Aahhh, the great American road trip, with all of its ups and downs. If you're pressed for time and…read moredon't have the opportunity to explore, you're stuck to whatever's right off the freeway. In other words, an endless supply of truck stops and fast food.
Don't get me wrong, there are many "diamonds in the rough" to be found in scary, Deliverance-type areas all throughout rural America. You might enjoy some of the best BBQ ever at a random, shithole stand where the picnic benches haven't been wiped down in weeks. Fried chicken? Turns out those semi trucks aren't just fueled by diesel my friend...there can be some food finds on your way that score major points for their cheap, greasy, "eat behind the wheel" convenience as well as their honest lack of pretension.
That said, the buffet at the Albuquerque Country Market offered none of the endearing qualities listed above. I'll take full blame for this. Everyone was getting pretty hungry, and we happened to pull up into a gas/convenience store/diner that offered a buffet. With 12 hours plus of mostly night driving ahead of us, getting a big meal seemed to make sense. What would have made a hell of a lot more sense would have been to ask one of the locals where some good cheap food was. I mean, we're in Albuquerque here, it's a big city so there have to be decent places within a two mile drive. Not being familiar with the area though, and being tired, we decided to go for the "safe" route and stick to a place where we could swing back onto the highway and continue. Our loss.
We leafed through the menu--most burger and fries-type combos (all very standard diner fare) were at least $7.50-8 bucks, so paying $9.29 for a dinner buffet didn't seem like that bad a deal. Once we started grazing though, we realized how truly limited the options were. Hailing from buffet land (casino Hell), I can safely say that this was probably the most limited buffet I've ever experienced as far as selection, and quality ranged from below-average to downright scary. They should have charged $5.99 or so--even then you'd feel semi ripped off. I kept my selections simple and safe. Iceberg lettuce salad with dressing and croutons, mashed potatoes, green beans, etc. Very generic, and it all had that tasteless, reheated, frozen food quality that the lowest end buffets seem to share. For Reno area readers, I'd compare it to the old Silver Club "steak buffet," only without the grilled to order steaks.
When I did take a slight risk, it wasn't worth it. There was some awfully lonely looking fried chicken sitting under the lights. Pretty dry and unappealing, but I've seen worse--so far our truck stop tour had featured some truly horrifying heat lamp displays that made me question, "Do people actually eat that stuff? Or is this joke food that they only put out for tourists?" I gnawed a couple bites, then decided to call it a day as far as the meal. I've had better chicken in 99 cent TV dinners. For fear of getting physically sick on the last leg of the trip, I decided to cut my losses and pay the bill.
The greasy-spoon equivalent of sticker shock hit me when I realized that they charged extra for a drink--my iced tea was an extra $1.99. The bill for three of us set us back $31.63--total ripoff for the lack of food choices and overall low quality. There was also soft serve ice cream and cake/pie type desserts available--but even that was an extra charge!! I'm surprised they didn't charge for water, napkins, salt, and toilet seat covers at this place.
Even though there weren't many other diners, it took our server a while to find our check. She seemed surprised and a little put out that she had to cut her conversation short with another guy who seemed to be a local. Can't say I blame her really, she was probably surprised that anyone ordered the buffet at all--the 8-10 guests in what was actually a very large cavern of a restaurant seemed to be the equivalent of a "dinner rush" in this joint.
As you might imagine, the buffet was a definite one-star experience. I'm giving the benefit of the doubt for two reasons--1) the restaurant burgers and regular dinners (meatloaf, turkey plate, etc.) looked pretty good and it seems like that's what the locals were eating. The buffet is probably a money grabber to profit off those who are just "passin through"--with the extra dessert charge I can imagine even a kids' meal being a luxury item. 2) This place is also a large store/truck stop/gas station. The convenience store area is HUGE, and well stocked with tons of cheap items, from clothing to Roswell shot glasses, CD's, DVD's, etc. In retrospect, we should have just stocked up on cheap junk food (jerky, chips, etc.), caffeinated beverages, a couple of bowling shirts and a pair of flip flops--still with extra money left for tacky New Mexico souvenirs. I'm sure Albuquerque has a lot to offer, but next time I'll take my chances and venture further off the beaten path.