Serafin’s

Serafin’s is one of my favorite New Mexican restaurants in Albuquerque. I love the red chile and carne adovada. It’s very hot most of the time so be warned. My only critique is I wish the portions were bigger.

Let’s be honest here– New Mexicans judge the quality of a restaurant on how close it approximates their grandmother’s recipes. Lacking an abuela myself (although my grandmother does make a mean sukiyaki), my tastes aren’t tied into warm memories of a family table. Serafin’s is about the closest I’ve come to feeling that familial, no-​frills, love in every bite food in Albuquerque. The owner of Serafin’s is a welcoming host; he checks on each customer individually to make sure they are enjoying their time in his homey restaurant. I walked by Serafin’s for years before giving it a try– I live very close by now, and their Friday enchilada special (four stacked with two eggs, beans and red chile) is always tempting me come the end of the week.
If you, too, are a lover of incendiary chile, Serafin’s has never brought a tear to my eye, but not every restaurant has to pander to my capsaicin addiction I suppose :]
Remember to mention the student discount if you’re into saving a lil’ money here and there (10%).

Great Restaurant ! Food tastes like good family cooking! The atmosphere is Kind & Warm! Really «like» this place!

We have this place a try, despite some of the negative reviews. I am strictly reviewing on the food. Chips were great! But let’s be honest, chips are pretty easy to execute. We both got the large combo plate, it came with a tamale, chile relleno, enchilada, taco, rice & beans. Everything was pretty bland, the chile relleno was supperrrr greasy! I make chile rellenos, yes you fry them, but you shouldn’t taste only grease. Rice was really bland, no taste what so ever. Maybe Texas spoiled me but I would go somewhere else or just see for yourself, like we did!

Really good and affordable. I had the Tamales they were good, the chili sauce was great.-I had Christmas. Tim had the breakfast burrito with bacon –red. Soapapilla’s were tasty. We will definitely be back. They have great pride in the quality of their chili’s, very honorable.

Loved our dinner. Had enchiladas and carne adovada. Spicy and tasty. Chips freshly made brought to table hot and crispy. Sopapillas light and warm. Delish. Dennis the owner came out and struck up a conversation Learned he wasn’t happy with quality of dried chiles he was buying so he now dries his own. That’s attention to detail. Highly recommend this comfortable friendly restaurant.

Absolutely love this place! Great food, especially the enchiladas and tamales, and wonderful service. The food is always fast and fresh, and the owner regularly comes out to say hello. It’s definitely a more casual place with a relaxed atmosphere– but it’s called the ‘chile hut.’ I wouldn’t expect anything else. Also, it’s hard to beat the prices– $ 20 for a hefty meal for two. I highly recommend this restaurant to anyone.

This is a awesome place to come and eat. Small town feel, kinda like cheers, everyone knows your name. Every single time my family and I have gone the whole staff is genuine and makes you feel like part of the family. I only wish the best for Serafin’s. Food is great and service is great. Tell all your friends and family to come and try it. Once you try it you will come back again, again, again.

Chips and salsa are fresh, chile is some of the best around. I’m glad we live close because I can’t make it a week without Serafins!

I was VERY suprised by the Carne Adovada! That was GREAT! And the Red here was top notch! I will be returning. Saddly the service was a little lacking. (there were only 3 tables that day for lunch, and the family members who run it I think got a little lax and spent more time talking with each other than refilling drinks and taking care of us, and then they started mixing up the receipts between us and another table. It really was the girl just not thinking. But, I do not expect 5 Star service for a fmaily owned hole int he wall, I expect food cooked from Grandma, and I got it here!

Hands down the best southwestern restaurant in Albuquerque. Love the sopapillas. Low key and casual which make it a great place to relax. Very friendly owner and staff.

My husband and I each had the enchilada plate. The chicken was very moist and tender, the rice was delicious, and even the beans (which I usually pass on) were pretty tasty. The chile (both green and red) were not very spicy, but still yummy.

Having lived in northern Idaho for a dozen years but being from southern California, I crave and miss good Mexican food. We ordered chile rellenos, tacos, and enchiladas. Very yummy. My daughter is the relleno girl and said these were just about the best she’s had. Homemade tortillas, beans and salsa were excellent. Good tacos. Fresh hot sopapillas with honey finished out the meal. Cozy atmosphere and excellent service.

I’m going to have to agree with Jay E., the chile relleno was pretty horrible, exactly as Jay described, unfortunately I hadn’t read Unilocal before I ate here :(… I’m curious about all the 5 stars so I’ll have to try something else next time.
To the owner — something needs to change with staff — way too casual, one lady was wearing tights and sitting down eating in the dining area, no uniforms. Maybe at least an apron or name tag?

Crave worthy, the owners and staff go out of their way to make customers happy while serving up family recipes

No table service, but prices like there is. The Carne Adovada and eggs were fine, but only warm, not hot. The relleno was far and away the worst I have ever had and I have eaten a lot of them in my day. An overtly prominent herbal flavor/​aroma that was neither traditional nor pleasant. There was absolutely ZERO crunch to the breading and the cheese inside was cold. Again, needed to spend more time actually cooking/​reheating the food. My sons pancakes and sausage were fine, but nothing special or inspired. Very obviously a whole lot of pre-​cooking reheating and heat lamps going on in here. Top it off with some of the worst and weakest coffee I have ever had. Just overall a very bland and uninspired place. Won’t go out of my way to try it again.

Truly the best New Mexican food in ABQ. Great atmosphere — casual and clean. Staff is always friendly. I recommend the Chicken Enchilada’s — green and the chile rellenos. I am a green chile fan but their red chile is very good and usually milder than the green. Take some of their homemade salsa to go — delish! The owner Dennis has mentioned to me that they try to source local ingredients and the recipes are family recipes. Really good food… really good people!

Very good, comfort-​food-​style New Mexican cooking. The prices are a bit much for the quality, but if you need a chile fix in Nob Hill, this is your place. The chile usually has a bite, so beware unless you’re into that kind of thing!

Serafin’s is by far my «go-​to» place for good New Mexican food in Nob Hill.
While I’m a fairly recent transplant to NM, I’m starting to gain the ability to eat greater quantity of green and red chile and in general get the spice content to acceptable levels. Some of the qualities I like about Serafin’s are the food, design, location (Nob Hill! Off Central — with parking!) that is just quick walk from where I live, the prices, and the service.
My favorite dishes include the carne adovado with eggs, the combo plate, enchiladas, and burritos. The chicken is flavorful, the carne adovado is hot and delicious, and you almost can’t go wrong with anything on the menu. The breakfast plates are great and perfect for those mornings when you need a little spice and grease to get you going. The green chile is pretty piquant and the red chile packs a punch. Sure, they may not be the «hottest» or best in Albuquerque chile in ABQ, but my boyfriend and I seriously enjoy it.
I also love love love the giant outdoor eating patio. Partially covered, partially open with water misters in the summer, you can’t beat eating out here. Bring your pooch and enjoy your meal while doing a little people watching. Also of note: Occasionally on weekend nights, they have live music and people will get into it. The music style varies but it’s always great to sit outside and listen to the music.
The location is great and makes it easy to find — so many of these popular New Mexican restaurants are up on 4^th Street and to be honest with you, I’m not a huge fan of that part of town. Nob Hill makes this place easy to get to and easy to walk to other locations in the area. The prices for most items are between $ 6 – 9, with larger plates (I think!) going up to $ 11. However, you are getting huge portions and good quality here. Also check out the specials as well — sometimes you can get a meal and drink or beer for $ 7 or $ 8!
Lastly, the service is excellent. While you order inside and have you food brought to your table, everyone is extremely courteous and helpful and frequently the owner or his family will swing by and ask how things are and likely even bus your tables. What I like is that they wait until you are ¾ through your meal to bring sopapillas — they don’t deflate and get cold like other places that bring them out with your food. People are generally just happy to be there and it is reflected in the service and food.
Overall, I’m happy to live so close to this great New Mexico eatery and hope everyone else drops buy this great place for breakfast, lunch or dinner.

Besides being one of my favorite dishes, I find that huevos rancheros work very well as a litmus test for New Mexican restaurants. You get to try their eggs, their tortillas, their chile, typically their meat, and restaurants seem to know that they have to really deliver when it comes to this plate. A New Mexican restaurant that fails at huevos rancheros might as well give up and close its doors.
So how are the huevos at Serfin’s? Well, to start, they don’t come with sausage, bacon, carne adovada, or any kind of meat, which is a bit of a disappointment. I got two eggs over easy, and they were surprisingly large, obviously fresh, and richly flavorful. The seasoned fried potatoes on the side were pretty tasty, but they gave you only a small amount. They smother everything with some (but not much) slightly sweet, fairly bland red chile sauce. Pretty mediocre chile without any heat. I hate that. At 8 bucks, the portions were a bit small, but the food was pretty tasty. While this place was good and I don’t regret eating here, there are so many better places for huevos in ABQ.
Service was decent, but you refill your own drinks, and the staff was all very friendly and helpful. The restaurant was cute inside with plenty of shaded outside seating. Great for drinks or a causal meal.
**EDIT** On my second visit, I had much the same experience. We ordered an Indian taco and a combo plate. While the food was decent, but nothing special, the portions were very small, and the prices a bit steep for the quality and size of the dishes. This place won’t blow you away and it’s up against some stiff competition for New Mexican food.