Prologue

The looks. The whispers of disbelief. Turned heads follow as we walk through the restaurant with our family.
Yes, we have four children. Yes, we generally like to leave the house sometimes. Yes, we prefer to eat at places that don't have a "play place" attached.
I still haven't decided what is worse though. The whispers of "They have FOUR children?" or the lack of tables to fit our entire family. (We've even had to move tables ourselves at some of those "seat yourself" establishments...oh the squeaks!)
There are so many reasons to love dining out. I love the idea of ordering whatever I want to eat without having to cook or clean. They even bring it to me! And I can eat what I want, while the kids don't get to complain about what they are eating. ("You ordered it, you eat it!")
We've decided to start this blog as a way to explore and try new places here in Albuquerque and around New Mexico. We've discovered some local favorites that we tend to fall back on when we can't decide where to go. And there are just too many good places to limit ourselves. So our search this year is to find, report on, and rate local restaurants that are family friendly (when we take the kids), or more couple-appropriate (for those very rare occasions when we actually get to go out alone). We will gladly take suggestions, if there is a place you just haven't gotten around to trying yet... we will!
I think I've been a little nervous trying some places here (is that a gas-station-turned-restaurant we just drove past?) I've always been more comfortable with niches. They are so cozy after all, with nothing that might surprise you. But I need to get over that.
Taking four kids out to eat is always an adventure. You never know what to expect. Someone might throw up. Someone might throw a screaming tantrum on the floor. Perhaps that what others think will happen when we walk in to be seated. (Are those looks of dread following me?) So it is always nice when the little, old, couple seated near us stop on their way out to tell us what great kids we have. I guess when you expect the worst you'll always be pleasantly surprised?
Maybe that's how I need to approach some of these restaurants.