Abuelita's New Mexican Kitchen Bernalillo — Restaurant in Bernalillo

When it comes to a relaxed, comfortable, authentic New Mexican, Abuelita's is absolutely fantastic. This was our second visit (the first was a number of years ago (thank you COVID)) and it was such a great visit.

Abuelita's is a small, unassuming restaurant that would be easy to drive by, but I guarantee stopping won't be a mistake.

Inside it's warm and welcoming, and keeping true it's name (Abuelita's is Spanish for 'little grandmother' or "granny'), there are dozens of photos of real-life Abuelita's that have been gifted adorning the walls, giving it a very homey, lived-in feel.

We were seated immediately (it was after the lunch rush) and our server was there right away to take our drink orders. The menu is a printed, stapled affair with breakfast on the first page and lunch/dinner on the second. The menu is pretty sizable, given the size of the restaurant, and everything is prepared fresh.

As we were seated our server asked if wanted chips and salsa (seriously, does anyone ever say "no" to that question?), which generally means there's an upcharge, but of course we said "Yes".

As I perused the menu I kept coming back to the Chile Rellenos...then I'd get interested in something else...then I came back to the Chile Rellenos...so I gave in to the Chile Rellenos. When asked if I wanted Red, Green, or Christmas my answer was, of Christmas.

Being the (at that point) only guests in the dining room, our food was delivered in about 10 minutes. It was hot, fresh, and presented very nicely.

And. It. Was. Delicious!

Getting my food Christmas meant it came with both red and green salsa (prepared on site). This batch of green was pretttty spicy, but OOOHH so good!

Our serve was GREAT. She was spot-on with the drink refills and she (and two other people) stopped by several times to see how things were.

You can tell that the staff at Abuelita's loves what they do. It's a friendly and welcoming atmosphere and I'm kinda sad because I know it'll be a while before I can...

Stumbled onto Abuelita's through Google Maps and the 5-star reviews were spot on. This New Mexican restaurant has tasty traditional dishes with the family's own twist.

Upon entering, you can't help but notice the importance of family. Pictures of a large, happy, extended family adorned the walls. The staff was friendly and helped each other. And all those smiles made you feel immediately welcome.

But ultimately it's the food that matters. And it did not disappoint! We ordered a single red chile relleno which came swimming in red sauce. My wife loved the sauce, but felt the sauce made her lone relleno a little soft. We also ordered the relleno plate, which was served with a sopapilla and was great. While still smothered, the added beans and rice seemed to soak up the excess sauce keeping the rellenos crunchy. Another patron entered when our meals were served, saw the relleno plate, and enthusiastically ordered it. (He also loved it!). My son and I got the Tacopilla--basically Sopapilla Compuestas, but the sopapilla was folded. (They also have stuffed sopapillas which we didn't try.) The Tacopilla was amazing! The sopapilla was "light" with a slightly sweet flavor. The sweet combined with the chile was so good. We ordered Christmas and they brought both the red and green chile in bowls on the side. Both were excellent. I heard others say the green was known for being hot, but I couldn't tell the difference in heat between the red and green--both seemed medium to me, but quite tasty!

Abuelita is no longer with us, but I think she can be proud of the traditions and legacy she left behind. I will definitely...

If I could give Abuelita's 10 stars I would! What a great experience as soon as you walk in the door up until you leave! Lilliana, Renee, and Amy were absolutely exceptional. Renee brought us our drinks, checked on our table and made sure our needs were met, and when we left she made sure to tell us God bless you and have a great day, so friendly. She was awesome! Next, our waitress Lilliana was so amazing. It was our first time eating at Abuelita's and she was very knowledgeable about the menu and answered any questions we had. My dad ordered menudo and he said it was the best and full of meat. He really enjoyed it, and if you knew him, he doesn't give out praise at restaurants very often. My mom had steak fajitas. They were so flavorful and the steak was like butter, it melted in your mouth! I ordered the 3 ground beef taco plate with rice and beans , and when I tell you they were so good and crunchy and flavorful and they didn't stand a chance. I forgot to take a picture of my plate unfortunately. We also go another of chips and salsa before our meal. That salsa was amazing and those chips were light and crispy. We also placed 2 orders to go with 2 sides of chips and salsa, both enchiladas, one ground beef with red and one christmas with carne adovada. Oh we also needed 2 natillas to go as well 🤣 So for our whole lunch which was 5 meals altogether and our sides it was $103. To us that was an amazing deal considering all the food we had. Do i recommend Abuelita's, 100%! We can't...