Villa Myriam Coffee Roastery – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Because of coffee’s olfactory-arousing properties and nuanced depth of flavors, it has the unique ability to evoke personal memories that transport java junkies to better times.  Every satisfying and stimulating sip of coffee relocates me to my Grandma Andreita’s kitchen table where I learned to love coffee brewed on her old wood stove.  For brothers David and Juan Certain, the aromas return them to Colombia where their grandfather founded Villa Myriam in 1961.   The brothers spent much of their childhood on the fields of their grandfather’s coffee plantation where they learned which coffee beans were the best.

In 1999, Juan and David migrated to the US as political refugees during the hard times of violence in Colombia. After things settled, they decided to share their passion for coffee and return to the family plantation to import their beans to Albuquerque, NM.  In October 2010, the brothers started a wholesale coffee business in Albuquerque, using Albuquerque’s South Valley Economic Development Center’s commercial kitchen to roast and package the coffee. It didn’t take long for Villa Myriam coffee to become a hit in New Mexico.

Though we’ve enjoyed Villa Myriam’s award-winning coffee at several restaurants, it was a foodie event–edible New Mexico’s Burrito Smackdown–in June, 2024 that alerted me to the notion that maybe there’s more to coffee going on in downtown Albuquerque.  Mind you, finding Villa Myriam Coffee Roastery is just slightly easier than finding Forrest Fenn’s treasure.  It’s got an address of 573 Commercial Street, but you might have better luck finding it by heading south on Spur from Lomas.  Villa Myriam is located on a cul de sac we had no idea existed.  At the tail end of the cul de sac is “No Trespassing” signage which prevents you from entering a property in which vintage neon signs and vehiles (including a trolley and several train cars) are stored.

On the morning of our inaugural visit, throngs of coffee fanatics (obviously not as cartographically challenged as me) were comfortably seated on the indoor portion of Villa Myriam.  Thankfully a spacious outdoor patio is available for overflow crowds or those of us who get there a bit late.  The inimitable aroma of coffee greets you before you enter the premises.  A sandwich board near the entrance told me Villa Myriam is about much more than coffee and an award-winning burrito.   Only nine items are listed on that board, but you could see yourself enjoying every one of them with your coffee.  Baked goods (pastries, croissants) sit atop a counter, strategically-positioned just before the coffee menu.

It was a foregone conclusion that my maiden meal at Villa Myriam would include the Judges Choice winner of edible’s Burrito Smackdown.   The inaugural Burrito Smackdown was held on June 8th in the Alfredo Garcia Community Barn in the Village of Los Ranchos.  edible New Mexico launched the new Smackdown experience to complement the Green Chile Cheeseburger Smackdown held in September.  There were seven restaurants participating in the event.  The Peoples’ Choice award winner was Capitan’s Oso Grill while the Judges’ Choice winner came from Villa Myriam.

Villa Myriam’s award-winning burrito is listed on the sandwich board as a carnitas burrito.  It’s been our experience in Albuquerque eateries that “carnitas” can mean everything from deep- fried chicharron-style pork cracklings to shredded, slow cooked chicken.  Though the literal translation of “carnitas” is “little meats,” it’s intended to be a pork dish made from a heavily marbled cut of pork that is braised and simmered for several hours until it is so tender that it can be shredded.  Villa Myriam knows what it’s doing!

Chef Yolanda Torres is at the helm in Villa Myriam’s kitchen.  Though originally from Lubbock, Texas, she spent much of her youth in Albuquerque.  She graduated from West Mesa High School before matriculating to the Culinary Institute of America (the real CIA) in New York.  From the onset of her culinary career, she has worked alongside celebrated chefs in both New York City and New Orleans where she spent almost a decade before returning to Albuquerque.  While in New Orleans, she served as chef de cuisine at Willa Jean when the restaurant’s pastry chef earned a James Beard Foundation award in 2019.

After returning to Albuquerque during the Cabrona virus, Chef Torres directed the kitchen at The Grove Cafe & Market where we first met her.  I remember being impressed by the way she diffused a “Karen” situation almost as much as I was impressed with her menu.  After nearly three years, she moved on to Villa Myriam, where she’ll continue to oversee the kitchen after her next venture, Cantina Real, opens.  Cantina Real sits in a two-story edifice within easy walking distance of Villa Myriam.  Her menu will feature American food with different cooking styles and cultural influences.  It promises to be one of the best tickets in town.

25 September 2024: Despite Villa Myriam’s sunny east-facing facade, a characteristically cool autumn morning chill greeted us.  That chill would soon give way to an unusual late summer heat wave.  Striking while the iron is cool, we perused the coffee menu.  Remembering a superb Café au Lait made  from Villa Myriam’s coffee at the short-lived Timbuctu Bistro in Rio Rancho,  I discovered that sometimes lightning does strike twice.  The Café au Lait was just what I needed.  My Kim opted for a seasonally appropriate caramel apple spice coffee. Yes, it did taste like a very good caramel apple.  We liked our coffee choices so much that we had to order those same coffees for the road.

26 September 2024:  Because trying new things is at the heart of exploration, my coffee choice during our second visit was an Aztec mocha.  Several Duke City coffee shops offer a similar brew, but  this one wasn’t overly cloying and too chocolatey (if that’s possible).  It was a wonderful cup.  Succumbing to temptation, we enjoyed pastries with our coffee.  For my Kim it was a blueberry tart, for me a macadamia apple cinnamon roll.  Both were outstanding.  Baked at Ihatov Bread and Coffee, a 2023 James Beard Foundation “Outstanding Baker” semifinalist, those pastries paired exceptionally well with the coffee.  Ihatov also bakes the bread on which most of Villa Myriam’s sandwiches are constructed.

25 September 2024:  One bite confirmed that Villa Myriam not only knows what true carnitas are, but knows how to prepare them correctly.  The carnitas burrito (carnitas, whole pinto beans, eggs, Manchego cheese, roasted poblano pepper wrapped in a tortilla and served with a side of red salsa) proves itself worthy of accolades.  Though my preference is for burritos slathered in red and (or) green chile, the red salsa was a worthy alternative.  Better still would be (as a side) a bowl of those perfectly prepared beans with green chile (hint for Yolanda).  Manchego, a Spanish sheep’s cheese was a surprising (and wholly welcome) choice.  Manchego has a lingering, complex lingering flavor with qualities that make it strong, sharp, sweet and peppery  As a concordant compilation of individual ingredients that work exceptionally well together, this is a craveable burrito.

25 September 2024:  My Kim’s inaugural savory sandwich choice was a bacon breakfast sandwich (toasted sourdough, sambal aioli, a scrambled egg, applewood bacon, sweet red peppers, Cheddar cheese and mixed greens).  Alas, my trepidatious (about chile) bride asked that the sandwich be constructed without two items that would have given it much more personality and flavor: sambal aioli and mixed greens.  Those omissions made the sandwich rather pedestrian–like far too many breakfast sandwiches in the Duke City.   Woulda, shoulda, coulda…former New Orleans Saints coach Jim Mora would probably have used those terms to describe what this sandwich would have, should have and could have been.

26 September 2024: Though the carnitas burrito called loudly, there’s just too much on the menu to settle on one favorite, no matter how great it might be.  Besides, I was curious as to what Chef Yolanda could do with biscuits and gravy (housemade Cajun seasoned biscuits, sausage gravy and an egg any style), a New Orleans breakfast staple.  Lynn, are you reading this?  These biscuits and gravy were another memory-triggering phenomena, reminding me how often I enjoyed biscuits and gravy in New Orleans’ French Quarter.  Cajun seasoning has that delightfully assertive qualities that imbue foods with flavor and personality, but it was the sausage gravy that I loved most.  Only one thing could have made it better–another biscuit to sop up every bit of that wonderful gravy.

26 September 2024:  Having learned not to omit key ingredients from a chef’s creation, my Kim ordered something familiar during our second visit.  We knew it would be a hit because it’s made with the selfsame carnitas used on the heralded carnitas burrito.  It’s Villa Myriam’s version of a Cubano (housemade carnitas, housemade pickles, spicy mustard, Swiss cheese on local bread (from Coda Bakery)) is, in my Kim’s estimation “the best I’ve ever had.”  Thick-cut ham and carnitas play two-part-harmony on your taste buds while the spicy mustard and housemade pickles provide a discernible punch.  Those carnitas are truly fabulous, maybe without par in Albuquerque.  The local bread will remind you why Coda Bakery is so very good.  A side salad is provided with this sandwich.

25 September 2024:  Writer Bill Bryson emphasizes “However you choose to pronounce it (croissant) at home, it is perhaps worth nothing that outside the United States, the closer you can come to saying “kwass-ohn,” the sooner you can expect to be presented with one.”   My friend Bill Resnik is the only person I’ve met on this side of the pond who pronounces croissant correctly.   His first wife Janet was a bona fide Francophile so he spent quite a bit of time in France.  I don’t know if the croissants (butter croissant and pan au chocolat) would pass muster with him, but we enjoyed them very much.

Villa Myriam is so much more than coffee though that’s more than reason enough to visit this magnificent coffee roastery.  For gastronomes of all stripes, fantastic foods are another reason.  This is a real find!

Villa Myriam Coffe
573 Commercial Steet, N.E.
Albuquerque, New Mexico
(505) 336-5652
Website | Facebook Page
LATEST VISIT: 26 September 2024
1st VISIT: 25 September 2024
# OF VISITS: 2
RATING: 24
COST: $$
BEST BET: Buttery Croissant, Pan Au Chocolat, Bacon Breakfast Sandwich, Carnitas Burrito, Cafe Aulait, Caramel Apple Spice Coffee, Cubano, Biscuits and Gravy, Aztec Mocha
REVIEW #1423