ABQ BBQ does superb barbecue, New Mexico style
The minds behind the North Valley’s Fresh Bistro and the Fresh Bistro dinner bus are back at it with a new barbecue joint serving what they call New Mexico-style barbecue, and it’s definitely worth a trip across town to try it.
ABQ BBQ’s menu is short and sweet, but it’s focused: It’s filled with the usual suspects, including pulled pork and beef brisket, but with a decidedly New Mexican bent.
The pork ribs come with a carne asada rub. The barbecue sauces (we’ll get to those) mostly feature local red or green chile. There are even tacos featuring the spicy meats, and a menu item called el cochino comes with 2 pounds of pulled pork and is so big that if you finish it, they’ll put your picture up on the wall.
So far, there’s only one photo of a champ who managed to down the whole thing.
For my visit, I kept it simple with a plate of herb-crusted beef brisket slowsmoked with apple wood; it came with a side of roasted street corn and a dinner roll.
The brisket was fantastic, almost (but not quite) tender enough to cut with a fork. But it was fresh, smoky, and flavorful as can be. I chose the half-pound serving (for $10; a full pound is $14) and ended up taking half of that home.
The full order must be epic.
The sides were good, too: the plates come with one side, but I also ordered the green chile cornbread ($4 per extra side), and both were phenomenal. The street corn was small but absolutely delicious, a little spicy with a hint of lime and a lot of queso fresco, and the green chile cornbread was out of this world. It was also sizable: it came with two big squares of cornbread, enough to share.
The location is easy to miss on Fourth Street if you’re not looking, but the big Fresh Bistro bus parked outside will help you find the spot. The interior is warm, a little dark, with a neighborhood pub feel — and definitely not pretentious or stuffy.
The wait staff was great. My waiter, who was also the bartender, was prompt and incredibly friendly. He had lots of pride in the food, and it showed.
“Most of the complaints we get,” he said, without my asking, “are about the sauces. Reviewers say it’s too vinegary.”
Unaware he was talking to a food reviewer, he said, when pressed, that the community response in the past couple of months since the restaurant opened has been positive, and the only criticism he’s heard is about the sauce.
(To be fair, he may be considering Yelp users as restaurant critics, which is not at all the case.)
It’s a valid point, though, but probably one I should be making and not him: The sauces are vinegar-based, so thinking of it as New Mexico-byway-of-Carolina barbecue makes a lot more sense. If you’re expecting a spicy version of the thickly sweet, molasses-
like Texas barbecue sauce, be warned: This is a fusion of East Coast barbecue with New Mexico chile. And they actually make a great couple.
There is also plenty of variety — if you don’t like the traditional barbecue sauce with its vinegar base and red chile notes, you can try five others with varying ingredients and degrees of heat. My favorite was the local red sauce, spicy and generous on the red chile.
ABQ BBQ might even spend some time developing a sweeter and less vinegary sauce, thereby satisfying a fuller range of palates. Or it could stick by its sauces, finding its niche with loyal regulars and occasional wandering foodies.
“Do you like dessert?” my waiter asked, still unaware he was talking to a food critic. “We’ve got some of the best, most original desserts in town.” He’s right about the menu’s desserts, which are a new take on Fresh Bistro’s outstanding cherries jubilee.
Like the traditional cherries jubilee, ABQ BBQ’s version ($6) combines butter, brandy that’s cooked off in a flame, brown sugar, roasted piñon nuts, and a side of ice cream. Fresh Bistro’s is exquisite, so this one must be just as memorable. ABQ BBQ also has spicy, chile-infused ice cream occasionally, which my waiter assured me is special.
Parking isn’t a problem, service is great, and kids’ menu items are available, but one of the greatest parts of ABQ BBQ is that it can take the barbecue on the road with special-event catering. Which means you may cross paths with this new flavor factory around town.
This is special barbecue, made in small batches by chefs who have agonized over this genre of cuisine. This isn’t fastfood or chain-restaurant barbecue, even though the presentation would indicate otherwise. It’s slightly more expensive than the chains, but it’s so novel, so fresh and new, “New Mexico barbecue” could become a genre of its own.