Los Cuates New Mexican Food

First time trying this place last night and it was really good! What make this place even better was the customer service! I’m not from around here and they were really nice and on point with service! Would totally eat here again.

I always look forward to visiting Albuquerque, and this place is one of the reasons. Mexican food is one of my favorites, and this is not your typical Mexican food. It is New Mexican food, and has a flavor all its own. I always do the combination plates, and I enjoyed the chili relleno once again. The red and green chili are amazing and I always do both… I don’t agree with the other reviewer that said there is too much salt, I find I like to add a touch more to it, but that is my own taste.
The service we received was good and friendly. My iced tea was never empty! I often wonder if people who think their service is poor, is due to them being a poor customer? But, I digress.
I was once again happy to have some of my favorite food in New Mexico. I hope I don’t have to wait another year for more.

There was a time when this was my go to New Mexican restaurant. I kind of stopped going when I went gluten free several years ago. Tonight we went for a change of venue and the convenient location to our house. We were sat right away. It took awhile for our waitress to come to our table, but the chips and salsa came fast. The chips were overflowing but a lot were broken into tiny pieces as if they emptied the bag onto the plate.
I was pleasantly surprised that now they have a gluten free chili option. Their veggie red and green are both made without flour! The interesting and disappointing thing I discovered is that that actually put flour in their refried beans! What?! Ok, they have whole beans so I’ll give that one a pass. My husband got tacos and I had enchiladas. Our food was OK.
The kids each got something from the kids menu. For 7 dollars you get a sopapilla and your choice of sherbet or ice cream. We were never offered the ice cream. I wouldn’t of cared except I felt the price was high for the kids meals for the food they got. We we got our check we asked our waitress about it. She brings out blue bonnet cups with a plastic spoon. Are we at a restaurant still? Plastic spoons?
Moral of the story. The service was OK, the food was OK. I won’t check it permanently off my list, but I don’t think we’ll be back unless someone else wants to go there.

Absolutely a MUST VISIT!!! BEST rellano in town! If you love true authentic New Mexican food you have to come to this place and ask for Lizzy… amazing!

I have come here before and have enjoyed it. Wife and I went today was not the usual experience. Had huevos rancheros green. Tortilla was hard could have been old or over cooked. Taste other than that was good. Waiter did not come by to refill my tea and only asked once I we needed anything. I would still go here but maybe ask for a different waiter.

This is a great place to get together with friends and have some drinks and some food. The food is good but the drinks are better. Prices are not bad. Services is a little slow so don’t be in a hurry when you are there.

May I have some calabacitas with my salt? No literally.
Where to start… hmm… Let me just say that this place COULD be good if someone hid the salt shakers in the kitchen. Went in for lunch last Friday and thought that it would be packed based on my scan of the parking lot: that was not the case. A lot of cars outside but a lot of room to sit inside.
We were quickly sat down and waited upon which is what saves this place from a complete solo star. The service was great, the chips and salsa were also pretty good, but when it came to the food… not so great.
I had the seafood enchiladas and, if you are able to taste through all the salt, seemed like they were pretty flavorful. The dish came with a side of calabacitas which were pretty to look at but hard to eat because of the massive amount of salt that was placed on them in the kitchen. I thought that maybe it was only my food affected, but my coworker also complained as he squinted at me while chugging water.
The restaurant did have some pretty good sounding drink and food specials but I fear that I will not be trying those anytime soon. Here’s a tip: hide the salt shakers and they will come (back hopefully). Overall, the service is the only thing that saved this review somewhat.

This place has the best chile rellenos and chimichangas in town. Been eating here for years and I love this place!!!

Disgusting. I ordered a chicken chimi & couldn’t even eat it. It was made with a disgusting runny chicken mess in the middle. No white meat in sight. When I complained to the waiter, he said that’s how they make theirs. I’ve NEVER ordered a chicken chimi that was made like that before. I’ll never go back.

I visit NM once or twice a year to visit my client at UMN for work. When I visit I always try to visit a new place I’ve never gone before.
Today was Los Cuates New Mexican food. As you have read on other reviews service lacks a little at this establishment but in my case he was very nice and greeted me quickly but never asked to get me another margarita or top off my water. Good thing I ordered both so I didn’t run out. The salsa is a bit different not bad just sweet, thick with a little spice. Wouldn’t want to order that sauce again. The food over all is marginal not much flavor. The red sauce with my carne Adovada was like a bland enchilada sauce with a little spice but no real flavor. Beans and rice are not worth a comment. So far I’d recommend Cerventes to someone that was in that area.

It should have been awesome… but it just wasn’t. Parts were great… the batter on my chile relleno was perfection. The chile and the green sauce also — very very good. The beans were quite tasty as well. That was the good bits. The bad? The cheese. It was the cheap awful stuff you know is going to be sitting in your stomach like lead for the rest of the day (and it did). It pretty much ruined the relleno and rendered the enchilada inedible.
The portions were huge — much more than necessary. I think that may be part of the draw here. But, because I hadn’t eating my enchilada I still had some room left… which brings me to the other good bits — really good sopapillas (not too doughy) and the natillas (I like mine a little thicker but it was very tasty).
Overall, this was a pretty decent meal but nothing to get excited about.

I should have worn sweatpants.
I’ve never had New Mexican before, so take this review as someone who knows good food. The enchiladas were perfect, firm but moist. The sopasillas (or whatever this deliciousness is called) were a sweet, puffy end to our meal. I will be back if in in ABQ.

Of course when I was in Albuquerque, I mostly ate Mexican and New Mexican food. We ordered this to go. I loved the trio cheese app, especially the spinach queso… yum! The chile relleno, taco, and enchilada were all spot on. I also loved the texture and crispness of the chips!

If traditional New Mexican cuisine is what you’re looking for then Los Cuates is the place to go! With menu items ranging from tamales to carne adovada, you are sure to leave in a blissful food coma.
New Mexico is synonymous with green chile, and if you are eating at Los Cuates it is an absolute must. However since green chile isn’t mass produced it’s level of spice can range from mouth burning to just a little heat. Although green chile is commonly very spicy if you want to be sure you’re sweating by the end of your meal red chile is the way to go.
The red chile at Los Cuates is also the basis for the salsa which is basically impossible to stop eating. But it’s important to not fill up on chips since most entrees are heaped with enough food to last a week. After devouring your entrée you may feel like you can’t possibly fit anything else in your stomach, at least you feel this way until a hot basket of sopapillas is set down in front of you. No New Mexican meal is complete without a sopapilla smothered in honey, so even though you may explode, trust me you should make room.

We decided to give Los Cuertas a try based on the Unilocal reviews; one even calling it «the best New Mexican food in Albuquerque». Well, it is very delicious! I’m a Tex-​Mex-​loving «gringa», but this was waaaaaaay to spicy for me. It was so tasty, but I’m a wimp and it was soooo painful. If you like delicious food with a KICK, Los Cuertas is a must.

My wife had been here before but I hadn’t se we decided to go together. I have to say, overall, I wasn’t super impressed.
We were promptly seated and chips and salsa were brought out. But, then a large party came in and the hostess asked us if we could move tables. That is a bit strange but I guess it happens and I shouldn’t hold it against them.
Our server got stuck with the large party too but, thankfully, she managed to keep up with both of us nicely enough…(maybe, see below on my food comments).
I will say, the salsa was unlike anything I’ve ever had before. It was almost sweet like it was ketchup based (was it?). I do not think I would want it often but it was interesting to try.
The food was kind of a let down. I ordered the carne adovada with a side of tortillas. They advertise that their tortillas are Rio Grande Tortilla Factory. Well, whatever they were, they tasted like store-​bought tortillas (store bought tortillas can be reheated well to taste better but these weren’t). It was disappointing. The carne adovada held a lot of promise. It was very lean (my preference) and the sauce seemed flavorful. However, it was clear that my entire plate sat under a heat lamp for way too long! The sauce was dried and the refried beans were crusty on top. Plus, the meat was dried out. It had so much promise but it was a let down.(It is hard to know if this was the server or kitchen’s fault but it was clearly heat-​lamped).
And the same for my wife’s fajita salad. It looked incredible but it was really just mediocre at best. The steak was super, super overcooked. You could barely chew through the thing. And the lettuce was just poorly broken iceberg. b-​o-​r-​i-​n-​g! The onions and pepper were good and the shell was amazing! (though we didn’t eat the entire shell). My wife and I actually ended up switching since she just couldn’t chew through the rubber… I mean steak. I managed most of it but ended up spitting out a good bit of fat. yuk!
Their margarita menu seemed extensive but uninspired. I didn’t see a beer menu so I can’t comment on that.
Overall, like I said, the service was fine to good (not sure) but the food was a let down. Heat-​lamped and dried out carne adovada, And overcooked steak on an uninteresting bed of «salad» (but with a great tortilla bowl).
I won’t say we’d never go back but I am not feeling any strong desire.

The negative reviews on here are just simply untrue. This is the best Mexican food in Albuquerque! Highly recommend it, especially their steak dishes. I love their cheese enchiladas as well as their guacamole.

How can I open a Los Cuates in Tucson? There isn’t a single good New Mexican place… actually there’s only ONE New Mexican place at all and they call red chile «red sauce»! Need I say more?
I love the salsa here and most everything I’ve ever ordered. Sometimes certain items seem to be crispy from being under the heat lamp too long.
Tonight we will try the fried ice cream bc my daughter has never had one. It was a staple of birthday dinners during my youth growing up here.
Amazing sopapillas and my daughter loved her kids bean burrito and rice.
I order off the vegetarian menu and am never disappointed.
Definitely try this place if you’re in town.

Gross! I’ve been here many many times and have enjoyed it each time. New menu= terrible food. i believe if your going to be a Mexican restaurant then just serve Mexican food. Their new menu offers seafood, bbq, burgers. Beans tasted like they came right outta a can, rice tasted like it was leftover from yesterday, sopapillas were bland, New salsa had totally different taste used to have a sweetness to it now it’s tasteless and hot. Sorry to say I’ll never return again and i would never recommend it to anyone!

I had been told by a coworker that this place was hands down a must eat while in ABQ. So we sought it out and I must say it was just ok. The interior, especially up front, reminded me of an 80s bowling alley lounge. It was dark, grimy and smelled stale. The back dining room, where we sat was lighter and smelled better. The service was less than friendly but efficient.
The food was solid but nothing fantastic. The sopapillas, which were so good at Padilla’s, were overcooked and much smaller here. They were not worth the calories. Chips did not taste fresh but instead on the stale side. Lunch was a pretty good value though.