Greetings, fair Fork Frenz. We're back for another installment of whatever the hell it is we do. We missed you last week, but a technical glitch prevented us from firing off our usual missive. It shouldn't happen again (though we'll likely take a week off here and there as we have a rich life). Anyway, we're back, and we're here to tell you about Laguna Burger, a burger joint that our Albuquerque friends know quite well, but was new to us in the taste department (which is to say we'd heard of it plenty but never actually visited til last weekend)—and which might be new to our Santa Fe readers.
First, some history!
Laguna Burger has its roots on Laguna Pueblo near Albuquerque, and its website says that while the burger we know and/or are learning about today officially hit the public sphere in 2005, its story goes back more than 70 years to traditional Laguna Pueblo feast days. By the time them burgers hit the public, they were known as Feast Burgers, but the pueblo's LDC (or Laguna Development Corporation, which was formed to help manage the pueblo's biz stuff) helped kick it up another notch. The first-ever Laguna Burger opened at the Pit Stop in Laguna Village, and thank goodness it did.
Cut to today, and there are six Laguna Burger locations around the ABQ area, and your dear old friend The Fork finally got our mitts on one at the 12th Street location (note there's a new one in Rio Rancho, too, as of a few months ago...actually, just visit the online location locator if you wanna find the LB nearest to you).
According to La Forkette, whom we imported from Albquerque, the whole area around 12th Street is a booming development for Indigenous-owned businesses like restaurants and what appeared to be a cookie joint, and we are very much here for that, especially when the burgers are so good.
Oh, did we not mention the burger slapped or smacked or slacked or whatever? Yeah, it was a kick-ass burger, y'all, known as the Big Bad Bacon Cheddar, and it was exactly what it sounds like, only the Laguna Burger Big Bad Sauce—which is kind of like that one In-n-Out sauce—propelled it into burger legend status for us. Well, that and the thick-cut bacon. Like, it was thicc, baby. It was just, like, very thick and thicc, you know? And delicious. We're talking a tangy, rich and excellently cooked burger with high-quality beef that practically melted in our mouths. We're talking smoky bacon that wasn't too chewy and wasn't too crisp. Not only that, but it wasn't crazy expensive. With an added side of fries, the whole thing only ran $12.99, too, plus Laguna Burger had cherry Pepsi, and that is something we almost never see anymore. So we drank it. And we ate the whole burger. Did we regret it later? Kind of! That was a pretty big burger, man. Was it worth it? Absolutely! And before any In-n-Out apologists come for us, know that we grew up in Los Angeles and were eating those not-as-good-as-Laguna-Burger-burgers since before most of you were even born!
The moral of the story? Those Laguna Pueblo folks sure make a mean burger, and we'll drive for it. But we also want to know what you think, dear readers. Have you had a Laguna Burger? Do you also think it's funny that everyone thinks they're the only one who knows good burgers (or sushi, or tacos, or sandwiches or pizza)? We think that's funny. But we're also a little busy planning a trip back for another Big Bad Bacon Cheddar. We might even just drink the sauce straight.
P.S. La Forkette got a chicken sandwich that seemd pretty OK, but we're straight up recommending the burger. Pshshshshsht. Chicken sandwich at a burger joint...
We couldn't find a song about bacon cheeseburgers that we liked, so we just defaulted to our favorite song that has bacon in the lyrics.
Also
- It would seem The Teahouse is in the not-closing game to win it, and the Canyon Road biz even hosted a listening session recently to hear from patrons about what they wanted to see moving forward. We've gotten a peek at the menu, and it indeed seems to be full of the same eggs and toast breakfast stuff that folks can get anywhere. Once again, we find this town's inability to try new things tedious, and while we salute The Teahouse for doing what it had to do to survive, we think local diners really didn't give chef Martin Blanco's new options a fair shake. We love ube and we were so excited to see it on a local menu. Boo-urns. But yeah, The Teahouse is back...or never went anywhere or whatever.
- The Santa Fe Farmers' Market would like you to know that "chile and corn season is here—and it's sizzling." That language comes from the market's recent press release that reminds us its vendors have all kinds of corn and chile ready for you to buy, then transport, then eat. We've been known to pick up chile from Romero Farms while at the good ol' SFFM, so consider that our seal of approval.
- Heads up that new Mexican joint Escondido announced it will close on Tuesdays for the next little bit to allow its staff a day of rest. We don't know if it's permanent, but we salute when a business tries to accommodate staffers' busy lives—like, work should not be the only thing. Have you been over to Escondido yet? We think it's right on the cusp of something real special.
Actually, here's a song about food we like.
More Tidbits
- Food-and-Wine-dot-com has a rather interesting piece about how sushi chefs are leading a sustainability movement. The broad strokes have much to do with where chefs get fish (local v. non-local), but there's more to learn from there. We sure love sushi.
- Apparently we can expect a chicken Big Mac to hit McDonald's at some point soon. We aren't quite sure what to make of that, but website Mashable-dot-com put together a handy fact sheet to help us learn more. We probably won't eat it, but we're all about them local boits, baby! We don't have exact dates, but if you're a McDonald's lover, just know that this is what's up with McDonald's right now. We're also still kind of like, "Pshshshhshst. Chicken sandwich from a burger joint..." about it.
- Lastly this week, we'd like to share a piece from recipe site Saveur-dot-com, and it's all about ice cream sandwiches. With summer circling the drain, we figured some of our readers might want to squeeze some enjoyment out of the waning warmth.
A totally scientific breakdown of The Fork's correspondence
In this week's edition of SFR, we couldn't fit a food column. But last week, there were write-ups for not one but two Midtown eateries for your next taco/burrito fix. Have you been to Katrina's or El Rigoberto's Tacos yet?
Number of Letters Received: 19
*In your face, America!
Most Helpful Tip of the Week (a barely edited letter from a reader):
"You should try working in a restaurant sometime."
*Did that. For years. We don't miss it.
Actually Helpful Tip(s):
"Natural Grocers has really good malt balls."
*Reader Jessi M is right. We had some after her suggestion and loved 'em!
Sauced and satisfied,
The Fork
