Things to Do
(and mostly not do)
in Albuquerque

Latest updates June 14, 2025

Entertainment

Movies
- Guild Cinema: Good independent theater tending toward the bizarre.
- Rio 24: Giant Multiplex. It’s fine.
- Winrock Theater: Absolutely gorgeous and almost abandoned first-run movie house.

Music & Theater: Low expectations … lots of iffy stuff going on here across the board: EVENT CALENDAR

News

Print
- Albuquerque Journal: Super lame local paper with a paywall.
- The Paper: Free arty-farty paper selling mostly weed.
TV
- Channel 4: KOB (NBC affiliate)
- Channel 7: KOAT (ABC affiliate)
- Channel 13: KRQE (CBS & FOX & CW)

Web News
- ABQ Raw: The best place to learn about mayhem in this city.
- ABQtodo: Event listing.
- Albuquerque Business Journal
- City Desk ABQ: A subscriber supported newsletter-ish thing.
- Corrales Comment
- Independent News Edgewood
- New Mexico Political Report
- New Mexico Press Association: This site is actually useful.
- Sandoval County Signpost
- Santa Fe Reporter
- Turquois Trail Website

Food

We only give places one shot, so if things go poorly, we move on to the next place. Sometimes we go back and it’s not good the second time and then we quietly move it to the never again list.

Local-ish places we’d go to again:

- Asian
  - Jinja: Wow. What? Flavor!
- Brewery
  - Bosque Brewing: The food was surprising and fun.
- Café
  - Cutbow Coffee: A long way to go to get coffee right. You gotta like nutty coffee.
  - Flying Star: Best casual dining anywhere. Food’s okay, coffee is terrible.
- French
  - La Quiche Parisienne Bistro: Very fun … and the pastries! Steer clear of the quiche.
- Ice Cream
  - Heidi’s Jam Factory: Anything in a cone. This is the best place in Albuquerque.
- Indian
  - Taj Majal: It’s all pretty good.
- Irish
  - Two Fools Tavern: The Jester’s Pot Pie. OMG!
- Italian
  - Il Vicino: Lots of good options.
  - Farino Alto Pizzeria and Wine Bar: Just yummy, but stick to the pizza.
- Mexican
  - Lindo Mexico: Real “old” Mexico food.
- Middle Eastern
  - Café Istanbul: It’s a grocery store with a café and three types of baklava.
- New Mexican
  - Garcia’s Kitchen: Best tortillas.
  - Padilla’s on Girard: They’re cash only, and don’t have a website and aren’t looking to be everything for everybody. They do what they do and don’t plan on making any changes for modern society. Best carne adovada and sopapillas.
  - Sadie’s: This is the best place for a real “New Mexican” meal. You have to go to Santa Fe to find better red chile.
- Pizza
  - Dion’s: The best crust in the city (probably).
- Vegetarian
  - Lucky Goose: The Green Chile Cheese Burger isn’t real and is wonderful.
- Wine & (All Yer) Wages (Fancy Pants)
  - Indigo Crow: Super expensive, but super good. Beware of drunken white people laughing too loud.

Places we tried and are not going back (sorry):

Tourist Info

Albuquerque Magazine
Visit Albuquerque: They’re trying real hard to put lipstick on a pig.
New Mexico Tourism: They publish New Mexico magazine.
Museums & Cultural Centers
- Albuquerque Bio Park (gardens and zoo): Pretty typical, but we had fun. I liked the bug area. The lights at Christmas were nice too.
- Albuquerque Museum
- Holocaust and Intolerance Museum
- Indian Pueblo Cultural Center: The restaurant has good fry-bread and fried Kool-Aid pickles (trust us, they’re both worth the stop). The museum is just okay. The ceremonial dances are legit.
- National Hispanic Cultural Center
- New Mexico Historic Sites
- New Mexico Pueblo Churches
- Petroglyph National Monument
- Tinkertown Museum
- Turquoise Museum
Sandia Peak Tramway: It’s definitely fun, but super expensive. The restaurant is not worth the price. It’s ordinarily cold and windy at the top, so take ear muffs, gloves, a coat, and only go up on clear days.