vernon's speakeasy

vernon's. took my boyfriend to this place for his birthday and it was simply amazing. the service was great and the food was amazing. highly recommend.

had the oysters last night, writing this from the throne... asked to sit near the piano because i enjoy piano music, when we were seated asked what time the piano player started, were told no piano tonight. should have left right then. down hill from there.

vernon's. we go here a lot. yes it's pricey but damn, you really get what you pay for. excellent food and atmosphere. the singer sunday was outstanding. our favorite 'joint' in the albuquerque area. our newbie friends had a blast and thanks for the menus without prices. jackamo? my man!


-----01 nov, 2012-----

a snazzy joint. as usual another fine dining experience. our visitors went crazy over their steaks and diver scallops. then there's the atmosphere - a snazzy joint.. and we're heading back sunday night (about our tenth visit).


-----04 apr, 2011-----

what's to dislike?. jocko, chris (our fantastic waiter), the food, tommy et al. and just the joint itself. makes for one fine dining experience and can't count the times we've been there. hard to believe the quality of their scallops. and that's in the middle of the desert! sure glad abq has the place.

delicious. the food was fantastic. i had the kurobota pork chops and i don't think i've ever had something as delicious in my whole life. the speak easy theme is a little weird, but the food and service was just great. excellent wine specials as well.

it's expensive, so it's not something i would suggest for any old day of the week, but for a special occasion i can't think of a better place to go.

meh.. for the quality of food and service (both are quite good, but not out-of-this-world exceptional), way overpriced.

best dining in abq. vernon's has become my yearly birthday dinner place of choice. i love the speakeasy atmosphere, from the greetings to the exit. the waitstaff is attentive and very knowledgeable about the food choices, the drink menu and the wine list. it is my favorite place to take out of town guests.

i've recently learned about other parts of the restaurant, such as the bar and some mixology classes they do. there's a private members only bar and special occasion seating for larger parties.

i'll be going back more often.

fun speakeasy. stellar experience! wonderful ambiance, fantastic food, great music.

great place!!. we enjoyed our 35th anniversary at vernon's. it was fun and romantic! the food was excellent and we would go back in a heartbeat!! :d

very disappointing. i had heard the hype, read the mixed reviews, but decided to give it a try, hoping to get a very flavorful prime aged steak. got the los ranchos, which our server said was the most flavorful. what a disappointment. i could have done much better buying a steak at smiths and grilling it at home. the server was a little pretenscious, and with the poor quality of the food he was serving had absolutely no right to be. don't waste your money or your time at this place!!!!!

terrible experience. my wife and i went there a couple of months ago we got sitted and waited for someone to approach us 15 minutes in to the wait a caucasian couple got sat next to us inmediately a waiter approach them and started to cater to them i looked at the waiter as if to ask "what is going on" he ignore me so we continue to wait for another 20 minutes finally my wife got upset (the caucasian couple had their appetizers served and no one had approach us) and she went to the receptionists desk to complaint inmediately the manager came to apologize and offer us a gift card we felt ackward and embarrased and most certainly would not recomend this restaurant at all
btw the gift card was a hoax there was nothing input in there at all we live in abq and always visit many restaurants and have never been treated like this before.


-----14 sep, 2012-----

terrible experience. my wife and i went there a couple of months ago we got sat and waited for someone to approach us 15 minutes in to the wait a caucasian couple got sat next to us inmediately a waiter approach them and started to cater to them i looked at the waiter as if to ask "what is going on" he ignore me so we continue to wait for another 20 minutes finally my wife got upset (the caucasian couple had their appetizers served and no one had approach us) and she went to the receptionists desk to complaint inmediately the manager came to apologize and offer us a gift card we felt ackward and embarrased and most certainly would not recomend this restaurant at all
btw the gift card was a hoax there was nothing input in there at all we live in abq and always visit many restaurants and have never been treated like this before.


-----11 sep, 2012-----

mr. rodas. my wife and i went there a couple of months ago we got sat and waited for someone to approach us 15 minutes in to the wait a caucasian couple got sat next to us inmediately a waiter approach them and started to cater to them i looked at the waiter as if to ask "what is going on" he ignore me so we continue to wait for another 20 minutes finally my wife got upset (the caucasian couple had their appetizers served and no one had approach us) and she went to the receptionists desk to complaint inmediately the manager came to apologize and offer us a gift card we felt ackward and embarrased and most certainly would not recomend this restaurant at all
btw the gift card was a hoax there was nothing input in there at all we live in abq and always visit many restaurants and have never been treated like this before.

my family & i absolutely loved dinning at vernon's, yes it is expensive but it is well worth it. the food was wonderful, it was just like ordering something off of "top chef" only with bigger portions. it is so beautiful inside that the only way i can think to explain it is that its like something you would see on tv. after leaving i immediatly called everyone i know to tell them about it. we will definitely be going back i give it 100 stars. :)

i operate an internet radio station, cafe jazzed radio, out of albuquerque, nm. we play classic jazz, a personal passion for more than 40 years. i'm always on the lookout for restaurants that deliver great food, and entertainment with a focus on jazz music. my wife and i hit the lottery of food establishments in albuquerque; vernon's hidden valley steakhouse and black diamond lounge. i highly recommend vernon's for a unique, intimate, fun, and entertaining experience. this is not a place that serves mcdonald's-type fast food, or puts a greasy spoon menu in front of you. it's classy and pricey and heavy on ambiance, and you should plan on spending and hour or more with your meal... with service that is exceptionally friendly and doting! oh, and the music that plays through the overhead between live sets is classic jazz! five stars! you can read the full review about vernon's at: www.cafejazzed.com

worthless effort. thought i'd take my lovely spouse to vernon's for our 25th anniversary. booked reservation on line through their open table reservation system. promptly received email from open table confirming and advising i would receive a separate email from vernon's with a password. never received. when we showed up at the restaurant for our reservation (wedn night 5 cars in parking lot) we were asked for our password. we advised they did not send it. after 10 minutes of bs exchange with their doorman over the password i advised him to tell the manager 'my password is: we will be dining at marcello's'. thanks for the experience as marcello's is the best steak house in albuquerque. for readers considering vernon's i suggest you take your business to either marcello's or sandia's bien sur.

there are only a couple of restaurants in albuquerque that the standard of excellence.

they are the ones that will never meet this standard. they are savoy, seasons, zinc, chow's bistro, crazy fish, la provence, and vernon's, among others.

whenever we “dine” at these places, we were always disappointed. the bill for these other restaurants are enormously unreasonable and very unaffordable. this restaurant is included in a club of the absolutely most overrated restaurants in albuquerque --- savoy, seasons, zinc, chow's bistro, crazy fish, la provence, and vernon's, among a few others.

from the first minute, they launch an all out assault on your wallet. their service is certainly terrible and exemplary in their lack of professionalism. their servers, hostesses, and other staff are arrogant, snobbish, and customer unfriendly. they are a turnstile business, which focuses on them and not their customers.

you definitely get what you pay for --- the worst albuquerque has to offer.

their “bang of the buck” rating is is $0.001 on the scale of $1.

ketchy, pretentious, and mediocre at best. first off, everyone in service there was great - knowledgeable, professional, friendly. best part of the extremely expensive meal, sadly. great retro interior decorating.

i came for the bacon-infused bourbon, but they were out. which is okay, because it's made with maker's mark and their american whiskey selection doesn't get much better than that, anyway. the travesty was the meal.

they make a big deal of their scallop appetizer - "flown in fresh from somewhere" blah blah blah. the scallops *were* clearly fresh, big, juicy. but the number one overwhelming flavor was salt. we complained, and got a second plate that was only slightly less salty (the chef is a heavy smoker, i think) and any flavor in the scallops was overwhelmed by way too much red chile.

now, the steaks at vernon's are a major lifetime purchase up there with a home and a car. the cheap steaks are circa $60, and the "hand aged" or whatever steaks are at least twice. i really wanted to check out their 45-day-old porterhouse, so i ordered the $120 steak medium-rare. what i got was medium-well to well. i was just cutting into it when the manager came by, so i pointed to it and asked "is that medium-rare". he said "no it certainly is not" and rushed it away. after a while i got another one. it was medium at the thin tip and raw at the bone at the thick end. medium-rare on average, i suppose. again, the principle flavor was salt, salt and more salt. who salts a steak to the point of beef jerky, anyway? the meat was tender, there was a hint of the flavor of ageing (good, but an acquired taste), but a serious -- and expensive -- disappointment.

the fresh berry dessert was well executed, though unremarkable.

the manager gave us a $60 credit, which, sadly, we'll never use, because it's not worth going back for.