Groovy Grits Cafe

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  Stopped in on a Friday night and was surprised to a band setting up. The place was packed.
  
  We got to meet the owner for a split second who was nice enough to make time to speak to us for a  few minutes. The server was a bit slow to come and take our order, but on account of how busy they were, this was understandable.
  
  I had the chile, which was on special. It was your standard chili and not very spicy, but it was good. Note: it was not New Mexico style chile. They also had a pumpkin cider on special at the time, and it was scrumptious.
  
  I enjoyed the atmosphere here. The band was made up of older folks, but they played a variety (including The Cure) and were fun. Many people were dancing, which made the people watching fantastic. Many dancers, I am sure, did not know who The Cure was, but they were having a good time all the same.
  
  Lovesong.

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  Posted on 01.10.13 Heather M.

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  My parents took my husband and me out last night to Cafe Groovy Gritz  for our anniversary dinner.  The odd atmosphere at first was interesting, but the service and food made the dinner disastrous.  We ordered quesadillas, and the waitress asked how we wanted the meat cooked.   I don't know why she bothered, because we asked for medium rare, and by the time it got to the table, it was overcooked to dryness.  The flour tortillas (advertised as grilled) were overcooked and tough.  There was an okay taste to the quesadilla, but if there hadn't been lots of salsa to moisten it up, we would not have been able to swallow.   Not a good deal for the money.
  
  My parents had an even worse dinner.  My Mom's water was undrinkable, and the coffee my Dad ordered never came, so he ordered a beer.  It came with a dried out piece of lime stuffed in the neck.  Mom ordered wine then, and got a very meager half glass.  Mom's quesadilla was similar to ours in the dry, poor quality, and the side she ordered of sweet potato fries never came.... but they did show up on other tables after she was promised they would be right there.  When Mom asked, the waitress said, "They cooked those fries for that order; they are not for you.  The kitchen is just slammed."  The worst food was the chili Dad got.  It was toxic, with a very strange metallic taste.  It was meat, some beans and red chili powder - overwhelming on the red chili and lacking in other flavor.  He wondered what brand of can it came from so he could avoid accidentally buying it in a store.  I tasted it and the nasty taste is still in my mouth this morning.
  
  When we went to pay the bill, the manager was rude and begrudgingly took $2 off the bill for the fries that never showed up.  He told us that he has "hundreds of satisfied customers every week," and that we must be "very difficult to please."   Whatever.   We will not be going back.

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  Posted on 02.24.12 Dorothy B.

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  This is a pretty funky little place with great service. We were there on the Friday after Thanksgiving and they had a decent crowd with live music. Our waiter was very friendly and eager to make sure we knew the chef was excellent. That being said, the food didn't really work for either of us. The guacamole we ordered as an appetizer was clearly store-bought or packaged or something. And our entrees were both a little greasy and uninspired.

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  Posted on 01.07.12 Leslie A.

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  We've been to Groovy Gritz twice now; once on a random Sunday night when the owner and an employee happened to be hanging out and decided to toss open the doors.  After a friendly beer and some fried food (the owner admitted to not being a cook but knowing how to use the fryer) we were back on the road with promises to return.  We did, a few weeks later, to meet up with family for lunch.  The service was, as before, very friendly.  Restaurant is clean and funky with good music on in the background (not too loud, thankfully).  Two vegetarians and two omnivores ate, all left very happy.  I, personally, had the burger with apples and bleu cheese -- delicious!  If we're in T or C again, we'll definitely eat there again.

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  Posted on 11.17.11 Laura W.

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  Stopped thru on our way to Albuquerque for a conference. Delicious chili and burgers. Service was groovy too!

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  Posted on 11.05.11 Hannah L.

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  Up in T or C to go rafting down the Rio Grande, we heard about a new restaurant that had opened in the space next to the Happy Belly Deli, so we decided to eat lunch there.
  
  Apparently the space used to be a bar; now, it is a funky restaurant featuring a hippy-ish decor and a bunch of nonmatching tables and chairs. You can even sit on cushions on the floor. The waitstaff are also dressed in hippyish attire, although this being T or C those could be their normal clothes, I don't know. The restaurant seemed very clean, except that the ladies' bathroom could really use an industrial-strength deodorizer. Either that, or there's a male cat frequenting the building.
  
  The official grand opening of the restaurant is July 8 at which point their menu will expand. Right now they are serving a decent selection of sandwiches, soups, salads, and burgers. Two of us had today's special, which was a BBQ pork sandwich on ciabatta, served with coleslaw and beans. The BBQ eaters said their food was great. I had a green chile cheeseburger that was quite kickass. It almost tasted like kefta, so I wondered whether the beef had some cumin and/or cinnamon mixed in.
  
  Service was fast and friendly. We would definitely eat at this place again when not eating at Bella Luca . . . it gets 4 stars rather than 5 due to a) stinky bathroom b) no espresso machine and c) no free wi-fi.

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  Posted on 06.19.11 Jamie B.

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