Taco Sal was great food when I lived there but I don't know about now.
Stay out of Tijeras, some real nutjobs live there.
Stay in the hotels in the north of town at San Mateo, etc.
We got a ‘deal’ for a hotel near the airport, and it wasn’t to my wife’s liking.
To do: (1) take the cable car - tram to the top of Sandia Crest (10K feet).
(2) drive up to Santa Fe and see if Bill Richardson will offer you a job!!! :-)
Ping.
Stay off of Centeral which is old HWY66
Have at least one meal at Los Cuates there is one on Manual which isn’t to far from the Holiday Inn Express and is pretty good NM Mexican food.
Also there is a Wine Festival in Las Cruces, NM at the fairgrounds and one in Albuquerque on the balloon grounds over the Memorial weekend.
In LC, we stayed in the old Hilton up on the hill, not bad but not as fancy as it might look from the outside (older). Guerduno’s (sp) was a good mexican restaurant across the way toward the big mall. Lots of decent area toward the north. Not much east of town (over the beautiful mountains) but that off-limits AFB (White Sands?).
And if you like the odd (artsy-fartsy) areas, go down to the little village on the south border of Las Cruces and walk the streets. It’s where Billy the Kid was tried and found guilty of (?). Nice scenic drive along west side of Rio Grande river, through trees and chili fields.
Then drive up to Hatch on your way to Albequerque. Get a bundle of chilis that will lift your hat off. Or they will fire roast them right there. Quite an interesting little town and the namesake of the real “Hatch” chilis. That’s all I know.
If you want a great restaurant with great views, excellent service,excellent food, I suggest the Whisque at Coors and Montano.
Kinda pricey, but it is excellent evening dining.
Rudy’s BBQ. NW corner Carlisle Blvd and I-40.
As for lodging, there are a couple places in Midtown near the tow malls that are close to I-40 (Amerisuites and Homewood Suites) that I always stay at when I'm lucky enough to get sent back on business (I'm from NM, but live elsewhere now, sure do miss it). They are decent, and conveniently located.
As for food, Sadies on 4th St. is great, and so is the El Pinto (when you are returning from your Tram trip since it's just down the road from Tramway Blvd. and I-25), and if you like BBQ, try Rudy's (Candelaria and I-40), or JR’s (right off-base from Kirtland,w/great militaria on the walls).
But as others may have suggested, stay away from the South Valley.
If you are driving up I-25, there's no Starbucks until Los Lunas, but there are a couple of good food joints in Socorro. The El Camino serves good food at good prices, and Socorro Springs has good food at slightly higher prices.
Now that you’re back in Albuquerque can you help these folks out?
Very nice place....a couple of good casinos not too far away..and nice restaurants/nightclubs, etc.
I don’t live there so can’t help you- do have a funny story about motels in ALBQ. My hubby was in the hospital up there a year ago- and my daughter told her better half to go get them a motel room. They are both country bumpkins- anyway he asked her where and what kind of room- she said she didn’t care as long as it was not a no-name & close to the hospital. The next morning she was so mad- seems he got them a room next door to a strip club and according to her if they didn’t rent by the hour there they should. She couldn’t even yell at him because she told him any motel would do.
Later we were walking by the ER waiting room and a man with his kids asked us where to get a room, his wife was being admitted- we told him where not to.
My favorite eateries in Albuquerque are La Placita and Little Anita’s.