The best thing to happen to New Mexico. After driving forever, no hotels anywhere from here to Texas we decided to stop for a pick me up. They were closing soon, but so graciously sat five of us with a smile. The place was packed at close to 10pm so we knew it would be awesome. After doing our drink order we were brought complimentary beans with green Chile and crackers. Being from AZ I'd never seen anything like this, but oh man I'm going to have to figure this out because I need this snack in my life! So flavorful and spicy. Not too hot to not enjoy, but enough to kick to want more and more. After looking over the menu we orders the owlragious nachos for an appetizer. So huge and again so freaking good! Only downside we couldn't eat them all or we'd never finish our dinner. I ordered the green Chile burger which was spicy and delicious, perfectly cooked and fries. So filling. My daughter had the owlchiladas which of course I had to taste. Perfection; great spice, cheese and chicken combo. Best open enchilada ever. My boys had chicken fried steak and roast beef dinner they loved it as well except they did say the didn't care so much for the mashed potatoes...but they ate them all lol. Wish it was close so we could come back weekly ha ha ha read more

If you're a big huevos rancheros fan, just beware that theirs comes with onions and green peppers. I'm not a fan of either on mine. The potatoes were bland, unseasoned. Same for the beans. Disappointing. Great service however. read more

Visited twice while in ABQ. First time was a busy Sunday morning, waited about 10 minutes for a table for 2. Food was delicious! I had French toast - it was cooked perfectly, with scrambled egg and bacon - both cooked perfectly as well! A few days later, our second visit, I ordered the same thing again - why chance not liking what I order? Well - it wasn't nearly as good as the first visit. We got sat right away, wasn't busy at all, but my French toast was burnt. There was no way I was going to eat it, so I asked if they would remake it. Well, they did. But it wasn't much better the second time. Bacon was a little undercooked. One of my biggest pet peeves with restaurants is the inconsistency of food based on busy v. slow, and of course the cooks. It's a simple dish, it should be made the same way every time. Overall, definitely worth visiting, but food was definitely better on the busy weekend v. a slow weekday. Love the old school diner vibe! read more

one of my favorite places to go in the heart of albuquerque! every time we go to new mexico to visit, i HAVE to go back to the owl cafe. not only does it remind me of my favorite show "breaking bad", but the service and food are both phenomenal. they menu is huge- filled with specials and craft made dishes where you can't find anywhere else in abq. the servers are super friendly and funny, the diner feel brings you back- even the juke boxes at your table work! don't forget to get a shake at the end of your meal, they have the wildest blends, they're delicious! read more

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This is by far the coolest and friendliest diner I have been to. Especially Matt and the super nice waitresses whose names I didnt get. A great New Mexico flavored diner, cant go wrong! read more

Just had my tuna melt again! This time I took a picture of this amazing meal before feasting!!! read more

The Owl Cafe - Tuna Melt Sandwich on Rye with Sweet Potato Fries - Diners Near Me - Albuquerque, New Mexico

Decided to give this place a try for lunch. Came inside and the interior was neat! Gave me like a 90s feeling. It reminded me of the Route 66 Diner down one Central. The was a complimentary snack. It was beans with green chile and a side of crackers. I ordered the Aloha sandwich and it was delicious! I felt like the portion was huge for me. I really enjoyed the cream cheese smear they added in it and the meat in it. Overall it was flavorful for my tummy and the fries was crispy! I'll have to come back to try the milkshakes next time. read more

The Owl Cafe - Aloha and the Ranch House Burger - Diners Near Me - Albuquerque, New Mexico

The owl cafe is top notch in quality of food and service! I should've written a review years ago! I've tried many dishes here and have never been disappointed. The owl burger is a must! Special thank you to the waitstaff for always doing a great job and never making your customers feel rushed. If you want a filling meal in a pleasant and comfortable atmosphere- come to the owl cafe! read more

The Owl Cafe - Bean burrito plate - Diners Near Me - Albuquerque, New Mexico

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Hands-down, the best hamburger and sweet potato fries I have had in 15 years. This little café surprised me and my wife big time. The ambience, the service, and the food are beyond expectations. We were looking for a fast food restaurant that we used to go to called "Blakes" but, the reviews were horrible. The owl café had hamburgers with green chili and double patties that we were looking for. They came out hot, big, and with a choice of sweet potato fries that were beyond the best. read more

I like this place. The complimentary beans and green chili are a nice touch. I eat a cheeseburger ( when I do) and have a chocolate malt when I go. The fries are good. Makes me happy! read more

The Owl Cafe has so many "Best In The City" awards posted on their doors that my friend and myself thought we'd be in for a real treat. My friend ordered their Breakfast Burrito and asked for hash browns. She was told that they only had the home fries available, so she went with it. I ordered a Huevos Rancheros with the home fries. Their "Home Fries" were parboiled quartered potato that had been sautéed and some burnt, with onions and bell pepper. The potato's taste raw and they were served cold. My friend's burrito was ok, the beans and eggs on my Huevos Rancheros were good but the corn tortillas had been cooked in oil so long that they were tough as leather. Myself and my friend decided that The Owl Cafe was not a place we would ever go to again. read more

Service was a bit slow, but these days that's normal. The food was OK, but nothing spectacular. We have been going for decades. I do sometimes enjoy the Blue Plate specials, for something different & comfort food. The milkshakes are GREAT! Getting pricey as are most restaurants. read more

What a fun, kitschy place with great food this was. Built in 1986 but made to look like a classic, mid-century Route 66 attraction, you'd never guess it wasn't a legit vintage diner. I got the breakfast burrito with chorizo, Christmas style. It tasted great, especially the chorizo, which they cooked down to perfect crumbles of spicy goodness and piled into the tortilla along with the fluffy eggs and cheese. The chili was really spicy, the green moreso than the red, and my dining companion was visibly sweating. I'll definitely eat there again the next time I'm in town. read more

The Owl Cafe - Breakfast burrito with chorizo served Christmas style - Diners Near Me - Albuquerque, New Mexico

For a kitschy Route 66 experience, don't pass up a trip to this eye-catching diner. They will start you off with a bowl of beans and green chile, but you have to try the Santa Fe style chicken soup which I could have eaten an entire vat of it! On certain nights of the week you can order Indian tacos, super filling and fresh. Most of all the restaurant is known for their heaping slices of pie, so save room for dessert! read more

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Management is SUPER!! They go beyond to make customers happy! Good food & good atmosphere!

Oh my GAWD!!! Amazing. Absolutely amazing. We ordered three different meals and every single one of them was incredible. It robust and savory flavors with delicious green chili a top. The service was very kind and consistent. And I just adore the structure of the restaurant. How creative to design a building to represent an owl on the outside but the diner vibe on the inside was very enjoyable. Despite being in a busy city this offered a very traditional small town diner vibe. I was also very surprised that they offer beer in this establishment and it included some of the local flair. Last thing I'd like to add is that this restaurant right here has the best enchiladas I have ever had in my life. And if anybody can see through my yelp reviews that I spend a lot of time ordering enchiladas when I'm out, this place right here is where it's at. read more

My wife and I used to go to this restaurant every Thursday night for a number of months. The food was always pretty good and you do get decent portions. Over time the prices started to go through the roof. No change in food just the prices. I can't see spending 18 to 20 dollars for a cheeseburger and fries. read more

I was really looking forward to visiting this iconic cafe! I'd seen it on TV along with it being recommended online. Here's is what I'd tell you: The Owl café is great because it's right off of the freeway when you're heading into Albuquerque. If you're looking for an iconic café and want to grab something to eat, this is a great spot. The area around owl Café is not in the best part of town. I did see a lot of homeless and shady characters in the area. This makes me feel sad because it's such a cute café and I can see that a lot of families come here. The service here was great, the waitress was very friendly with us and chatted with us and our kids and made it a great experience in that aspect. The food here was good, the milkshakes were delicious along with the desserts. I will say it is a bit on the pricey side than what I expected. Overall I feel three stars is a good honest review of Owl Café. I would recommend that they update the interior more while preserving the vintage vibe and find a way to clean up the exterior to keep shady characters away and keep patrons safe. read more

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The owl cafe is a detrimental place to Albuquerque visitors!!! Not spoken about much but it has amazing chocolate milkshakes from what I remember!! read more

This is a great diner with many conventional and many New Mexican offerings. They also offer many different shakes, etc. and are sort of known for their desserts, especially pies. My friend and I each chose the green chile cheeseburger with a one person onion loaf (pile of very thin and crispy onion rings). I also took a Santa Fe IPA, very good. For dessert, we took freshly made peach pie to go (to full from lunch to eat dessert there). The place is very clean and decorated like a diner with mini juke boxes on each table. The menu is huge, with many choices of burgers, salads, sandwiches, soups, etc. They also offer different daily specials. Service was very friendly and efficient. It is also very child friendly. The only reason to not give it five stars is it is a bit noisy. read more

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We got seated right away and got greeted by our server which was really nice. She took our order and brought our coffee. Our coffee came out hot and steamy. The coffee creamer was cold. That was a nice surprise. We were disappointed by the wait for our food. We had to wait for over 20 min for breakfast food. Very disappointed in that. The restaurant was not that busy. When it came out I was even more disappointed. My food was cold. The potatoes were ice cold, the eggs were barely warm and the sausage was cold as well. We will not return. read more

The Owl Cafe - Diners Near Me - Albuquerque, New Mexico

I'm truly shocked at all the positive reviews. I went there today for lunch and boy what a waste! We ordered the Aloha sandwich, a green chile cheeseburger, and a shake. We get the shake first and it's not bad! That is, until we found the larvae-looking creature in it. I saved it on the napkin to show the waitress. She offered to make another shake but we were pretty grossed out. It was taken off our bill but no manager or apology. The burger was ok. The texture of the meat was a bit mealy and reminded me of school cafeteria food. The Aloha sandwich was alright(at best). It was 16.95 and quite soggy, so a bit of a ripoff. The prices are astronomical here (think $16-20+ for sandwiches). I don't think we will ever be back. It's a shame because we loved the diner in San Antonio, NM. The positive is that the staff seemed to all be working very hard. read more

The fried pickles were fire! It comes with a side of ranch and horseradish dip. The ranch dip was like any other ranch dip but you have to try the horseradish dip. It's mild, refreshing and doesn't have that big kick like a normal horseradish. It pairs really well with the fried pickles. The carne adovada dish on the other hand while looking scrumptious it lacked the umami punch. The beans and rice were dry as well. It just came up really short. The chicken in the chicken enchiladas tasted like it came out of a can. Same as the adovada, short on flavor. Whenever I come back I'll have to try the other dishes because of all the other great reviews. The service was great overall. read more

Now this place is still an icon! Born and raised in Albuquerque NM. The owl building is still here for the burgers! It's a old style diner' with milkshakes, serving burgers,fries and more New Mexican foods. We all had our own version of burgers, green chili cheese burger is what I had. Yummy and sweet potato fries. My bun got a bit soggy at the bottom but was still delicious. Kids and grandparents also had sundaes. Everyone enjoyed lunch! read more

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Went with a large group and had amazing service. Food came out very quickly. I originally wanted the carne adovada enchiladas, but they ran out of the carne adovada and a new batch would not be ready for another hour (which means it is popular and likely delicious). I ended up getting the tuna sandwich, which was actually really tasty. Portions were large and we took a lot of food to go. I also tasted the fried pickles, cheese curds, and onion blossom appetizers, which were all done well. Highly recommend finishing your meal with one of their milkshakes. read more

Somebody needs to strip this place of their Owl credential. It is all well and good to expand to gourmet burgers and cobb salads, but if you are going to serve something called the "World Famous Owl Burger" you'd better GET IT RIGHT! I visited a week ago and I should have known there was something wrong right off the bat when I had to track down my waitress and tell her I didn't get any green chili on my burger. "They hide it under the cheese", she said. Wrong! An owl burger should be DRIPPING with green chili, so much so that you can hardly pick it up. Which brings me to item two: an owl burger should be so large that you need to cut it in half to manage it. The thing I was served had more bun than burger and was easily consumed with a single hand. Wrong item three: the beef patty was thin and compressed and cooked to death. An owl burger should fall into pieces as you are consuming it. So, I made my observations and informed the manager I would be returning in a week and I expected to get an authentic green chili cheeseburger from The Owl. The manager told me they had a new guy cooking burgers and this was his first day. When I did return a week later, I told my waitress "I want a green chili cheeseburger like I got 40 years ago in San Antonio." I was met with a blank stare. When I asked her who was cooking burgers tonight I got some confused explanation about there being several guys. When I asked if they were experienced, I got the same confused look. Since she obviously wasn't getting the gist of my "I want an authentic experience", I asked her how long she had been at this so-called Owl Cafe and she said she had been there quite some time. She sputtered that she didn't know what kind of burger I would get because all the cooks did them differently. And there you have it. There is zero quality control at the Owl Cafe in Albuquerque. You should get the same green chili cheeseburger every time you visit, and it should be as good as the ones in San Antonio. Adoph and Rowena would be devastated to see what has become of their good "name". read more

Great malts and shakes. Good burgers. Classic 50s diner food. An Albuquerque tradition for many.

Great food, cool vibes and great service EVERYTIME . Reasonable prices!!! Meg is the bomb!!!!!!!

This was our first time here. Chips and queso were just okay as it was canned cheese with onion, tomatoes, and green chile added. I had the green chile cheeseburger which was very tasty but just a little on the rare side. Eric had the blue plate special meatloaf dinner. He said it was good. It canned with steamed veggies, mashed potatoes and brown gravy. We will probably return to try their other dishes. read more

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I was so disappointed in this place. It's got a fun atmosphere, but the food was very average. The biggest disappointment was the desserts. I was looking for a good piece of cake. They looked amazing, but both kinds we tried were dry and unflavorful. read more

Ate here on our way through Albuquerque. It was close to our hotel and was a wonderful experience! Classic diner feel with very friendly staff, extremely large portions of great food and reasonable prices. We split the Albuquerque Green Chili Patty Melt and it was a Top 10 burger in my experiences. Will definitely eat here again and highly recommend it if you ever find yourself in East Albuquerque for breakfast, lunch or dinner. read more

Chicken fried steak, either dinner or breakfast, yummmmmm.. Dinner comes with garlic "smashed" taters, breakfast with quartered reds. Yummmmmm.. Ask for "Angel" in evening. read more

The Owl Cafe - My "Scoot-Doot" - Diners Near Me - Albuquerque, New Mexico

Short version: The service was awful! Do not order to-go from them. I gave two stars instead of one, because the burgers were good. Long version: I'm an ABQ native and have heard all of the amazing things about the Owl Cafe and their food. I'm not sure if they're under new ownership or what is going on, but I haven't been as disappointed by poor customer service as I was this evening in a very long time. First, it is nearly impossible to find an accurate menu...not Facebook, not Yelp, and even their website is not up. I decided just to call and order a green chile cheeseburger and regular cheeseburger knowing that they had those even without a menu. I call at 4:45, place my order and was told it would be ready in 15 min. I get there after 5:00. I stood waiting for several minutes and the girl who I assume was the manager even walked by me but never even greeted me until a few minutes later. I give her my name and she says the order isn't in the system. She then gets a call she says was from her boss and walks away from me. A few minutes later a waiter caked and helped put my order in. I pay and he says I can wait at the counter. Ten minutes to by and I still don't have my food (this is 25 min after I was told it would be ready). I flag the "manager" down and ask how much longer, she said she would check and then went back to the kitchen and then went and did something else and never came back with an update. A nice waitress finally handed me a small bag and I asked if there were fries. She informed me that normally people have to ask for them and they're extra. I was livid...after waiting for 30 min, I wasn't going to wait for fries. I told the waitress that they need to inform the ownership that they really need to work on their service because it was awful. I'm so disappointed. read more

Just had one of the Seniors breakfasts at The Owl. Great meal and value. it even included a beverage.

Best food I've had in my whole life. I had the root beer float, fries & a green chili cheeseburger. All so good and amazing service too :) the building is gorgeous read more

Me and my boy friend came here as Yelp suggested. I was craving a cheese bueger. After making it through two sets of swingin' doors: past all of the rather large yet pretty plants in the entryway, we were rather quickly greeted by the greenhouse diner hostess/server/cashier. We walked one by one so as to not bumping into anything such as the brownies and such in front of the register. Our waitresses had blonde hair and gave us our small bowl of house chili and beans. After devouring the chile, we both ordered burgers. I thought that by chile burger it was going to have their appetizer chile smothered on top. But it was instead green chile. I should've asked for clarification. So Unfortunately the green Chile was a bit fresh out the bag and wasn't cooked enough. It was super seedy therefore spicy. I'm gonna ask for chile on my burger next time. read more

Web prices do not match menu prices. Web site not controlled by the business. Food was not of great quality.

Delicious Puerto Rican food. Nice staff . A variety of options to taste the Puerto Rican cuisine. Try for yourself. I love to go there!

We visited the Owl Cafe after our journey up the Sanida mountains. The staff were super welcoming and kind and were always happy to help our group! The food was awesome and our group really enjoyed the wide array of Milkshakes flavors that all tasted fantastic! The New Mexican milkshake with red chili was definitely an experience. The atmosphere of the cafe was great and diner vibes were cool too. If we ever come back to ABA I will be sure to buy one of the shirts. read more

The service was great and the dish I got the birds nest The green chili was on point! They didn't even up charge me for veggies when I substituted it for the sausage. Great service! Thank you read more

The Owl Cafe - The birds nest without sausage added veggies. - Diners Near Me - Albuquerque, New Mexico