Turtle Mountain Brewing Company

In Albuquerque we have a few microbreweries that make pretty great beer. Some that come to mind are Chama River Brewing Company and Il Vicino. The format for micro-brew/restaurant establishment that I am most familiar with are the wood fired oven cuisine that tends to be pizza and calzones with a few different styles of micro-brewed beers. Up the hill from us in Rio Rancho, there is a great establishment, Turtle Mountain Brewing Company (TMBC), that follows the format of micro-brew restaurant that I am familiar with. TMBC has been a fixture in Rio Rancho for more than a decade and has outgrown it's previous facility on Southern. It relocated to the west of it's old location a block or two. The building is very nice with outdoor seating. I think that the parking lot is too small for the capacity of the restaurant, but there is parking available along the street. The restaurant is fairly well laid out with one large projection type TV and multiple flat panel TVs mounted on different walls. Watching sports at TMBC is pretty cool. My last visit was during the OSU/USC game and it was shown on the projection screen. In the middle of bar section there is a large community style table that seemed to be made of some kind of polished rock. It adds a nice touch to the bar area that seems to promote more of a community atmosphere. The flooring of the restaurant is a painted or finished concrete that has multiple colors. The ceilings are high and gives the restaurant a larger feel despite the limited floor space. The bathroom had two urinals, one toilets, and only one sink. I thought that one sink for three depositories and the "buddy urinals", urinals without a dividing wall, were odd.

My friend and I arrive around 8 PM on a Saturday. We approached the hostess stand to make our table request; the hostess was polite and witty, she complimented me on how direct I was with my request. The wait time quoted was not too long, but we decided to belly up at the bar for a pint. We did cancel our request for a table because the bar area was comfortable and spacious enough to enjoy a nice dinner. Our server/bartender for the most part pleasant and fairly attentive. He did get help from the other staffers, but our request for horseradish took a little while. I did have an interesting exchange with a staffer over best burger according to Albuquerque the Magazine which I looked at prior to leaving for dinner. Overall the service was OK.

We each started the night with the beer sampler, which consisted of samples of the American Wheat, Red Rye, Steam Ale, IPA, Stout and a Brown Ale. The wheat ended up being my favorite of the beers. My pallet tends to prefer lagers and stouts, but the wheat had a nice finish to it. The IPA was very good, but had too many flavors for my personal taste. For dinner we each ordered the prime rib plate that was a special for the night. The menu here is more extensive than your average brew pub. They offer fried appetizers, burgers, sandwiches, pub favorites, and a few other types of food. I was impressed by how extensive the menu was and despite the extensive food menu food quality was not compromised. Our dinners came fairly quickly with a baked potato and steamed veggie combo. All of this was pretty good, but I did request that my baked potato come with all of the fixings on the side. When the food arrived I did mention it to the server, but I did not request to send it back. He did not offer to get me a new one or make amends, but oh well the food was tasty and well prepared. They also do not have a pepper mill available. I think this sort of thing is a great touch to any sit down restaurant. Overall the meal was good.

TMBC has good atmosphere, OK service, good food, and great beer. This is a great business to have in Rio Rancho. I would rate Turtle Mountain Brewing Company overall three and a half stars out of five.

http://www.turtlemountainbrewing.com