Casa Vieja

Great wine and and beer and delicious food, evry Wednesday is a karaoke Night and In Pizza We Trust Food Truck.

I travel to Albuquerque a few times a year for work, and was never impressed with the dining scene. I thought it was all chain restaurants and Mexican food joints. That is, until my most recent trip in which I found Casa Vieja.This place is a little off the beaten path in what seemed like a more rural part of town (Corrales), but it is well worth the drive. If you are looking for a truly unique New Mexico dining experience, this is the place.Ambience: The restaurant is located in a 300 year old Adobe house, complete with Spanish tile floors, exposed wood beam ceilings, iron chandeliers, and fireplaces. It is what you expect a New Mexico restaurant to look like, but is the real-deal, not some facade. Tables are spaced well enough apart that you can have your own conversations, and the noise level is moderate.Service: Our server (Alisha) was extremely friendly and helpful. She even came running out to our car to bring us the leftovers we'd left on the table. Although it took a bit longer than we'd expected for the first course to come out, overall a good experience.Food: We started with three appetizers. The chips w/ 3 Dips (pico de gallo, fire roasted salsa and tomatillo salsa) included some of the best salsas we'd ever tasted. The tomatillo was especially unique, as the tomatillos they'd recently received were on the sweet side, so the salsa tasted as though it had pineapple blended into it. The Minguichi isan original Michocan "chile con queso" made with cotija cheese, jalapenos and served with housemade gorditas. The dip itself was excellent - made with large chunks of pan-fried cotija cheese. The gorditas were a bit thick/dense and filling, so we mostly used chips to spread the cheese dip on. The Green Chile Stew was the groups favorite of the appetizers, with a great spicy kick and thick consistency.For entrees we had Cast Iron Seared Scallops which came with a Butternut Squash soup and were on what looked like a biscotti. I did not try this dish, but my friend gave it the thumbs up. Another friend ordered the Green Chile Chicken Enchiladas, which the restaurant has won awards for, and I can see why. Not your traditional enchilada, this is more of a layered dish, with lots of green salsa and cheese and fresh corn tortillas. And the dish is HUGE - even with all of our party taking bites of it there was still more than half the dish left over. I ordered Short Ribs which were served on a bed of creamed spinach and mashed potatoes. It was hands down the biggest piece of short rib I'd ever seen before, and managed to be "fall of the bone" tender and flavorful. The combination of the short rib with the spinach and mashed potato was divine. This was the favorite dish at the table.As if that wasn't enough, we also ordered dessert - the "made to order" donut plate, which included a Mexican Chocolate cake donut, Apple Fritter, Cinnamon/Sugar Longjohn, Currant donut balls, and espresso mousse. The donuts were heavenly - all unique and different from each other, but all amazing. Each person in our party had a different favorite (mine was the apple fritter - which was the perfect blend of crunchy outside, chewy/apple-y inside, and topped with a whipped cream/cream cheese frosting blend).Also good to note - Wednesday they have half-price wine with EVERY bottle on their menu at 50% off. And there are some good ones on the menu. We went with a 2005 Turley Cedarman Zinfandel and a (which cost less than retail after the discount) and a 2005 MacRostie Wildcat Mountain Syrah - both of which paired nicely with the meal.

I brought my sweetheart here for a romantic dinner, but the amount of garlic in his Caesar salad dashed my hopes for romance... We came here for Restaurant Week and were sorry. The Caesar salad was mostly inedible due to the amount of garlic. The mushroom soup was okay, and provided some humor because the server tripped and much of it went on to the floor next to the table. She delivered it to the table anyway, without knowing to clean up the soup that had spilled around the plate. A piece of bread had been dipped into the soup, so arrived at the table soggy. For the entree, I had the quinoa fritters. It only took one bite to be disappointed. The fritters were filled with not very thoroughly cooked vegetables (crunchy onions, again ruining romance) and something pasty and tasteless. Later I heard the waiter steer other diners away from them. I should have asked for his advice! My hot date had the steak, which he said was okay but the potatoes were slightly undercooked the stuffed pepper was not tasty. For dessert we shared the bread pudding and the chocolate cherry souffle. The souffle looked awesome, but I didn't need to finish it. It was not very chocolaty nor very cherryish and some of the egg whites were unincorporated into the souffle. For close to $100 for dinner for two plus wine, there's no need to go back.

My boyfriend and I were recently in New Mexico (staying in Corrales), and noticed Casa Vieja every time we drove to and from our B & B. We attended the Balloon Fiesta during our trip, and one morning before we left the fairgrounds, we wanted to get something to eat OTHER THAN funnel cake and/or corn dogs. At the end of this vendor row, we saw this little, non-descript food stand that was serving only three things: mushroom soup with truffle oil, an apple crisp, and breakfast bread pudding with chipotle sauce. We both love spicy food, so we chose the breakfast bread pudding. For $6 we got the biggest slab of bread pudding I've ever seen...more than enough for the both of us. After the first bite we were HOOKED. I can honestly say, this particular piece of food was the best thing I ate during my entire visit to New Mexico (and we ate some fabulous food). It was this delicious blend of eggs, sausage, carrots, potatoes, spices and chipotle sauce that melted in your mouth. We were so pleased - and impressed - that we decided to go there for dinner that night.The restaurant itself is very cool...big, but cozy, with its own parking lot (hooray), and great outdoor seating. It was a bit late in the evening when we arrived so we opted to sit at the bar. The drink menu is, quite simply, FUN. I started with a Sweet Corn on the Cob martini made from...you guessed it...sweet corn on the cob infused vodka. The glass was rimmed with BUTTER, salt and a nice chili powder. It sounded strangely delicious yet horrible at the same time. It was spot on though. Wonderfully smooth and elegant. My boyfriend opted for the Casa Bloody Mary...again, another hit with garlic, jalepeno, onion, chipotle and celery. We also tried the Cucumber Jalepeno Margarita -- our bartender's recommendation. Neither of us like the sweet drinks much -- or tequilla, but this was so smooth and refreshing -- quite oppositie of the usual margarita's I've had in the past.We weren't very hungry going in, so we decided to share an appetizer and a sandwich. For the appetizer we had Chips with 3 Dips: queso, fire roasted salsa and tomatillo salsa served with fried to order chips. The chips were so fresh, and truly fried-to-order, that they were actually HOT when they arrived. The queso wasn't anything I hadn't had before, BUT, I'm a queso-freak and it was delicious -- as were the fresh salsas. For dinner we shared a sandwich call The New Mexican. It consisted of their signature green chile rubbed & smoked pulled pork, sharp cheddar cheese, green chile, apple jicama slaw served on a kaiser role. MOUTH-WATERING!! I'm not a big fan of applies in my food, but this slaw was a perfect accompaniment with the pork. We left no trace of food on the plate. I wish we would have visited the restaurant sooner in our trip...or at the very least, been hungry enough to have a full meal with desert. HOWEVER, I do know that when I go back to New Mexico...this is my restaurant of choice. My only disappointment was that the breakfast bread pudding is not on their regular menu -- even for brunch. It really, really should be. Even after everything we sampled, that was still our absolute favorite.I later found out that Casa Vieja only uses food grown/produced by local New Mexico farmers. "From the farm, to the table." A BIG KUDOS to the owners for keeping it fresh and local.I highly recommend this restaurant!

Excellent food & drink that is fresh, full of great flavors and worth returning for. The service was very good and the prices were reasonable for the quality of what you're getting. The ingredients are fresh & local.We had salad, the bison enchiladas with red chile and the skirt steak to eat. I sampled one of their specialty margaritas that was very deliciously flavored but had the kick of fresh jalapeño. Everything was excellent and we'll absolutely return.

As we say in the Bay Area...this place was HELLA good!Seriously, I was visiting family in Albuquerque last week so my wife and some cousins of mine tried this place out. From start to finish this place 5 stars!We started at the bar and tried some of their signature drinks. I had the cucumber jalapeno margarita and it was definitely a uniquely refreshing drink. Even the scent of the drink tasted good (undersmell me?)For appetizers we ordered the porcini mushrooms and the bruschetta. The mushrooms were amazing, amazing, amazing! So much flavor, it was almost unbelievable. And the bruschetta was fabulous. These guys grow their own veggies, and the fresh taste of the tomatoes was outstanding.For dinner, I ordered one of the specials which wasn't on the main menu. It was a lamb trio. I love me some lamb, and this had to be the best lamb dish I have ever had. There were 3 different lamb cuts (one being the tongue) on one dish. I then asked the waiter to bring me a glass of wine that he thought would go with the dish and he brought me out a delicious bordeaux that paired up perfectly!For dessert, I went with the New Mexico theme and had the Red Chile Buttermilk Flan. Who woulda thunk that a flan would taste so good with a hint of red chile?! So creative!!!And to wash it all down, I had some french press coffee that was an excellent finish.I guess you can say I liked this place. If you're in the Albuquerque area, definitely make time for this place!

Decent meal overall. We went on a Saturday night and the restaurant was pretty crowded. While the people watching was pretty great, the dining experience wasn't as wonderful.We ordered the chips and 3 salsas as an appetizer. Pretty standard, and it's probably our fault for not being more adventurous, but they were out of a few other items that we would have preferred to order.I ordered the Xmas Enchiladas, which were delicious. The green chile chicken enchilada was on par with most you would get in ABQ, but the Red Chile Buffalo Enchilada was awesome! My date ordered the veggie adventurous soul plate and was pretty disappointed - she got nothing special - a basic rice and vegetable plate, and not a huge serving at that (although the giant enchiladas could probably have been split by both of us).For desert, we ordered the Ode to Chocolate Chip (the were out of a couple deserts also), which is less of an ode to anything, but actually two glorified ice cream sandwiches. That said, they were amazing - two freshly baked chocolate chip cookies with some mint ice cream in the middle (the mint flavor not overpowering).The service was incredibly slow. Our server must have been tasked with our table outside of his normal room, because we rarely saw him. When dining a full three courses at a fine dining restaurant, I expect excellent service.I got a beer, but my date ordered their special prickly pear margarita and said it was "one of the best cocktails she had ever had."

This really is one of the best restaurants, if not the best, in New Mexico. The food and drinks are absolutely amazing and something truly unique. My wife and I have become regulars to this restaurant because of the food, the drinks, the service, the atmosphere, and the people. If you have not tried it...you must! The main restaurant boasts a seasonal menu that uses some of the freshest ingredients from around New Mexico. One of the neatest menu items they have is the meat or veggie adventure plates. This entree is chef's choice and is the ultimate dish for foodies. They have a massive wine list and an amazing sommelier and mixologist in Kate Gerwin, one of the owners. The cocktails are second to none and I highly recommend the "Bitter Courage" for those who like gin. Please do not pass this place up if you live or are visiting Albuquerque. It is a must go!

We visited CV during restaurant week and were disappointed. The night started with beers in the bar 1/3 full of foam. When we were seated for dinner by the hostess she talked on her cell the entire time. The entree was plunked down on the table as we were still eating the appetizer. The desert arrived as we were still eating the entree. A glass of wine was spilled ( a couple of ounces worth) by the waiter as he served it, no attempt was made to clean up or to replace the spilt wine. We felt rushed, although there were plenty of open tables. The food was mediocre, the service was bad and the cost way too high for the experience.

We have eaten here twice. Food was great both visits. Service a bit slow. i am vegetarian and there are several options. The enchiladas are super! Casa margartia and pink grapfruit margartias were out of this world! Made to order chips and salsa. This is where we will be hanging this summer.