There’s festivals, award-winning burgers and new places to get your favorite treats in this issue. If anything bad ever happens in the Albuquerque food scene, though, rest assured that we’ll be the first to tell you.
Weekly Specials: Deep Space Changes Spaces Deep Space Changes Spaces
For a minute there, we really thought we were losing Deep Space Coffee for good. Last weekend, the coffee shop announced that it was shutting its doors until further notice. “Our owners have tried very hard to keep this place open and ultimately hard decisions have to be made,” the shop said in an Instagram post about the closure on Aug. 26. “Our future is bright though! We are going to talk about the future of Deep Space as a collective group but our sister shop Little Bear Coffee will be open for business and with future locations on the horizon and great coffee still in Albuquerque, we have exciting things to come!” Well, those exciting things were closer than even they knew—this weekend, the shop announced that they would, in fact, be staying in downtown Albuquerque. “The owner of the brand new ‘One Central’ building heard that we were closing our doors for the time being and wasted no time in convincing us to move into his building,” they said on Instagram. It will be a few months before the new location opens its doors, so keep your eyes peeled.
Weekly Specials: New Pop Fizz Location In Los Ranchos New Pop Fizz Location In Los Ranchos
On Friday, Aug. 31 an Albuquerque favorite opened doors on a new location—Pop Fizz Express is now serving up paletas and other frozen treats at 6770 Fourth Street NW in Los Ranchos. The new space houses additional production capacity and a new retail location for the company. This is just after Pop Fizz was listed in Food Network’s “The Coolest Ice Pop Shops from Coast to Coast” for its mangoneada, a sweet and spicy frozen mango treat. Since father and sons trio Rafael, Carlos and Lorenzo Alvarez opened Pop Fizz in 2013, the paleta and street food shop has become hugely popular in Albuquerque and now distributes their unique paletas to several locations across the city, including Spurline Supply Co., Remedy Coffee and Village Pizza.
Weekly Specials: Award-Winning Burger At Toltec Brewing Award-Winning Burger At Toltec Brewing
There are some breweries in Albuquerque with excellent food, but only one can claim a James Beard Award. Chef David Ruiz of Toltec Brewing (formerly of Pueblo Harvest Cafe) entered a custom burger in the James Beard Foundation’s Blended Burger Project—a competition that urged chefs to create a burger that blended meat with mushrooms for a healthier alternative—and was recently announced as one of the winners. Ruiz’s burger was called the Royale, and it combined a New Mexico brisket and roasted crimini patty topped with aged white cheddar, green chile, herb and ancho mayo, applewood bacon, a local fried egg and heirloom tomato on a jalapeño brioche bun. I don’t know about healthy, but that sure sounds good to me.
Weekly Specials: The Biggest Beer Fest In Burque The Biggest Beer Fest In Burque
This weekend is a good one for beer lovers: The 11th annual Albuquerque Hopfest goes down at Isleta Resort and Casino (11000 Broadway SE) on Saturday, Sept. 8. From 2 to 6pm, 60 breweries from around the country serve free samples of their brews to attendees while local musicians perform from 4 different stages throughout the event. General admission tickets for Hopfest are $30 in advance and $35 at the door, and VIP tickets are $60 in advance and $65 at the door. Bring your ID—nobody under 21 is admitted. Find out more and buy tickets at albuquerquehopfest.com.
