Albuquerque - Downtown
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) |
Hartford Square
Mon -Fri: 6:30am-6:30pm
Sat: 8am-3pm
Sun: 9am-2pm (hours can change without notice)
Cuisine: Coffee/Tea/Espresso, Deli/Sandwiches, Dessert, Diner, Organic/Locally Grown, Take Out/To-Go
$ • Vegetarian Available • Gluten-free available • Booze Served • Delivery • Catering • Take Out / To-Go • Outdoor Patio • Wireless Internet • Lounge
Hartford Square’s menu changes weekly but always features quality, locally sourced ingredients in dine-in and take-out options. The salads are stocked with fresh, seasonal ingredients, and there are always a few hot options such as the Canadian salmon or ratatouille pot pie. The tea selection is simply divine. Try the Sandia spice tea over ice, a steaming cup of an herbal-blood orange blend or go for broke with a vanilla tea latte. Get here early enough, and you’ll get first crack at the crossword in the house copy of the New York Times.
Full review: The smart design of Hartford Square ()
| | | | | 2.85 rating (60 votes) |
Lindy’s Diner
We love Lindy’s retro décor, convenient Downtown location and $5 pitchers of beer. The food here is typical diner fare with a healthy number of New Mexican and Greek specialties thrown into the mix and served in hearty portions.
Read more: Eat Your History: Classic diners on the Mother Road (8/2/2018)
Read more: Burque Burger Week: All the Best Burgers in Albuquerque (5/23/2019)
| | | | | 2.68 rating (31 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.
| | | | | No Votes Yet! |
Albuquerque - Fairgrounds
Kap’s Coffee Shop and Diner
This venerable Route 66 diner has been kicking around various locations on Central for about 40 years now. True, after an extensive remodel, the interior isn’t quite period accurate for the Mother Road’s golden age, but the decor straddles the line between kitschy and classy quite nicely. The menu remains decidedly old-school with the requisite hot cakes and huevos rancheros, and so do the prices.
Full review: March goes all Jethro on y’all at Kap’s Coffee Shop ()
| | | | | 5 rating (3 votes) |
Albuquerque - I-25 Corridor
Vic’s Daily Café
Mon-Fri: 6:30am-2:30pm
Sat-Sun: 7:30am-2pm (hours can change without notice)
If you like chicken-fried steak, then you owe it to your belly to eat at Vic’s. A chef friend of ours turned us on to Vic’s, where the “Big Grill” is a giant, sliced, savory roast beef with bacon that will make your eyes light up and your stomach say “howdy.” Seriously, some of the best we’ve ever had. The rest of the menu is classic diner fare (meat loaf, liver and onions) with a large selection of sandwiches and New Mexican and Greek dishes. With seven different omelette options, your brunch just leveled up.
Read more: Mina's Dish: Duke City restaurant news (8/25/2011)
| | | | | 4.03 rating (12 votes) |
Albuquerque - Midtown
Hurricane’s Restaurant and Drive-In
Sun 6:30am-4pm
Mon-Thu 6:30am-3pm
Fri-Sat 6:30am-8:30pm (hours can change without notice)
A whole crew of Burqueños could split Hurricane's ginormous Disaster burrito and still have leftovers to go around. Come back later for a Typhoon burger (beef, bacon, cheese, grilled onions and Thousand Island dressing), a marvel of a mouthful—all those juicy toppings! It's a killer, especially with a giant order of curly fries. If you want the ground to crack beneath your feet, order the Earthquake burger: two patties and double cheese. Wash it down with a lime Ricky or a luscious chocolate malt.
| | | | | 3.39 rating (24 votes) |
Albuquerque - Nob Hill
Mannie’s Restaurant
Mannie’s is a little neighborhood diner that’s actually quite large. A Nob Hill mainstay for decades, you’re sure to see someone you know if you eat there for breakfast on the weekend. One of our favorite dishes is the marvelous BLT with thick slabs of bacon, a nest of shredded lettuce and a generous slathering of mayo. For brunch, try their corned beef with hash browns.
Read more: The Dish: Soup for Your Soul (1/16/2020)
| | | | | 3.84 rating (32 votes) |
Model Pharmacy
Mon-Fri: 9:30am-5:30pm
Sat: 10am-5pm
Closed Sunday (hours can change without notice)
There are more members of AARP than UNM students at this University-area lunch counter, but it has nothing to do with the food. There are also more women than men filling the tables, though that’s understandable. After all, half of the building is dedicated to fancy soaps, hairbrushes, jewelry and perfumes. But this pharmacy (which doesn’t take insurance and therefore fills few prescriptions) is full of mysterious contrasts and pleasant surprises. The mostly sandwich menu is far above par with real roasted turkey breast and house-made brisket, and Model has the Best Soda Fountain in Albuquerque, according to our readers.
| | | | | 4 rating (16 votes) |
Route 66 Malt Shop
Monday: 11 am- 8 pm
Tue-Thurs: 8 am- 8:00 pm
Fri- Sat: 10 am-10
Sunday: 8 am- 8:00 pm (hours can change without notice)
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| | | | | 2.73 rating (15 votes) |
Albuquerque - Northeast Heights
Owl Café
Sun-Fri: 7am-10pm
Sat-Sun: 7am-11pm (hours can change without notice)
There’s a certain tangible thrill that comes with eating in the hollow gullet of a giant bird of prey, especially when you’re tearing into a juicy green chile cheeseburger, red-tinged grease streaming down your claws, a shiny ring encircling your beak.
| | | | | 3.5 rating (32 votes) |
Albuquerque - Old Town
Central Grill and Coffee House
Sun 6:30am-3pm
Mon-Sat 6:30am-4pm (hours can change without notice)
Central Grill is one of the crop of new diners that embraces the aesthetic of yesterday’s diners while offering house-made meals with high-quality ingredients. It’s a cozy eatery, especially during the lunch rush, but if you go during quieter hours the small space becomes intimate and homey. Try the inside-out burger with cheese cooked into the patty, or the chilaquiles with fried tortilla wedges and your choice of chile.
Full review: Central Grill and Coffee House ()
| | | | | 3.5 rating (6 votes) |
Duran Central Pharmacy
Mon-Tue 9am-6:30pm
Wed-Sun 9am-8pm (hours can change without notice)
$ • Vegetarian Available • Booze Served • Catering • Take Out / To-Go • Outdoor Patio • Wireless Internet
The folks here make their own tortillas, rolling out perfect little discs of dough and heating them on the griddle until they become huge, puffy pillows ready to receive a heap of chile and runny-yolked egg. And they’ve been doing it the same way since 1961. Don’t be stupid. Go to Duran’s, and do not leave without ordering something involving a fresh flour tortilla, preferably in combination with their fantastic red chile.
Full review: On Duran Central Pharmacy and the Himalayas ()
Read more: The Dish: Soup for Your Soul (1/16/2020)
| | | | | 3.94 rating (25 votes) |
Albuquerque - South Valley
Coors Cafe
Cruise on down to the South Valley to visit this old school gem. Say howdy to Mary Jane, the nicest waitress you’ll ever meet, and take a seat at any of the worn-out booths. We recommend ordering the chicken-fried steak plate, the Indian taco and tart cherry pie. The food ain’t fancy, but it is down-home diner delicious.
| | | | | No Votes Yet! |
Grandma's K&I Diner
Sweet Lord, this South Broadway dive (and we mean way south) is postcard-worthy. First off, the outside looks like a candy-cane-striped barn. Inside, old-timey knickknacks are plastered to every surface, and the air is thick with the smell of fried foods. The chicken-fried steak (served with hash browns, biscuits and cream gravy) is as big as the dinner plates used at other restaurants, and the infamous “Travis” burrito, a giant beef-and-bean burrito that’s actually smothered in french fries, must be seen to be believed.
Full review: Breakfast at Grandma’s K & I Diner ()
| | | | | 4.24 rating (38 votes) |
Albuquerque - Southeast
Vick’s Vittles
Mon-Fri 7am-7:30pm
Sat 7am-2pm
Sun 8am-2pm (hours can change without notice)
This cowboy-themed diner used to be called Roper’s Restaurant, but new ownership has taken over and changed the name. Happily, a lot of what we loved about Roper’s has survived the transition. There’s still a bunch of cowboy crap all over the walls and a bewildering array of good food to choose from. We especially recommend the green-chile-and-piñon-stuffed Santa Fe pancakes and the down-home chicken-fried steak. If you come by for dinner, give the in-house smoked BBQ a try.
Full review: The Mid- and Southwest meet at Roper’s Restaurant ()
| | | | | 4.6 rating (5 votes) |
Albuquerque - University
66 Diner
Mon-Fri: 11am-11pm
Sat: 8am-11pm
Sun: 8am-10pm (hours can change without notice)
Step back in time for old-fashioned diner food and atmosphere with a New Mexican twist (incarnate in the hot and spicy Frito pie). The 66 Diner dishes up yummy burgers and fries, breakfast plates and daily specials like chicken pot pie with cream gravy or crispy-fried po’ boys. The real stars in this place, though, are the awesome frozen desserts. They run the gamut from mammoth banana splits to 99-cent teeny-weeny hot fudge sundaes. The milkshakes come in almost any flavor combination you can think of and are some of the creamiest, most lip-smacking concoctions around.
| | | | | 3.88 rating (42 votes) |
Frontier Restaurant
Mon-Sun: 5am-1am (hours can change without notice)
Frontier is an Albuquerque staple that most folks can agree on. Breakfast burritos, sweet rolls, huevos rancheros, green chile stew, shakes, fresh-squeezed orange juice—it’s all great. The ambience is strictly cafeteria plus plenty of interesting characters to talk to after a late-night study session.
Read more: Eat Your History: Classic diners on the Mother Road (8/2/2018)
Full review: Do us all a favor; go Western ()
| | | | | 3.46 rating (51 votes) |
Tia B’s La Wafflería
Cuisine: Diner
The outdoor seating at Tia B’s is green and cool and feels more like Austin than Albuquerque. The menu at the Wafflería is obviously entirely waffle-centric, with a build-your-own concept that allows diners to choose batter options (including gluten-free rice, buckwheat and blue corn flour varieties), fruit or syrup toppings, bacon or sausage to bake inside and whipped cream if one so desires. There are also several varieties of savory waffles, including the majestic smoked salmon plate.
Full review: TIa B’s La Waffleria ()
Read more: The Gift of Food (11/19/2015)
| | | | | 5 rating (2 votes) |
Albuquerque - Upper Nob Hill
Loyola's Family Restaurant
Tues-Fri: 6am-2pm
Sat: 6am-1pm
Closed Sun-Mon (hours can change without notice)
If you spend just one Saturday morning at Loyola’s, we swear you’ll leave feeling like a regular. And at that point, you probably will be. The food is down-home good, and the service is friendly and fast. Wander in for the awesome, late-’60s diner atmosphere and stay for the tortillas and gorgeous red chile posole, made fresh to order, or the tender country-fried steak. But you can’t go after 2pm or on Mondays. It’ll be closed.
Full review: Loyola’s is cool and comforting ()
| | | | | 3.58 rating (24 votes) |
