A five star meal here last night Stuffed sopas with carne Adovada...delicious Tableside guacamole was outstanding Great service Definitely a locals favorite Nice and cool during summer heat Decent patio when it cools off Hearing the fajitas are something special Next visit Great place read more

Waited over 30 minutes for two bowls of stew that never came. No free chips. Ended up waking out

I wasn't too excited to go here because of some of the negative reviews recently. But I was pleasantly surprised at the service and the food. We were a party of 15. We arrived at opening and we were set pretty soon after arriving and we ordered our drinks and appetizers. I ordered the chile con queso and it was great with the little tostadas that it came with. It would have been tasty with chips but those chips just sent it over the edge. I wish I had gotten a picture but I was very hungry. For my meal I ordered the stuffed sopapilla and it was okay. It was flavorful and warm when I received it but not as warm as it probably should have been. With the meal they give you both chips and salsa and plain sopapillas which were really great. They were and fluffy. The service was really good. Our drinks were refilled often and we were asked if we needed anything. My family members knew the owners and the lady came out and said hi which was really thoughtful. Overall I will probably be back, this restaurant originated in Cuba where my husband is from so it holds a special place in his heart. read more

El Bruno's - a plate of food with a burrito - Mexican Near Me - Albuquerque, New Mexico

The one STAR is for NO SALSA and CHIPS. NOW there is a charge. Not enough staff help. Waited awhile for service at the bar. One waitress? Happy hour the cost has gone up. Portions are small. Amount not on menu. Will not return. read more

Fabulous Service. Thanks to Amber. Food is delicious. Drinks are generous. Setting is warm and wonderfully New Mexican. Staff is friendly and professional. It is a great place to go with friends. Taco Tuesdays are fun. Shrimp fajitas were delicious for dinner. read more

Their food was absolutely horrible. I ordered the Carne Adobada Sopapilla which was dry and lacked the chili that I had requested. The side order was rice that flowed like a river into my main course. My friend ordered the Chili Rellenos (homemade?)which was all masa (flour). The Spanish rice that she was served was also watery. Flowed like a river into her Chili Relleno,too!!! .During the middle of our meal we didn't say anything about the food until the server asked, how's our meal? And it just blurted it out that was the worst rice I had ever eaten. I felt sorry for him cuz all he could say is okay. Them both of us broke the ice and discuss what a horrible meal we were served and we would never ever go back. Then to add insult, we had ordered a plate of food to go for both of our husbands. Will not say anything to them while they're eating their food unless they make a comment. Please , Even if you're a tourist and have never eaten Mexican /New Mexican food, I wouldn't have the heart to recommend this place to you. it was that bad?! One thing I will say, the service was excellent, but on the other hand ,they didn't have that many customers in the restaurant.. So sorry! Do you have a new owner, cook, manager? Was just a bad experience! My apologies!!!!!!! read more

Food was tasteless and cold. Order came wrong. Service was apathetic. You would have to drink a 5 gallon bucket of the terrible margaritas to find out if they actually contain tequila. They don't need a liquor license. read more

The one star is for the salsa. We had lunch there today after staying away for a few years. I was hopeful there would be improvements with the food quality but nope! We definitely won't be going back. Their ground beef tastes weird and everything was so salty. Their green chile looks like mush. read more

From the beautiful building, to the fresh, delicious food, we had a wonderful experience at lunch today. I had the carne adovada stuffed sopapilla. The meat was tender, the red chile hot and flavorful. My sister-in-law had skirt steak wrapped in a flour tortilla. She raved about the meat. The Christmas decorations were so tasteful and beautiful, it really made our lunch feel special. The service was friendly and attentive. A big thumbs up to El Brunos! read more

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I had been wanting to try El Bruno's for about 2 years now and got the opportunity to go during a work dinner during the week last week. We had some in our group say this was the best New Mexican restaurant, so I had to test that out for myself. It wasn't terribly crowded at the time. They have a nice patio that I would love to try when it's warm at dinner time again. I liked the decor and there were several religious icons. We got a nice party room in the back. Service was efficient, although with sitting at the end of the table, my order of a chicharron burrito got mixed up with my co-worker's chicken burrito (I was charged more for the chicken burrito price. I mentioned that at the end and they also remade my burrito to get my chicharron fix). I would say it's at the top with some of the best chicharron I've tried in the city (and I've tried several, although this one was a little on the saltier side). They had a wide range of menu items for everyone and at decent prices ($10.95 for the chicharron burrito and cheesy Spanish rice). Unlike some recent reviews, it was nice and hot on the inside. I also splurged a bit and got the coconut margarita, which wasn't terribly strong on the alcohol, which was perfect for me. The price at $11.95 was great for what was offered in that big glass. We had fresh, warm sopas at the end with honey. Overall, I think I will definitely be back. 2021 #101 read more

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price service and food quality none none of which is very good. the prices for New Mexican. service was slow to say the least. the food that came out after a while was just plain greasy. the ambience was old and not kept up. there was dust on the overhead lights above the table and the lights were not fully functioning. all this for an amusingly high price. give this one a hard no. read more

Erica greeted us warmly at the door, and took us to a table for four. She apologized for the soda machine being on the fritz, but we only wanted water and iced tea. She brought the drinks quickly, and we ordered. Chips and salsa were so good that we asked - and received - seconds. Before we knew it, we had our entrees: tamale plate, beef enchiladas, and beef tacos. Some of us filled up too much and could not finish our amazingly delicious entrees, which included lettuce, beans and rice. Some of us had room for the light and delicious sopapillas with honey. Yummy! Everything was so fantastic, including the service. The decor was comfortable and festive. The service was impeccable. The final bill was reasonable. We will be back again. Soooo good! read more

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Hearty New Mexican style food. Service is always good. Restaurant is clean and well kept in traditional south western style. Big fan of the shrimp tacos. The chile can be pretty hot but good. The rice could be better. Tonight the sopapillas were a little old and hard. Eaten here many times and this is a first this has happened. read more

Always great food and service! I have read some of tbe reviews on here and sometimes people have to remember unless it's a chain resterant they are in need of help. (Cooks, server's, wait staff) Happy Sunday read more

El Bruno's - Mexican Near Me - Albuquerque, New Mexico

This is an end of a era of eating out. New Mexico is completely disappointing. First time I have eaten at this establishment and the last. Not because the staff was horrible. It is not their fault. The food cost are ridiculous and the portion sizes even more so. I order cheese and onion enchiladas with red sauce, no rice, with a side of guacamole. First off, this was not enchiladas, it was two flat corn tortillas with cheese with purple onions sprinkled on top. Very few onions at that which I prefer. I got an extremely small amount of guacamole and well, to say the least, the enchilada sauce was tasteless. I am so tired of tasteless food. Unsatisfied with the meal, the bill comes. I ended up paying $19 and tip for a small plate. What? I had no meet. Only cheep corn tortillas, a quarter cup of beans with maybe an 8th of a cup of cheese and a small spoonful of guacamole. And literally a dash of onions. A $1.25 was added for the dash of onions. Really, who does this? I expected a charge for the guacamole, but $1.50 for a spoonful? Really? Y'all need to figure out how to stop screwing people over for a small plate of food that cost maybe 5 bucks. All I did was pay for the staff, the electric, water, waste.. to sit there and be completely in utterance of disbelief of how Americans have let go of quality and expect a return. And I stand here saying, what if this was take out? I would have the same experience, but without the use of the wait staff, seating, ect. Ridiculous The lighting was horrendous as well. Everything LED it hurt my eyes. Not ever going back and do not support another boring New Mexican food establishment, that some ancestor is turning in their grave for how pitiful the new generation is clearly damaged goods. read more

It is always tough to leave a horrible or review especially when things started off great. As we sat in the bar area Elijah kindly introduced himself. He was great! We received chips and salsa which both were delicious and tasted fresh. Before I knew it there was a cockroach walking just passed our table as if nothing. That was our cue to go! I understand places may have roaches, but if they are freely walking that must be a major issue there. read more

Be careful. Carne Adavada is a $2.00 up charge that is not shown on the menu. The waiter acknowledged this with a nod and "yup"

I've been in Santa Fe for just two years now. And this is the best New Mexican food/restaurant I've encountered. Big place that was beautifully decorated for Christmas. Service was outstanding and attentive. Our server Isaiah took good care of us. Shrimp ceviche, nachos, enchiladas, taco salad -- all were really good. The rice is studded with peppers and tomatoes -- so much better than plain old rice. Complimentary chips and salsa. The salsa was some of the best I've tasted anywhere. I asked if they sold it, and indeed, they do! So I got a couple jars to take home. I only wish they were closer. However, when I do venture to Albuquerque, this will be my go-to place for dinner. read more

Stopped by for dinner a week ago after getting a recommendation from a good friend. She was right; the food was fantastic and service was great. We'll be going back many times. read more

Service was really horrible ordered drinks before our food that didnt arrive until we had already finished our food. We send them back and asked for our check then they turned around and brought the hot drinks back because "we ordered them". read more

The place was empty except for a couple and our family. This is the early stage of social distancing, lucky we got to eat and a few weeks down the road all business all take out orders. The food been delicious to my Arizona family where we meet is El Bruno's. My favorite is the fresh guacamole and chips. read more

Horrible service. Waited 30min on margaritas that never came. Seems like they have zero clue on what's going on, serious communication skills happening here. Zero chance we will ever revisit this establishment. Too bad I have to give 1* they don't even deserve that. read more

We had a delicious lunch at El Bruno. The blue corn chicken enchiladas with red chili were excellent as well as the green chili chicken enchiladas. The service was perfect. Martin was great, He was attentive, pleasant, professional, gracious and elegant. The atmosphere had an old world feel, reminiscent of Mexico. The overall experience was delightful. read more

Oh NO...not El Bruno's! Once my favorite restaurant in NM, is now sadly part of my "No thank you" list. My family and I walked in and waited for quite some time to be seated. I finally had to ask the bartenders if I should just seat myself. After about 20 minutes of being seated a young girl brings us chips and salsa. It was obvious that she was not happy to be there. Drink orders were taken a while after we were seated and we didn't even get our food order taken until 50 minutes later!!! If it wasn't for our very apologetic and sweet waiter I would have given this 1 star. The soda was flat and we were told the Co2 tanks were down. When we finally got our food it was cold. The chile used to be the main reason I came here and it was disgusting! It was so dark it looked like mole and had zero flavor. The sopapillas were little and crispy!!! Not the sopapillas!!! I'm so sad. Please give me a moment to morn what was once my favorite restaurant. read more

Honestly the worst place ever to eat. My tequila lime chicken dish, nothing was seasoned, just plain no flavor. I was given in a little cup lime juice to dip the chicken and still it was nasty.The rib eye meat tasted like the meat was spoiled. The cheese enchiladas sauce was thick and seemed it was not finished cooked. When you do a sauce it has to go through a process and this was barely put in boiled water then blended and thrown in the plate. I do not recommend this place. It was all white people in the restaurant and that is a big sign there. White people don't know the taste of a good Mexican dis. Before I forget it took them almost an hour to bring our meals. read more

El Bruno's - Tequila lime chicken, so papillas and cheese enchiladas, all nasty, no flavor. This ain't mexican. - Mexican Near Me - Albuquerque, New Mexico

Was what we expected, service was decent food was ok. Nothing really stood out. Just so so, a ton of other places that would be my preference before going back. read more

I rarely get out to this place because it's so far from where I live, but it is one of my favorite New Mexican restaurants! The enchilada plate is awesome and they even let you get a half order if you can't eat a lot! And, the half order is enough for me! read more

Best food very clean and respectful team I love to come here and enjoy time with family read more

Horrible! The food was the worst we have ever had there. Sopas we're hard as a rock, flat and dark. Change your oil!!! When we asked server if this is normal he said "I thought they looked bad when I brought them to you" and he still served them to us. The enchiladas were NOT cooked all the way the cheese was still cold and not melted. The tacos were full of grease. The shells were soggie when they came out like they were sitting there for awhile. Very disappointed! Another one OFF the list! How embarrassing Albuquerque! I have a video to show how hard they are but can't add a video here. read more

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The food is tasty but inconsistent. I used to love the flat red enchilada but this visit it was off. The waiter was awesome, he friendly and attentive. The quesadilla was yummy and of course we loved the chips and salsa. We didnt have to wait and the scenary is always delightful. My sons great grandma was an original waitress for many years in Cuba, grandma Esther and she always spoke nothing but the best of Brunos. Keep true to your authentic taste. read more

El Bruno's - Table view - Mexican Near Me - Albuquerque, New Mexico

We had the misfortune to eat at El Bruno's on October 14th. A friend recommended them and added they offered gluten free. As our server was taking our orders, his eyes glazed over when he heard gluten free. He went and got someone who talked with my wife about the gluten free items. Hopefully the problem had been solved. The seven meals arrived and were placed on an adjacent table. The individual dishes were called out and the person who ordered them had to say it was theirs. Apparently, the server made no effort to identify which patron ordered which dish. When my wife's meal was placed in front of her, there was a flour tortilla on the chicken. That had to be sent back. The server recommended the Fiesta Platter as I couldn't decide between the Carne Adovada and the Chili Rellenos. The relleno was rolled up in a corn tortilla which was rock hard. One half of the tamale was also fry and rock hard. The small amount carne was wrapped in a six inch tortilla. When the checks came out, nothing was right. We had requested separate checks to ease the process of who owed what. None of the checks had the right combination of dinners on them. Finally, a manager came out and straightened it out for us. We've been going to Albuquerque for Balloon Fiesta since 1984. Without a doubt, this was the worst Mexican food I've eaten in those thirty-nine years. read more

These are SOME of the smaller pieces of GLASS I found in my drink at El Bruno's. The manager kept the bigger piece. Was I upset about it, of course... but what really made me angry was the lack of empathy or concern the manager had about it. He hardly said sorry and then told me of anything happens to let them know! I can't believe that they did not think this was a big deal!!!! I know I swallowed some because I thought it was a piece of the toasted coconut from the frozen margarita (who would think there is glass in their drink) I'm in customer service and could guarantee the situation would've been handled completely different. We will Never go back! On top of that they only picked up the drinks and we still had to pay the rest of the tab. The pieces pictured are only some of the pieces. The manager took the bigger piece. read more

El Bruno's - Glass - Mexican Near Me - Albuquerque, New Mexico

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This used to be one of my favorite places to go for margaritas and chips and Queso. But one evening ruined it all. About a month ago a friend and I had dinner here. It must've been training night or something because service was terrible. The ditzy hostess had to ask me three times how many people were in my party in the short 5 min. I had to wait for a table because she couldn't remember what I said. The inattentive bartender brought us an extra round of drinks we didn't order. But it was obvious she needed help. We had to flag down one of the kids standing around to get us our sopapillas that came with our meal. Then waited an extra long time for our check, only for us to find out later one of our cards had been charged twice. We've been waiting a month for them to reverse the double charge on my friend's card and are pretty sure it will never be corrected. Such a disappointing experience. The service at Sadies, Tomasita's and El Pinto have never been anywhere near this bad. Get it together El Bruno's. read more

Amber is the best server we have had in awhile here. I come here because the food is excellent. Tonight however we saw the commotion on how a bad manager treats a good server. Our ticket had someone's else food on it and the manager did not want to serve us our last drink. Due to the managers inconsistency made me feel like an unwelcome guest. Due to these circumstances I will be sure to inform family and friends to go else where for their New Mexican food. read more

This is the best New Mexican food that I have had in years!!! I had Hazel's homemade Chile stew. They braze a pork chop. Cook it in a lot of green chile. It was spicy and delicious. Didn't want a bowl of chile with potatoes. Ten bucks ...generous portion and gourmet tasting...definitely healthy as well if you are counting calories. We also ordered a Fiesta Salad and a combo plate with more food than could be shared by two people. I don't like going for Mexican food. Can make it better myself. Will go back to Bruno's. House Magarita was excellent as well. Mix not too sweet. read more

Really enjoyed this restaurant for a long time; but the combo fajita I got was just sad, 4 thinly sliced beef and 5-6 very small chunk of chicken for $24? Service was slow, I see a table actually walks up to the bar and ordering their own drinks. Hope the management brings back the old el Bruno; your competitor is just right down the street. read more

A friend recommended this place to us for dinner. My boyfriend and I ordered margaritas, and for food I ordered a veggie stuffed sopapilla. The chips and salsa were good as was my dish! I think everyone liked the food. The margaritas however were pretty weak! We hardly ever have one, so it was pretty disappointing. Other than that the experience was ok. The wait staff was really friendly, but they forgot a few things I'd asked for. We were in a corner table too so after awhile there was nobody near us, so perhaps we were out of site for awhile too. Anyhow, glad I tried the place, and I'd go there again. read more

Living nearby, we've been coming to this place since they opened this Alb location. It was excellent then and always consistent. We've catered from them for a few events over the years and our guests were full of compliments. Hell. It was even great during NM roni response when all we could do was carry-out. I hope the kitchen staff got our tips :) We've returned a couple times over the past few months and it has been disappointing in general. We assumed it was just new crew "Now Hiring" nights. We just tried again and it makes me sad to say I can't recommend them anymore and I'll need to find another go-to. My wife had her fajita salad as her tasty health freak usual. This time it was a dismal portion lettuce greens with a few tomato slices on a plate. It was topped in slices of overly grilled chicken with red pepper flakes!! If that's their new fajita chicken recipe, there's going to be problems. In my usual indecisiveness I had the Cubano combo with red and green chile both. (Christmas). Not much to go wrong with a taco, but I expected as in the past, the relleno and enchilada would be smothered in a chile spill that could only be mopped up with a hot sopapilla. Wrong. There were no more than five tablespoons of chile on the whole plate. Trying to cut food costs? And then it was buried in iceberg lettuce to hide the crime. The premium margaritas at $12 each were a little off and overly sweet. I'm sure simple syrup is cheaper than tequila...or limes. Our server, wearing his large black mask, was ok but I felt he was ashamed of his job. He didn't serve our food and never checked on us until our empty table indicated we were ready to cash out. Based on our fond memories of quality over the years, this was a gloomy experience. The vibe of the place is either a bottom line tourist money grab or an independent small business with broken morale. read more

My partner got salmonella we assume from the enchiladas last night. Great way to end our trip to NM. I had the shrimp fajitas. The dish was bland. The skillet was so hot when it arrived at our table that I was getting burned from flex of oil coming off the skillet. I quickly removed all of the food from the skillet to a plate but half of the onions were so burnt that they were completely blackened and inedible. The portion size was skimpy. I had 7 pieces of shrimp and a small handful of iceberg lettuce maybe a quarter of a tomato and a small sprinkling of cheese with a tiny chip full of guac and sour cream. I would expect some more for a $20 meal. My partner didn't finish their enchiladas de herrera and later got sick so the food was unimpressive overall. Another thing about our experience I'd like to note is my partner being misgendered repeatedly. Our server used the term ladies incessantly at our table which made us uncomfortable. It's easy to use gender neutral terms if you are unaware of someone's gender or you could ask if you're unsure. Either of these options would be easy to implement and avoid making your customers uncomfortable. read more

Not my favorite Mexican place in Albuquerque but it was okay. The biggest issue here was the service or the lack thereof. Our waitress barely checked on us during the meal and we had to ask for more chips and salsa...twice. As in, she brought the salsa but failed to notice that we had no more chips so we had to ask for each separately. At least we did all really like the salsa here but it would have been nice to not have to repeatedly ask for more. For the food, my boyfriend's mom, sister-in-law and I all shared the two person Fiesta Platter. We figured that it would actually be enough for three as we're all relatively light eaters and we did have plenty of food to go around. My main issue, as a picky eater, is that the platter doesn't list what type of meat the individual items contain and it ended up being mainly pork and ground beef. Out of the carne adovada, beef taco, (pork?) tamale, cheese enchilada and chile relleno, I only liked the enchilada and I would have preferred that to be chicken. The dish is also served with rice, beans, sour cream and guacamole. I tried the rice but it wasn't my favorite and I found it to be too liquidy, which isn't a way that I would typically describe rice, but reading through my fellow Yelpers' reviews, I see that this is a common issue here. The restaurant itself is very dark inside and not very inviting. Maybe the ambiance works better at night but it was a bit jarring to walk into from the midday sun. read more