El Patron — Restaurant in Albuquerque

It pains me to write the sort of review I'm writing - I went to El Patrón yesterday (June 14) with the expectation that I would write an entirely glowing review.

And the people were indeed worthy of such a review. The waiter who took care of me was Eduardo, and he was perfect. He was just attentive enough - he didn't ignore me, but he didn't hover either. He was there when I needed him, and not there when I just wanted to eat in peace. I left a larger tip than I otherwise would have precisely because he was so fantastic. So was the hostess (I never caught her name, and I wish I had, because she deserves specific recognition), who on her own hook halved my tab.

And the building was wonderful. Where I was sitting was darker than I prefer, but partly that's because my eyes aren't what they used to be, and partly because these days all restaurants seem to emulate caves. I was able to look around, however, and the decor was pleasant, and it was a roomy building.

The food, alas, disappointed me. I ordered beef fajitas, and they tasted great - but the meat was tough and stringy, with plenty of gristle. The vegetables were perfectly cooked, and there was a sufficiency of pico de gallo, sour cream, and guacamole - but the beef proved mostly unchewable. Perhaps the cook just had a bad day, perhaps the last delivery of beef was a bunch of old stringy steers, perhaps the restaurant is running on such a thin margin that they can't afford better quality. I don't know - I just know that the beef ruined the fajitas. The rice and beans weren't that bad, but they were too bland for my taste (and that's saying something, because I can't handle much spice).

The portions were large, for which I give the restaurant credit - if it hadn't been that the beef was inedible, I'd've gladly taken the leftovers home. I could've made an entire meal just off the fajitas, except for the meat, or off of the beans and rice.

So, the people were magnificent, and eventually I want to go back and try El Patrón again, in the expectation that a restaurant which employs such great people will have a better day in the kitchen. But on this one day, the food was disappointing. The food brought the rating down, but because of the excellent staff I'm still giving the...

This is yet another somewhat mediocre New Mexican Restaurant.

In my first visit, I got one of the combination plates. It came with one chicken taco, one chile relleno, and one tamale, served with rice and beans.

Much like many other New Mexican restaurants, everything was haphazardly thrown and crammed onto the plate without much care for presentation. I can't say I am a big fan when that happens.

The taco came out on a corn tortilla with BEEF, not chicken! The beef was quite juicy and made a bit of a mess on my fingers, yet everything else about the taco was pedestrian. It was just one step above a "white people taco night" creation.

The chile relleno was pretty tasty! The queso inside was delicious, and the chile inside complimented it pretty well. However, when I eat something at a restaurant that is deep fried, I expect it to be crispy. This chile relleno was FAR from that. the Red chile smothered on top likely turned the fried batter into mush within seconds. In that respect, I am disappointed.

Then I got to the tamale. That was, without a doubt, the worst tamale I have ever had so far. No, it wasn't gross per se. It was still edible. As I was eating it, I thought of myself as Enrico Fermi for a moment trying to estimate the order of magnitude of how long it was sitting outside the husk, because the masa was DRY and BLAND! There was also hardly any pork inside! Thank goodness it was smothered in red chile because it desperately needed its moisture.

The rice was served real moist with some kind of seasoned sauce I can't describe, and wasn't too bad! The beans were just bland and unremarkable.

If there are a few positive things I can say about El Patron, it is that #1: their queso appetizer is the BOMB! It was thick, cheesy, and had just enough spicy green chile to make it kick quite a bit, but not enough to be unpleasant. #2: Their sopapillas are near perfection! They were fried perfectly, slightly crispy, tasty, and thick, yet fluffy! Their honey was icing on the cake! #3: for the mid-level prices you pay here, you do get quite a...

The people that were guests like myself were very friendly. I asked the host to see if there was a wait and she said no. So I went to grab my family from the car and came back to the restaurant. Then she told my wife to wait for an open table. So the host lied to me and I was not happy about that. Then we waited for like 10 minutes and a couple came in, walked to the host and she sat them right away! She came back and looked at us and said are you ready? Just wow! I said to myself, so I proceeded to go to the table and review this place. This establishment's customer service is not the greatest. We waited for our server for another 15 or 20minutes to get our drinks. The water is tap water you can taste it. We placed our order and waited for our food for about an hr. Our complimentary chips and salsa came with our dinner. The food was cold as you can see in my picture. I got the steak and breaded chili with rice and beans. The rice was overcooked! It’s like eating mashed potatoes and it was gross. The beans were bland and the lettuce was old. The lettuce was slimy and wasn’t crunchy. The breaded chili with cheese was good. It had flavor from the red and green chili sauce on it. Without the sauce, it would be bland. The steak was cold and dry. I asked for medium cooked and they gave me medium well done. My lips didn’t smack at this joint! The other dishes I tried were disappointing also. The adovada tasted sour like it was old meat. It was gross! Overall I was not satisfied with the plates I got. The place looks nice just not the food. The service was horrible, the host is a lair and seems racist cause of my skin color. Food is cold with overcooked mashed rice, bland beans, old veggies, and sour meat. Nah I’m straight with this place, don’t waste your...