tenderloin and a nice selection of local craft beers served from a steampunk tap system. There are no TVs here, but there’s always plenty to look at.
Full review: New arts-forward restaurant serves local brews and tasty burgers ()
| | | | | 5 rating (1 vote) |
The Library Bar & Grill
Mon-Sat: 11am-2am
Sun: noon-midnight (hours can change without notice)
Happy Hour!: every Friday 3:00:00 pm - 8:00:00 pmHappy Hour!: 4:00:00 pm - 7:00:00 pm
Located in the heart of downtown Albuquerque, this is a perfect place to enjoy dancing, brews, pub food, televised sports and get served by their world-famous “librarians.” Study sessions in the stacks have never been so fun.
| | | | | 3.13 rating (52 votes) |
Modern General
Mon-Sun - Kitchen 7:30am-3pm, juice/coffee bar 7:30am-5pm (hours can change without notice)
$$ • Vegetarian Available • Gluten-free available • Wine Bar • Craft Beer • Wine • Wireless Internet
At this breakfast-all-day joint, Vinaigrette mastermind Erin Wade serves wholesome takes on classic diner food. Think pancakes made with teff flour and full of kale, cabbage and flax seeds, smothered with spicy-sweet mayo and Japanese okonomi sauce. Or a fried egg sandwich on house-made sourdough bread and spread with yogurt. The drink menu is extensive, and includes coffee and tea drinks, beer and wine, smoothies, juices, health shots and warming elixirs. The stylish space is as lovely as the food, and there’s a small shop stocked with books and lifestyle goods that fit the Modern General ethos.
Alibi recommends: Sunshine bowl, London defogger, sourdough bread
Vibe: Warm and homey, in a kind of minimalist way.
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Plaza Eatery
Plaza Eatery, steps away from Civic Plaza, is an ideal location to eat lunch and spot your local elected government officials, whether city councilors or the mayor himself. With some of the lowest prices Downtown, a large menu of tasty American, Greek and New Mexican lunch specials and lots of fresh baked goods, Plaza Eatery is one of Downtown’s best-kept secrets. Try a chicken-walnut salad served with a croissant, and get a chocolate-dipped cookie for dessert. Plaza Eatery also offers a sizeable breakfast menu.
| | | | | 3.38 rating (16 votes) |
Seared
Mon closed, Tue-Wed 4-9pm, Fri-Sat 4-10pm, Sun 4-8pm (hours can change without notice)
Meals Served: Dinner
By day an unassuming coffee shop, Seared puts on its ball gown at night and serves a beautiful dinner menu to those who know. Make reservations ahead of time and ask the server what’s good that day. Seared specializes in meat dishes like French-cut pork chops and filet de boeuf, but they’re happy to accommodate vegetarian or gluten-free dietary restrictions as well.
Alibi recommends: Filet de boeuf, kababs, or whatever’s on special.
Vibe: An upscale joint hidden in a coffeeshop facade.
| | | | | No Votes Yet! |
Slate Street Café
Mon: 7:30am-3pm
Tue-Thurs: 7:30am-3pm, 5-9pm
Fri: 7:30am-3pm, 5-10pm
Sat: 9am-2pm, 5-10pm
Sun: 9am-2pm (hours can change without notice)
$$$ • Vegetarian Available • Gluten-free available • Booze Served • Wine Bar • Craft Beer • Wine • Catering • Take Out / To-Go • Outdoor Patio • Wireless Internet • Lounge
Slate is on a quiet, blink-and-you-miss-it avenue between Fifth and Sixth Street, nestled right in the heart of the legal district. Like the space itself, the menu is polished and unintimidating. Don’t miss the ahi tuna sandwich (with gluten-free bread available!). It's all very affordable for its level of quality. There’s also a fabulous wine loft with the wines listed by style—“just a little sweet,” “ABC: Anything But Chardonnay” or “sexy, elegant, austere”—not varietal or region. Demystifying the label like this makes it easy for patrons to pair wine and food.
Full review: The Slate Street Café ()
Full review: This ain’t your mama’s meatloaf ()
Read more: Patio and Happy Hour Guide (6/8/2017)
Read more: The Dish: Weekly Specials (11/7/2019)
Read more: Mina's Dish: Two museum cafés offer more than eye candy (10/20/2011)
| | | | | 3.76 rating (107 votes) |
