Cecilia's Cafe

Diners, Drive-Ins, & Dives or Triple D as some call it, seems to hit a soft spot in the hearts of many Americans. My theory on this is due to Guy Fieri being personable and knowledgeable at our local greasy spoons. Recently I had the opportunity to try the last of my Triple D stops in Albuquerque, Cecilia's Cafe (CC); Guy has been to a four establishments in Albuquerque that I know of. The Discovery Travel Channel has also had CC on the show 101 Tastiest Places to Chow Down due to their 10 lb Fireman's Burrito. The sign for this beast of a burrito is pictured to the right. CC is on the corner of Silver and 6th in downtown Albuquerque. It truly is a hole in the wall, if you're not paying attention you will miss it if you blink.

The restaurant does have a lot of charm though. The restaurant has limited seating and was packed for a such a late time for breakfast. We arrived before the lunch rush and after the breakfast rush with a party of ten. A young family was kind enough to move to another table to accommodate us. To elaborate on the charm of the place the tables are mismatched, Americana memorabilia hangs everywhere, and heating the place was the wood burning stove pictured below.

The staff was very courteous, but on the slower side of things. The kitchen was quick with the order though. We sat on the other side of the counter so were were able to witness the speed of the food production. I opted for the Fireman's Burrito, but the "normal" version. This was still a beast of a burrito. This is burrito that comes with beans, egg, hash browns, and pork four ways. What is pork four ways you may ask: bacon, sausage, and two local styles of pork Carne Adovada and Chicarone. I love and hate Chicharones. Chicharones is basically fried pork rinds. There may be some arguments over this definition, but this is what I am familiar with . So these skins have some meat on them and they are a culinary delight due to the flavor and crunch, which is why I love them, but I hate them because I realize that I am eating deep fried pork fat. I did share some of my culinary marvels with my brunch companions. I'm a picky eater so I opted for the Fireman's Burrito without eggs and beans with the "Christmas" chile on top. Christmas chile is both red and green. One of my companions opted for the Fireman's Burrito as well, but kept all of the stuffing and it was quite a bit larger than mine, get your minds out of the gutter, cochinos. The chile was amazing. I read from Gil's Thrilling Website that CCs uses Chimayo red chile which I am not too familiar with, but the red chile had a real bite to it and the green chile was flavorful. My burrito is pictured to the right. Some of the other dishes that were ordered were the chicken enchiladas, breakfast burritos, blue corn pancakes, and a few other dishes that I cannot recall due to my bad memory and a large party of ten.

Cecelia's Cafe belongs on Diners, Drive Ins, and Dives and 101 Tastiest Places to Chow Down. I only ate half of my burrito and I was very full. The food was excellent. The staff could have been more detail oriented, but they were very friendly. The place really is a hole in the wall dive, but with charm. I would give Cecelia's Cafe a rating of three and a half stars out of five.

http://www.ceciliascafe.com/