Seasons Rotisserie & Grill

Seasons has been on Mountain Road near Old Town for a long time, a grill and rotisserie with a rooftop cantina, and it is the sort of established restaurant that a city's tourism board recommends without much fuss.

What puts it in this guide is a single item Visit Albuquerque records: an elevated Shirley Temple. That deserves more attention than it usually gets, because the Shirley Temple occupies a peculiar place in the life of anyone who does not drink. It is the default — the thing a bartender reaches for when told no alcohol, made from bottled grenadine, flat lemon-lime soda and a neon cherry — and it is served to adults constantly. It is also, done properly, a genuinely good drink: real pomegranate, fresh citrus, decent soda water, a proper brandied cherry.

A kitchen that bothers to rebuild it is making a statement about who it thinks is ordering. It says the restaurant has noticed that grown-ups drink this and has decided they should get something worth drinking, rather than the children's version handed over with an apology. For readers of this directory that is a more meaningful signal than another Seedlip-and-tonic would be.

This entry is graded three and honestly so. One documented drink, no published ingredients, no verified zero-proof section on the menu, and no non-alcoholic spirits programme confirmed. It is a good restaurant that treats the non-drinker properly, not a destination for the drinks alone.

The location is the practical draw: Mountain Road puts it within walking distance of Old Town Plaza and a short distance from Lost Cultures in the Sawmill District, which makes an Old Town evening combining the two entirely workable.

Open 4pm to 9pm Monday and Wednesday through Friday, 3pm to 9pm at weekends. Closed Tuesday.