Garcia's Kitchen - The Original — Restaurant in Albuquerque

Go every Sat/Sun for breakfast... for years...

Tortillas are FANTASTIC (stop by and pick some up, but eat them same day... they don't store well)

Beans are above average good... Red is usually good... Green is usually ok... Chichirones are DA BOMB DIGGITY (much better than their competitors on 4th and Bridge area ;) ) Coffee is ok...

Eggs are NEVER cooked right... Bacon (request Crispy) is usually still too soft.. or burnt... Potatoes are... Meh (Fries are better than their home cooked potatoes) Pancakes are decent (not great) French Toast is good (for the most part) Enchiladas are bland (red/beef)

The "home cooking" was the attraction here (not mine... but, the person I'd go visit every weekend) Sadly, the prices keep climbing... the overall quality is declining... Badly managed restaurant... Nice people (for the most part)... but NFG when they lose a long time regular (13 years plus, $560/mo plus(average is $70.00, twice a week, 4 weeks a month, TIP included)) over minor details (it's the principal of the thing!!! (who charges for to-go water??? (Straw that broke the camels back!!!)))

One time, we counted 18 employees sitting/standing around the front counter having a good ol time (managers included) with only 4 patrons in the restaurant... I KNOW we weren't keeping that place open ourselves... but, you'd think... that's a LOT of employees for 4 patrons... (piss poor management). Waitresses fighting with the other waitresses over which zone is theirs... even AFTER they show up late to their own shifts... AND, doing this in front of customers... Music is never "on point"... Volume is either too loud and you can't hear yourself talk to your partners in the same booth, or it's too low and you can't make out the song that's playing... It's random what kind of music you'll get to enjoy when you can enjoy music... one day it's oldies (my favorite day), next it's rock-a-billy but, not authentic (meaning, it's not the original artists), and one day it's straight up mexican whoomp whoomp music (which I also like, since that makes the restaurant feel more authentic). Other days, there is just NO MUSIC AT ALL!!! The mens bathroom is a micro-bathroom. I'm 6'3 and I have to sit on the crapper sideways because my knees don't fit between the seat and wall... IF I'm lucky, I can use the "family bathroom". But, that's not always the case in a small mesican restaurant...

Sadly, I'm not even going to miss it... MUCH better food in Alb...

Have never ate at this original location, went there today Dec.9, 2023, because Barales Coffee House was full with a line and so was Durans pharmacy with a 45 min wait. So chose Garvias. I Was sat down promptly which was nice, given drinks even quicker, also nice. Seater and server were both nice, which was nice in itself.... Wish this review was gonna be nice.

Ordered the huevos rancheros scrambled with xmax chile, NM staple, hard to mess up. Get out food really quick, like so quick you KNOW this food was already premade waiting under some heating lights. But it looked good. Dug in and the beans tasted like the eggs, the eggs tasted like the Chile, and the Chile tasted like the potatoes. How? They were all flavorless! Like NM food made by someone who was born and raised in Indianapolis, Indiana! Could tase and difference between red and green, added salt and only tasted salt. Add in refried(!) Beans instead of proper frijoles and yeah, Indianapolis Huevos! I didn't even eat more than 3 bites before putting my fork down and finishing my coffee. My mom didn't finish hers either. Didn't try the sopas at all even tho there were 4 on the table. My mom and I literally left our plates of food on the table, didn't even take the leftover full meals for my dogs, that's how flavorless it was. Told the cashier about our experience and he gave us a discount thankfully, said the commissary was responsible for the food sooo... Not their problem I guess?

Save your $$ for somewhere else to eat like Durans, Baralas, Los Cuates, or even Padillas! Many people like this place and good for them but when it comes to food for a burqueño born and raised in Abq this ain't it! To whomever reads and replies to these reviews do NOT try to justify any of this, your doing well as a business apparently so keep at it just know that my experience serves as a warning for anyone who wants good New Mexican food to steer clear. Frontier is even better than this place and their potatoes are like mashed potatoes 😂 Anyways...

I want to preface this review by saying that I have liked Garcia's for years. Decades. And I hope for the best for them. But we need to be honest about the quality of food they're serving now, and it's really not very good.

A few weeks back I decided to try some fajitas with green chile. The meat was tough and flavorless, the vegetables tasted frozen, and the green chile was mediocre. Just kind of bland overall. I know restaurants have off nights and I don't think that one poor meal should disqualify a restaurant from my go-to list. If I were a new customer I probably wouldn't have gone back, but I didn't think that Garcia's had really turned into a bad restaurant.

So I decided to try again this week with a different selection and...it was really bad. So bad that I stopped eating halfway through and threw the rest in the garbage.

First, the chile relleno was terribly greasy. Saturated with grease. It made the red chile it was smothered in viscous and slimy the relleno was so greasy. The actual pepper tasted as though it came from the frozen isle at Smiths. My enchiladas tasted like an onion. Just an onion. The red chile was gelatinous and bitter. It was almost brownish. The rice was obviously packaged.

I swear to everything good in this world it made my stomach ache eating it.

The only reason this isn't getting a 1 star is that the staff is wonderful and I truly, truly hope that Garcia's can get back to what it used to be. As for me? I'll never go there...