Carmen’s Authentic
Carmen’s Authentic Fine Mexican & American offers you a great meal at a great price in Reserve, NM! If you’re in the area, for a high school basketball game or during hunting season, then you really should stop and give them a try. The service is great and the food is even better! Click HERE for the entire review!
113 Main St A, Reserve, NM 87830
OVERALL BITES:
Value: Carmen’s offers good quality meals at a price that won’t break the bank. It’s located in the small town of Reserve, NM, and small towns always seem to have smaller prices. Most plates start at $8 and they go up from there.
Taste: The taste of all of our meals was great. We had the tamales, the hamburger and the stuffed sopapilla. I personally loved the sopapilla the best.
Presentation: Carmen’s has New Mexican style presentation. A great meal smothered in a red or green chile sauce and some lettuce and tomato as garnish.
Vibe: The Reserve, NM, boys basketball team had just won their first game of the state tournament so the restaurant was busy.
Accessibility: Carmen’s is located along Main St as you’re headed North out of town. There is plenty of parking in the front of the restaurant.
Review – Carmen’s Authentic
Carmen’s Authentic is located in Reserve, NM, which is a small community in the Gila National Forest. How would I know that you ask? I found myself there for the first round of the NM State Basketball Tournament. The Reserve Mountaineers were hosting the Coronado Jaguars and after the game I thought I would grab a bite before heading back home. There aren’t too many options in the area and some that are happened to be closed but luckily Carmen’s was open.
I had my twin girls with me and they were super hungry. It was roughly 5pm and we hadn’t eaten since breakfast. We walked into Carmen’s to find that it was filling fast with the crows which had just left the basketball game. There was still parking in the front and a couple of tables were still available in the back section. There was only one server working at the time but she welcomed us as she was trying to catch up on all the orders.
Carmen’s has plenty of New Mexican favorites on the menu as well as American classics such as burgers and onion rings. The twins had the cheeseburger and fries, the tamale plate and I had the stuffed sopapilla which only came with ground beef but you did have a choice of red or green chile. We had complementary chips and salsa which were both homemade. I took a look into the kitchen and you could see where the cook was cutting up the tortillas and frying them up. The salsa tasted fresh and had just enough spice. It was tomatoes, onions, jalapenos and a bit of garlic all prepped in a food processor.
The lemonade I ordered, at least the first serving, was sweet and syrupy with tons of ice which is just the way you would want it on a hot summer day. The second serving wasn’t as sweet which is when I realized it was also homemade. We waited over 30 minutes to receive our food but we did have the chips to hold us over. We enjoyed looking around at the decor. Carmen’s could very easily be a bar and it would be a great place for that too.
Once we finally received our food it was worth the wait! The twins loved their food and the sopapilla hit the spot! The green chile sauce was perfect. The beans tasted great and the rice was also very tasty. The sopapilla was a bit thicker, which is more Northern NM style, and Carmen’s was very generous with their ground beef. In fact, all the plates were such healthy servings that not one of us could finish our meals. We couldn’t take the food with us on the 3 hour ride which was unfortunate.
Carmen’s gets 4 Bites from us. The food was great but I was a bit bummed the sopapilla only game with ground beef. The location was clean and friendly but the wait time, even though it was worth it, was a bit excessive. Considering there was a state basketball tournament in town they should have planned for a bit more staff.
If you find yourself in the area then you need to stop by. You can also check out their Facebook site.