Dave's Valley Grill — Restaurant in Los Ranchos de Albuquerque

I'm not impressed with Dave's Valley Grill and I probably won't ever pay another penny to patronize this place, after having eaten at Dave's regularly since it opened. It truly has been our go-to place, when we are celebrating, when we have out of town visitors, our teenager took his first date here, and we drop in often just because, whenever we feel like stepping out for a meal. It's a part of our community, so we support it. And we were willing to overlook issues because Dave's is part of this community. However, I have come to realize that they don't don't seem to care about this community. The food is just okay. It is good, but not good enough to continue to tolerate the wait times for food and inattentive service. The service is really, really slow, even when we are one of only a handful of customers. They often make mistakes with orders and forget to bring rolls, requested condiments, etc. Drinks wait empty and we often have to ask multiple times for refills. Like I said, we overlooked it because the wait staff is friendly enough and we want to support local establishments. What put us over the edge is Dave's Valley Grill not bothering to even call back when we request that they support various local initiatives. I have called multiple times to see if they would welcome school events, cater for local clubs and organizations, even give donations to support local teams in exchange for advertising during games, raffle giveaways, etc. It's not the fact that they say no. Lots of businesses say no. It's the fact that they can't be bothered to even respond. There is a limit to how many times I can hear, "We'll have a manager call you back when they are on shift," or, "Oh yes we love to support our community and this is a great idea!" and "Well Dave needs to make these decisions so I'll take your number and he will definitely call you back on when he is back in the restaurant," before I realize that they don't respect their regular customers enough to even acknowledge them. Other businesses along 4th Street don't seem to have any issue with acknowledging local patrons, even if to politely decline. A simple, "that isn't something that we do," or "no, we aren't interested at this time," and even "we have already supported other organizations." Dave's just flat out doesn't respond. If we aren't in there to pay for a meal and move their bottom line, then we don't exist to them. So, they no longer exist for us, either. The reality is, Los Ranchos has a lot of really great restaurants and eateries up and down 4th Street and beyond: Don Choche's, Busy Bee, 6855, Bedrock Kitchen, Federidelfo's, Lavender Cocina, Los Poblanos, Vernon's, Casa de Benavidez, El Bruno, El Papaturro, Luigi's, Sadie's, Los Ranchos Bakery, Mary & Tito's, etc. There are plenty of places around here that care enough to just acknowledge their customers when they show interest in local relationship-building. Unfortunately Dave's Valley Grill isn't...

I may never leave Los Ranchos again, with Dave’s Valley Grill a half mile from home, open for Bkfst, Lunch & Dinner. I am a very picky “foodie,” a chef, a person who also works in the healthcare field using food as medicine. Could I be harder to please? I could not! Dave’s is my new Favorite restaurant, period. They earned it. Dave is the owner and host, a rare thing these days. The place was designed by Mrs. Dave, whoever she is and it’s very warm, welcoming and bright. Even with a for-sale gallery of paintings on the walls, the place was designed cohesively. Bathrooms were spacious and clean. If I had to find a negative, I would say the curb appeal needs to better reflect the lovely mood inside. And now for the food: Dave has developed many quirky and unique items on the regular menu that give the place a real personality. The Brat Burger has sausage inside the burger for a great and chewy texture, and every element of the meal was divine: picked red onions for sweetness, corn relish with zippy heat makes the burger come to life. The meat is scrumptious and cooked perfectly and the mayo sauce on the soft pretzel bun drips onto your fingers, demanding you lick them so as not to waste a single morsel. I don’t eat fries but no worries, the healthier option offered was sweet-potato hash! Fresh, cubed with skin on, chunks of peppers and onions made it a rare treat that can be substituted all the time for other health-conscious folks who don’t eat fries white potato. There were many unique salad recipes with nice extras like nuts, dried fruits and dressings that taste exactly like what they should be. Classics! I especially love the chipotle Ranch. My dinner partner had the ONLY USDA Choice Certified Black Angus Rib Eye in town. Lusciously seasoned with a blue cheese butter, two veggie sides and perfect, crispy onion rings, I couldn’t believe we got a two-meal-sized serving for such a fair price. I’m done with all the other steak houses we used to visit. This is my new place! A friend ordered on of the lunch specials today - chicken with coconut rice and sautéed fresh veggies - again, big serving, perfectly prepared, fresh ingredients. There’s no corporate food here - they are not using Costco precut frozen veggies as do so many other places in town. I have had the fish tacos - they are generous, tangy, and delicious on corn or wheat tortillas. I can’t wait to come back for breakfast this week and try everything. Last but not least, if you’re lucky enough to get Alithia as your server, be happy. She’s genuine, a fan of the food and great with substitutions - Dave’s aims to please. I intend to support this restaurant so it stays in...

In my opinion, Dave's has the best burgers in ABQ. They also have an awesome brunch and their service has always been outstanding. I've been eating here for six years and have always enjoyed introducing my friends and family to Dave's. But this evening I had a very disturbing experience and will not be back. First of all, our server, Josiah, was very curt, cold and unfriendly. I had simply chalked it up to him being young with an attitude. But when we wanted to pay our $41 check with a $100 bill, he looked at it with disdain and in a very rude tone of voice stated, "I'll see if we have change ." Huh? Now mind you, it was 7:30 pm and they had been open since breakfast. I work in the restaurant industry and we have a bar as well, similar to Dave's. I know for a fact that a good amount of cash flows through a restaurant/bar. By the end of the day Dave's should have easily had $60 in cash. Josiah came back, tossed the $100 bill on the table and stated that they had no cash and there was no manager available and that we would need to pay with a credit card. My friend, who happens to be black (I happen to be white) stated that he didn't have a credit card on him. Josiah was not happy with that answer but he took the $100 bill and stated that he would see if he could find some cash. He came back after a while and threw the change on the table. We counted the change and discovered that he had shorted us $5. We called him back and counted the change back to him and asked him where the additional $5 was. He rolled his eyes, pulled a bunch of cash out of his pocket, and threw the $5 on the table. Needless to say, we did not tip him. Typically we tip at least 20% of the entire check. This entire experience was extremely embarrassing to me because I had raved about Dave's but now Josiah had been extremely rude to my friend. The entire experience smacked of racism and we did not feel welcome. We will...