Blake’s Lotaburger is a premier New Mexico institution founded in 1952 by long-time proprietor Blake Chanslor who owned it for half a century before selling it in 2003. While the marquee may still carry Blake’s name, the 76 store franchise with a presence in most of New Mexico’s larger cities and towns (23 in all) is now owned by Brian Rule, an Albuquerque resident. On April 10, 2009, Chanslor passed away, having left a legacy based not only on having founded a New Mexico institution, but for his philanthropic endeavors.
Thankfully, Lotaburger has, for the most part, retained the high quality that has allowed it to thrive despite the onslaught from deep-pocketed, worldwide corporate megaliths. At least that’s the case for many of the state’s Lotaburger restaurants. As is often the case with multi-store chain restaurants, not all links in the chain are equally strong. All too frequently, we have visited Lotaburger restaurants throughout the state in which service is spotty and the burgers don’t quite meet the high preparation standards for which Lotaburger has been known.
Though I have not tried nearly all of New Mexico’s LotaBurger restaurants, those I frequent most often (one in Rio Rancho and one in Los Ranchos de Albuquerque) exemplify the high standards that make Lotaburger a state institution. The wonderfully performing Lotaburger restaurants form the basis for the positive things written on this review, but I’ll also explain my rancor for lesser performing franchises.
The restaurant’s motto, “If you are what you eat, you are awesome” may describe in part why New Mexicans are fiercely loyal to Lotaburger. It’s a restaurant we proudly call our own (although you can now find Lotaburger in the El Paso, Texas and Tucson, Arizona areas). LotaBurger was grandfathered into the inaugural New Mexico Green Chile Cheeseburger Trail in 2009, an indication of just how beloved this institution is throughout the Land of Enchantment. In 2011 the affection New Mexicans have for Lotaburger was not assumed with voters being asked to select their favorites for the second New Mexico Green Chile Cheeseburger Trail. The leading vote-getter from among more than 100 nominees was Lotaburger. No other restaurant was close.
In a 2006 edition of National Geographic’s Passport to the Best: The 10 Best of Everything book, Lotaburger was acclaimed as the “Best Green Chile Cheeseburger in the World“. You won’t find many locals who’ll dispute that it’s definitely one of the very best. On the Alibi’s 2003, 2004 and 2005 Readers Choice restaurant polls (as well as subsequent other polls), Duke City residents proclaimed loudly that Lotaburger serves the very best hamburger in town. While generations of New Mexicans have grown up appreciating Lotaburger, this local gem is also appreciated by many (though certainly not all) newcomers, some who have been known to become devoted loyalists after only one visit.
In 2010, Gustavo Arellano, the brilliant and hilarious author of Ask a Mexican, a widely syndicated newspaper column published mostly in weekly alternative papers, asked the question “Forget Five Guys Burgers: Why Can’t We Get a Blake’s Lotaburger.” It was his response to the influx of Five Guys Burgers in Southern California. Arellano reasoned, “If we’re going to have a regional burger chain invade our county and go up against our In-n-Out’s and TK’s, why couldn’t it have been Blake’s Lotaburger, the country’s most-ardent proponent of what’s perhaps burgerdom’s greatest manifestation: the green chile hamburger?”
In recent years, Lotaburger has modernized many of its buildings, all of which are built by the company’s construction division. Until the modernization, one constant was the presence on the marquee of a jolly-faced ringmaster attired in top hat and red striped coat and bow tie. It’s been a familiar sight for all New Mexicans. With the exception of buns and drinks, everything that goes to a Lotaburger Stand comes from or through the company’s main commissary, just off Candelaria in Albuquerque. That might account for the unfailingly fresh ingredients that make it onto a Lotaburger.
One concession Lotaburger has made over the years is adding drive-up service. While this may be a wonderful convenience, trying to devour a Lotaburger while you drive can be a messy proposition because each burger (prepared to order) can be crammed with lettuce, tomato, green chile (optional), onions and mustard. If you’ve got the time, it’s still best to eat in and observe the cooks in action, listen to the sizzle of the grill and especially imbibe of the aroma of your burger being prepared to order. That grill is so well seasoned that my buddy Bill Resnik has thought seriously about taking a weekend job at Lotaburger just to figure out how Lotaburger seasons its grill so perfectly.
The green chile cheeseburger (rechristened ) is Lotaburger’s signature menu item and one of the things we missed most about the Land of Enchantment all the years we were away. Delicious Angus beef orbs are ameliorated by toasted buns and unfailingly fresh ingredients. The green chile has never been piquant, but it is unfailingly fresh and delicious. There are only three burgers on the menu, the “,” “Lotaburger” and the “Itsaburger,” the latter being the smaller of the three. All are constructed with lettuce, tomato, onion, pickle and mustard. You can also ask for mayonnaise, cheese, bacon and any burger can be made with double meat, double cheese and (or) double green chile for a pittance. If you like grilled onions on your burger, Lotaburger will accommodate you here, too.
12 February 2023: Native New Mexicans who were practically weaned on Lotaburger lament “it’s not the same” about the size of the burgers. Indeed, Lotaburger was famous for its six-inch (at least) buns and thin meat patties. Burgers were of the “it takes two hands to handle” variety. Today, the Burger New Mexico Style™️ is much taller than Lota’s burgers of my youth. It’s stacked high with ingredients–lettuce, tomato, onion. Two patties are placed atop the vegetables, each blanketed by melting cheese. The top patty is covered with green chile. It’s not the most piquant green chile you can find, but it’s got a nice roasted flavor.
A Lotaburger is wholly unlike any of the ubiquitous institutionalized fast-food burgers on every street USA. You’ll never find a Lotaburger sitting under a heating lamp for ten minutes before your order. In fact, the beef doesn’t hit the grill until you place your order–and the grill is cleaned after each burger is done, one of the reasons the restaurant earns recognition for its cleanliness. It’s taste, however, that makes Lotaburger aficionados crave these incomparable burgers. If freshness has a flavor, it might taste like a Lotaburger just off the grill. The coalescence of fresh ingredients with perfectly seasoned beef sandwiched by lightly toasted buns is positively addictive.
28 January 2024: Zero! None! Zilch! Zip! That’s precisely how many
To this point, I’ve praised LotaBurger ad-infinitum, so why the reason for my relatively low rating. It’s forgivable that the green chile lacks in the piquant bite many New Mexicans crave, but it’s sacrilege for some of the restaurant’s chefs to absolutely mash the beef to the grill with the spatula. My skin crawls at seeing the meat mashing cooks take away whatever moistness any slab of beef may have with their spatula pressing. So there–discard the spatulas; they don’t accelerate the preparation process by that much.
28 May 2020: In May, 2020, Lotaburger entered the chicken sandwich war with two options: Blake’s Chicken Sandwich (two chicken tenderloin strips, pickles and Blake’s sauce, our signature creamy green chile sauce) and the Buffalo Chicken Sandwich (two chicken tenderloin strips tossed in spicy Buffalo sauce, Ranch and pickles) that was filling, but not exactly brimming with deliciousness. In fact, the biggest impression it made was for its rather diminutive size. It’s not much bigger than a slider with perhaps a four-inch bun. The pickled onions left absolutely no impression and the Ranch sauce could have used more personality (green chile, anyone?).
28 January 2024: In the mid-1990s, Lotaburger began serving breakfast burritos at select locations. The burritos are more like burrotes; they’re enormous and require two hands to hold. Offered with Hatch grown green and red chile, most of them come standard with hashed browns, scrambled eggs and your choice of other ingredients such as beans, sausage and bacon. As much as I revere Lotaburger’s green chile on its famous burgers, there just isn’t enough of New Mexico’s favorite condiment on the burritos for my liking. Ditto for the red chile. The classic burrito (pictured above) with beans is filled with eggs, hash browns, cheese and…far too little green chile.
The parsimony with which the chile is applied and its lack of piquancy was certainly no deterrent to the staff of Albuquerque the Magazine who, in the September, 2011 undertook the ambitious challenge of naming Albuquerque’s very best breakfast burrito. Lotaburger’s breakfast burrito was the second rated from among dozens of choices evaluated. It’s the most popular breakfast item proffered at the restaurant.
10 February 2025: Better than the breakfast burritos is a simple breakfast sandwich in which fluffy eggs, cheese, bacon and green chile are sandwiched in between two buns. It’s a morning picker-upper that tastes great. Breakfast is served only until 11AM which may be a shame because a burrito or breakfast sandwich for lunch might be another draw.
The chocolate and strawberry shakes are cloying and both have the “artificial flavoring” taste. Better, but still pinging-off-the-walls sweet is the cherry Coke (which Blake’s served well before it was a commercial product).
Blake’s Lotaburger
6210 Fourth Street, N.W.
Los Ranchos de Albuquerque, New Mexico
505 345-0402
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LATEST VISIT: 10 February 2025
# OF VISITS: 28
RATING: 18
COST: $$
BEST BET: LOTA™️ Burger New Mexico Style™️, Frito Pie, Breakfast Sandwich, Seasoned French Fries, Double Meat Itsa Burger, Classic Burrito
