Frontier Restaurant
Restaurant in New Mexico, United States
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Frontier Restaurant is a landmark New Mexican cuisine restaurant, located near the main campus of the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque, New Mexico.[2][3][4] It is one of the city's most popular restaurants, serving about 4,000 customers per day in 2000,[5] and is open daily from 5 a.m. to midnight. The restaurant has five dining rooms covering a total of 8,000 square feet (740 m2)[1] and is decorated with over 100 Western-themed artworks, including several portraits of John Wayne, referencing the nickname that both he and the city of Albuquerque share: “The Duke” and “The Duke City”.[6][7]
| Frontier Restaurant | |
|---|---|
Frontier Restaurant at night (September 2009) | |
 Interactive map of Frontier Restaurant | |
| Restaurant information | |
| Established | 1971 |
| Dress code | Casual |
| Location | 2400 Central Ave SE, Albuquerque, New Mexico, 87106, United States |
| Seating capacity | 326[1] |
| Website | frontierrestaurant |
History
Frontier Restaurant was established in 1971 by Dorothy and Larry Rainosek, who had recently moved to Albuquerque from Austin, Texas. Hoping to attract college students, they leased a barn-shaped building on Central Avenue across from the University of New Mexico, which had previously housed a short-lived restaurant called the Country Barn. Earlier, the corner had also been the site of a famous soda fountain called Chisholm's.[4][8] The Frontier opened on February 10 with just 15 menu items and five employees.[1][9]
Initially, the restaurant served breakfast, hamburgers, sandwiches, and some Tex-Mex foods like enchiladas. After customer requests, they began to incorporate New Mexican cuisine into the menu by the end of 1971.[10][11] By 1989, the Frontier had expanded into the adjoining buildings on the block for a total of five dining rooms and 8,000 square feet (740 m2) of space.[1] The restaurant was open 24 hours a day in the early 1990s but was forced to cut back its hours in 2006 after repeated problems with unruly patrons.[12]
Menu
The Frontier serves primarily New Mexican cuisine along with American diner fare, like sandwiches, hamburgers, and breakfast plates. Some of the best-known menu items include sweet rolls, green chile cheeseburgers, green chile stew, carne adovada, and breakfast burritos.[13][14][15][16][17] The restaurant also sells some bulk items including tortillas, chile, carne adovada, posole, green chile stew, and sweet rolls.[18]
