Santiago's — Restaurant in Albuquerque

Okay so this is NOT about the waitress and the waiter. They were totally lovely and kept checking on me. Great service. I was having a vehicle service across the street and the receptionist suggested I could go inside Santiagos while I waited. I accidentally sat at the "Reserved for 5 people" tables and when I realized, I immediately apologized to the waitress and got up and moved to a smaller table. I sat there about 15 minutes and some random elderly man (another customer) I have never met starts bothering me asking if I am having breakfast and offering me candy. I don't know when it became appropriate to bother random young women and offer them unlabeled candy (creepy!!). Would he offer random man sitting alone candy? So I just said no thank you and kept waiting another 20 minutes. I then see another older man in a Santiago's T-shirt (assuming the owner) dump a bunch of ice from a bucket into the ice thing and use his bare hand to slide the ice. That is gross. I saw a lot of elderly in there with masks who are clearly concerned about sanitary issues. You should be using gloves. Then he comes over to me, asks me to move to a smaller table if it's just me loudly in front of the entire place (even though the two "reserved for five" tables were still available and two other small tables. It's not as though they had a line out the door. Then he sort of pats his hand over my upper back near my neck as a thanks, I guess. Extremely patronizing and infantilizing. I had a right to be there and sit wherever as much as anyone else. This is a disgusting experience. First of all, most strangers don't like to touched by random people they do not know. Second, you do NOT touch random young women you don't know as a man. The whole experience was just gross. I feel violated and this is just I guess what we have to put up with as women. Strangers feeling like they have access to your personal space and your body, and that you are not important because it's just you sitting by yourself. Guaranteed he would not have asked a man to move. Even though I was a paying customer that tipped. Do you think the younger male waiter would have felt he had a right to touch me like that? Neither of the waitstaff asked me to move or touched me. No, it's just older men who come from the "old days" and we are supposed to excuse it. You don't touch women you are not related to. The is my first and last time going there. I can't believe they get best in the city if they around touching their customers and if other patrons going around harassing women. Also, the toilet had poop all all the inside. I would upload a picture but it's too gross.

Edit:I see that the business owner has responded and Called me a loiterer. I ordered a cup of coffee that was 3.75 and put the rest of the 5 dollar bill in the tip jar (check the cameras). I hope whoever reads this review sees how abusive his response is. So I guess that unless you order food —"Mam you didn't even eat at our business. You were killing time while your car was getting worked on. We were doing you a favor, you didn't buy any food, you were loitering"— you are not welcome. I guess by this standard, anyone who pays almost 4 dollars for a cup of coffee at starbucks is being done a favor. Good to know this small local business values you based on the cash you spend. How can you be sure I didn't get hungry and wasn't about to order food? I also note he did not respond to my comment about the touching. No, I am not a victim at all, in any way. And no, the world does not revolve around me. Victim is what people call someone when they can't handle someone voicing boundaries and calling them out. I don't like to be touched on the upper back and neck by men I have never met. Nor do most women. By your logic, of asking people to move, you would have asked parties of 2 people sitting at a table of 4 to move to a table of 2 to preserve space. Do you ask everybody to get up and move as your service needs demand? I updated the service to 5 stars. Thank you for pointing out my mistake. Have a...

The food is great! This is my 4th or 5th time here, and I really like their red chile, honestly, it’s second to none. I ordered a breakfast dish this time, and I really like the crispy hash browns, and the the ground beef patty was large, cooked to perfection, and of course tasted great with the red chile, eggs and hash browns. The staff who took the order were friendly, knew the menu items well, were efficient and courteous. Not a long wait considering the food is made to order, not precooked. Great food! In the past, I’ve ordered tamales, enchiladas, and more and it’s always good! My only complaint is that on this day, the owner came out into the dining room started speaking to a customer at who’s table he sat down, at a volume loud enough for me and anyone else to hear from across the room, about politics and how his preferred presidential candidate is a victim of the system. Of course, anyone is free to express their views and opinions about whatever is on their heart. But it is extremely off putting for the owner to loudly do so for all to hear while customers are trying to enjoy their meal. It’s possible that he doesn’t know he’s being rude in doing this, he might not think everyone can clearly hear him, or perhaps he doesn’t care! But this is the second time something like this has happened while I’ve been trying to quietly enjoy a meal at Santiago’s. I might try this place again, but I’m not sure I will… and definitely not during...

Santiago’s has been a family-owned restaurant in Albuquerque for over 30 years. Today, Dad, Mom, and Sons were cooking, serving, pouring coffee, always with super friendly and quick service. Many long-time customers are locals who know each other, so there’s often energetic conversations about motorcycles, fast cars, guns, and politics! For breakfast, my wife had the Huevos Y Carne (2 eggs, hash browns, ground beef patty, smothered with green chili, and a flour tortilla). I ordered the Santiago Scramble (2 eggs scrambled with hash browns, cheese, onions, chorizo, chopped corn tortillas, all smothered), plus a side dish of Sausage Patties – I was hungry today! Everything was absolutely delicious! Ambience is bright, cheerful and welcoming, almost like a big family dining room. Prices are very reasonable. We’ll be back soon to try their tacos, burritos, and biscuits & gravy. Definitely highly...