The Artichoke Cafe — Restaurant in Albuquerque

I booked a table for 4 a week before for a special birthday celebration for my husband. We arrived early and had a lovely experience in the bar with Naomi, a friendly and outstanding bartender. We sat at the uplostered table in the bar. Our server did not appear until 10-15 minutes later to get us water and take our drink order. We ordered our meals and she left. After 30 minutes, I got up and found her at the bar. I asked her, "When do you think we will get our meal?" She stated that she hadn't forgotten about us but never came by to check on us. We received our order about an hour later and she was very condescending when we asked her about a bread order and told us, that, of course, the bread cost and we said that it should be complementary since our order was so late. She said she would check with the manager but wasn't happy about it. She came back with about 5 pieces of bread on a plate (it would have cost $20!) and said that it was at no cost. She checked on us once during the meal, and the manager never came by to check with us. We had asked for separate checks but she put it all on one check and rushed off when we told her that we needed them separate. All in all, it was very expensive, but I wouldn't have mattered if we had had an exceptional evening. She could have said anything about being crowded, understaffed and we would have understood but we seemed to be a bother to her. She did give us a dessert for free and acted like it was a big deal. It made for unhappy evening. I...

This afternoon I stopped in for lunch and for me to post a review about another business in this environment must have taken me a lot because I don’t do this. However, what I was told this afternoon after eating the steak frites was absolutely absurd. I very politely asked for them to warm my food up, it was cold. The bartender (who was awesome by the way) said absolutely and apologized. About five minutes later, the manager walked back with the same plate of food and told me he could do an entirely new steak, but he wouldn’t promise it would be warm. I asked why not, and his response is that they rest their steaks (apparently in the cold?) so “they lose their temperature”. I clarified 3 different times after he told me their steaks aren’t served warm. There was no misinterpretation because I was very specific in my questions because I couldn’t believe what he was saying. I told him if I cannot get a steak that was warm that to just refund my money. After that, the waitress walked up without knowing anything that had been discussed and asked if he was getting me a new steak. I let her know that hat was said and she assured me that this couldn’t be the case to which I agreed that it was absurd. The manager walked away without saying another word and brought me a bill for the coke and soup which I paid and left a tip for the waitress as it wasn’t her fault. Very disappointing to a place I’ve gone for...

Good flavor, but really tiny portions, to a point of feeling like a pretentious scam.

The menu is expensive and does not feel appropriately compensated for. This is exactly what one would expect from a stereotypical fancy restaurant with tiny portions and overpriced food in action.

I have been to fine dining restaurants here in town (Campo and Vernon's) and I know high prices for plates don't just translate to small portions like this. This isn't fine dining, this is short changing customers.

I got the steak frites ($26).

The ratio of steak to potato is 1 to 3. The the chimichuri with my steak was pretty tasty but the potato portion was just obnoxious. It needed to be cut in half (and 5 dollars cheaper), but its purpose was to hide how little protein is served.

My partner ordered artichoke ravioli ($24). She received 6 individual pasta bites with a ladle of soup.

Look at the pics of other menu items such as the steak or burger that follow this trend. The amount of meat on the plate is scant.

It's a shame because I really enjoyed duck conservo and chocolate tart. There are good flavors here to be experienced.

I want to like this place, but I can't recommend it. The practices in the kitchen indicate skilled cooks, but a cheap manager.

I spent 100 dollars tonight and left hungry.

You will be charged an arm and a leg for table...