New to Albuquerque (ABQ)
 

Mrs. AZ and I are in the process of moving to Albuquerque, and would like any and all advice from my FT family.

I've flown THROUGH ABQ before, but never originated. Anything special that I should know? (I try to fly UA most of the time, but am stuck with whatever Corporate Travel books me. This week, it's CO.)

Any restaurants we've just "go to visit"?

Any ABQ FT get-togethers scheduled?

Anything else?

We're looking forward to our new adventure.

Anything special that I should know (About ABQ Sunport)?
The folks at the UA desk at ABQ are the best! Get to know them and they'll treat you well. The AA crew is also pretty good. When I started working in Dallas, I swapped over to American because of it being a direct flight. Both airlines have been very good to me every week I've flown them.

Any restaurants we've just "go to visit"?
Guardunos, Little Anitas, Sadies, El Pinto, The Yacht Club, The Cooperage, Cervantes, High Finance (up on the top of the Sandias. A gorgeous view and a wonderful dinner).

Any ABQ FT get-togethers scheduled?
I don't think so. Since most of us are departing ABQ for work-related travel, I don't think any of us are in town with any reliability.

Anything else?
Enjoy the sun and watch out for the tumbleweed migration in February and March!!

don't miss the balloon fiesta, oct. 6-7. the morning sky should already be filling up with balloons these days.

now is also the time to check out dixon apples, in cochiti.

the sheraton old town has a marvelous green chili and pork stew.

good stuff to visit:
- natural history museum, within walking distance to old town.
- the tram (including the restaurants at the top).
- the frontier restaurant, a greasy spoon across the street from UNM.

Security lines can be a nightmare. It was not too bad when the let you cut in line if you were F (you would go in the crew line), but last time I was there they stopped this and you had to wait in the normal line.

There is a bottle neck at security because the same check point serves both terminals. Also, WN has a huge presence and schedules all of their flights in blocks. Ie 7 full 737's departing within 30 minutes of each other.

I have seen the security line snake down from the third floor, to the second, past the ticket counters, and then out the door.

coplatsat is correct about the security nightmare. When I few out of ABQ, a half hour to get through the screening was not uncommon, and I had a couple of times when it was close to an hour.

As far as restaurants, I'll second crabbing's suggestion of the Frontier. For other suggestions, let us know what kind of food you like. Also, don't forget that Santa Fe is a fairly short drive and there are some great places to eat up there as well.

Thanks for the info so far... especially the security clearance times at ABQ. Luckily, there aren't that many WN flights leaving around my departure time on Wednesday, so I should be ok; I'll still get the 1-1/2 hours early to be sure.

We love all kinds of ethnic food, and have found a couple of great Indian restaurants in the area. We went to a Brazilian place downtown a couple of weeks ago with some friends. Look forward to trying some of your suggestions, as well.

When was the last time you were in ABQ? The security set up has changed greatly. The queue is much larger and there are more machines, including a puffer. I fly out of there on a weekly basis on Sundays and my time from ticket check to AA gate is never more than 5 minutes.

It used to be a big pain in the butt, but since they've moved the security into a new section of the airport, it's improved quite a bit. Infact, I normally wait longer for my weekly Baskin Robbins fix than I do for the TSA to finish juggling my laptop.

I moved to RNO in Nov of 2004, and my last visit back was in May of '05, so thanks for correcting my outdated picture of the security waits. It figures they'd get it fixed after I left town!

As noted above, I left town a couple years ago, so some things may have changed, but here goes: I liked Huong Thao on Juan Tabo for Vietnamese, and Siam Cafe on San Mateo for Thai. Never found a particularly good Chinese place. Olympia Cafe is good for hole-in-the-wall-greasy-spoon Greek, Yanni's is good for more upscale Greek (both are on Central). Although not ethnic, Graze on Central had very good 'small plates' food.

I prefer the Mykonos for Greek, though I live on the West Side, so it might be that I don't get over to the University area enough for the others.

My recommendation is to buy an Entertainment Book for Albuquerque when you get here, then take advantage of the two-fors to explore. That, combined with the iDine programs, is a great way to eat your way around a new town.

I never made it to Mykonos in my 7.5 years in NM (but I did hear good things about it). Central has some good places--Il Vicino has pretty good wood-oven pizzas, and Scalo and Artichoke Cafe were always good too.

If you ever fly out in the evening, security is a breeze. I've been on US' 9:30ish departure to PHX a few times, which is the last flight of the night. I quickly learned I could get dropped off at the airport less than 45 minutes before and be fine. I'm not sure if UA has evening departures or if they would work for you, but the convenience is nice if you can swing it.

I second the recommendations of Little Anita's and the Frontier.

Make sure you visit Santa Fe and Taos. ^

I spent a year there. It is pretty dry and brown....

Zinc is a great restaurant, they have a wine dinner several times a year.
Zia's is pretty good, fast and an impressive wine list for that kind of place.
The Marriott has a great lunch bar.

If you cycle, there is a great trail along the Rio Grande. I believe it is 60 miles round-trip. Be aware of the "goatheads" they tear tires apart.

Great golf courses with great prices too.

The airport has free wireless access and can be very crowded on Friday starting at noon. Not many direct flights out of ABQ, but there is a good flight on United to SFO. Made for a great weekend trip to wine country.

March 06. You do not want to leave around lunch (12:00-1:30) or about 8:00 a.m.

WN really backs it up.

During lunch there are a lot of WN Flights.

Past security, there is a bar on the left that actually has a smoking section. (I do not smoke, but surprised to see one).

Straight ahead from security as the terminal splits, you can climb the stairs, find solice, and see the planes come in. So getting there early is not bad.

Before security the restaurant on the right has a decent Green Chili Cheeseburger.

ABQ can alse be kind of dangerous. I hope I do not get flamed, but watch out for the pachucos. If you confront them, they will not think twice about kicking your butt. Best to ignore.

I was in Chuckee Cheese (I hate the place but was outvoted. None of the food is edible and the games are lame) over x mas in a nice part of town. There was a pachuco lady with a 2 or 3 year old toddler and another pachuco lady with a 2 or 3 year old todler. Well one todler wanted to play with a game, and pushed the other one out of the way. The two Moms started a fist fight. Cops came, lady officer who really did not want to arrest them, but they were both so disorderly that they got arrested. CPS took one child and the other child was picked up by relatives. Surprised to see a fight between 2 women with young kids at chuckee cheese. I have seen may kids fight over games before, and usually the moms handle it very well since a child that age can not comprehend the concept of patience and sharing.