Route 66 Malt Shop & Grill

Closed on a wed evening — no sign on door — looks like they are going out of business!

TERRIBLE SERVICE! When told to take any table, every table was dirty. There was only one other group at the restaurant at the time, and my order took forever. The staff were too busy chatting with each other, and frankly, they were just plain lazy. The cook walked from the kitchen to grab a soft drink that was sitting on top of a customer table. When I expressed my concerns with the manager, prefacing with the fact that I came to the restaurant at the recommendation of a friend, he became defensive and tried to rationalize why the service wasn’t good and that my expectations were too high. What a dreadful place. Too bad the people ruin the experience.

Let’s start with the bad. Very bad service it was extremely slow. The waitress could not even repeat the order correctly. Eight of us ordered a good amount of food. An hour and a half later we were served. The salmon chowder was nasty, the corn chowder, extremely salty. Stay away from the Kansas City, dry, dry like saw dust. Sandwiches were pretty greasy.
My husband ordered a shake and said we were going to share it and if they could bring 2 glasses, the manager came out and said we usually don’t allow sharing, next time don’t ask for 2 glasses. There will be no next time, he was rude.
The good was the French frys and the onion rings, they were hot and fresh. The music was good. But overall a bad experience!

One of the other spots we visited in ABQ, this Lil diner is kinda hidden, but not hard to spot. My wife ordered the cheeseburger very well done, and it was still moist, she could not say it enough that, it was the best cheeseburger she’d had in her entire life! I had the French dip sandwich, it was delicious, meat was well seasoned and tender, portions were good too, we also tried the home made chips, and fries they were perfect, prices and service are very satisfactory. Thank you Albuquerque!

I was looking forward to trying the burger and fries & a shake… VERY DISAPPOINTED!
The Place: I really liked the décor, the music, the seats, the restaurant gives a relaxing athmosphere and a cute place to converse with friends. The cashier was really friendly, but the service was terribly slow. There were only two tables (four people) besides my friend and I, and it took around 35 minutes to get our food! The waitress was friendly but it was the speed that ruined it all.
The food: it was terrible, I ordered the cheese burger, I asked for my meat to be medium-​well and they brought it well-​done. It was dry, flavorless, and hard to chew. The bun was OK, the burger included two slices of pickles, two slices of tomato, and a leaf of lettuce. I also ordered the fries with queso, the fries were terrible, some of them burned, & they tasted as if the frying oil hadn’t been changed in days, so it made the fries taste old. The queso had small lumps and tasted diluted, not creamy, not fresh, not good at all. And to finish I ordered a chocolate milk shake, the flavor was below average, the serving size was definitely big (you can serve up to three cups) but since the flavor is not there, I would not order it again. I paid a total of $ 17.25 for the burger, fries, and shake, honestly I would prefer going to a fast food chain burger place and enjoy the food much more (plus save me some $$). A friend told me their ice-​cream sundae was really delicious, if I end up going again I would just go for dessert and I’ll be the judge of that. Otherwise, I would not recommend this place, save your money and go somewhere else (hopefully local ;).

im surprised alot of the reviews complain about the service. I have been here multiple times and each time the service was great. milkshakes are delicious!!!

Great burgers, service good and amazing malts. The raspberry malt is my favorite, however I tried the butterscotch malt this time and it was really good as well. If you like onion rings, you should really try the ones here because they are cooked very well, nice and crispy on the outside!!! YUM!

We’ve eaten here plenty of times with good service. The food is usually great.
Unfortunately, the latest experience was quite the opposite. Service was HORRIBLE, waited 45 minutes for freaking frito pie, when there was only 2 other tables. Waitress ignored us the entire time except when it was time for the check. Employees were more concerned with messing around, being loud and obnoxious and cursing.
Manager didn’t care when we voiced our concerns about the lack of service, he instead rolled his eyes and gave a lame «…sorry».
I really wanted to be rude back, but I’m better than them. So never going back and giving business will be my course of action. Thumbs down for whatever reason they were rude to a couple of people who gave no reason to be rude to.
(If I could give NO stars, I totally would’ve.)

Came in at 5 pm on a Saturday. No other tables at all. 45 degrees outside. Quite cold inside. I had to put my coat back on as appeared they were trying to save on their heating bill.
2 waitresses. 2 cooks. 1 other staffer. Placed our order for 2. Our enchiladas and chicken fried steak took 30 mins. from time of order to plate arriving at our table. I kid you not. This is a diner. When I go to the Owl Café, for example, I never, ever wait more than 15 mins. for my food and they are usually pretty busy. Food was fine.
Waitress could not multi-​task at all. Asked for the bill and a to go box. That took 5 mins. to do. And she only came with the bill and not the box and had to go back and get the box. I will not be back. I dread to imagine what it is like even when they are ½ full let alone actually busy.

Some of the best burgers I have ever eaten at a restaurant, I have eaten here. Fantastic burgers.
That said, the owners’ right wing in-​your-​face politics can wear you down. Their new (as of 2010) setting is phenomenal, the downtown place was just too tiny for them anymore.
Despite the often harsh right-​wing owners, I could not recommend this place more.

I was there yesterday and had the BLT, it was good, I suppose, the waitresses was very sweet.
But they took for ever to make our food, we were there with other people and their orders looks unappetizing. What ever my husband and I ate made us both sick. And as a final «cherry on top» they burned our bucket of fries, which was truly dissapointing. I will never go back.

Love this place. Amazing good at amazing prices. Frito pie is one of the best ever, and one of the few available vegetarian by default (beef is available for a bit extra — as ourt should be, if you’re into that kind of thing).
The fries are fresh cut, sauces are made in house, excellent house brewed root beer, decent salads, awesome milk shakes and malts.
The service has always been great for us, and the atmosphere is perfect. Low key but authentic and polished.
An underappreciated gem! Easier on the wallet and a better experience overall than the similarly-​themed 66 Diner.

We came on a Friday night at about 6pm. We were seated by a long haired older man who the spent the rest of our time there telling the table next to us about sailing a boat. It took the server at least 8 – 10 minutes to greet us. We ordered a chocolate soda (Great!) We then ordered a Chef Salad (very good but under portioned on the greens) some fries, a Tuna Melt & a Kraut a Dog. The salad & sandwiches took 28 minutes to get to our table. Meanwhile, were still hearing about the old guy sailing the boat! We’ll go back but hope the old guy sails & hires some faster cooks before he does.

Disgusting and Rude!!!
not a great combo
order the BLAT «A» is for Avocado. after a long wait and finally having to get up to hunt down the waitress to let her know that there was no A on our BLAT. She brought over a gross spoiled slice of Avocado. after asking to get something else off the menu instead we where told rudely by the manager that they would not. needless to say this will be my last time ever here

The food here is your typical diner fare with a New Mexico twist. Nothing we had stood out, or was especially good. The service was subpar; we never got half of our order. The saving grace for this joint is that their milkshakes are amazing!!! Definitely a great place to stop and have a milkshake or malt, but definitely not somewhere I would stop at just for food!

Stumbled in here by accident. We are from out of town and my dad ate at 66 diner yesterday but we accidentally came here. Me and my niece got the blue cheese green chili burger. It may be the best burger I’ve ever had. I wasn’t too hungry so I wanted my niece to split one with me. She wouldn’t so I had to eat my own. I ate every drop. The first bite and every bite thereafter was an explosion of delight in my mouth and all over my fingers. Oh my gosh I can’t even tell you how incredibly delicious this burger is. I had junk all over my face and fingers and had to mop off every bite so it was a little embarrassing but it was worth it. The bun was amazing too. So tasty. My dad actually clapped for the chef because he said he had never seen us attack food that way.
Our waitress Dawn was so sweet and very attentive. Very nice and friendly and personable.
If they move here they plan on going back the first night and then every week. Bravo!!!

The Route 66 Malt Shop & Grill was our first stop on a Route 66 road trip starting in Albuquerque and ending in Oatman, AZ. The theme here is Route 66 nostalgia (obviously). Definitely a 1950’s vibe with an old juke box, neon, old movies posters, and replica signage and relics from the route.
Upon entering we warmly greeted by one of the friendliest waitresses I’ve ever met. She was conversational, funny, informative, and seemed genuinely happy to be serving us.
I ordered the rootbeer float and a green chili burger with fries. The burger was juicy, well seasoned, and delicious. The roll was hearty and perfectly contained the burger so it did not fall apart. The green chili is hard to rate. I’ve never had green chili before so I’m unable to compare. It was a different condiment than what i’m used to. It added some good spice, but I’m not sure if I want spice on a burger. The rootbeer float was nice and cold and served in a frosty mug. It was really enjoyable but not sure if it was outstanding. I’ve never really thought of rootbeer as something I wanted «homemade» and I’m not sure it made any difference. It’s a nice concept though. Fries were crispy and good.
On food alone I would rate the Route 66 Malt Shop & Grill 4 stars, but unfortunately wait time was a major issue. It took approximately 45 minutes for our burgers to be made and the place had only a handful of customers. Burgers should never take this long. By the time we were served our food and ate we were here about and 1 ½ hours — way too long. For that, minus 1 star.
Recommended for good burgers and a nostalgic vibe, but only if you have plenty of time.

Nice flashback spot. They have a nice outdoor seating area with small tables for children. My friends ordered a shake and a malt it was 18 bucks. I ordered a banana Sunday. I was disappointed. We ordered to go and my Sunday was so small it fit into a small drink cup. 5 bucks. No biggie, it was no «5 dollar shake» if i go back i think I’d go back with my granddaughter think she’d enjoy an ice cream sitting in those cute little children’s table’s and chairs.

This is my joint for Frito Pie. I LOVE their red chili in it! It runs about $ 7.50 per pie with beef. It’s a good size portion, I usually share with whomever I go with. Their fountain drinks are wonderful… Cherry Cokes, Cherry Vanilla Cokes, Homemade Root Beer… YUM! Going after the Twinkle Light Parade was awesome! It was freezing cold outside and the diner was decorated with Christmas decorations galore with oldies Christmas music playing on the jukebox. I definitely felt the Holiday vibe going on: D
Service was stellar with everyone working together in making sure all the customers were taken care of. Since it was so BUSY that night, my daughter and I had to take a table close to the front door which was really chilly with the door opening with people coming in and going out. So the manager comped us HOT tea and warm pie for dessert. Merry Christmas to us!

I wasn’t super hungry when I went here, so I only got a burger (no fries, no drink, no other sides).
The burger was good, pretty reasonably priced too! It was meaty and delicious. I look forward to taking my family here sometime soon to get more than just a burger.