Casa de Benavidez

It seems that 4th street in Albuquerque's North Valley is the greatest street for New Mexican food. There are a few choices that come to mind that are pretty damn good: Garduno's, Sadies, Mary & Tito's, Garcia's, El Pinto, and Casa de Benavidez, that I recently went to with a friend. You have a wide spectrum in what each place offers; for instance, El Pinto has a great patio, Sadie's has killer salsa, Mary & Tito's is very affordable, Garica's has a large menu and now what does Casa de Benavidez have to offer?

Casa Benavidez is an old adobe house that was converted to a restaurant, which is part of the charm of the place. The weather was not great so we did not choose to sit outside on the gorgeous patio or by the window due to the location of the table being right next to the exit to the patio. We were seated in the main dining area that was near the kitchen exit. This area is fairly plain. I thought it was interesting that the exit and entrance were the same door, there was no window on the door, and the staff struggled with door while caring trays or rolling carts. I imagine that doorway has seen it's fair share of culinary tragedies where the food met a horrible fate of the floor and then the trash. Casa de Benavidez is still ran by a family and not a corporation which is great to see, but the polish of a corporation is not there. This was evident with the kitchen door thing, a family member/manager eating soup that did not appear to be on the menu, and the genuine friendliness of the manager/owner who came around to greet us.

One thing that I think is cool about Casa de Benavidez is they offer a take out window with a smaller menu. This is located on the side of the main restaurant, so this is great for a quick meal.

My friend had a hankering for some sophapillas and who doesn't like fried dough? Especially when it has a lot of lard in it. Casa de Benavidez makes a killer sophapilla. One of the dishes to get is their sophapilla burger, but we did not opt for the dish. She had the tamales and I had the combo fajita plate. According to her the tamales were good. The chips and salsa were pretty good, I would say better than average. My fajita plate was below average. The fajita meat was not as charred on the outside as I would have hoped. The peppers and onions did not have a great texture, taste, or color. The sophapillas that we came for were fresh from the fryer and they were flaky, hot culinary wonders. These were some great sophapillas. The service was OK. Our server was not too personable or attentive, but we did get what we ordered.

This place has a lot of charm with great food. For an overall rating, I would give Casa de Benavidez three out of five stars.


http://www.casadebenavidez.com/

Charcoal Mediteranean Grill

Recently Asado, a Brazilian Churrasco that I thought was OK, closed. It seems that Albuquerque is only big enough for one Churrasco and Tucanos won. The location in the restaurant plaza that Asado used to occupy is now occupied by a restaurant called Charcoal Mediterranean Grill. This location is two blocks south of another Mediterranean Grill, Pars.

The restaurant’s décor is pretty much unchanged. The salad bar is there, but empty and there are new paintings on the walls. The décor of Asado was not too impressive. It was modern, but it did not blend together too well. The floor is a finished concrete that is colored. The counter areas are tiled with bright colored tiles that are nice, but nothing memorable. The water fountain is still there and really interesting, but they did not run it while I was there. The water fountain has a rusted metal backing that is pretty cool.

I went to Charcoal during lunch and there were not very many customers. There were two cooks that I saw and one waiter. The service was surprisingly slow for how many patrons there were. It took about 15 minutes for the server come to get my order for my drink and bring it back. I ordered lamb chops with rice and dolmas. I asked for the lamb rare, but it was brought out well done. I asked the server about this and the cook came out, but my lamb was not replaced. It was ok, but lamb I have never had bad lamb. So for this experience I paid about 20 dollars before tip. My portion of lamb was small and the rest of the meal was just OK.

I do not think that this place will be open very long due to the fact that it is so close to a better restaurant that sells the same cuisine, is in the same plaza or close to great restaurants of different cuisines, and the food was not great or great value. The experience was not bad, but it was not good. I would give this restaurant two out five stars.