The Afterlife of Albuquerque Bars and Restaurants

989. That’s how many FileMaker records need to be sifted through in order to clean up our tired old calendars database. Each record represents a venue—a bar, a gallery, a restaurant, a coffee shop, a theater—where something was or is listed in our paper. This is going to take a while.

Of course, many of these places are gone now. That’s why I’m going through all those records, to weed out the expired ones. I’ve only gone through the first 100 so far. Here’s a preliminary list of Albuquerque bar/restaurant type places that used to be but are no more, and what’s become of those addresses since.

myspace.com/thebluedragoncoffeeshop

Blue Dragon: night

Sisters’ and Brothers’ Bookstore was right next door to Insomnia Coffeehouse --> both are still empty

Blue Dragon --> still empty

IryshMac’s Coffeehouse --> Rasoi Indian Cuisine

Pearl’s Dive --> Blackbird Buvette

Golden West Saloon --> ash and rubble

Chelsea Street Pub & Grill --> eaten by Coronado

O’Niell’s Uptown --> Uptown Sports Bar

Le Café Miche --> still empty, right?

Midnight Rodeo/Gotham--> still empty

Rio Grande Big Dog’s Grill --> still empty, right?

Martini Grille --> Cosmo

Raw, Liquid Lounge --> Sauce, Proof

The Walls --> Farina Pizza

Our Place II --> paparazzi nightclub

Joker's Pub --> Wileys

Pulse --> still empty

myspace.com/thebluedragoncoffeeshop

Blue Dragon: day

La Posada de Albuquerque --> still empty

OPM --> Lotus

Sonny’s Bar and Grille --> still empty

La Piazza --> Fremonts Fine Foods

Famous Sam’s --> still empty

Brian O’Brien’s --> still empty, fire damage

Albuquerque Petroleum Club --> still empty

Assets Grille --> Independence Grill

Stella Blue --> La Provence

La Cuisine French Bistro --> 100 other restaurants that also closed

New Chinatown Restaurant --> still empty

The Paramount, Santa Fe --> a big dirt pit