There are quite a few food and drink spots opening up in Albuquerque this month, all of which I’m pretty excited about. None of them exactly fall into the healthy category, but February is kind of all about giving up on those lofty New Year’s diet goals anyway, right? Embrace the downward spiral and enjoy yourself.
Weekly Specials: Roll Avenue Roll Avenue
Apparently rolled ice cream is a trendy dessert item these days, and the only reason I know that is because Albuquerque is getting a rolled ice cream shop. If you don’t know, rolled ice cream is fried ice cream rolled into a tortilla-like pastry. Sounds pretty great, right? Roll Avenue opens in Coronado Center (6600 Menaul Blvd. NE) this spring—before April 1, says owner David Ho—to serve the Asian-style dessert to mall shoppers. The dessert shop, which has four locations in Arizona currently, may expand to other locations in Albuquerque if this first venture goes well.
Weekly Specials: Sweet Tooth Sweet Tooth
Another dessert shop, also with rolled ice cream! I told you it was trendy. Sweet Tooth opens up at 6910 Montgomery Blvd. NE, supposedly by Valentine’s Day. Albuquerque natives Dao Pham and Huy Nguyen, the co-owners of Sweet Tooth, are partners in business and in life, and are excited to take this next venture together. Nguyen already owns the taproom adjacent to Sweet Tooth called Tap That, so now the couple will be business neighbors as well.
Weekly Specials: High And Dry Brewing High And Dry Brewing
Albuquerque’s craft beer scene just got a new player: High and Dry Brewing had their grand opening on Saturday, Feb. 10, with five flagship beers on tap (including a stout that’s brewed with Humble coffee) as well as a rotating guest tap. They plan to have food trucks on site most days—check out their Facebook page to see who’s parked there when you plan to visit. They’re at 529 Adams St. NE in the real world and at highanddrybrewing.com online.
Weekly Specials: Leona Banh Mi Leona Banh Mi
I am always ready to eat a banh mi, any time of the day or night. While I haven’t visited Leona Banh Mi (3250 Coors Blvd. NW), the new Vietnamese joint in town, folks on Yelp seem to be pretty stoked on it. They make their own tofu and serve boba tea as well, which has definitely got me interested. The place is small, so it might be more ideal for a carry-out situation. If you’ve been, hit me up to let me know how the food is—I’d love to get the scoop.
Weekly Specials: Devon’s Pop Smoke Devon’s Pop Smoke
This gastropub at 6001 Osuna Rd. NE has only been open about five weeks, but it’s already earning attention for its huge tap of New Mexico beers and for sourcing its pork from a ranch in Chilili, N.M. They do a lot of open-flame cooking here (trend alert!) and upscale bar food. Check out the upstairs loft if you want to have a quiet drink away from the crowd.
