Went to the Easter (2026) buffet. Sad to say it was a mismatch of flavors. It was like they put leftovers from the refrigerator on the buffet. It was not what we expected from Gardenos. There was no chili sauce for the tamales, the enchiladas were not fresh. There was roast beef and ham but no proper side dish to go with the meat. The desserts were not fresh. Disappointed for the price we paid. read more

Food flavors were okay, but not much else was. The flour tortillas had the taste and consistency you find straight out of the plastic bag at the supermarket. Nice choice of fancy high-end margaritas, but their mix is way too artificial tasting, without much if any fresh lime juice. The cheap margarita mix and industrial tortillas alone would have been enough to prevent a return visit. We have done so much better on previous visits here. On top of that, service was in full-on meltdown mode. Table next to us, which had been seated and served drinks before we arrived, was having words with the server about how long their food was taking. "Will it even be hot," she asked. After we had ordered and been served drinks, and ordered and been served food, they finally threw a few crumpled bills on their still-empty table and walked. My combo plate was completely wrong, and my wife's fajitas lacked the sour cream she ordered and the tomatoes and pico de gallo that were supposed to come with it. Wait staff blamed the kitchen rather than owning the mistakes on behalf of the restaurant. Took five minutes, and two requests, for my wife to even get her tiny container of sour cream. Table on the other side of us also had some problem; we heard the sever telling them that some item they ordered would be comped. They did comp my combo. But that's three adjacent tables poorly served. Not coming back. read more

Stopped in for another try while I was on my work trip. This time I tried the rolled taco appetizer and it was very good. The server was very kind and attentive and quick. The gentleman at the front of house also checked on me as he walked by a couple of times which was sweet. As always the ambiance was warm and welcoming. read more

Garduño's of Mexico Restaurant & Cantina at Old Town - Rolled taco appetizer - Mexican Near Me - Albuquerque, New Mexico

I ate dinner there last night. Sat at the bar, after 35 mins went and got the bartender's (Teran) attention and asked if I could get a menu. She seemed irritated but brought me one. I mentioned another customer who was also waiting for a menu who came in after me but the bartender just walked past her and did not acknowledge the woman got up and left. someone else brought me my food which was excellent. the bartender never checked on me and I had to flag her down for the bill. So disappointing. I needed to grab a quick breakfast this morning and was hesitant about going back. but we are staying at the hotel and it's very convenient. I'm so glad I did! James was my server and he was exceptional. Friendly, attentive and did a wonderful job!! Food was wonderful once again!!! James has restored my faith there. read more

Was very disappointed in the margaritas, something about the mix just tasted strange. My wife have the taquitos and I had a combo with chili relleno and a hard taco. The shell was already broken when I got it and the relleno was very dry. I may go back and try this again but I won't be in a hurry read more

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Garduños turned out to be a wonderful surprise! We had a difficult time finding it, it was inside the hotel. But the food was delicious and the service fantastic! We highly recommend it to anyone. This was our first experience eating New Mexican food. Would definitely go back! read more

We are locals and date night once week. Went to have a couple of margaritas & food. The worst service & margaritas we have ever had. Drinks tasted soured. Once we got our food & drinks no one came to check on us over 15 minutes. We needed a couple things well I guess we didn't. Lol finally waitress came back asked for 2 items another 15 minutes. Oh & then sat for 30 minutes until the bar tender looked up from chatting with coworkers. Bar empty just so sad. When we finally got the waitress she laughed. Will not ever go to another gardunos again ! So DO NOT RECOMMEND!!!! read more

This restaurant offers a good dining atmosphere, especially when it is not cold outside. I believe you can sit outside in a patio/outdoors area and enjoy the ambiance of Hotel Albuquerque while dining New Mexican cuisine there as well (but..in the winter, it's pretty much limited to indoor dining). The food portion here is huge (especially compared to the prices of the dish and the relatively higher end environment that this restaurant is in). The only thing was..it's pretty much geared towards New Mexican food (and maybe some burgers / Mexican dishes here and there), so if you are looking for very western food (aside from Green Chili chicken alfredo pasta), this may not be a good fit for you. For me, I think the combo dish at Garduno is a very good deal. You can get a sampler of some New Mexican items such as stuffed sopapilla, tacos, chile relleno (1-4 items) and it would be just $19-$22! And..I almost want to bet, you will have some leftover home! I really enjoyed my combo meal. Unfortunately, New Mexican food isn't frequently on my list of things I eat often...but the next time I think of a variety of NM dish to have and somewhat of a good ambiance, I will definitely think of Garduno at this location. P.S.:service can be hit or miss...so go there with patience and an open mind! read more

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The food was excellent! :-) The restaurant is beautiful it's in hotel Albuquerque by Old Town. They have lunch specials I didn't pay more than $20 for my food and the drink. I purchased a stuffed sopapilla with chicken and red chili it was so good! I will be coming back :-) read more

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My family ended up here around 7/8pm on a Saturday night in September (2024), and they accommodated all of us. Good for groups! We had long tables together, which they allowed us to move, and some of the family sat on the leather chairs in the middle. I had flan, and it was superb! I would definitely return. read more

Garduño's of Mexico Restaurant & Cantina at Old Town - Flan - Mexican Near Me - Albuquerque, New Mexico

We chose Garduño's after visiting the NM Artisan Market and thought it would be a nice spot for drinks and appetizers. The restaurant didn't appear busy, so we expected a relaxed experience. Instead, we were greeted at the bar with an unexpectedly dismissive attitude and felt more like an inconvenience than guests. The overall ambience felt off, which was surprising for a restaurant located inside the well-known Hotel Albuquerque. Unfortunately, I wouldn't return or recommend it. read more

Food and service was below average, not only that we were ripped off and never received our change. Be careful this place has some serious issues I will report them to headquarters read more

I'm not sure what the situation is between Hotel Albuquerque and Garduno's but the Hotel really needs to step in and straighten things out. This "restaurant" almost ruined an otherwise pleasant stay. First, there was no host when we arrived and it took almost 10 minutes for one to finally show up. That should have been enough of a red flag, but we were hungry so we persevered. We were told it would be a 20 min wait for a table. We werent sure about it, but decided to wait anyway. 35+ minutes later we were finally ushered in to a mostly empty dining room. Not sure why we had to wait when there were plenty of seats, but there you are. All part of the "charm" I guess. We sat without water or chips until about 15 minutes a server finally showed up and immediately tell us not to expect our food to arrive anytime soon. When I asked how long it was taking, she couldnt answer and just acted aggravated. She said something about how they had a large order come in and had only one person in the kitchen. I've never had an experience like that. After waiting about 50 minutes just to place an order we now had a staff member trying to convince us to leave. FINE. We immediately got up and left. I havent been that irritated is a VERY long time. We walked the 5 minutes to the Sawmill Market and had food in front of us within 10 minutes. What would have potentially alleviated the situation was if we had just been seated right away and gotten drinks with chips. We could have waited in comfort. I didnt understand at all why we were put on ice for so long outside. Clearly whoever is managing this place is completely incompetent or doesnt care or both. Another weird thing was that the menus we had were different from each other and had different items. ??? I just cant even.... Adding anxiety to the entire situation was the awful life music which never ceased for a single moment. Enough already. We will never return. read more

Located in a hotel, the restaurant is not just a touristy stop, it stands on its own. We were seated immediately on a Thursday at 7:30 PM; there's plenty of room. Live entertainment was definitely a nice surprise; Luis Pablo had a great voice and played a variety of songs. My chili rellenos, charro beans and calabacitas were very tasty, the salsa spicy and the chips crispy! Nice to have the choice of some local craft beers. read more

Garduño's of Mexico Restaurant & Cantina at Old Town - Excellent chips, spicy salsa and live music - Mexican Near Me - Albuquerque, New Mexico

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We had drinks and appetizers here after a conference reception since it was late and we didn't feel like heading out of the hotel. The prickly pear margarita was fun and tasty. I'm usually not a fan of sweeter drinks, but this worked with chips and salsa and some nachos. We shared an order of nachos with carne asada and the portion was much bigger than it looked! We all kept eating and the plate stills seemed pretty full. The toppings were nicely distributed rather than just on top. The carne asada had a nice flavor and I definitely recommend adding that onto the nachos. The red sauce was excellent. There was live music featuring some 80s and 90s tunes which our group enjoyed. Definitely worth a stop in if you're staying at the hotel. read more

Garduño's of Mexico Restaurant & Cantina at Old Town - Nachos with carne asada - Mexican Near Me - Albuquerque, New Mexico

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We went here two nights in a row because someone in our party loved it so much. The red and green salsas are delicious. The chile rellenos are great. However the batter on them are a bit too thick for my preference. The red chile is definitely delicious. Carne adovada was good but salty and the pork was dry. The refried beans have no flavor and dried up on our plates quickly both nights. Charro beans are great but too salty both nights. Chimichanga was great. Corn cake is good but is more like a dessert. Steak fajitas were great. Posole was not so great. Fish tacos were horrendous and extremely fishy. The person who ordered them ate one bite and spit out the second and didn't eat the rest. The first night our waitress seemed miserable but still nice enough. A sopapilla was forgotten with one of our meals. Service was slow. We saw her the second night working the bar and she still seemed very unhappy. The second night our waiter was amazing. Unfortunately, I do not remember his name. Even though the service was still extremely slow he made sure that we had everything we needed. He seemed to be working many tables. We were seated against the wall/mirrors near the TV by the bar about 6PM on 3/22. I want him to get recognition because he CARED. He was just great. read more

Food was great, service was even better. Love that is tucked away inside of the hotels

Met family from out of town who were staying at Hotel Albuquerque, on a late Friday afternoon. There was no one in the restaurant other then the seven of us. Did I mention it was a Friday (Jan 30)? They ran out of THREE different kinds of beer and Hennessy. This is the second unsatisfactory experience here. People obviously know, which is why it was empty. read more

Gardunos is a long-standing favorite of my family. Today, we came to celebrate my neice's graduation. My Mom and I were the first to arrive, so we took a seat at the bar for some drinks. When the others arrived, we looked for a seat outside. However, because they were short staffed, we had to eat inside. We were told from the start that they were short staffed and our food may be delayed. Our server took orders from one side of the table (there were 10 of us), submitted those orders, and then took the rest of our orders. However, it didn't take long to get our food. The salsa is hot. The tortilla chips were warm, thin & crispy. However, they had no craft beers or dark beers. Boooo! We all ordered, ate, and had few complaints. I had the blue corn enchilada. I hadn't had one in literally years! My grandmother made them from scratch, and I miss the way she made them. This one was okay. It was drowning in cheese, and I could hardly taste the blue corn tortilla. But, it was okay. My Mom said the tamales were all masa and little meat. Everybody else seemed pleased. I must say, this is not the Gardunos I remember. Kudos to the woman who served us by herself and then had to serve an even larger party. It was a decent meal. read more

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I'm staying at the hotel, and this place can't serve more than 5 tables at a time. What a joke! I had to wait 25 mins for a table this morning.... Even through there were plenty of available tables. And once I was able to order and the food came out, it was super bland and cold. Skip and go somewhere else! read more

Garduño's of Mexico Restaurant & Cantina at Old Town - Mexican Near Me - Albuquerque, New Mexico

Ok food, a little bland for my taste Service was okay Restaurant had a cool vibe, just a little loud for my taste. But that's my mistake for not realizing they had live music. read more

It needs to be known that Garduño's is not good quality New Mexican food! It is a shame that such a beautiful hotel as Hotel Albuquerque is using Garduño's as its main dining feature. Out of town guests will probably not know the difference between good quality and bad quality New Mexican cuisine, and they bank on that. Garduño's is overall a dissappointment. The food, the chile, everything is just blah, not refined taste at all, not enjoyable. I recently read that the chain went downhill some years ago due to bankruptcy and is no longer with the original founders. I'm a native New Mexican and just doing my part to get the word out. It is not deserving of the beautiful Hotel Albuquerque and its enchanting courtyard. read more

We ended ip there around 7:30 am on Saturday morning. Unfortunately, there was only one waitress working since two younger employees did not show up for work. Our waitress was friendly and took our orders. We sat down and our orders arrived but we decided to eat there as we had already ordered it to go. The everything bagel had cream cheese, tomatoes and lettuce. It was delicious and filling. There was nobody in the restaurant and as we were the first in the restaurant. The walls and tables reflected the southwest styles and we loved the color of the turquoise on the wall. read more

Do not sleep on this classy Tex-Mex restaurant tucked away inside the beautiful Hotel Albuquerque. It's a really nice looking place - not unassuming, though you may pass it off as just a mediocre hotel restaurant, they are anything but. Our service was fast, pleasant, and food came at the right temp and in great order. We're used to classic Mexico City and Central American foods, so Albuquerque has some really fun flavors to mix into similar dishes. The food was so much better than expected, and we have already eaten in several places in the area. I'd hit this place for local flavor, any time. The red & green is rich and textured. Pair that with anything, even the corn cake, and you got some great combinations of sweet and spicy. read more

This place is very different from the Original. The carne asada, chilé enchiladas and salsa superb!! Try them. If you've been to the older restaurants you'll be surprised how different. read more

Vibe gets 5 stars Service gets 3 Food gets 3 Drinks get 3.5 I'll explain my ratings- Vibe- they do have a lovely patio but they weren't serving there because of rain but we could technically do take out and sit there and eat. We decided to eat indoors and was pleasantly surprised at how gorg the decor was. Service- we didn't get silverware while our server blamed the bus boy she also missed the lack of it till we actually asked for it lol we have never faced this. It's so not funny that it is! Food- 4-5 of the sopapilla fries were raw - yes basically raw dough - tsk tsk. They lacked cinnamon sugar and our server also saw it wasn't there so she got us more. It allegedly comes with vanilla sauce but man was that scarce! Absolutely did not enjoy the fries. Shrimp tacos were standard, nothing to rave about but yeah two decent sized shrimp per taco. The rice and bean thing was quite tasty. Guac was nice but again nothing good to rave about- plain mashed avocado that's all. They do give complimentary salsa and chips. Drinks- coconut margarita is mostly an artificial flavor of coconut and is a frozen drink. It's not bad but not great either. Their special blood orange basil mojito gets a big thumbs up from us. Their prickly pear margarita is pretty good. Ok the weirdest part of the night- asked for the check, server took our credit card, charged and gave us the cc receipts not never the itemized bill- bill didn't look right so we did some crazy math and figured out they have had to add 20% gratuity (to a party of 2 if I may add). Asked our server and she said not possible but then we asked for our receipt and then she mentioned her manager said yes it was added. She said she was new and did not know about that. We believe her, but it was terribly terribly weird and left a very bad taste. No photos of any food because I wasn't impressed. read more

Garduño's of Mexico Restaurant & Cantina at Old Town - Mexican Near Me - Albuquerque, New Mexico

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Poor service on a remarkably slow night. The food was OK....................... they're in a busy area so I guess they don't have to try very hard to get tourist money read more

Great location inside Hotel Albuquerque, however, the bartender (very lame nice young lady) is not at all a mixologist, nor is she friendly. Loved the 4th St location back in the day of Gardunos hey day-where we had the most awesome bartender of all time, Dick, however that location is long gone and alas, the timeless true bartenders that knew their craft. Nice happy hr menu with 7.00 margaritas that are super watered down with a sugary sweet and sour and maybe .5% fresh lime juice. I don't mind paying 15.00 for a great margarita but until management figures this out you won't have it bouncing like it should be. They are obviously existing on hotel business, so it's time to step it up. read more

I'll make this short and sweet: I'd recommend just ordering drinks plus maybe chips and salsa. Only come here if you're staying at the hotel and don't want to walk anywhere. Food was okay but not worth the money and definitely not worth driving for. Atmosphere is nice. Seemed understaffed. read more

When you mention Garduño's Mexican Food comes to mind. But they are dwindling - one permanently closed, one unreliable opening and this one. After receiving a little prompting to give it a try we stopped after a long night shift. Expecting the usual desayuno we were surprised by the offerings. There weren't many Mexican food items on the menu. So it was French toast made with brioche bread with link sausage. There was plenty - so half went home for breakfast on another day. It was absolutely delicious! The steel cut oats came topped with blueberries & brown sugar. They were equally delicious. A great way to start the day(or in my case finish it). To make breakfast even better we got great service. This Garduño's got it right and since it's on my way home we'll be there frequently. read more

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5 stars (even without the mariachi being there for entertainment). Our servers name was Humberto and he was absolutely fantastic! He provided excellent service and went out of his way to accommodate when I couldn't make the choice between the red or the green sauce on my enchiladas. We started off with frozen coconut margaritas that were smooth and delicious along with some chips and queso. For our entrées we ordered The kids quesadilla, the Pollo burrito, Pollo blue corn enchiladas and Pollo tacos. Each one of us was impressed by how incredible our entrée was. After 23 years I can say that this restaurant has not lost its touch and we look forward to our next visit so that we can dine here again. read more

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SAD has a new name: Garduños We were staying at the Hotel Albuquerque and for our final dinner we decided unwisely to stay in and try the attached restaurant called Garduños. The fact that the restaurant had a trickle of guests for the past few days should have put us on Guard. The hostess mentioned to us that there was a 30 minute wait and we scratched our heads in disbelief because half the restaurant was empty. I should have listened to Public Enemy and not believed the hype! We were tempted to go elsewhere but the cold hit us in the face and turned us right back around to experience one of the worst dinner experiences EVER! We eventually were seated after about a 20 minute and I was overwhelmed by the Mexican Willy Wonka decor that saturated the place. We were seated next to a very loud party of eight and we immediately knew that we needed to move to another location. The vibe of the place was definitely a mix of a funeral wake and a casino. We were worried but we had already ordered our drinks and we felt committed to our own demise. Feeling bamboozled we tried to order the least offensive food on the menu, the queso dip and the small portion of the fajitas. Plus my wife ordered a cup of the pozole. The queso dip was a salty puddle of cheese with bits of green chili and we quickly put that aside for good. The pozole was another salty mess that was returned quickly and strike two had us wanting to leave as quickly as possible. Our waitress kept disappearing which kept us wondering if she was also taking care of the hotel's front desk. After about 25 minutes of twirling our thumbs and ordering gifts from Amazon we heard our sizzling fajitas coming our way. All I can say about our fajitas is that the sound was better than the taste. They were a bit salty, flat, tasteless and offensive. Garduños offers nothing you can't get at many of the fast food Mexican flavored restaurants that you can find across the country. The sad part of Garduños is that they don't realize just how bad they are and neither do the unsuspecting hotel guests. read more

Beautiful place and nice ambiance. We went early for the brunch. The food was okey . Service was okey too, it could have been better. read more

Garduño's of Mexico Restaurant & Cantina at Old Town - entrance - Mexican Near Me - Albuquerque, New Mexico

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Decided to go out for Xmas meal because we had had a looooong, stressful week due to our beloved dog going back & forth to the animal ER (he's good now ) & really wanted a relaxing, enjoyable time out for the holiday. BIG MISTAKE!!!!!! They advertised what sounded like would be a good buffet for $55. EVERYTHING was cold!!!! We arrived about midway into service (with a reservation, of course) & MANY "trays" were empty or just about empty. We had to ask the manager multiple times about refills - so nobody was keeping an eye out to refill when necessary. The "carving" station featured all meats that were pre-cut - drying out under heat lamps. The rolls (the very few remaining) seemed to have been out for hours (or were days old) - extremely dry & hard!!! No butter left in bowl! Enchiladas were few remaining & were DRY with coagulated cheese on top & practically no flavor! By the time we were going to attempt the dessert buffet, there were NO plates anywhere!!!! They had all been collected & put away apparently (because there were plates only minutes before & hardly a crowd there). There was still an hour left for the buffet! I could go on & on! But it was just a huge disappointment!!!!! And DEFINITELY the quality of the food didn't justify the $55 price!!!! We ate because we came HUNGRY (purposefully) & didn't complain overly much because it was Xmas!!! We didn't want to get overly worked up or cause any scene! But the number of times we brought things to the attention of the manager certainly made it clear there were issues & not 1 apology or offer for credit or EVEN a single Merry Xmas or Happy Holidays from ANYONE!!! Most definitely did NOT make our Xmas!!! (And we often enjoy a meal at this location when my out-of-town relatives visit & like to frequent Old Town. Will be rethinking this in future!!!!) read more

Pretty good New Mexican food. The quest is delicious and the free sopapillas at then end are yummy. We had to ask for them but they are gratis. In a bite which never gets me excited but was good and the portions were generous. Free parking. read more

I attended the Artisans fair at the Albuquerque hotel afterwards we went to Gardunos for lunch. The food was fantastic with reasonable prices. I will definitely return as I feel it's one of the better Mexican restaurants around. read more

My good friend and i came in for lunch about 11:45 on a thursday. The place was moderately full. We ordered 2 skinny margaritas and one plate of sizzling shrimp fajitas to share. Sierra, the server, seemed very nice and very busy. The drink order took a loonngg time. The drinks were delicious. The food order took a loooonnng time also. I had read yelp reviews saying the restaurant is short staffed so I sort of expected the wait. The food, drinks and service were excellent. Fortunately, we were in no rush. If we were, we would have been quite upset. We would have given a 5 if we did not have to wait so long to place our order , get our order and the final bill. Sierra apologized for the wait and thanked us for our patience. Overall the food, drinks and service were excellent considering the restaurant being short staffed. read more

As a lifelong resident of Albuquerque, I had fond memories of eating at the Garduno's in Winrock with my family. After today's lunch, I can honestly say that their food quality has gone down quite a bit. I ordered the chicken fajitas with corn tortillas. The chicken was dry and bland without a hint of the familiar fajita seasoning. Corn tortillas were warm and oily, and tasted raw like they hadn't been properly cooked. The wait staff was friendly and attentive, the only high point of the mail. A friend told me their food quality went down, but having such fond memories of great food from the past, I decided to find out for myself. They were right. I do not recommend the chicken fajitas, but there may be other tasty items on their menu, not willing to find out. read more

So my family and I, decided that we were going to not cook for Thanksgiving this year, mom was very excited. We made a reservation for 12pm on turkey day for 8 of us, but only 6 could make it. They ended up charging us for 8 people, instead of the 6 that were able to make it. So my mom called and asked if the Mgr would call us back and she never has heard from them. So we are totally fine with the $55 buffet plus tax that we have paid but only for the 6 not 8 people. We think that we should be able to get a refund for the extra 2 people that we had to pay for, or even a gift card to come back again!! No response from anyone!!! read more

I travel around the country traveling for work and this place got to me. Good food, but the hostess was rude each and every time. Bartenders were fantastic, but just trying to get to the hotel bar was a pain in the ass. read more