Ask any Burqueño what their favorite New Mexican restaurant is in town and you’ll get as many different answers as there are spots. Ask us and we’ll send you to Duran Central Pharmacy, which as the name suggests, is one of the only locations in the world where you can get your anti-depressants and chilaquiles in one trip. We love their stuffed sopaipillas, frito pie, and their torpedo special: steamy potatoes smothered in cheese and chile, tucked into a warm flour tortilla.

Mesa Provisions is one of the more expensive restaurants in town, but it’s also one of the best dinners you can get. Go on a date, or better yet, a double date so you can order plenty at this family-style spot. Their dishes are as tasty as they are colorful—the food reminds us of a refined version of the imaginary meal the lost boys eat in Hook. But make no mistake: The scallop crudo, charred turnips, and quince strudel with saffron ice cream are for grownups with great taste.

In a country with cuisines from all over the world, the US is lacking in Native American restaurants. Situated inside of the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center, Indian Pueblo Kitchen offers foods and ingredients, like elk and roasted piñon, native to New Mexico’s 19 pueblos. The atole will connect you to 1000s of years of Indigenous foodways while the blue corn-crusted fried Kool Aid pickles offer a taste of a contemporary Feast Day staple.

Farina Pizzeria & Wine Bar has the best thin crust pizza in New Mexico, but what’s so amazing about this family-run spot is that the rest of their menu is just as good. We love their standard chopped vegetable salad, meatballs al forno balsamico, the tiramisu, and whatever’s on their daily specials. If you’re into ranch with your pizza, the Farina team has an even better gorgonzola mascarpone dipping sauce that will prompt crust-haters everywhere to change their minds.

Across the street from the University of New Mexico, old reliable Frontier is where most of its students (and actually, plenty of regular Albuquerque locals) grab a bite to eat from sunrise to well past sunset. Open since the ‘70s, Frontier is the restaurant you absolutely must go to when visiting Albuquerque for its wild west-meets-public school cafeteria atmosphere, as well as its trays of New Mexican classics.

There are a lot of great places to grab a báhn mì in Albuquerque, but Coda Bakery has the best. It's perfect for takeout when you need to grab something quick, but there’s also plenty of space to hang inside. Our go-to is their lemongrass pork or house-made scallion tofu on a freshly baked baguette, though you absolutely must also get a báhn cam: a deep-fried rice ball filled with sweetened mung bean paste and covered in sesame seeds.

Don’t be deterred by the busyness of El Modelo—these guys know how to work a crowd. For massive tamales roughly the size of a TI-84 and chorizo breakfast burritos that balance creamy scrambled eggs with deeply spiced and juicy pork, we’re more than content waiting 10-15 minutes. Take your meal (and souvenir bumper stickers) to go, or stay and eat on the patio beneath their neon sign and rose bushes.

One bite of Burque Bakehouse’s viennoiserie will make you understand why this walk-up spot for bread and pastries in South Broadway always has a line. This is where we go for classic and technically flawless canelés and kouign amann, as well as a rotating menu of seasonal things like summery cinnamon piloncillo cold brew and persimmon jam buns tossed in a smoky souchong tea sugar in the fall. Their green chile and cheddar croissant is a standout in a town where they’re easy to come by.

Mañana Taco, a food truck parked next to Little Bear Coffee’s Nob Hill patio, is a breakfast basecamp for Austin-style tacos. Most come with eggs plus fillings like beef barbacoa, sautéed mushrooms, or green chile pinto beans, but when our mornings don’t start until 11am, their lunchtime menu is also phenomenal—we recommend the Papa Dulce or the al pastor. It can get busy here, so place your order before heading inside to grab an iced coffee, then wait outside on their big patio.

A lot of the nicer restaurants in Albuquerque lean into farm-to-table and we think Campo does it best. Serving “Rio Grande Valley” cuisine (think tepary beans, Sonoran wheat, and grilled lamb), this elegant restaurant sits on Los Poblanos. You’ll be tempted to leave your table and take a selfie with the birds or the pink mountains at sunset, but abandoning a plate of crispy pork memela or a scoop of fig leaf ice cream for one of Campo’s many photo ops is easier said than done.

The best birria and Oaxaquan food in Albuquerque is at La Guelaguetza. We will judge you if you let a single drop of their rich and tangy consommé go to waste, so roll up those sleeves. And grab a spoon, because you’re not finished with your pizzabirria until you can see the bottom of your broth’s styrofoam cup. The sauces continue to delight with their mole. They focus on three regional moles of Oaxaqua: mole coloradito, mole picoso, and mole negro.

Ihatov is a Japanese- and French-style bakery and cafe that makes amazing bread. Inside a building that previously housed a certain mermaid-themed coffee chain, we think Ihatov’s loaves, strawberries and cream “croissandos,” and savory sandwiches like their sundried tomato and brie on sourdough are a huge upgrade to this spot on Central Avenue. The berries and cream scone is the best one we’ve eaten. Ihatov is the perfect spot for getting work done or catching up with a friend.

Far from cities with much higher pierogi per capita, this cafe and Eastern European-style market is a breath of fresh air, wafting with piroshki and fried potato. Perfect for lunch, slide into their wooden booths to eat, then shop the freezers and display cases for pickles, pelmeni, and other things to take home. For anyone who prefers their Polish food the Chicago way, Red Rock’s Italian beef or sausage on a warm roll are both phenomenal.

We think Frenchish leans more into the -ish of their name than the French part, though the heavily rotated menu almost always features at least one crepe. We love that it’s a neighborhood spot with a menu that doesn’t overwhelm but satisfies the urge to be fancy-ish on a weeknight. Better yet, we recommend taking advantage of Frenchie Fridays: weekly burger nights that usually feature New Mexico beef smashed and crisped into juicy patties, as well as a special burger.

Did you know pecan trees love the Southern New Mexico sun? You can try out this lesser-known NM staple on a Pecan Butter & J at Tiny Grocer ABQ. Only tiny by big-box standards, Old Town’s micro grocery and cafe has everything we need for sourcing local ingredients for our own kitchens, as well as dining in for all-day breakfast, a veggie burger made from local pintos, or chili featuring New Mexican ingredients from beef to beer.

Albuquerque’s teeny tiny fromagerie has award-winning blue cheese ready to pair with local accoutrement. No need to commit to a whole jar of raspberry red chile jam or an 8-ounce block of comté—The Mousehole has small stuff for when just a nibble will do the trick. We recommend grabbing a table in their snug dining room for a sour cherry triple-cream brie, a rosemary ham sandwich, a tinned fish platter, or a cheeseboard that will inspire you to become a cheesemonger in your next life.

Located inside Arrive hotel, DWNTNR is a retro-inspired restaurant that takes cues from the location’s former life as a 1960s-era motor inn. It’s a fun place to hang out, especially if you find yourself in the mood for a slushie cocktail, a green chile cheeseburger, and some disco fries topped with hatch chile velveeta, cotija, and pickled red onions. Bottles of wine are half-price on Wednesdays, and on Thursdays, happy hour runs until close.