m'tucci's italian

too expensive for the quality. after two visits both times getting aranci for an app and both times they were very good. i had the pasta bolo and didn't care for it. the following time i got the pasta with wild mushrooms, themenulists three different mushrooms, i got one type, the dish was very bland and tasted faintly of garlic and truffle oil. the bread is very good but unlike most italian places you get charged for bread. on themenuthe food sounds great but never matches up with what you get.

easily the best run restaurant in albuquerque. if i count right we have eaten here 12-times, usually for dinner. at some point we have eaten just about every thing on themenu(which does change from time to time). my wife loves the roast half chicken with which she always substitutes grilled polenta (wonderful). i especially love the seafood cannelloni but have yet to find anything else i did not love. jeff & katie owned 11-restaurants in nyc, up to 6 at one time, and they learned how to run a well oiled machine with outstanding service. the only thing i wish changed is that it be moved to the east side.

m'tucci's kitchina is becoming more popular each month. make dinner reservations or risk being turned away.

great restaurant!. just had my third visit to m'tucci's kitchina and my third great meal. i have tried something different each time and each time i have been more than impressed with the hight quality and presentation of the food here. everything has been perfectly seasoned and well portioned. my first visit i ordered the chicken milanese...their version of chicken parmesan. i have never had a better prepared breaded chicken breast, it was very moist and flavorful. it is served with cacio pepe....i've never seen this on amenuin abq before. this simple pasta dish is a staple in rome and it went well with the dish. i've resisted ordering it every time i go in because so many other dishes are so tempting. last trip i had a pasta with chicken and mushrooms with ribbon pasta....delicious! tonight was the risotto special with saffron and tuna...another great entree. each time i've had the risotto balls appetizer and grilled caesar salad. perfect! tonight was the first time we ordered dessert. lemon tart was superb, their version of the twinkie...i was skeptical until i tried it...it was really good! even my east coast dinner companion gave high praise on the cannolis. i highly recommend this restaurant. if olive garbage is your impression of good italian food you probably will be disappointed. m'tucci's kitchina is the real thing! this is really good food!

my son and i went there for a late lunch. the server handed us the very limited lunch menu. then came back for our order when i asked her if we could order something to drink maybe tea or soda. i was not impressed with the food selection so i decided to play it safe and order a sandwich. i ordered the steak sandwich. the server came back and informed me they were out of steak. really it's such a limitedmenuhow can you be out of something. i then ordered the chicken salad sandwich. i was in the middle of it when i bit into something slimy. the fatty part of the skin about 1 1/2 inches was in my mouth. yuk! i then opened up the sandwich and there was skin throughout. i was done! my son ordered a pasta dish and it was all stuck together. along with the tip i paid $32 for an awful lunch. never again!

tried it anyway. we overheard some folks at another restaurant one night talking about kitchina and even though they said they received slow service, they said the food was good. so we decided to give it a try. was not really impressed with the interior when we walked in, but decided to stay and try the food anyway. took a look at the really small printmenuwith the not so small prices and decided to stay and try it anyway. we did receive fairly quick service, but it was early in the dinner service, so we probably lucked out there. the salad was good, but you can't mess up salad greens, diced tomatoes, gorgonzola cheese and balsamic vinaigrette, so i still had hope for our meal. i tried the quadrafiorre pasta with alfredo sauce, roast chicken and guanciale. i have never tasted such a salty cream sauce before and when the server checked to see how it was prepared, she said the cooks salt the pork that is in the sauce. the pasta was okay, but nothing to get excited about. my dining companion had spaghetti and meatballs . . . meh. i asked about bread hoping that our server had just forgotten to bring it out, but was told it was $3 extra for about 5 slices of bread. i am thinking that the people that have enjoyed this restaurant have way more $$$ than i do to spend on lackluster italian food. oh well, i tried it anyway.

while the ambiance bespeaks of fun and whimsy, themenuincludes some seriously good dining options, some heretofore unseen in the duke city. it’s impossible to pigeonhole this modern contemporary italian restaurant which offers playful takes on classic dishes as well as a bit of local flavor (it’s virtually impossible to have amenuin new mexico without red and green chile). six neapolitan-style pizzas are prepared in a wood-burning pizza oven. the bar menu, which varies daily, includes tapas-style small plates.

grey meat. pay extra for bread. tough, chewy, way underdone pasta?. it'strip mall space looking out on a parking lot with abt 10 waitstaff, falling over each other. we were asked by 2 diff ones for drink orders. apparently they don't have it figured out who's on first, and who is next??
plates we got were quite awful. chicken came out bare & gray. looked like pressure cooked or boiled in liquid meat with thin lemon slices on top. pasta came out plopped in a watery liquid i was told that was kale sauce. if water colored the hue of kale is sauce, we're all in trouble.
noodles were vastly less than al dente. this batch was an under cooked mess that should never have left the kitchen.. maybe letting it sit in kale water in the plate was supposed to make it cook more? i dont' know. why are waiters bring out food that looks so awful?

menu mentioned bread basket as an appetizer that you pay for; you have to ask if that's on top of the bread with the meal and then you are told you only get bread with your meal if you order it and pay for it, of course. otherwise, none is served with the meal.

face it, they are trying to maximize the space by putting the dining tables almost sitting in your on top of your table. it's like the ppl next to you are part of your conversation. the only way these tables this close together work, is when everything is empty. schrooch tables with bodies in em back from the table and there isn't enough room to walk any aisles. if you think paying extra for your bread basket, getting grey palor for meat, stiff, half cooked noodles, or see virtually amenuprice of $50 for a steak, this is what you'll get at this strip mall place who some ppl (who probably work there) rated on here as a great value. how long before an overpriced, under done, corner looking out into a parking lot but trying to be a restaurant figures out this is not the place?

just ok. if you are italian, or know italian food you may be disappointed. themenuitems listed are wonderful and provide a good range of items. lot's of things besides your typical spaghetti and meatballs, some northern italian dishes. i had the sausage and polenta which was very good. the sausage was house made. a little dry. you have to order salad ala carte. boo! nobody really ever likes that! i also had a side dish of greens which were nicely prepared with olive oil and garlic. overpriced for the hand full of kale i had.the problem is they are trying to be to upscale and the portion and flavor of the food needs to be improved to match the price they are asking. they are a nice addition to the west side , but will probably go out of business because there are so many families where they are located. that's why the bar-pubs, before them didn't make it in that location. most would not be able to afford to take their whole family there and will most likely make another choice - and settle for one of the other restaurants near m'tucci's. that's a shame. it might be better to be a little more family friendly and survive!

no bueno!!!. we just dined here on a recommendation of someone who appeared to be a local.we tried it and were not pleased! the prices were too expensive and, the portions of our dishes were very small. who puts new mexico chile in italian dishes?that is a very unfortunate choice.

it took them an hour to bring our food to us.my husband ordered the spaghetti with meatballs.the pasta was overcooked, and the sauce tasted like came from a can, they only gave him two small meatballs.there was also this clear liquid (it wasn't sauce) around his pasta plate, what was that?it looked disgusting.

i myself ordered the eggplant parmesan, it was very dry. the angel -haired pasta was stuck together when i lifted the the whole pasta from my fork, it tasted very bland.to make it worse, my food was cold i sent it back immediately .there was also no kid'smenuso they had to eat from our plates, they too weren't please with the food.this restaurant is not going to make it long with this type of service, food, and location!

i recommend to anybody don't dine at this restaurant, your just wasting your time and money,because there are way better tasting italian restaurants that are worth your time and money!!


-----27 jul, 2013-----

not impressed at all!!. not a good place to take your children. there is no kidsmenuand we had to share our small meals. there were not enough high-chairs either. also, the building is quite small. although in a very romantic setting, the prices over-shot the mark. we paid well over one hundred dollars for a family of four. not including wine. unfortunately, we were not satisfied with our meals and portions. we will stick to il vicino for moderate prices and substantial portions.

8-thumbs up!!!! (2 from each of us, in my family, who ate there on the evening of 30-july-2013).

first things first...i'm not a m'tucci's staff member, ok?! and, andrea, why would you make such a bold accusation like that (about the positive reviews) if you don't know that to be a fact? that's like me saying that "i'm starting to think a majority of these negative reviews are coming from the staff of competing restaurants who are just trying to promote their own place." both are very wrong & unfair statements to make (unless, of course, one knew, for a fact, for it to be true).

that aside, my entire family & i simply loved our entire experience at the kitchina. i was born in italy, grew up in an italian neighborhood of new jersey, with a mamma that could sure cook authentic italian! so, if you don't like this place, well, all i can say to you is that it's time to stop buying the commercial prego or ragu jarred tomato sauces from the supermarket! you have also eaten at the olive garden way too many times (especially if that is your idea of fine italian food). it's definitely time to start eating real italian food. and, m'tucci's is it.

and i just don't understand salsamama madsen's comment about it not being a place for children. our 9-year-old twins loved the staff & their meals. no, they don't have a kid's menu...and...thank god they don't!...i am so sick of going out to dinner with our kids' only choice being a dry crappy hamburger, a quesadilla, a grilled cheese, or mac-n-cheese (all, of course, coupled with some greasy fries). if we're eating italian, then i want my kids to also eat an italian meal, as well! so, kudos on not having a kids' menu. if their management ever does decide to introduce one, i beg them to, please, make the choices just smaller portions of the mainmenudishes.

also, to andrea's other point about the bread...i was so very glad they didn't give us bread on which to fill up. that is a deceitful starchy trick restaurants play to make people feel as if they were given a really big meal, when, in fact, bread is relatively inexpensive compared to other main ingredients in meals. bread, in real italian meals, is used as to compliment meats, vegetables, cheeses, olives, etc. (not a meal in & of itself). besides, when bread is provided beforehand, our kids (all kids & many adults, too) usually fill up on it & never end up eating enough of their main meals.

anyway, the kids started by sharing a tomato caprese salad, whereas my wife & i shared a grilled polenta appetizer. both were delicious.

our little girl had spaghettini e polpettini (meatballs) with some leftovers that she took home) & our son had an awesome 12" thin-crust margherita pizza (also taking a couple/three left-over slices back home with him). our son, who is pretty picky with ethnic foods actually sent "compliments [back] to the chef!" my wife had the very delicious & filling gnocchi di verdura (vegetable) dish.

i – admittedly being the most picky & critical of the family (especially with italian food &/or seafood) – had the daily special of mussels & shrimp in a tomato-based sauce over a great soft bed of polenta. i admit, i'm always nervous when ordering seafood (especially shellfish) in this "middle-of-the-desert" & "far-from-either-coast" city that we live in. in my 20 years here in albuquerque, there are only two places in town that i have learned to trust, somewhat, with seafood/shellfish. now, there are three!

anyway, when ordering, i cautiously & nervously asked our server: "exactly how fresh are the mussels?" i know very well that this question could have easily backfired on me (as it has been the case many times in the past). but, the very kind & very honest server said he didn't personally know, but that he could & would ask the chef for me. he returned with, not only a recent "pulled-out-of-the-water" date which was printed on the sack's label from which the mussels were being taken, but also told me their point of origin; both of which were very acceptable to me. at that point, i trusted them. and i wasn't wrong. the dish was great & it tasted very fresh.

my wife and i both shared a bottle of an imported dry prosecco from italy, which, in my opinion, complimented our meals perfectly.

and, at the end, we all four shared their "twinkie d'italia" dessert; an awesome thick slice of a white-chocolate, light-cream-filled jelly-roll pastry cake, covered in candied pecans; a beautifully rich delicacy (based, of course, on the american classic snack) with which we were all very impressed; so much so that twins were easily convinced that a stop at nearby menchie's (their favorite place, by the way) was not necessary, after all.

in response to jessica etoll's comments about the management...all i can say is "wow!" our experience could not have been any more 180-degrees from yours. we found the management & staff to be nothing but courteous, polite, accommodating, & professional. they asked our opinions several times & i was completely honest each and every time; even with some very constructive criticism & advice thrown in there. it was all taken graciously. and, because of my concern over the freshness of the mussels, one of the owners even paid me a personal visit to make sure i was satisfied with their freshness & taste. and, i truly was!

lastly, because of the two & a half negative reviews i found here, i almost didn't go to this place and i'm glad i listened to all the other positive reviews, both here & on yelp! at the end of the day, to each their own, i guess. and, to remove any doubt, people should just judge for themselves.

living in a part of town where keeping good eating establishments seems to be a perpetual challenge for us, i sure do hope we get to keep this one. but, i'm starting to understand why we haven't been able to do so in the past. sometimes, people just don't know a good thing; even when it's hitting them straight in the face.

now, if you want a cheap "all-you-can-eat" &/or an "out-of-a-can" meal, than this place isn't for you; just stick with olive garden, caesar's, or domino's!

updated review: dear kitchina, still love your restaurant, but please leave your wine list alone. you've taken off my go-to glasses for the third time in a row. also, your food was far too salty on my last visit. you're an awesome gem on the westside, but don't let that go to your head. you still need to stay on top of your game!


finally the westside...to be fair, i am a local westsider, even with that said, this place is a must eat. themenuis extensive, the team friendly, yet professional, and is in the making for one of albuquerque's best restaurants. this is a pretty bold statement for a restaurant that just opened three days ago, but have i yet mentioned how the food tastes? take a drive to the westside, i dare you. try the polenta. try the steak. try the beets. (i didn't even like beets before. what gives?) try anything. okay, so i didn't try everything, but i will. don't steal my table.