High Finance

View & hot chocolate (Swiss Miss) were the best thing about this place. Food was barely decent. Plates came out wet & ice cold. Food barely warm. Waitress was nice enough but way too busy or had too many tables. Way overpriced and s l o w. Will remember next time to just get the hot chocolate & enjoy the view with no food.

They should change their name to high disappointment. Server was awkward and was so slow. Food was horrible and overpriced. I expressed these things to the manger and she had no response. I tipped 2.00 on a 75.00 bill. I cannot sees how much the service Ned food absolutely sucked. I wish I could give them zero stars.

After reading the reviews of everyone we decided to go ahead and go to dinner knowing full well it was for the experience. Visiting from California at least we could say we did it and not expect anything to dazzle our taste buds.
The tram ride was crowded but fun the view is incredible! We got to the top had our reservations for 630. They seated us right away no wait.
Now reading the reviews and having low expectations… I am happy to report all SIX of us were not only pleased with our meals but thought it was really good.
My salmon was good. My husbands steak was excellent. And the others also not only raved about their meal but finished their hearty portions completely because it was so good.
Later we found out this place has been sold and bought a number of times. Which may be why the reviews are so up and down. I would definitely go back again. It was completely worth it.

Visiting Albuquerque for the first time, came here hearing that this place was a great experience. The only good thing is the view and the tram ride. We sat for and hour and a half waiting for food. Finally they brought our main courses first followed by our salads. Once the food finally came, everything thing was cold. We sent it back, came back cold again. Food was sub par, service was terrible. Definitely not worth what they are charging. They did comp the food, but was not worth it.
Terrible experience for last day of a great visit.
Gave one star because I had to.

It gets 2 stars and only because of the view, otherwise it would be a negative star rating (alas, Unilocal doesn’t, have those). Food quality for «fine dining» might be «fine» if you are a regular at Denny’s. We made reservations for 830, got there at 7pm to be in line for the tickets. Lady at the bottom couldn’t find our reservation despite my telling her at least 3 times it was for 8:30 — she kept checking for 9pm and finally told me «they don’t have it — just go up there and talk to them»…We went up and they had the reservation for the 8:30– unnecessary 30 min of aggravation at the base of the tram…
I ordered the mussels since those were recommended to us by our hotel concierge. They were out — something about having run out earlier in the week… excuse me… I settled for the filet mignon medium well, my wife ordered crab cakes — my wife’s crab cakes came out cold inside, and my steak was browned and rubbery and lukewarm at best. Waiter was nice, but too tired at the end of a 14 hour shift. Manager came over, reheated my wife, s crab cakes and switched out my steak for oven «grilled» salmon. Give him points for that.
Conclusion — go there, have a drink or two at the bar, enjoy the beautiful view of ABQ, and don’t stay for dinner. Restaurant obviously is set up for one time guests only.

I can’t give enough Unilocal beat downs out for the crappy tourist trap crap dispensary known as High Finance” aptly named. Bring your money because it’s expensive as hell. Rude staff, crappy food. Stay away. Ride the tram up and eat at the bottom, great restaurants all over town NE Heights, etc etc High Finance sucks. I’ve lived here since 1973.

She really wanted Chicken Parmesan
I just got off the phone with the manager after a bad experience there last week. I hoped to get an apology and partial refund, but the guy just listened to my story and said «sorry. Have a nice day».
I brought my wife to High Finance on her birthday on August 22.
We enjoyed the sunset trip to the top and were seated by friendly staff.
My wife, a healthy eater, looked over the menu and chose the Chicken Parm. She said it would be perfect.
I chose the Salmon, as I remember.
With her heart set on the perfect dinner, she ordered a Margarita which was a little slow in coming, but we enjoyed the view.
Then the waiter came back and explained that we could not have the Chicken Parm because there was not Pasta to go with it.
We said… OK. Just send the chicken and we will pick a different side.
«No way… The chef will not change the presentation… You MUST order something else».
So my wife, just to preserve the pleasant atmosphere of the evening, ordered the filet mignon, because the waiter assured us it was «top shelf», especially if butterflied.
My wife doesn’t usually eat beef, but we took it anyway.
Well the wait was not worth it. We got a dry overcooked medium filet and it cost us $ 15 more than the chicken parm.
But I saved the night by giving her a nice piece of jewelry. The meal sure didn’t help with her mood.
Towards the end of the meal, a guy in a tie and neatly trimmed beard came by the table to explain about the pasta issue. He said they dropped the whole bowl. No apology.
He complimented her on her choice for the «upgrade» to filet.
I assumed he would comp the difference in price because she paid more for something she didn’t really want… but no offer.
I didn’t want to make a stink so we paid nearly $ 100 for 2 dinners and left.
Well, we are back in South Carolina from our 8 day trip to the Southwest, and we ate in probably 20 different restaurants, from Museum Cafes, Hotel eateries, and sidewalk sandwich shops.
This place was by far the most expensive meal, and the least satisfying.

Horrible service !
Hostess made a table for my family
They said they were only serving appetizers and drinks we were really hungry so we didn’t mind we sat there for twenty minutes we told a couple of people we hadn’t been helped
They then continued to ignore us so we got up and left

A very good burger in a great location. The Parmesan truffle on the fries was served too cool for enjoyment. Probably sat under the warming lights too long. I would come back.

Let me preface this by saying that after hiking up the entire Sandia peak for 7 hours, I was willing to eat anything in sight that wouldn’t kill or permanently cripple me. Therefore, my taste buds may have been slightly biased while eating at high finance.
Before our hike, we knew that there was a restaurant at the peak, but we were surprised to learn that it was a «high end» restaurant. I put high end in quotations because the entire restaurant is quite old with gaudy decorations, and the vibe was more tacky than classy. We arrived close to peak dinner hours, so it was quite nice that we got seated almost immediately. One look at the menu drew sad glances between our group though, since the cheapest entrée was a vegetarian green chile Alfredo for $ 20. Seeing as we had just endured such a grueling hike however, I decided to treat myself and get a New York strip steak with Hollandaise sauce for $ 34, and later ordered a cheesecake for $ 7 as well.
The steak was definitely a good steak, cooked accurately to what I ordered (medium well), but it was ultimately overpriced for the quality you get. There were also mashed potatoes and vegetables on the side, and although the mashed potatoes were OK, the vegetables were soggy and lifeless. A more appropriate price for what I got would have been $ 20 or less.
The cheesecake was disappointing as well, not because it was bad by any means, but because it tasted suspiciously like the premade Cheesecake Factory cheesecakes that I used to get from Sam’s Club.
In the end, even without prior expectations I was quite disappointed with High Finance. It is incredibly overpriced for what you get, but for the few people that climb up the peak the prospect of immediate sustenance may be worth the scalping you’ll endure at this restaurant.

I can’t even.
I litterally want to call up every person who told me how fancy this place is, and drop the f bomb on them.
This sticky, ugly little hole.
The service is fine but I want to knock the hostess in the head. Rude little twit.
I honestly imagined a much more civil experience.
I was already in a foul mood from the ride up.
From being herded onto that tram, being elbowed by adults, and touched by little kids. People just aren’t polite enough to cram that many in a little sweat box.
We got drinks, the black Diamond was ok. The crab cakes were mush. At this point we had enough, paid and left. It is not a nice resturant, let alone fancy as so many people said it was. It was like a cheers with a snot hostess.
The view would be nice, but the large patio, filled with tourists pretty much destroys that. What you have is a closer look at the clouds. Your better off packing a picnic and eating on the patio.
Don’t come as a date and expect good seating. Come as a group if 4 or 5. The best view sits 5.
It’s a touristy group thing, definitely not a romantic date.

I had the duck, with veggies and sweet potatoes for sides, as did my wife. We were quite happy with our meals, and my lemon berry cake and the wife’s Irish Cream cheesecake were both quite tasty. The staff were prompt and courteous and the waiter was good.
We made our reservation online, and that got us a $ 5/​per person discount on the tram ride, which is beautiful. Since we went on a Monday evening, there weren’t crowds at the restaurant so we were seated about half an hour before our reservation (which is what we wanted, if possible).
My only issue with the restaurant is that the prices are quite high, and there aren’t many low-​priced options. I know our dining companions would have preferred some less expensive options on the restaurant’s rather limited menu.
All in all, High Finance is worth the trip, despite it living up to its name.

Great view. Great staff. Great food. Great experience.
While in Albuquerque for work, took an evening off to take the wife out for a nice dinner. High Finance delivered.
The tram ride up was great. Dinner was good. The fried calamari was perfect. My ribeye was done just right. Wife had a nice filet mignon. Desert was a raspberry chocolate cake.
Wine prices for the bottle were very reasonable. Dinner and desert with a bottle of Beringer White Zin was $ 111.
After dinner we watched the sun set from on top. Spectacular view from 10,378 ft up.

I call it «Denny’s at The Peak» (not entirely tongue in cheek). The quality of the food and service was just okay 20 years ago. It has only gotten worse. I can’t even recommend coming up for beer and appetizers anymore. Maybe come up for a burger on the deck in the summer.
Last time I just came up for a drink at the bar, I had to listen to waitresses whine to the bartender about the rude customers they had to deal with. It was probably not entirely unjustified, but I was also a customer, and should not have to listen to this when I’m trying to enjoy an evening on the mountain. Professional waitstaff should know better. I wish I could say that was an unusual occurrence, but the service is generally much less professional than I prefer. I could go on about the time I was served woody asparagus, or a drink in a sticky glass, or … you get the idea.
That said, do come for the view. It’s especially nice at sunset as the lights come on over the city. Just go back down the mountain for much better dinner choices.

You know, it’s not the best meal you will ever have but it is better than average. Our service was really good and the meal choices were good as well. You will pay a pretty penny at this place. The views are awesome. The building itself was modeled after a ski lodge almost 50 years ago. It is certainly dated however word on the street is that once the lease is up (sometime in 2015) the owners plan to demolish the existing restaurant and build a new one in celebration of their 50^th anniversary.

A definitely tourist attraction, but still worth the trip.
We started with cocktails that were okay — nothing spectacular, but still okay.
I had the bacon wrapped pork tenderloin — 3 pieces. It was tasty, but could probably use a sauce of some type to finish it off for a fuller taste. My spouse had the pork chop, which was good. However, the closer he got to the bone the tougher it got — so part of it was left on the bone. The risotto that we both had was delicious.
The Lemon Berry Cake was also very good — a great way to finish off a dinner.
When weather permits, the views are wonderful and very romantic.
Arrive early for the tram ride to the restaurant — it takes approximately 15 minutes up the mountain, but there is a discount for those eating ($ 12/​each).

Great views and setting, below average food, excellent service. The artichoke and naan was tasty. We had the duck breast and vegetarian ravioli, and barely edible. The veggies had a fishy or stinky taste to them… Couldn’t eat them at all. After Pappadeaux last night which is delicious we just enjoyed the view.
5 star service
5 star view
2 star food

Stopped in here between tram rides and they weren’t serving lunch or dinner, just drinks and appetizers. (Fishy…star lost) The hot chocolate was incredible – creamy, chocolatey and topped with whipped cream. Ordered the artichoke dip with fried naan bread. The bread was perfection! Delicious, not too greasy, crisp and satisfying enough for two people. The dip was tasty too but maybe under salted so the flavored didn’t come out as strong as I wanted them to.
You cannot go wrong on the green chili stew! Perfectly seasoned stew in tender succulent meat – made by the same little Mexican lady for 20 years apparently. Beast mode. DO IT. The boss was super nice and seated us in an area that was technically not supposed to have any guests. As the only restaurant atop the mountain, it was worth the somewhat hefty price tag.

I think by looking over the not so great reviews here you can guess you are paying for the view, not so much the food. And it’s true, the view is stunning. The restaurant itself is so dated it’s almost as if they are playing it up. Service was good at first while the restaurant was pretty empty but as it got more and more crowded we saw our server less and less. I guess they need to increase staff appropriately? I ordered the chicken which was a 2 or 3 star dish but my husbands steak was MUCH better. In fact, I’d say it was excellent.
At the end of our meal when we tried to get back down the tram broke down leaving us, and plenty of other folks, stranded at the top. We watched as one lady needed oxygen as she had altitude sickness. We tried to make the best of a bad situation but we were told there really isn’t another feasible way to get off the peak quickly. Apparently they can get buses up the other side but it’s a long walk to get to them. Not good. After a few hours when the trams finally began running again and it was a mess of people trying to get down. Not confidence inspiring riding in those rickety things full of people knowing they’d just broken down! Although the restaurant doesn’t run the trams I thought they should have been more accommodating to those of us who patronized their establishment then got stuck. Not even a free or discounted drink out of the whole debacle!

Not sure where they got the name for this place, but its name is no indication of the quality of food or service you’re going to get. We made it to the restaurant around 3pm and they were no longer serving anything but appetizers and drinks. What? This is a tourist attraction — you don’t stop serving food during peak summer hours. Anyway, they said we could sit in the bar area.
I had to ask our server to wipe down our noticeably dirty table. Then it took her forever to come back and take our order. We didn’t get much besides water and the cheese plate. When the cheese plate came out, the ‘chef’s selection’ wasn’t even explained to us. I know why — because it was cheddar, Swiss and Gouda. I can get that anywhere and this is what the ‘chef selected’? Boring! Anyway, service continued to be poor and you could hear the staff talking about the customers. Hey, you want a good tip — here’s one: DO YOUR JOB, then maybe people will tip you. (I used to be in their shoes, so I feel I can say that.) I recommend you just grab a beer if you want and save your dollars for something better in town.