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In the 1978 movie\u00a0Same Time Next Year<\/em><\/strong><\/a>, Ellen Burstyn\u2019s character lamented that her husband considered his years in the Army the best years of his life. When Alan Alda\u2019s character, her partner in a 26-year adulterous affair, commiserated that many men felt that way about their time in the military, Burstyn retorted, \u201cbut he spent two years as a prisoner of war<\/em>.\u201d\u00a0 \u00a0I can\u2019t relate to being a prisoner of war, but can fully appreciate why so many men cherish their time in the military.\u00a0 Even more than playing sports in high school, the military develops a camaraderie and esprit de corps\u00a0 you will never experience anywhere else.\u00a0 Even Hawkeye Pierce, they cynical anti-military doctor who served in Korea with the 4077th Mobile Army Surgical Hospital (MASH) recognized \u201cI\u2019m \u201ccloser to these people than i\u2019ve ever been to anybody else in my life, or ever expect to be.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n When some of us return to civilian life, memories are mostly all that is left of the close relationships we cultivated during our terms of service.\u00a0 We tend to lose touch with the brotherhood of friends and colleagues for whom we would have happily taken a bullet.\u00a0 That\u2019s not always the case, however.\u00a0 Many, if not most of us, service and civic-minded former military members continue in the same spirit of patriotism and sense of service that initially prompted us to sign up.\u00a0 We join the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW), American Legion and other organizations where they can interact with others with whom they can commisserate and share memories of good and bad times in the military.\u00a0 Others, like my friends Tom Neiman and Jim Tritten serve in unique and wonderful ways.<\/p>\n When diagnosed with PTSD, Jim recognized there was something he could do to help similarly affected veterans process and help them heal.\u00a0 He undertook the mission of leading a veterans\u2019 writing group that harnesses the power of storytelling to confront and heal from trauma.\u00a0 Jim recruited his friend Tom and fellow veteran to help with the effort. They meet weekly at the Raymond G. Murphy Veterans Affairs (VA) Medical Center in Albuquerque with veterans in the writing therapy group.\u00a0 With their coaching, veterans transform their traumatic experiences into written stories, finding support in a safe, understanding space. For veterans, it\u2019s an outlet for self-expression, offering a sense of relief and connection through writing.\u00a0 \u00a0The group is planning a reading tour throughout the Land of Enchantment during which they will share their stories at veterans\u2019 organizations.<\/p>\n Jim and Tom have since expanded their roles.\u00a0 Along with members of the VA Writing Group, they visit restaurants in the Albuquerque area and share their observations in a podcast they call Ma\u00f1ana Cafe<\/strong><\/a>.\u00a0 In weekly episodes, Jim and Tom have shared their insights on well over 100 restaurants in the Albuquerque area (with forays into Santa Fe).\u00a0 Their format is simple and you don\u2019t have to wade through half-a-million words (hint to self) to find out what they think of a particular restaurant.\u00a0 Each podcast includes video and is about five minutes long.\u00a0 I first met Tom in July, 2025 at the Blackbird Coffee House<\/strong><\/a> in Old Town.\u00a0 In December, he invited me to join the VA writing group for lunch at a brand new restaurant in Corrales.\u00a0 I brought along my dear friend Bill Resnik who, while not a veteran, is one of the most giving civic-minded people I know.<\/p>\n If you\u2019ve never heard of the No Competition Supercharged Bistro, you\u2019re not alone.\u00a0 To their \u201cembarassment and amazement<\/em>,\u201d Corrales residents Tom and Jim stumbled upon it and shared their review on Ma\u00f1ana Cafe<\/strong><\/a>.\u00a0 They were so impressed that they declared it the \u201cbest in New Mexico burger joint<\/em>.\u201d\u00a0 \u00a0They graciously wanted me to share their restaurant find with them and other members of the VA writing group.\u00a0 The audaciously named No Competition Supercharged Bistro is adjacent to the Sandia Bar on the corner of West Ella and Corrales Road.\u00a0 As you\u2019re driving on Corrales Road, you\u2019ll definitely espy the Sandia Bar, but there\u2019s no visible signage telling you of the restaurant.<\/p>\n The No Competition Supercharged Bistro occupies the kitchen spaces at the newly renovated Sandia Bar.\u00a0 You\u2019ll place your order at a window and pick it up at a counter.\u00a0 There is no seating within the tiny confines of the restuarant, but you\u2019re welcome to enjoy your meal at the\u00a0 Sandia Bar or\u2013weather-permitting\u2013use one of the bar\u2019s numerous outdoor tables.\u00a0 Should you choose to dine al fresco, you\u2019ll be sitting under a canopy of arboreal giants.\u00a0 If you elect to find a table at the bar, you\u2019ll be impressed by the upscale milieu\u2013especially if you remember the days when it was the local biker bar hangout.<\/p>\n The No Competition is a member of the Primera Agua Hospitality Group<\/strong><\/a> which owns and operates a number of restaurants in the Albuquerque area.\u00a0 Among them are Flatiron Bites and Brews and Gardu\u00f1o\u2019s Nativo.\u00a0 When you place your order at a Primera Agua restaurant, you\u2019re enrolled in a rewards club where you will earn points toward free food and invitations to exclusive events (similar to credit cards with their cash back rewards programs).\u00a0 \u00a0We were surprised at just how quickly the line to place our orders moved.\u00a0 On a rare sunny and warm day in December, we elected to dine outdoors in a shaded table.\u00a0 Our group ordered a number of different menu items, many of which were shared among us.\u00a0 I was fortunate enough to sit next to the delightful Laurel, one of only a few group members who also served in the Air Force.<\/p>\n While not expansive, No Comptition\u2019s menu<\/strong><\/a> includes something for every palate.\u00a0 Five \u201capps\u201d (I surmise this is short for appetizers) are listed though you might balk at the expensiveness of starters.\u00a0 That is, until you experience the sheer size of these apps.\u00a0 Each is large enough to share and can be ordered as an entree as several in our party did.\u00a0 \u00a0Three salads also grace the menu.\u00a0 When espying Laurel\u2019s salad, I teased her about being like Elaine Benes who always ordered a \u201creally big salad<\/strong><\/a>.\u201d\u00a0 The menu also includes a number of plates and combos.\u00a0 Combos include your choice of sandwich with French fries or three tacos with freshly roasted calabasitas.\u00a0 Desserts are also available though all of us were too full to partake.<\/p>\n With his Sandia loco moco ( traditional loco moco with long-grain rice, an Akaushi Wagyu patty, fresh egg, crispy onions, and house red chile gravy), Bill ordered the beer-battered onion rings<\/strong><\/em>.\u00a0 They were a hit!\u00a0 Shared among several of us, these golden hoops of crispy, sweet deliciousness may have been the best item we sampled during our lunch.\u00a0 All too often local restaurants tend to serve onion rings out of a bag and leave us believing the bag was fried alongside the onion rings.\u00a0 These onion rings were reminiscent of those I enjoyed at Hampton Beach<\/strong><\/a> in New Hampshire.<\/p>\n Both Bill and I had wanted to start our meal with elote corn ribs (elote seasoned and topped corn, ready for snacking like a plate of ribs), but No Competition had sold out.\u00a0 Not that the hummus trio<\/strong><\/em> (Unique flight of flavors: savory (avocado), spicy (NM green chile), and sweet (chocolate) was a consolation prize.\u00a0 None of us had ever envisioned hummus prepared these three unique ways.\u00a0 The chocolate dip was especially surprising.\u00a0 It went surprisingly well with the accompanying pita chips.\u00a0 \u00a0As bona fide fire-eaters, Bill and I especially enjoyed the piquancy of the green chile.\u00a0 In addition to the pita, the trio plate included celery sticks, red pepper sticks and cucumber sticks, all excellent for dipping into the \u201chummus.\u201d<\/p>\n Ordinarily after a plate as sizeable as the hummus trio, I wouldn\u2019t order a second \u201centree\u201d type item.\u00a0 Thank goodness I shared my bounty with our table.\u00a0 My entree was the Rio Grande Burger<\/strong><\/em> described on the menu as a \u201cclassic New Mexico cheeseburger.\u201d\u00a0 This behemoth in buns is constructed with a Frisbee-sized Akaushi Wagyu beef patty and includes lettuce, red onions, sliced tomato, Cheddar, bacon and green chile.\u00a0 The beef is prepared at just shy of well done (never my choice).\u00a0 If the green chile had any measureable Scoville scale<\/strong><\/a> heat, it just wasn\u2019t discernible on account of just how much was packed between the buns.\u00a0 Perhaps the only hard-to-forgive aspect of the burger, however, was that it just couldn\u2019t be contained within the buns.\u00a0 The buns practically disentegrated from the moistness and quantity of the ingredients.\u00a0 Picture trying to eat an otherwise very good burger without buns and you get my drift.<\/p>\n Though there may be restaurant competion for the No Competition, it offers Duke City area diners an excellent option for very good food in a relaxing and friendly venue. If you happen to run into the VA writing group while visiting, make sure to thank them for their service. <\/p>\n No Competition Supercharged Bistro<\/strong> The Sandia Bar in Corrales, Home to No Competion Supercharged Bistro In the 1978 movie\u00a0Same Time Next Year, Ellen Burstyn\u2019s character lamented that her husband considered his years in the Army the best years of his life. When Alan Alda\u2019s character, her partner in a 26-year adulterous affair, commiserated that many men felt that way […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":343342,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[142],"tags":[166618,36130,5308,166619,166620,166621,166622,15504,52786,166623,166624,166625,29427,166626,166627],"dealstore":[],"offerexpiration":[],"class_list":["post-343341","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-burger","tag-bill-resnik","tag-bistro","tag-competition","tag-corrales","tag-hummus-trio","tag-jim-tritten","tag-manana-cafe","tag-mexico","tag-onion-rings","tag-rio-grande-burger","tag-sandia-bar","tag-sandia-loco-moco","tag-supercharged","tag-tom-nieman","tag-va-writing-group"],"yoast_head":"\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nmgastronome.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/NoCompetition02-scaled.png?resize=640%2C480&ssl=1\")
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4445 Corrales Road Suite B.
Corrales, New Mexico<\/strong>
(505) 525-7946
Website<\/a><\/strong> | Facebook Page<\/strong><\/a>
LATEST VISIT<\/strong>: 11 December 2025
# OF VISITS<\/strong>: 1
RATING<\/strong>: N\/R
COST<\/strong>: $$
BEST BET<\/strong>: Rio Grande Burger, Onion Rings, Hummus Trio,
REVIEW #1501<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\nRelated Posts<\/em><\/h3>\n<\/p><\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"