Garduño's of Mexico Restaurant & Cantina at Old Town

Second dinner in two weeks First one I took six family members Last night two friends Great food and plenty of it Great service from Kindle

I ordered the green chili stew. Rather than being made with pork, it was made with very cheap ground beef and did not taste like green chili stew. It was supposed to be served with a side of warm tortillas. Instead, I got a couple of saltine crackers. My husband‘s fajitas came with a load of rice and refried beans. No cheese, no sour cream and exactly one teaspoon of guacamole the margaritas or some of the most tasteless margaritas we ever drank the best thing we could say about the whole experience was at least the chili was hot.

Food was fantastic! Portions were gigantic! Service was suburb! Will definitely be back soon!

I really enjoyed my machaca chimichanga with green chili. I really liked that they give you a choice on your sides, and did not give the usual refried beans and rice. I got calabasitas and my husband got the fries. Very good flavor and the green chili sauce had large chunks of green chilli, so yummy! The best fried ice cream and sopapillas! The atmosphere was great and they had a tocores (man with a guitar) serenading.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 4

too expensive

Food: 1

To start off, the water tasted extremely off.. reminiscent of hose water. Everyone at the table agreed. When we pointed this out, the alternative we were offered was “lemonade” which had been made with the same water, thus having the same taste.

Every part of my meal had an off taste. The rice tasted like it had been sitting out all day. The meat almost tasted like it had freezer burn. The guacamole was piled on top of a heap of lettuce, obviously placed there as filler. The shrimp was still raw. The vegetables on the very loud and sizzling hot “fajita platter” were still raw.. like they heated up the pan just for the show.

Everything had the same taste as the water. To top everything off, they coated everything with chilies, as if to mask the sewer water taste.

The best part of the experience was the gentleman playing guitar by the entrance.

Atmosphere: 3

Food: 1

Service: 2

I appreciate the effort your team put into the Thanksgiving buffet, and some items—especially the green chile stew—were very good. But overall, I expected a better experience, especially for a holiday meal. One of the main reasons I chose your restaurant was because you advertised and offered tamales as part of the Thanksgiving buffet meal. Unfortunately, they were the worst tamales I've ever had. The gr.chile tamales were mushy-couldn't eat it and the red tamales were dry as a bone. Very disappointing! Especially from Gardunos. I also noticed several issues with cleanliness and upkeep throughout the buffet. The tablecloths on the serving tables were visibly dirty from drips and spills and were never wiped down or cleared. The dessert station was the most concerning. The cake and pie spatulas were never replaced with clean ones, and the table stayed covered in crumbs. It gave the whole setup a very unpolished feel. The cake serving spatulas had accumulated frosting and filling from the whole day. How hard is it to replace with fresh ones? It also wasn't very busy, so the lack of attention stood out even more. The experience ended up feeling more like a Furr's or Golden Corral buffet—not what I expected from a place that usually presents itself as something different and more special. Since it was a holiday meal, it also would have been appreciated if a manager checked in with guests and made sure everyone was doing alright. I know buffet service can be demanding, but staying on top of basic cleanliness and swapping out serving utensils regularly would make a big difference. I did enjoy most of the food, but the tamales and the overall presentation left me disappointed. Thank you for the opportunity to share this feedback.

Went to this Garduno's location at ABQ Hotel this evening (11/26/25). Water tasted oddly different and undrinkable, I live in ABQ, my tap water tastes much better. We spent over $200. The shrimp fajita, the shrimp was not cooked at all, the shrimp was just sitting on top of the veggies, but the veggies was over cooked. The rice which came with the meal smelled and tasted old.

Atmosphere: 1

Food: 1

Service: 1

We come here often just for the coconut margaritas, but last 3 times it’s been like regular margaritas. Last time going

Atmosphere: 2

Food: 3

Service: 3

Absolutely WORST management! My son was getting married in Hotel Albuquerque and we reserved Garduno’s for the rehearsal dinner. Not only did they lose the reservation and did not have the taco bar ready for our wedding party, but they’re very shady with their billing. The bar service is incredibly slow so when I was closing the tab, the bartender only gave me the credit card receipt not an itemized receipt. I would’ve left a tip on the credit card receipt, but I thought I should see the itemized receipt to make sure I knew what was being charged. Sure enough there was already a gratuity there for 23% and that was also 23% of the taxes. When I brought this up to the manager, he became extremely defensive and argumentative.
My friend who is also a restaurant mgr was with us and she said it should never be more than 20%, more typically 18%. The service was horrible, they were understaffed, the bar line took more than 30 minutes to get one drink, they were shady in how they charged the tab, they didn’t have the rehearsal reservation even though it was confirmed earlier that week, and the manager was rude, dismissive, defensive, and unprofessional. And the food? Oversalted and mediocre at best. AVOID this place!!!!!

Atmosphere: 1

Food: 1

Service: 1

Posole that was excellent!

Atmosphere: 4

Food: 5

Service: 4

Note Mexico not New Mexico, this is tourist food. The atmosphere is the best, but the food is not good. Wait staff was fantastic. I just really wish they paid attention to the food.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 1

Service: 4

We loved everything we ordered! The live musician was also excellent

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Super good. Large portions and great service 👍 👏

The tomatillo & chips is SO good. Decent liquor selection & service. Southwest atmosphere with awesome hammered copper bar. Located in Old Town.

Atmosphere: 4

Food: 5

Service: 4