Greenside Cafe

This café has a great menu. The food is fresh and delicious. The waiter was super nice. This is a casual and comfortable place to enjoy a meal

We stopped here on our way to drive through the turquoise trail. I had been feeling sort of sick after lots of heavy on-​the-​road food and this place was the perfect antidote with lots of fresh, crisp greens and salads in delicious combinations. We ordered the house salad, the grilled chicken and the shredded chicken enchiladas. All of these dishes were amazing and tasty. I was initially hesitant to try the mango vinaigrette, but it was out of this world delicious. I cannot recommend enough especially for anyone trying to eat clean or stay veggie there are lots of options, vegans may be able to squeeze through as well, they were great about holding the cheese. The wait staff was bright and cheery, the atmosphere relaxed and friendly, and there’s something for everyone.

I love the Greenside Café, I’ve been a frequent patron from day one. Owners Jay & wife Barbra are great folks and have a great staff and good service. The Greenside Café is an upscale staple for the East Mountains area.
However I have concerns that I would like to convey with love for my friends Jay & Barb. Over time the quality of the food has become less consistent and not the high standards of days past. The little things like fresh cold salad, fresh cold fruits. The paste prepared when needed not water logged and cold. Freshly prepared dishes vs reheated. The kitchen needs to refocus their attention to quality and details. Some days the food is fabulous and other day disappointing. Being a Vegan fresh and quality food is of up most importance.
Your doing everything right with the exception of consistent quality food which is the foundation of success in the restaurant business. I know that you are seasoned professionals, you just need to get back to basics. Please take my input to heart as I give it with love and concern. I wish only success for you and look forward to many years of enjoyment dinning at The Greenside Café.
Your friend, Mike

The Greenside is our Favorite East-​Mountain restaurant! Relaxing Atmosphere, very good food and an excellent selection of Albuquerque and Santa Fe microbrews on tap. Menu is not huge, but what they do, they do very well. Only reason for four stars instead of five — occasionally the service and food delivery can be a tad slow. If you are not in a hurry, then this would not be an issue. Overall, highly recommended for a Nice place on N-​14!

I stopped into the Greenside Café this week for a wonderful lunch. I was immediately greeted and seated by an attentive and helpful server. She made recommendations, and was quick to bring drinks and take orders. Although I ended up opting for just the house salad, I was pleasantly surprised by the variety of fresh ingredients and the ample size. The restaurant’s interior balances an airiness created by high ceilings, with a cozy atmosphere. The menu has several vegetarian items, as well as enough meat options to satisfy any appetite. I look forward to returning to try some of the pasta dishes on the menu!

I was really disappointed in my last visit to this restaurant. I ordered the Sangre de Cristo. I ordered it without green Chile. So when they brought it out I asked if it had green Chile and it did. So they took it back, I assumed to remake it. But when they brought it back it was clear they had just scraped the Chile off instead of making a new one. I was not happy.

Is ok, the food is bland tho. Location is pretty. I like their green chile ranch and chips

YUCK!!! The food was terrible. I ordered the meatloaf sandwich that consisted of a cheap white bun with a postage stamp sized piece of meatloaf topped with raw way under cooked onion rings with also raw under cooked french fries (seriously how do you serve raw french fries??) I would never eat here again!

Very friendly staff and food was great. Great place to stop after a day at Sandia Peak.

Great food, friendly service and an absolutely terrific view while eating! We were traveling west and found this little hide away on Unilocal and of course my Unilocal friends led us to another great eatery! Must stop!

This is about 5 miles from home and we go often. Food’s always consistently good. Breakfast is my fav. The Sandia toast is my weakness. Huevos rancheros are also great with the bacon-​y Pinto beans.

First and foremost, the customer service and wait staff are awesome! Seriously, these guys and gals do a great job. Each time we’ve come, we’re promptly greeted and our orders taken with a super friendly greet & meet. The food can some times bit a bit slower than it should be (all the more time for me to finish my draft beer), but when it does arrive it’s always great. No complaints so far!
Great spot for breakfast, lunch and dinner. I recommend you check out the «lite menu.» They have a cheaper option (smaller portion) for breakfast, and a ¼ burger for under $ 6. Sweet deal in my opinion.

The green chili fries were great. I would recommend them to anyone. The veggie burrito was good until I got food poisoning. My guess is they infrequently get customers ordering the veggie burrito so the veggies were most likely old and contaminated. Don’t get the veggie burrito here!

The Gluten Free can eat here! I wanted the trout gluten free they did it! Can’t order a less than wonderful meal here! Come hungry, the portions are large. The hollandaise is Sundays only because it’s from scratch, and perfect. The coffee may be the best in the East Mountains. Service is Excellent.

We have been traveling the country for about a month with 2 adults, 3 kids, and 3 German Shepherds. (I’m stating that fact so you can put yourself in my shoes and feel my pain as we walked through what we expected to be yet another place to eat where no one was happy and someone always looks at the menu and says ‘I don’t like any of this’.) We have eaten at many places on our travels and this is hands down the best meal any of us have had in the 25 days we have been on the road! I use Unilocal a lot to find places to eat, sleep, and play but I seldom leave reviews. We had the fish tacos, taco salad, hot wings, fish and chips, and a breakfast meal with basic eggs and bacon. The wings were a bit too hot for the kids to enjoy but we loved them! The only thing that I would suggest to them is to serve the homemade tarter sauce on the side with the fish tacos plate. It came with the fish & chips but I took it from my son & used it with my meal. It was sooooooo good!
We are all very tired from our trip and ready to get home. We came in with blank faces and just closed our eyes after we ordered. With 3 kids who are arguing every few miles and fed up with being stuck around each other you can imagine the tension between the kids and awkwardness of all of us as we placed our orders. The waitress was just too nice! She’s literally the first genuinely nice person we have come across on our trip. She caught our attention with her bubbly personality.
One of my sons has Autism and when we go out to eat he always wants to sit alone and be alone. Most places yell at him for having his shoes off and on the floor or because he’s rocking a chair that shouldn’t be rocked. Everyone here was super nice and never questioned his behaviors. He went to ‘lay’ on their couch so I got up to make him come back to his table. He yelled ‘the sign says come in and relax!’ and the whole restaurant paused for a few seconds. Our waitress giggled and mouthed ‘oh he’s fine’ from across the room. Only those who have a disabled child would be able to appreciate the gesture as a huge deal…
Any restaurant that can handle my bunch and wave goodbye with a smile when we walk out the door deserves 10 stars!

Food was pretty good and the price was not bad either. Service was excellent. They have local beer and wine to. Good place for lunch of you are doing the Turquoise Trail!

What a great place. A few weeks prior I was conducting surveys in the area for Comcast (possible future outdoor WiFi hotspot). This was one of my survey locations. Looked like a great place. Couldn’t stop as it was too early for lunch.
A few weeks later I was passing through headed to Santa Fe. Wife and I stopped for lunch. Sitting out on the patio was very nice. Wife had the steak quesadilla. Nice flavor. Not too spicy. I had BBQ meat loaf sandwich with homemade chips.
Great meal. Good price. We wish we lived here or had something this back home.

Ok. I’ve been here a couple times now and I have yet to be disappointed. In fact, I have yet to be nothing other than impressed! I consider myself to be quite the judge of food/​restaurants, so I cannot fathom the other reviews that are less than 4 stars. The owner is friendly goes out of his way to ensure you’re happy. The food is wonderful! The Hen Grenade is one of those yearly treats you have to indulge in. As for my staple — the huevos rancheros with a side of sausage (I need a breakfast meat) covered in red sauce! They have an excellent red!
The beer selection is current and has the best from all the local breweries in New Mexico. The wine selection is excellent as well! This truly is a gem in the Sandia’s!

When I think of my dining experience at Greenside Café, I immediately think fresh ‘n yummy.
The gf & I had breakfast here a few weeks ago. The fruit was fresh, the eggs over easy just right, the coffee extra good, and the service super nice. We also enjoyed the pleasant interior décor and cleanliness of the place. Best of all were the very fair prices and decently sized menu.
This is, in my eyes, the sort of little café that needs local support to keep on doing what they do well. We will definitely have breakfast here at our next opportunity. Check ‘em out!

The Greenside Café looks so cute, scrunched up in the upscale Triangle shopping Plaza in the affluent little village of Cedar Crest, NM where, you guessed it, the motif is a soothing shade of light green.
So why the 3.5 rating by 30 other Unilocalers? We soon found out when we showed up one fine Sunday morning at 8 a.m.
The décor was retro cool, the greeting was friendly, and we got a nice table and perused the large breakfast menu. Coffee arrived in humongous cups and was good and strong.
So far, so good.
But alas, it was downhill from there.
Abbé had the Veggie Romesco Scramble ($ 8.79) made from fresh spinach and tofu scrambled with eggs and topped with their «zesty» Romesco sauce, and served with red-​skinned potatoes and fresh fruit. I chose the Just Everything ($ 8.86) that featured a choice of Sandia toast, Barbie cakes (love the name!) or biscuit, two eggs «your way,» choice of bacon, ham or sausage, red-​skinned potatoes and fresh fruit.
Let the Meh begin.
When I why asked why Abbé had left a sizeable portion of the tofu on her plate, she confessed she had gotten tired of the taste.
As for me, I was chagrined that my plate came just on the warmish side of cool, which is not the way I like poached eggs, and certainly not the way I liked the large and thin (and tough) slice of ham that looked and tasted like it came out of the deli counter of the Triangle supermarket right next door.
The portion of Sandia Toast, a «now famous recipe» (their quotes) of sour dough bread dipped in an orange & vanilla scented batter was okay, but the portion was meager.
And the «fresh fruit» on both our plates also looked tasted like something that came out of supermarket plastic tub.
While the atmosphere was pleasing, the food was not.
It did not seem like it was made with any love, and it did not live up to the glowing descriptions on the menu.
Other reviews by locals have said the place has slipped since it’s opening a few years ago.
Sadly, I agree.
Ambiance, friendliness and good coffee only go so far.
They have to be backed by a little sterner hand on the tiller in the kitchen, ’cause right now they’re on autopilot.