Sadie’s of New Mexico

Hi readers! Taking a break from settling in and unpacking to get back to the cross country move posts 🙂 Sorry we’ve been gone so long!

So, where were we? Ah, yes, the Husband shared with you our Winslow, AZ story but we still have a restaurant, a brewery, and a hotel to share with you from Albuquerque!

For dinner Tuesday night in Albuquerque, we took reader Kylie’s suggestion and checked out Sadie’s.  It was only about 10 minutes from the hotel so once we were settled, we headed on over, excited to finally get some New Mexican food.  On Urbanspoon, it looked like we might face a wait, so we were excited to find out they could seat us immediately.

When we walked through the front door, we saw this sign.  We didn’t get it until we were seated at dinner.  This is a very family friendly restaurant and there are a lot of kids there.  We assume this sign tells parents to watch their kids and control them.  Apparently the family sitting next to us didn’t see the sign as their kids kept running around our table and around the room of the restaurant we were in.

As I mentioned earlier, we had been nervous about how long it would take to be seated due to online reviews.  However, this restaurant is HUGE! I’m not sure how many rooms there were or how many the restaurant could seat, but we saw at least three rooms that were quite large.

While reviewing the menu, there were so many options to choose from.

We appreciated that the beer menu clearly broke out the New Mexico beers 🙂

We ended up getting one of each to share throughout the meal.  The Husband particularly enjoyed the Outlaw Lager.  To that point in the trip, this was his favorite beer on the road.  The other two were fine – nothing to write home about.

 

 

 

As soon as we were seated, we were brought a basket of tortilla chips and Sadie’s famous salsa.  This was amazing! And HOT! We loved it 🙂 On their website, you have the option to have some shipped to your home and the Husband and I are seriously considering it…

For our entrees, the Husband and I ended up ordering generally the same thing – Sadie’s Burrito.  After recommendations from the waiter, we chose to go with the “Original Grilled Ground Beef Pattie” as our filling.  It was served with frijoles and papitas (beans and potatoes?).  The Husband’s (the first pic below) also had a fried egg on top.  These dishes were HUGE! We each only got through about half and took the leftovers back to the hotel with us.  These were spicy and delicious!

 

Both of our dishes also came with Sopapillas, essentially a hollow, thin fried dough.  I believe traditionally you put honey on them (there are honey bottles on all of the tables) and they were so good.

   The Husband noticed a beautiful view of the moon from our table.  Not sure if this picture captures it well enough but we wanted to share it with you anyway. The Husband has previously had New Mexican food and was already a fan, but coming to Sadie’s I personally fell in love with it.  It’s spicy, but flavorful and oh so good.

The food delivery itself was a bit slower than we were used to here, but our waiter was very friendly as was his assistant.  When the waiter picked up on us being tourists who were interested in New Mexican beers, he recommended we check out a local brewery in the downtown area.  Check back later today for our review of that!

Padilla’s Mexican Kitchen

We were almost ready to leave Albuquerque, but we needed something to eat before we got on the road.  Before we left New Mexico, I was hoping for some more New Mexican cuisine.  Amanda suggested we try ANOTHER of our reader Kylie’s recommendations and try Padilla’s for lunch before heading on our way. 

We popped over to Padilla’s, it wasn’t far from the hotel, and had a small lunch. 

Padilla’s tastes exactly like the outside suggests.  The food has as much character as the strip mall it resides in.  We were hoping to get in and out early enough to avoid any rush.  We were there before 11:30, but we certainly didn’t miss the rush.

The place was packed, and there was a line.  We didn’t have to wait, because they had a small table for two tucked in a back corner, but there were two tables of three in front of us.  We knew we had stumbled onto something special at that point, albeit with a little guidance.

We looked over the menu, and ordered a couple lunch items. 

Our waiter was so on top of things.  We had drinks in seconds, and never waited for refills.  He provided recommendations on what to get.  He gave us chips and salsa.  He was so fast, that we missed his name, but he was cheery and friendly and efficient.  The salsa was good, but the salsa was outstanding.  I don’t think it was fresh, but it was really well-seasoned with chiles.  For my lunch, I ordered a couple of enchiladas a la carte with one fried egg on top.

The Wife ordered tacos.  I’m so proud of the Wife.  When we first met, she couldn’t eat anything with any real spice.  Now, while she still has a spice barrier, she can eat SO much more, and enjoys well-flavored spicy foods.  As she finished her tacos, she even used the rest of the salsa on her rice and beans.  

Everything came with sopaipillas, which are just so tasty.  Why they aren’t part of a more mainstream cuisine is beyond me.

The food was incredible.  I love green chiles, and there’s no doubt they are a huge part of New Mexican cuisine, but I’m really beginning to think its more than that.  I can’t put my finger on it, but between Padilla’s, and Sadie’s and Anita’s in D.C., the food is just exquisite. 

Hopefully we’ll find some kind of New Mexican food in Vegas, once we get there.