Albuquerque's Top 5 Restaurants To Visit For Big Portions, According To Reviews

New Mexico is called the Land of Enchantment for good reason. This Southwestern state boasts rugged mountains, open desert, and otherworldly attractions such as this stunning land of canyons, mesas, cliffs, and petroglyphs. While many people flock to New Mexico for its undeniable outdoor treasures and cool towns — like this artsy gem on Route 66 — it's also a remarkably delicious place. Home to a unique, home-grown cuisine that blends Native American, Spanish, and Mexican traditions, the region showcases dishes featuring ingredients such as blue corn, pinto beans, pine nuts, and the iconic green and red chiles.

Word of this incredible fare is catching on, making the state a culinary destination as well as one for natural beauty. This is especially true in Albuquerque, New Mexico's vibrant capital city with a walkable downtown full of art, entertainment, and nightlife options. The area is full of eateries serving up classic dishes. So, whether you're craving enchiladas, a green chile cheeseburger, chicken fried steak, or even a steaming bowl Chinese hand-pulled noodles, Albuquerque has what you're after.

Not all restaurants are equal when it comes to bang-for-your-buck, though. Albuquerque is a famously outdoorsy city, and perhaps a day spent cycling, hiking, or kayaking in local waters has worked up a big appetite. In this case, you'll want to dive into a substantial plate of food, so it's good to know just where in town delivers the biggest portions. Here's a list of the top five spots, according to online reviews.

This family-owned operation has been dishing up hearty diner-style breakfasts and lunches since 1998. Its also been recommended by a host of reviewers online. In Facebook's Albuquerque Foodies group, one well-liked comment recommended Vic's to a user seeking establishments "with extra large portions." Additionally, one past visitor on Tripadvisor wrote: "My husband had chicken fried steak and eggs and was extremely happy with it. It was a huge serving and better than any he had on a recent trip to Texas." Another reviewer remarked, "You better show up hungry because their portions are trucker sized."

There are two menus at Vic's Daily Cafe: one for breakfast and one for lunch. The breakfast menu features Mexican classics such as egg burritos, huevos rancheros, and huevos con chorizo, along with an array of omelets and dishes such as pancakes, pork cutlet and eggs, French toast, buttermilk biscuits, and giant cinnamon rolls. Lunch options check all the diner boxes with nice New Mexican touches. Vic's offers a variety of burgers (with green chile, if requested, of course), as well as sandwiches, liver and onions, hamburger steak, and New Mexican meatloaf (served with mashed potatoes and pinto beans, topped with red or green chiles, and finished with melted cheddar). For the kind of meal one Reddit user labeled "a legend," try the cafe's chicken fried steak. Per another Reddit commenter, it's "huge and delish."

When you think of Albuquerque, Chinese food doesn't necessarily spring to mind. However, according to the buzz online, Tasty Noodles & Dumplings doesn't just deliver authentic Asian dishes but also loads up the plates. "I was so glad to eat there. The food portion was good," a customer wrote on Yelp. Another reviewer of the restaurant had this to say: "Great food large portions, great service."

What's the restaurant's secret? Variety, authenticity, and generosity. While you can get Chinese-American staples (think General Tso's and kung pao chicken) at Tasty Noodles & Dumplings, the extensive menu also features some harder-to-find dishes such as dan dan noodles, beef noodle soup, xiao long bao (soup dumplings), and hand-pulled noodles. If you're feeling adventurous, there is also the chef's special, which includes more exotic takes like stir-fried kidney, duck blood curd, and jalapeño pork belly. Noodles & Dumplings also offers fiery and mouth-numbing Sichuan-style entrees.

The array of choices is what keeps customers returning. As one commenter shared on Yelp, "We will definitely be back as this is one of the better Chinese restaurants in the area and you really get some real Chinese variety and not your basic generic stereotypical menu." That said, the fact that no one leaves hungry can't hurt either. "Tasty Noodles & Dumplings served us the largest bowl of hot and sour soup I've ever seen," New Mexican food blogger Gil Garduño remarked, "a veritable swimming pool-sized bowl the four of us could share (and still not finish)."

If you had to designate one restaurant as the Albuquerque institution, Frontier may be it. Located right across the street from the University of New Mexico, this cafeteria-style joint has been filling the bellies of starving students and others since 1971. Today, it's still going strong. "Frontier is the greatest restaurant in all of Albuquerque and I'll die on that hill," one Reddit user wrote. Another explained: "Frontier represents this town well. most of the time if someone asks where to go while theyre here anyone thats got family here or was raised here is gonna say you gotta go to Frontier."

Frontier's massive menu will scratch most any itch, but perhaps its greatest strength is the fare that puts New Mexico in its own class, food-wise. We're talking both soft and crispy tacos, enchiladas, burritos, and a pozole (hominy stew) that many swear by. Frontier also serves up breakfast, burgers, sandwiches, salads, and steak platters. However, it's the place's legendary sweet roll that has people swooning. As a reviewer on Yelp said, "no trip to Frontier is complete without at least ONE frontier sweet roll. A basic cinnamon roll SLATHERED in butter that's served warm, it's artery-clogging but oh so worth it."

When it comes to serving size, Frontier doesn't mess around, either. Given its student clientele, the restaurant probably couldn't have stayed in business so long without piling on the food. This was confirmed by a customer on Yelp, who wrote that Frontier "felt almost like a college cafeteria. Space is big. Highly recommend for those who want something quick. Portions were also huge."

Sadie's started in the early 1950s, when the restaurant's namesake, Sadie Koury, set up a nine-stool hamburger stand. Since then, it's grown into a local chain with three locations that — while still grilling burgers (topped with green chiles, of course) — has fully embraced New Mexico's unique cuisine. This means huevos rancheros, sopaipillas (fried bread), green chile chicken birria tacos, enchiladas, chile rellenos, carne adovada (chile braised pork), and more. There are also classic American selections, such as pork chops and ribeye steak, as well as salads.

While people come to Sadie's to scratch their itch for a fat burger or New Mexican standards, what really creates a buzz online are the restaurant's portions. At Sadie's, you're served a slab of food, which may have you waddling out the door. "FYI, the small portion was enough for two meals for me," wrote a reviewer on Tripadvisor. "I cannot imagine ordering a large portion, which the server said was 2x the small. Wow." 

"Sadie's is very generous with their portions and is a must for any new locals or visitor," a Reddit user added. Meanwhile, one customer on Yelp offered this praise: "Food was delicious and portions were huge!! They even give you free sopaipilla! Prices are amazing. You could feed a whole family for cheap."

Route 66 occupies a singular place in the collective American imagination. Albuquerque is part of its story, as the legendary roadway runs 18 miles straight through town along Central Avenue. 66 Diner celebrates this connection by serving classic greasy spoon fare in a retro-style diner, complete with neon lights, counter stools, formica-a-plenty, and an old-school jukebox. This spot is nostalgia dialed up to 11, and with that comes fully-loaded plates of food.

"The portions were huge, and the service was fast," one Google reviewer reported. Another account on Tripadvisor praised 66 Diner's milkshakes, saying: "There was enough for at least 2 full drinks and boy were they good and thick." On Yelp, another reviewer raved, "I ordered the green chile bacon Mac & cheese. It was a pretty big portion for the price & such a solid Mac & cheese. They didn't skimp on the bacon or green chile. The strawberry milkshakes were made to perfection and I love that you get to keep the excess."

As for the menu, 66 Diner keeps it simple with burgers, hot dogs, fries, sandwiches, and some nods to New Mexican cuisine. These include dishes such as burritos, huevos rancheros, and green chile chicken bacon mac 'n cheese. There's also the diner's trademark Pile Up, a gut-busting breakfast entrée made of pan fried potatoes, chopped bacon or sausage, green chile, eggs, and cheddar cheese, with plenty of red or green chile sauce poured on top.

To find Albuquerque's top five restaurants to visit for big portions, we considered a number of sources. First, we searched Yelp and Tripadvisor for city eateries with reviews mentioning the serving sizes. These reports were cross-checked against first-person accounts on Google, Reddit, Facebook, and food blogs such as Gil Garduño's.

While determining which restaurants deliver the most food on your plate is admittedly a subjective exercise, a few spots were continually mentioned across the board. This gave us a clear picture as to where people can go to really get fed in Albuquerque. This list reflects that. So, next time you're in New Mexico, dive in to a meal at one of these eateries, but be sure to bring your appetite. 

For more of the Southwest's culinary magic, check out these pit stop-worthy eats on a road trip through the region. Or, read up on why foodies are traveling to New Mexico for innovative Native American cuisine.