Cecilia's Cafe Awards
This relative upstart doles out classic New Mexican grub with all the heart and soul of Albuquerque’s best-loved old-timers.
Openings: Breakfast & Lunch daily
Features
- Dress code: Casual
- Kid-friendly
Cecilia's Cafe Restaurant Review:
When Albuquerqueans wage the great green chile (or red chile, or carne adovada, or homemade tortilla) debate, they reserve most of their loudest shout-outs for decades-old institutions --- with one exception: Cecilia’s Café, which opened in 1999. Housed in an old adobe on the west side of downtown, the tiny dining room is cluttered with tchotchkes and crammed with customers chowing down on all the local classics --- from huevos rancheros and breakfast burritos in the morning to homemade tamales and what may be the city’s best chiles rellenos, pure and simple, over red chile that virtually glows. It’s all perfectly filling, especially when accompanied by a basket of sopaipillas, but really big eaters should check out the section of the menu labeled Fire Station Favorites in honor of the firemen who frequent the place from down the street: chicharrónes and savory sopas are thrown into the mix for extra blaze-battling energy (which you’ll need to tackle the chile anyway). Not so customized is the service, which is cursory --- but then, the prices don’t warrant kid gloves. Beer cravings will have to wait, too.
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