Horizon Bagels & Cafe – Albuquerque, New Mexico

The furthest thing you can see when you stare out into the sky––the line where the sky meets the earth––is called the horizon.  Now, contemplate the faraway rainbow when it appears on the horizon.  The rainbow is one of the most inspiring displays in nature–the spectacular, high-arching display of colors that stretches across the horizon at the tail end of a rainstorm. This prototypical display of  the colors of the ultraviolet spectrum (red, orange, yellow, green, indigo, violet) is brought on by sunlight refracting, reflecting, and dispersing as it passes through raindrops.  It’s magical!  No wonder fortune –a pot of gold–and good luck are often attributed to the mysterious arching rainbow.

Now study the bagel.  If you slice it in half vertically then stand it up, it actually resembles a rainbow, albeit much less colorful.  Don’t believe me?  Study Horizon Bagels’ logo which resembles a bagel half spanning the horizon.  It may not have the colors of the ultraviolet spectrum, but to Duke City breakfast and lunch goers, it represents the great fortune of delicious bagels and absolutely delicious Jewish foods.  For New York, Chicago and New Jersey  transplants, the horizon–that unreachable faraway point–is finally attainable.  Bagels reminiscent of home can finally be found in Albuquerque.

Horizon Bagels & Cafe opened its doors on Halloween, October 31st, 2023.  It’s ensconced on the west side of the Smith’s Grocery Store on Montgomery.  Horizon has a Louisiana address which means you’ll proceed south just past Montgomery.  You can reach Horizon Bagels by taking the very first left past Montgomery.  Horizon is the brainchild of Elizabeth  Kirsten Perlino and Robert Wolf, both of Albuquerque.  If the name Robert Wolf sounds familiar, it’s because he was integral to Wolfe’s Bagels having a 23-year run as an Albuquerque institution.

Wolfe’s Bagels got its start  in 1992, growing over time to seven locations across the metropolitan area. If you were in Albuquerque during the early 1990s, you probably remember that era as a time of great bagels in the city.  Wolfe’s Bagels and Fred’s Bagels ruled the bagelry kingdom.  The last Wolfe’s shuttered its doors in March, 2015.  Owner Robert Wolf hoped to someday resume proffering the city’s best bagels.  It took almost nine years–and the right partner–for his dreams to be realized.

That partner, Elizabeth Kirsten Perlino (she goes by “Liz”) is the person you’re more likely to meet at Horizon.  She’s very involved in day-to-day operations, doing everything from preparing menu items to doing the dishes to ferrying orders to eager guests. She interacts with guests as much as Horizon’s ever-growing queues will permit (and as word gets around, more and more people are stopping by for their bagel fix).  Originally from Buffalo, New York, she’s a peripatetic presence at Horizon.  She’s got a ready smile, especially if you compliment the bagelry’s fare.

As you approach Horizon, make sure to pay attention to the A-frame sidewalk sign listing the daily specials.  A larger menu hangs overhead as you step inside the bagelry.  That’s large in terms of size, not in terms of menu items.  It’s not a compendium of every conceivable item some cafes offer.  Your inaugural visit might be for bagels, but you’ll undoubtedly order something in addition to bagels, too. Seriously, it’s a menu with which you’ll fall in love.  The bagel menu lists twelve fresh baked daily bagels: plain, poppy, sesame, garlic, green chile, red chile, everything, multi-grain, chocolate chip, cinnamon raisin, pumpernickel and salt.  Also available are two specialty flavors: green chile Cheddar and Swiss cracked pepper.  A baker’s dozen will run you $22.

Add-ons for your bagel inclue butter, butter and jam, peanut butter, plain schmear, specialty schmear, hummus, avocado, lox schmear and vegan schmear.  Green chile schmear is the defacto favorite (this is New Mexico, after all) but you’ll also find other delectable schmears: plain, veggie, garlic herb, strawberry, honey cinnamon, lox, scallion, vegan and a seasonal special.  Breakfast is served all day which means you can enjoy one of the breakfast sandwiches, burrito (eggs, potatoes, Cheddar, chile) until the 2PM closing time. Jewish specialty items include smoked fish, matzo ball soup, potato knish, potato latkes, noodle kugel, rugelach, Challah loaf and a corned beef hash (caramelized onions over two latkes).

Don’t overlook the lunch sandwiches on the menu.  Those include a Reuben made with Russian dressing, not the Thousand Island dressing many other restaurants offer.  There’s a soup of the day on the menu as well as a daily quiche special with a side salad.  If you’ve got a sweet tooth, you’ll have a hard time deciding between cookies, brownies, scones, cinnamon rolls, coffee cakes, sweet breads, muffins, bars and cakes.  It’s a veritable smorgasbord (סמאָרגאַסבאָרד for you, Sr. Plata).

21 May 2024:  Author Anthony T. Hincks believes “Good bagels make for good mornings.” That quote falls short.  In truth, good bagels make for good days.  With a versatility that goes beyond any other bread, they can be toasted, slathered with your favorite schmear or piled high with sundry toppings.  And nobody will question the propriety of enjoying bagels for lunch, dinner or an in-between snack.  Pull up to Horizon any time of day (Tuesday – Sunday 7AM – 2PM) for a bagel or six and you’re almost guaranteed the rest of the day will be better.

In the spirit of “you can’t eat  just one,” (a long-time Lays Potato Chips commercial), our initial haul from Horizon was eight bagels: four plain, two green chile and two cinnamon raisin.  My Kim enjoys her plain bagels toasted with lots of melted butter.  As is typical for native New Mexicans, I’d walk a mile for a green chile bagel with green chile schmear piled atop to a thickness matching that of the bagel itself.   Horizon’s bagels have a wonderful chewy texture and bountiful bagel flavor.  You can actually taste the green chile on both the bagel and the schmear.  It’s not overly piquant, but it’s no shrinking violet either.

21 May 2024: Rugelach, miniature crescent-rolled pastries with a sweet filling, have a  cultural and religious significance for Jews.  They’re often served on Jewish holidays such as Hanukkah, but are wonderful any time of year.  Some families make them during Rosh Hashanah when sweet foods are made to signify a sweet new year.  Even the shape of rugelach is important.  The rolled shape is similar to the spiral challah served at Rosh Hashanah which symbolizes the cyclical nature of a year.  Each piece of  rugelach at Horizon is a two or three-bite wonder.  Each is about the size of a breakfast sausage.  They’re not overly sweet and whatever filling with which they were stuffed is barely discernible.  It takes about four rugelach to really get a hang of what they’re all about…and what they’re all about is being delicious.

23 May 2024: It’s become so rare to find a Reuben actually made with Russian dressing that perhaps those Reubens made with Thousand Island should have another name–similar to Reubens made with coleslaw instead of sauerkraut being called a “Rachel.” ”  More often than not, most Reuben sandwiches are made with Thousand Island dressing.  So, what’s the difference? Russian dressing features horseradish and chili pepper, making it spicy.  Sweet pickle relish is a key ingredient in Thousand Island dressing, which makes it sweet.  Horizon’s Reuben (corned beef on rye with sauerkraut, Swiss cheese and Russian dressing) is the real thing!

The light marbled rye has an  earthy, slightly sour flavor somewhat comparable to sourdough.  It’s a wonderful canvas for the Reuben.  The corned beef is piled on generously as is the sauerkraut which isn’t especially sour, but has the acidic, salty notes that make sauerkraut a favorite.  The Reuben is served with a side of kettle chips or three-bean (garbanzo, kidney, green) salad.  Ask for both.  The Russian dressing is served on the side so you can add as much or as little as you’d like.  Me, I could bathe in a good Russian dressing so not a drop was left.  There are bigger Reubens in town, but Horizon’s version is one of the very best.

23 May 2024:  According to West Texas A&M “The French did not invent French toast. Rather, it was Americans who gave the name “French Toast” to this dish because French immigrants in America popularized the dishe. In fact, French toast was invented long before France even existed. The first known recorded recipe for French toast comes from Rome around 300 A.D. The Roman author Apicius included it in his cookbook titled “Cooking and Dining in Imperial Rome“. For centuries, the French themselves called this dish “Roman Bread.”  While the French may be given credit for this delightful breakfast dish that the Romans actually invented, French toast weren’t perfected until they were made with Challah bread.  Buy a loaf or six and make some Roman…er, French toast for yourself.  If you can’t wait, have French toast at Horizon.  It’s simply outstanding!

16 July 2024: In 1909, Good Housekeeping magazine established the its Seal of Approval. Since then, about 5,000 products have been given the seal.  My own restaurant seal of approval has its own stringent criteria that includes endorsement from trusted friends whose opinions on food I respect.  Among those trusted friends is Bruce “Sr. Plata” Silver whose opinions on Korean, Middle Eastern and Jewish foods are without reproach.  It was a given that Sr. Plata would weigh in on some of his favorite Jewish foods as prepared and served at Horizon Bagels.

Both Sr. Plata and I had the motza ball soup.  It wouldn’t be an understatement to call motza ball soup “chicken soup for the soul.”  It’s absolutely delicious and heart- and soul-warming.  Motza ball soup is a chicken soup made with delicious dumplings made from motza meal (crushed unleavened bread), eggs, schmaltz (chiclen fat) and broth.  The dumplings cook in the soup and soak up all the delicious flavor of the soup as they cook.  Sr. Plata raves about his sainted mother’s motza ball soup, fondly recalling the baseball sized motza balls he enjoyed so much.  At Horizon, the motza balls are somewhat smaller and there are only two of them, but they’re delicious.  Available in sixteen and thirty-two ounce sizes, the motza ball soup includes carrots and celery.  What we both enjoyed about this motza ball elixir is that it wasn’t especially salty as some motza ball soup tends to be.  This is a feel good soup that did the trick for us.

16 July 2024:  In the nineteenth century, restaurants derived a clever way to use up leftovers.  They chopped up ingredients such as meat, potatoes and fried onions and called it “hash,” from the French term “hacher” which means “to chop.”   By the 1860s, cheap restaurants were called “hash houses” or “hasheries.”  When a shortage of beef triggered food shortages during World War II and food rationing was implemented, canned corned beef hash became popular, especially in countries such as Britain and France.  It’s still popular today.

Corn beef is beef brisket that has been brined (or cured), a process which gives corn beef its distinctive color. Although  often associated with St. Patrick’s Day, corn beef hash is a very popular comfort everyday food for many across the fruited plain.  It was offered as a special on the day of my third visit.  This variation starts with two latkes (a type of potato pancake or fritter) on top of which is piled on chunks of corned beef that has been tossed with sautéed onions.  Served with this excellent hash is a small tub of spicy mustard which provides a tangy contrast.  

16 July 2024: Sandwiches are a specialty of the house at Horizon.  You’ve read (above) about the Reuben crafted on Challah bread.  You can also have your sandwich on a canvas of marble rye or on a bagel.  That’s how Sr. Plata had his eggs, cheese and meat sandwich.  The meat was turkey sausage and the cheese was a Monterey Jack.  In the case of many sandwiches, bread is there to hold things together and doesn’t necessarily add much in terms of flavor and substance.  Not so with Horizon’s bagel which adds elements of freshness and flavor.  The turkey sausage is surprisingly flavorful while the Monterey Jack lends a piquant personality to the sandwich.

English novelist William Makepeace Thackery shared this nugget of wisdom: “Do not be in a hurry to succeed. What would you have to live for afterwards? Better make the horizon your goal; it will always be ahead of you.”  Horizon Bagels & Cafe should be your goal if you’re jonesing for great bagels, a real Reuben and so many other delicious items it will take dozens of visits to try them all.

Horizon Bagels & Cafe
4000 Louisiana Blvd., N.E. Suite D
Albuquerque, New Mexico
(505) 221-0668
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LATEST VISIT: 1 August 2024
1st VISIT: 21 May 2024
# OF VISITS: 4
RATING: 23
COST: $$
BEST BET: Plain Bagel, Green Chile Bagel, Raisin Bagel, Green Chile Schmear, Rugelach, Cardamom Coffee Cake, Reuben, Challah Bread French Toast, Corn Beef Hash; Egg, Cheese and Turkey Sandwich Bagel Sandwich; Matzo Ball Soup
REVIEW #1398