established 1929 dress code casual street address 1715 2nd st sw city albuquerque state new mexico postal code zip 87102 country united states coordinates 35 04 07 n 106 39 09 w 35.0685742 n 106.6524554 w 35.0685742 ; 106.6524554 coordinates 35 04 07 n 106 39 09 w 35.0685742 n 106.6524554 w 35.0685742 ; 106.6524554 website www.elmodelomexicanfoods.com el modelo originally el modelo tortilla factory is a mexican and new mexican cuisine restaurant in the city of albuquerque new mexico which was founded in 1929 . 1 2 3 it is located in the historic neighborhood of barelas . 4 contents 1 history 2 today 3 reception 4 references 5 external links history edit the restaurant was founded by refugio and carmen garcia in 1929 as el modelo tortilla factory . 5 carmen would get up at two in the morning to prepare tortillas to sell for breakfast . she hired petra vargas to make tamales . vargas then taught garcia s family how to make tamales . when carmen s son leo garcia came home from world war ii in 1945 he went into business with his mother . in 1947 salvador garcia the eldest son helped build the current building in the former location of the family s three room house . 6 the location has not changed since it was established in 1929 . in 1985 hector mendoza and virginia chittim purchased the restaurant and they ran it together until 2003 . at which point virginia chittim took full ownership of the restaurant . 7 today edit el modelo continues to serve tortillas and their critically acclaimed tamales . as well as new mexican cuisine including chile rellenos enchiladas stuffed sopapillas huevos rancheros burritos and tacos . 8 9 10 reception edit the restaurant was also ranked as the 4th best mexican restaurant in albuquerque by usatoday s 2012 10best . 11 in 2013 el modelo was voted one of the best mexican restaurants in the u.s. by travel leisure which described the food as rave worthy . 12 references edit andrea feucht 16 october 2012 . food lovers guide to santa fe albuquerque & taos the best restaurants markets & local culinary offerings . globe pequot . pp. 343 . isbn 978 0 7627 8155 3 . zora o neill 15 march 2011 . moon new mexico . avalon travel . pp. 85 . isbn 1 59880 945 8 . the national culinary review official magazine of the american culinary federation . american culinary federation . 2009 . hobica george may 8 2013 . time to revisit underappreciated albuquerque . http usatoday.com . usa today . retrieved july 28 2014 . external link in website help seizure fatal for centenarian refugio garcia founder of el modelo tortilla factory . albuquerque journal . albuquerque new mexico . jan 13 1969 . access date requires url help el modelo tortilla factory 12 september 1947 . albuquerque journal . p. 15 . speciallizing in tortillas for difference purposes large delicious hand made tamales enchiladas tacos sopapillas posole red chile carne adovada . missing or empty title help ; access date requires url help a brief history of the el modelo mexican restaurant el modelo about page . elmodelomexicanfoods.com . el modelo . retrieved july 28 2014 . levaux ari october 14 20 2010 . el modelo soul model . http alibi.com . weekly alibi . retrieved july 28 2014 . external link in website help gardu o gil march 26 2008 . el modelo albuquerque new mexico gil s thrilling and filling blog . http nmgastronome.com . gil s thrilling and filling blog . retrieved july 28 2014 . external link in website help romano andrew june 3 2011 . andrew romano recommended el modelo albuquerque n.m. . http notes.andrewromano.net . andrew romano . politics food culture . retrieved july 28 2014 . external link in website help boren jennifer 2012 08 14 . el modelo as featured in 10best s mexican list . http usatoday.com . usa today . retrieved july 28 2014 . external link in website help el modelo albuquerque best mexican restaurants in the u.s. page 27 articles travel leisure . http travelandleisure.com . travel leisure by time inc. 2013 04 30 . retrieved july 29 2014 . external link in website help external links edit official website retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title el modelo & oldid 744308189 categories mexican american culture in new mexicorestaurants established in 1929restaurants in albuquerque new mexicohidden categories cs1 errors external linkspages using citations with accessdate and no urlpages with citations lacking titlescoordinates on wikidata navigation menu personal tools not logged intalkcontributionscreate accountlog in namespaces article talk variants views read edit view history more search navigation main pagecontentsfeatured contentcurrent eventsrandom articledonate to wikipediawikipedia store interaction helpabout wikipediacommunity portalrecent changescontact page tools what links hererelated changesupload filespecial pagespermanent linkpage informationwikidata itemcite this page print export create a bookdownload as pdfprintable version languages add links this page was last modified on 14 october 2016 at 12 01 . text is available under the creative commons attribution sharealike license ; 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