2 Best Restaurants in Albuquerque, New Mexico

The Duke City has long been a place for hearty home-style cooking in big portions, and to this day it's easy to find great steak-and-chops houses, retro diners, and authentic New Mexican restaurants. The trick is finding them amid Albuquerque's miles of chain options and legions of dives, but if you look, you'll be rewarded with innovative food, and generally at prices much lower than in Santa Fe or other major Southwestern cities.

In Nob Hill, Downtown, and Old Town many notable new restaurants have opened, offering swank decor and complex and artful variations on modern Southwest, Mediterranean, Asian, and other globally inspired cuisine. A significant Vietnamese population has made that cuisine a star, but Indian, Japanese, Thai, and South American traditions all have a presence, making this New Mexico's best destination for ethnic fare.

Golden Crown Panaderia

Tucked between Old Town and the Wells Park neighborhood, this aromatic, down-home-style bakery opens early but is especially well known for two things: its hearty green-chile bread and its hand-tossed (thin-crust) pizzas made with blue corn, peasant, or green-chile dough. You can also order hot cocoa, cappuccino, an award-winning local IPA or lager (or wine), some biscochitos (the official state cookie), fruit-filled empanadas, sandwiches, and a popular coffee milkshake. Take out or dine in (perhaps on the pet-friendly patio).

Sixty-Six Acres

A coolly modern glass-framed dining spot across from the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center, Sixty-Six Acres serves up satisfying locally sourced dishes that riff freely on New Mexican and Asian traditions. The generous bowls, grilled sandwiches, and salads here—from green-chile cheeseburgers to Korean chicken bites to salmon and Himalayan rice and farro with fresh spinach salad—are flavorful, often gluten-free, and make vegetarian dining easy. A sweet patio with a sweeping Sandia Mountains view, a bar featuring local craft beers, and a casual, welcoming atmosphere complement your experience here—another winning inspiration from local dining force, Myra Ghattas (Slate Street Café).

Albuquerque

Albuquerque

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