Greg In The Desert

In-N-Out Burger hates Albuquerque. They refuse to build any restaurants in the State of New Mexico. (ok ok, perhaps they are trying not to go out of business by over expanding like Krispy Kreams. whatever). What happens where there’s unfulfilled demand? Knock offs, like Stop-N-Go that was found by KOB in southwest Albuquerque.

While In-N-Out Burger only serves burgers, Stop-N-Go serves wings. This isn’t a bad idea from my perspective. KOB fails to indicate if Stop-N-Go serves non-frozen meat, non-frozen french fries made right from the potato in the store and real ice cream shakes. So far the reviews on Yelp are not favorable.

It’s a bit far from Rio Rancho and doubt I will make it to that side of town unless I hear rave reviews. My waist line is better off in either case.

Serious Eats, one of my regular food blogs, has been in New Mexico. Recently they describe Sopaipillas.

Deep-fried, the dough pieces puff up dramatically, crisping on the surface while remaining soft and tender inside. The perfect sopaipilla? The outermost layer, fried in the oil, should be paper-thin and crisp on the corners. When properly fried, the interior will separate into two layers: the chewy yet soft layer of dough directly underneath the browned shell, followed by the innermost layer—soft, a little stretchy, and just cooked through.
While each New Mexico restaurant has their own rendition, all tables are stocked with a bottle of honey, the traditional condiment for slathering.

Sopaipillas are something that most people out of state complain to me about once they have had them in New Mexico. Rarely can they be found out of state.

One thing to watch out for in New Mexico are restaurants which use artificial honey. It’s some sort of concoction of sugary syrup that looks like honey but usually contains high fructose corn syrup. It’s more common that most people know and most restaurants won’t admit to it.

My favorite wing place from Arizona is coming to Rio Rancho (and Albuquerque).

A Gilbert-based restaurant chain is expanding outside Arizona. This year, Native New Yorker expects to start opening restaurants in New Mexico. Four eateries in Albuquerque and one in Rio Rancho are planned, said Mario Altiery, president of Upside Group, a franchise consulting firm working with the company.

“The Native” as we refer to it, was my favorite wing place. If only In-N-Out Burger would follow.