Perea's New Mexican Restaurant — Restaurant in Albuquerque

We used to come here OFTEN and I usually do not give bad reviews but this time I have to say I will be very clear and honest when giving my review. I love going to local places owned by local people. There's just something special about giving back to our community but I have to say that we will not be returning to Pereas again. There has been a lot of turnover in recent months and the older woman who we used to see often, we have not seen the last several times we have been there. I'm not sure who she was, but she was kind, attentive and always got our order correct and out to us while it was still hot. That did not happen today. Our waitress came to our table and asked us if we were ready to order. We told her yes we were and she told us to hold on a minute, she proceeded to turn around to the table behind us where a single gentleman was seated after us, and began taking his order. Ok, not a problem but DON'T ask us if we are ready and then walk alway to another table! When she came back, we kept our cool and ordered our breakfasts. We asked if we could have extra jelly for our toast. (Pereas only gives ONE pkg of jelly for 4 halves if toast.) She said, "of course". Our order took longer than usual and when we received it, it was cold and no extra jelly. We asked again if she could please bring out the extra jelly we requested. Once again she said, " of course". We proceeded to eat our cold food and waited for our jelly. The food there, especially the red Chile is always so good but I have found other places that have equally good red chile and much better service. Vics, Sadies,Durans and others. I tried to flag our waitress down for the jelly and to fill our coffee but either she had her mind on something or someone else. We never got either. She never brought us our check. We waited at the register 5 minutes before they rang us up. I hate going to restaurants and being invisible.....but that is how I felt today. I go to restaurants for the wonderful food and service and today Pereas did not fulfill either of my quests. We have noticed a change over the last few months but continued to go, being patient and hoping things would change for the better, but they have not. So goodbye Perea's! It was good for us while it lasted for the last 10 years but we...

I really didn't have a good experience here. I had high hopes walking in; it's a small place and there were plenty of people seated, however it kind of went downhill from there. My waitress didn't really understand the menu and had to read it to see what is ordered and what it came with. She actually almost put in the wrong item, huevos rancheros instead of carne adovada plate.

Unfortunately the food wasn't great when it arrived. The carne adovada plate is overwhelmingly a single flavor: black pepper. So much pepper, I can't understand it. And no chile! Look at the water pooling under the meat. I ordered a side of red chile and a tortilla to try and bring in some more flavor but it didn't help. Among the worst carne adovada plates I've had in town. I didn't even finish it, a deep rarity for me.

The red chili i got on the side was pretty good on its own. Strong chili flavor but not overly bitter like some chile forward sauces. The tortilla was 1/8in thick, decent. Couldn't immediately tell from taste if it was homemade.

A little side nit, I don't understand why this meal didn't come with a tortilla. Almost every small spot in ABQ will offer tortilla on the side of a plate of meat. I waited 5 minutes while my food cooled waiting for an a la carte tortilla I had to ask for. By the way that tortilla coated $3.29! For 1 tortilla!

The table next to me didn't get their sopapillas at the end of their meal. The lady across from me didn't get her beans and had to send the waitress back to get it. I only got a small napkin and no one checked on me so I could get another. Lots of weird interactions going on.

When I was done, I asked if it came with sopapilla and she said yes, how many. I asked for 1, and she proceeded to ORDER me a sopapilla and put it on my bill. She said they'd add it to my total when I paid.

Overall the experience and the food were poor. The many positive reviews may be influenced by locals nostalgic for an earlier version of this place, or folks taken in by the charm of a small local restaurant. But there are literally dozens of similar restaurants with MUCH better food,...

Honestly my partner and I come here about once a week. We loved the food. However, today as we were leaving an altercation started up in the parking lot between three employees and a black woman.

My partner and I slowed down and listened and determined that the employees were upset because the woman had not paid for her meal. We kinda shrugged it off and started to leave. My partner and I have both worked in the food service industry and have been through similar situations... Though honestly it is better to just let them leave in my own opinion. However, one employee actually lunged at the woman and screamed that she knew the woman was going to be trouble from the moment she walked in.

The woman in question did not have any special characteristics that I could determine that would make her 'trouble'. She appeared middle class and nicely dressed at first glance. The only thing that made her stand out that I could see was that she was black.

My partner turned back around to break it up because we will not stand for racism.

Two of the employees went inside and we were able to determine that the woman refused to pay because she had told them her oatmeal was undertone and hard. The server did not fix the problem and simply told her they couldn't put it back in the pot because it is against policy.

If a customer has a complaint you fix the problem. You don't make excuses as to why you can't. If the oatmeal couldn't be fixed they could have offered her something else. Then when the customer refuses to pay for food that was ill prepared you LET THEM LEAVE. You don't explain how you are not rude because you are an elementary school teacher... Which is irrelevant. You were rude because you didn't fix the problem.

When the customer leaves you don't explode your racism all over the place and actually try to physically attack the customer.

My partner and I will never be going there again and we will be telling everyone about the horrific...