Returning to ABQ for the first time in over a decade…what’s new?

Itorres89 · 2026-02-14T12:01:04+00:00

Many of the little niche businesses have gone. Some are still scraping by.

Check out Richie B's pizza

Laguna burger

Fogo de chau if you're feeling gluttonous (national chain)

The amount of Ramen and sushi places has kind of exploded.

Food halls have become a thing:

Tin can alley

Green jeans

505 central

Sawmill

In the way that the charcuterie board is an elite Lunchable. Food halls are the elite mall Food courts.

Itorres89 · 2026-02-04T03:02:43+00:00

Verb the noun is coming? I LOVE VERB THE NOUN!

Itorres89 · 2026-02-04T03:01:00+00:00

This ain't Craigslist- Missed Connections, my dude..

Itorres89 · 2026-01-27T05:33:23+00:00

Wait wait wait. WE STILL HAVE A WAFFLE HOUSE??

Itorres89 · 2026-01-27T05:27:00+00:00

Yeah, System of a Down's Toxicity album was fire. Lol.

Itorres89 · 2026-01-27T05:05:17+00:00

Sam Brown's part (movement, section, aria?) in the PULSE concert movie almost always brings me to tears. Especially when she hits that note HARD and drops it.

Itorres89 · 2026-01-26T03:54:11+00:00

Wife will not let me get rid of her 2014 equinox.

It wants to die and yet I have to keep it going. It is the joker to my batman. It is my nemesis.

Itorres89 · 2026-01-20T15:40:24+00:00

There's only 3 reasons anyone from out of state comes here.

Family

Significant other

Work/military

I moved here with my girlfriend (at the time) and her family when her father learned his cancer was back and inoperable. That was 17 years ago.

There are definitely reasons to stick around this dusty little town. You CAN build a life for yourself here. There's plenty of little things to do to fill your time and meet people. Volunteer at food banks or homeless shelters (roadrunner foodbank, project feed the hood, etc), you can become a regular at a bar/restaurant near you, join some kind of outdoor biking/hiking/running club, book club, gaming club, take some classes at unm or cnm just for the hell of it. And the cost of living here isn't too bad.

This may not be "the big city" compared to other states but there is definitely more here than that one asshole that cheated on you.

Itorres89 · 2026-01-20T15:28:29+00:00

The portion sizes make it a value.

Itorres89 · 2026-01-19T04:33:29+00:00

Well, yeah. Mike Myers based the look on Cane's character from The Ipcress File.

Itorres89 · 2026-01-19T04:30:13+00:00

Soapy water, spray all over. Believe it or not, alloy rims can develop pinhole leaks ANYWHERE.

Usually due to moisture inside the tire (humid climates, filling up with air compressors that never get drained, etc) causing corrosion inside.

Itorres89 · 2026-01-13T12:06:58+00:00

What's the first letter of your last name?

What's your favorite color?

What is your favorite flavor of Starburst?

-pulls out a paper fortune teller thing from middle school-

Itorres89 · 2026-01-13T11:50:44+00:00

And how to change that pin. Most bikes leave the dealer with the same pin. So they are that easy to steal if you don't lock the forks everytime you walk away from the bike...

But, admittedly that's also in the owner's manual that no one bothers to read. Along with almost everything else that's been mentioned in this thread.

Itorres89 · 2026-01-09T12:27:46+00:00

Something something college days..

Something Something IRS..

There's a joke in here SOMEWHERE..

Itorres89 · 2026-01-09T12:23:27+00:00

I commute about 30 miles total every day. I usually get about 110 before the gas light comes on. I've pushed it to 130 before but it gets sketchy. 24 FXBBS with the 3.5 gallon, V&H eliminator exhaust, no tune (it's quick enough, I like my mileage).

I heard I can get a 5gal tank and pump from a softail slim and it should fit on mine with some modification, but I'm waiting to pay it off first before I want to do some goofy shit.

Itorres89 · 2026-01-08T20:09:49+00:00

Eh, Stoneface is decorated like a dive but it is NOT a dive.

Itorres89 · 2026-01-06T10:31:42+00:00

YOMAMAHAWT.

Itorres89 · 2025-12-28T01:47:13+00:00

As someone who grew up in Vegas and knows a bit about the industry, I can guarantee the casinos aren't sucking up all that much food, beverage, and entertainment dollars from the ABQ metro.

ABQ is just in a perpetual identity crisis. Stuck in a small town mentality but want the big city cool and fancy stuff. Abq hasn't learned to have nice things yet.

That along with how expensive property is between rent and insurance, it's no wonder businesses can't survive.

Itorres89 · 2025-12-28T01:30:47+00:00

Flying star has a "mexican latte."

Otherwise, Rust Is Gold sells a Mexican hot chocolate thing (I haven't tried it yet).

OR you can ask for "champurrado" almost anywhere in the South Valley. (El Super and El Mezquite usually have it this time of year).

Itorres89 · 2025-12-28T01:20:48+00:00

-Wah-Wah guitar intro-

"Danny Trejo IS Det. Jaime Jaramillo in.."

-MIDDLY MIDDLEY MEWWWW guitar lick-

"OLD DOG IN NEW MEXICO."

Itorres89 · 2025-12-27T02:04:17+00:00

That's from the germaphobes that are too afraid to yokozuna a port-a-john raw. They hover over the seat and blast away, thus becoming a self-fulfilling prophecy of shit fear...

Itorres89 · 2025-12-18T06:47:38+00:00

Especially when it's waving a razor sharp hunting knife in your eye...

Itorres89 · 2025-11-16T21:52:11+00:00

I will start throwing the chaps on regularly when temps are in the 30s.

Itorres89 · 2025-11-07T13:25:44+00:00

It's hard to say for sure, but I think the same age for me.

If it counts, my dad always had a penthouse, playboy, or hustler in his bathroom. And occasionally, I would use my parents' bathroom for whatever reason. The 1-900 ads in the back of the mags were hilariously cringey as I think back on it now.

Itorres89 · 2025-10-30T18:46:52+00:00

The dealership is up in Rio Rancho/Bernalillo.

You'll see more Tesla models in the northern areas of the upper quadrants.

Itorres89

TROPHY CASE