Curious Toast Cafe — Restaurant in Albuquerque

Wow… what a find!

Curious Toast Cafe is a counter-serve breakfast restaurant and coffee shop located in downtown Albuquerque at 718 Central Ave SW. It opened mid-July 2021.

The ambiance is eccentric and engaging. The seating ranges from couches to lounge chairs to traditional dining chairs at tables. There are nooks patrons can eat in spread over three floors (check them all out!), or they can eat in the main dining room. On the second level there’s a witch’s shop called Glitter Alchemy with witch-related items for sale. On every floor the walls and corners are decorated with art, of which some pieces are for sale.

I ordered the Roadrunner BLT for $15, which came with a side of fruit or breakfast potatoes. I chose the latter. The BLT consisted of green chile aioli, bacon, romaine lettuce, sliced cherry tomatoes, and roasted green chile strips. I chose sourdough for my bread option out of the six options (the others are whole wheat sourdough, seeduction, gluten-free multigrain, pueblo, and tesuque).

The toast was delicious. It was nice to have the chile aioli and breaded baked chile as an addition to the traditional BLT ingredients because it added to an otherwise tame, traditional dish for a more interesting flavor profile. I took some of the meal to go and it wasn’t soggy at all when I finished it later in the day since the lettuce protected the bread from the moisture in the tomatoes. The dish didn’t feel too heavy even with the bacon, and I’m already wanting to try another entree selection. The side of potatoes was a nice addition; I’m glad the toasts come with a side to round it out as a meal. The ingredients seemed fresh and high quality.

The experience, meal, and ambiance equaled a 5/5 with no reservations in my book. I’m already wanting to return to show my other...

Food undercooked. The coffees were over $4.00 for drip coffee and there's no refills. The building appears to be a large private house converted into a restaurant where you order in a hallway, then seat yourself in one of the living rooms, dining rooms, etc and they bring you the food to your table. This was a fairly long wait. It didn't appear there were others in the restaurant but I guess they could a begin sitting in an adjacent room I didn't see while I walked to the bathroom or for dressings for coffee. The drip coffee was espresso drink pricing, no refills. There's no service before or after dropping off your food. We ordered only one order which required cooking an egg for French toast and the egg was raw. Fully undercooked throughout. Could not eat it. Ordered from sweet menu and savory menu. Things that didn't require cooking were plated nicely. The decorations seemed like local artists maybe(?) I was seated next to a porcelain doll motif in the corner. It was not relaxing me. The staff was nice. The ordering went fast but there was a wait for food and then one of my friends couldn't eat because their food was raw. I might have to try this again but I'll not buy $4.00+ drip coffee again. Oh and try paying cash. They up charge a fees for what appears to be a cc fee of 2.7% to...

Where to start? This sweet, eclectic spot is at the edge of downtown in what appears to be a historic home turned coffee shop! Lots of seating in different rooms. There were so many great options on the menu it was hard to decide what to get. I like that they use locally sourced bread/produce when possible. We ordered 2 savory and 2 sweet options but kicking myself for not getting the lemon blueberry French toast special. Of all that we ordered, the savory options were preferred. The sweet options (disco Elvis, Hawaiian French toast) which looked better than they tasted, were dry and I found myself wishing I had some syrup to put on them. But I am also not the biggest fan of almond butter. Also, it was a little disappointing that the Hawaiian was $16 for 4 King Hawaiian sweet rolls when I could have bought two giant packs for the same price or less at Costco. Still, the savory options (steak caprese, salmon sunrise toasts) redeemed the meal and I would definitely get those again. But I actually think the winner was the home fries that came with the savory toasts—absolutely delish! Overall, I would absolutely go back and try other savory toasts and maybe some sweet ones if I could get some...