Green Chile Cheeseburgers at Monroe's and Blake's Lotaburger

Road tripping through New Mexico means that Green Chile Cheeseburgers are very much on the agenda. This trip, we had two.

First up was Monroe's, in Albuquerque. I chose Monroe's because it was well-reviewed and within walking distance of our hotel (Casa de Suenos, which I highly recommend). When we arrived, the place was pretty dead. Undeterred, we entered into the harsh, florescently-lit room and sat down.



You can see the green chile cheeseburger above, served with sweet potato fries (I ordered regular fries). Overall, it disappointed. Not enough green chile for the flavor to really come through, and the burger itself was the thin, frozen puck style you would buy at Costco. It was decently prepared, though, and I had no trouble eating it. Unfortunately, the same couldn't be said about their carne adovada, which we also tried - way too salty, and lacking in flavor.

Overall, it was a pretty bad dining experience. Monroe's seems like a place that has seen better days, and it would be hard to recommend based on our visit.

The next day, we had a much better meal at Blake's Lotaburger in Deming:



We wrote about the green chile cheeseburger at Blake's a few years ago, and this visit was nearly identical. Here is the Lotaburger with double meat, add cheese and green chile:



The amount of green chile was perfect, with tons of chile flavor and a good amount of heat.



There is nothing complicated about this burger - just a better-than-average fast food burger, well prepared, and with the key addition of chopped up Hatch green chile. If someplace in San Diego puts a burger like this on their menu, I will happily give them my money on a regular basis.

Monroe's
1520 Lomas Blvd. NW
Albuquerque, New Mexico
(505) 242-1111

Blake's Lotaburger
600 North Gold Street
Deming, New Mexico
(575) 544-7302

More Green Chile In Albuquerque - Breakfast At Frontier Restaurant

Looking for a hearty, old-school New Mexican breakfast to fuel a long drive west, we stopped in at Frontier Restaurant. Located just across the street from the University of New Mexico campus, Frontier has been serving up Southwestern fare since 1971.



When you get up to order, you'd better know what you want. Frontier is a surprisingly large place and serves a lot of people quickly.



I knew exactly what I wanted - a breakfast burrito smothered in green chile. You order the green chile as a side dish (it is listed as "green chile stew"):



Green Chile Breakfast Burrito in construction:



And the final product:



Attractive? Not so much. Tasty? Absolutely! Not tasty enough to make me forget about Sam's #3 in Denver, but still pretty good.

Wanting to add a little color contrast to our meal, Sherry ordered chicken enchiladas with red sauce. Definitely prettier than my burrito, but the flavors were pretty uninteresting (improved, though, by the addition of some of the green chile stew).



So, just a brief stop in New Mexico. Not nearly enough time to do the fantastic food in the area justice, but at least we managed to get our green chile fix.

Green Chile Cheeseburgers at Blake's Lotaburger

As we passed through Albuquerque on our way back home, our main mission was to get a green chile cheeseburger. But where? We ended up settling on Blake's Lotaburger. With 78 stores, Lotaburger is hardly a mom and pop operation, but the locations are all in the Albuquerque area.



There is no green chile cheesburger on the menu - you order the green chile as an extra item. I love New Mexican green chiles - there is something almost addictive about their combination of flavor and heat.

My double burger (pictured at the top of the post) was great, but Sherry's single was even better. It had the same amount of green chile but less meat, resulting in a more intense chile experience.



To complement our chile, we also had some chili. Chili-cheese fries, that is...