Mary and Tito's Cafe

Earlier this year, Mary & Tito's Cafe (MTC) on 4th street won the James Beard Foundation Award. The Jame's Beard Foundation's mission statement is "To celebrate, preserve, and nurture America’s culinary heritage and diversity in order to elevate the appreciation of our culinary excellence." I'm not too familiar with this foundation, but as I've heard, it's a huge honor. Prior to MTC, winning the award I had eaten there with some coworkers and thought it was pretty good. I've mentioned before in a previous blog that 4th street in Albuquerque is full of great New Mexican food and that MTC is one of the great restaurants. MTC appears to be a restaurant that was converted from an old house. It's a dive, but the food is good. On both occasions I ate the carne adovada, but in different forms. I've had the carne adovada turn over and a carne adovada plate. My last visit I went with a group of four friends. We were fortunate and missed the dinner rush on a Friday night. We came a bit before closing time.

Our meal began with chips, salsa, and guacamole. I am not normally a guacamole fan, but the guacamole tasted fresh to me and had a great texture. The salsa was good, but not great. Recently, a coworker of mine explained dynamics of the different salsas in the Albuquerque market. That everyone has their own opinion about who has the best salsa. I experienced this kind of dynamic in Buffalo, NY; everyone has their favorite Buffalo wing joint. I totally agree with him. Salsa in Albuquerque ranges in texture, color, taste, heat, smell, and every other description one can think of for salsa. I felt that MTC's salsa was just OK. Nothing very notable about it.

On this occasion, I ordered the carne adovada turnover that is pictured on the right. I did order it Christmas style, with the red and green chile, to sample both kinds of chile. The red was spicier but I enjoyed the meat and flavor of the green chile. The texture of the fried turnover was great. It was fairly light and flaky while covered with chile. This meeting of ingredients was great. You have tender, flavorful carne adovada stuffed inside a deep fried flaky shell that is covered in chile.

One of my friends ordered the enchiladas and they looked pretty good. The service at MTC is pretty standard for diner service. The staff was quick and friendly, but nothing notable. The facilities could be better, but it's an old house that was converted into a restaurant. The parking lot is unpaved and small. I think that MTC belongs on Diners, Drive Ins, and Dives. I would give MTC a rating of three and half stars out of five.

http://albuquerque.bizjournals.com/albuquerque/stories/2010/02/08/daily8.html