Dickey's Barbecue Pit

By Jerry Ireland
4811 Pan American Freeway NE, Albuquerque, NM
Menu at: dickeys.com

The Food (taste/flavor/quality of food & drinks)
>>>>= a favorite, can count on it being good every time

The Atmosphere (environment, wait staff, comfortableness)
xxx= good but could be improved

Price (what to generally expect to pay per person per entree)
$$ = $10

Value (what you get for your money)
** = okay - overpriced for quality/taste

When I was eating at Dickey's Barbecue Pit in Albuquerque, New Mexico, I kept thinking about the line in Pulp Fiction, "It's the little differences. I mean, they got the same sh** over there that they got here, but it's just – it's just there it's a little different."

The reason: I used to frequent the original Dickey's in Dallas, Texas and it has always been one of my favorite barbeque joints. While the Albuquerque version has the same good food, some of its differences threw me a bit. But that’s what happens when you turn an original into a franchise, you loose a little of the charm and quality.

One of the things I like about the Dallas version is it is a down home cafeteria style restaurant. You get in line, get your food and get to business. In Albuquerque, it is a sit down restaurant. Also the motif of the restaurant was different. The Dallas Dickey's is essentially a dive and the Albuquerque smokehouse seemed like a cross between a TGIFriday's and the original. It lacked none of the dive quality that gives the original its charm. Now, I know this is a positive for some people, but I prefer the simplicity of the cafeteria and not having to wait for my food and refills on my drink.

In Albuquerque you have a more expansive menu. You can get starters like hot wings and nachos, several types of sandwiches (chicken hoagie, hamburgers, and ham and cheese) that you won't find at the original because a true Texas smokehouse would be embarrassed to carry these items. Also, the salad choices are much more diverse compared to the original. Again, some people may find this to be a positive, but to make room, they removed one of my favorite sides from the menu. The original has outstanding green beans, and that used to be a staple of my Dickey's experience. But when I ate in Albuquerque there were no green beans. This must be changed.

One thing that remained the same is the excellent barbecue. I ordered the beef brisket and sausage plate. The brisket perfectly melts in your mouth, which is how I like it. The sausage explodes with taste. The sauce is a bit sweet with a little tang too it. Of all the excellent Texas barbeque sauces, Dickey's sauce remains my favorite.

I tried the onion strings, which are essentially thin stringy onion rings and I liked them. I also had the Caesar salad and it is more than serviceable but nothing to write home about.

One other difference is the price. The Albuquerque smokehouse's prices were a couple of dollars extra. I assume that is because of the restaurant style seating.

These differences took away from my enjoyment of one of my favorite restaurants, but I would say that the Albuquerque restaurant is a cousin of one of the best BBQ restaurants in Texas and that makes it among the best in Albuquerque.

Rudy’s Country Store and Bar-B-Q

By Angele Sionna

2321 Carlisle (at I-40), Albuquerque, NM
Menu at: rudys.com

The Food (taste/flavor/quality of food & drinks)
>>>>>= always great, unique, and flavorful no matter where you’re from

The Atmosphere (environment, wait staff, comfortableness)
xxxx= comfortable

Price (what to generally expect to pay per person per entree)
$= under $10

Value (what you get for your money)
***** = superb -lots of quality/taste for what you pay

Barbeque is really all about two things when you get right to it: the sauce and the meat. Great meats are slow cooked with flavorful woods that subtly permeate their smoky flavors into the food. Done right, they practically melt in your mouth. The sauce, on the other hand, needs to be bold. It should stand-up and grab your attention.

In my mind, barbeque meat and sauce doesn’t get any better than Rudy’s Bar-B-Q. The secret is the sauce. It’s distinctive with peppery flakes, a sweet tanginess, and a zesty kick that shoots across your tongue as you’re savoring all the flavors. This once small town country store in the Texas Hill Country has become an expansive enterprise with 25 restaurants across the southwest. (You can see a list and map of every location HERE.)

My most recent visit to a Rudy’s was in Albuquerque on Carlisle at I-40 as a lunch stop on our road trip to Texas from Arizona. (read more about that road trip HERE.) It was PACKED! But then I’ve never been to a Rudy’s that wasn’t. This particular Rudy’s is a franchise operation. They have the same look to the building and the same menu, and except for not having the choices in type of brisket (lean, juicy, etc), you could mistakenly think you’ve wondered into the lone star state... down to sipping a glass of their excellent sweet tea.

Rudy’s Bar-B-Q is all pit-style flame cooked with oak wood, which gives everything a delicious smell and taste. My favorite is the sliced turkey. It is smoky and juicy with hints of buttery flavors. Add the “original sause” with its peppery, zesty kick and I’m in food heaven. Their brisket is probably the number one item on the menu. It is tender, juicy, and melts in your mouth. You can smell the oak that’s used to smoke it in every bite. Another top item: sausage links which have a little kick to them but aren’t spicy. All of the meats are served by the pound (or quarter pound or half pound).

Sides are the only things about Rudy’s that could be improved. While I love the buttery boiled potatoes, everything else is just okay. Luckily, all the meats are served with sliced bread so you really don’t need much else in the way of sides. Don’t forget to order up a large sweet tea (with serve yourself free refills) to top off your meal in true Texas style.

The seating is family-style on wooden picnic tables. They have indoor seating, covered porch seating, and a few outdoor tables too. On a busy day, you’re more than likely to be sitting with some hungry strangers but that’s part of the fun. Everyone seems to adopt a friendly Texas attitude when they walk thru the doors.

I miss great barbeque being a Texas-native living in Arizona. So whenever I am even sort of going to drive near Albuquerque, we head to this Rudy’s. The top quality food at reasonable prices means I’m a Rudy’s life-er.

We even order the “sause” from the Rudy’s website to make our home-cooked briskets great. (Admittedly, mine is nowhere near as awesome as Rudy’s but our friends who’ve never been there think we’re the best cooks they’ve met.) You can order a large bottle of their original “sause” for $9.49 (for a 38 ounce bottle) plus shipping and make your home cooking stand out as well. They also have a subtler blend of spices in their “sissy sause.” This is my husband’s favorite. No matter if you’re in Texas, New Mexico, or half way around the world, you can get a little piece of barbeque heaven with this "sause" in your cupboard.

Portofino Italian Restaurant

By Angele Sionna

701 S. Main St., Roswell, NM
(no menu online)

The Food (taste/flavor/quality of food & drinks)
>>>>>= always great, unique, and flavorful no matter where you’re from

The Atmosphere (environment, wait staff, comfortableness)
xxx= good but could be improved

Price (what to generally expect to pay per person per entree)
$$ = $10

Value (what you get for your money)
***** = superb -lots of quality/taste for what you pay

Here’s a newsflash for you: Roswell, New Mexico has something more than alien mythology to lure in tourists. They have a great Italian restaurant! If you told me that the best Italian food that I would find in the southwestern US would be in Roswell, of all places, I would have thought you were crazy. And then I would have to go to this intriguing place and measure its goodness myself. I recommend you hit the road for Roswell and discover Portofino for yourself.

I went to Portofino on a recent road trip where we stopped for one night in Roswell. (To read about the road trip and other Roswell recommendations, click HERE.) I was in the mood for Italian but not feeling hopeful, as I only saw one review of Portofino on Trip Advisor. There was another Italian joint mentioned as well, but it was a chain, so I wasn’t interested. I was really feeling Italian-flavored cravings, so I decided to ask the nice woman who checked me out with my stereotypical alien tourist t-shirt if she could recommend a place to eat for Italian. She mentioned she heard Portofino was great but had yet to go there.

That was enough for us, as we were tired from our day-long drive, hungry and ready for dinner. We drove a few blocks south of downtown and almost missed Portofino. It’s in a rather non-descript building on Main Street on the left (if going there from the UFO museum and such downtown). I had my doubts, so I went in to grab a to go menu to browse the selections. Right when I opened the door, I knew this is where we’d be dining that night. The aroma was superb. You could tell someone was back in the kitchen making lots of custom dishes. I went back out to the car, informed my family to hurry up, and down we sat.

Boy, did I make the right call! It was even better than my “find” at the souvenir shop (a weird touristy t-shirt with a picture of an alien holding an X-Files DVD. Classic!). I must have been lucky that night because Portofino also delivered with the best Italian food I’ve had since moving from Chicago... at really decent prices too.

[caption id="" align="alignright" width="230" caption="Portofino's bread with dipping sauce"][/caption]

While you browse the menu trying to pick just one entrée, the waitress serves up these little triangles of bread with olive oil for dipping. The bread is very unique and almost tastes like a cross between biscuits and classic Italian country bread. My two year old kept gobbling them down and the waitress kept bringing more baskets with a smile. Nice service.

For a main course, I finally settled on the Pasta Primavera ($8.95), though there were so many that looked good. It was served with all fresh vegetables in a thin tomato sauce over angel hair pasta. You could tell this dish was 100% homemade. It was plenty to share with my daughter as well.

[caption id="" align="alignleft" width="230" caption="Portofino's Lobster Ravioli"][/caption]

My husband got the Lobster Ravioli ($12.95). I really wanted to order that too, but I decided we needed to try more than one dish. Glad we did because both were great! The lobster ravioli is served in a tomato cream sauce and not too rich and not at all fishy smelling or tasting. (A problem some other Italian restaurants can’t seem to overcome on this dish.) But not Portofino. Theirs was perfect. The sauce was so good, my husband finished off the breadbasket soaking up every last drop of that sauce. We hadn’t enjoyed a lobster ravioli dish that much since dining at Sapori Trattoria in Chicago. (If you’re ever in Chicago, it’s worth the trouble leaving the tourist areas for that little gem of a restaurant as well. Sapori is my favorite restaurant in the entire world. No exaggeration.)

I have to say, as you can probably already tell, I was so impressed by this local joint. Decent prices, high quality food, and quick friendly service. A MUST visit! I wish this place was in my hometown! Now you have one more reason (besides checking out all the alien stuff) to visit Roswell.

For more photos of Portofino click HERE.