A1 Wings and Seafood launches new flavors in Uptown

A decade after opening Hibachi One, the owners behind the local Japanese eatery have poured their culinary passion into a new venture in Uptown Albuquerque.

A1 Wings and Seafood opened on June 15, bringing a new concept of fresh chicken wings, 29 flavors of handmade sauces and Florida-style southern boils to Uptown Court at 6904 Menaul NE, Suite C, near the Sheraton Albuquerque Uptown hotel and Coronado Center.

The new restaurant comes from the minds of Kim Yang and Kenny Liu — a married couple and longtime New Mexico residents who launched Hibachi One, an authentic Japanese restaurant at 3230 Coors NW, in 2015.

After about a year of consideration, the pair decided to launch a new sit-down concept centered around freshness and unique pairings of food that cater to everyone.

The menu isn’t just wings and seafood. With items like Philly cheesesteaks, chicken tenders, hibachi and salads, the owners aimed to create a place “where family can come and even picky eaters can pick something,” said Annie Liu-Amoah, the owners’ daughter.

Liu brings more than 30 years of cooking experience to the A1 Wings and Seafood kitchen. Liu-Amoah said her father makes the restaurant’s signature wing sauces fresh daily.

“We’ve gotten really good feedback,” Liu-Amoah said.

The restaurant had 4.8 stars and 94 reviews on Google as of Wednesday.

Many of the restaurant’s reviewers praised the quality and amount of food they got for the price. Liu-Amoah said the average price per order is typically $10-20.

Liu-Amoah said it’s always scary and a challenge to test out a new concept and launch a new business, but with a 10-year lease signed and a $200,000 investment into the venture, Liu-Amoah said her parents are all in. The community’s response to the business has been a boost in the early startup grind, she said.

“All the Google reviews, I’m really proud of that because they didn’t really promote (the restaurant), but you can see people really, truly like it,” Liu-Amoah said. “To see people enjoy the food, that’s the best part because my dad really enjoys cooking. He’s just really passionate about it.”

The roughly 1,500-square-foot restaurant seats about 40 people and is open daily 11 a.m. to 9:30 p.m.

West Side Marshalls relocates to Cottonwood Commons

Albuquerque’s West Side Marshalls is on the move, but fans of the store won’t have to go too far to find it.

The American department store, known for selling discounted brand-name clothing and merchandise, is opening a new location at 3601 Old Airport NW in the Cottonwood Commons shopping center, just about half a mile from its former West Side location. The store is expected to open in August, according to a Marshalls spokesperson.

The store will fill a large space left empty by Bed Bath & Beyond after the national big box chain filed for bankruptcy and announced the closure of all stores in 2023. Marshalls joins a row of retailers including World Market, Daiso, Dick’s Sporting Goods and Five Below.

The store’s original West Side location is at 10131 Coors NW in the Cottonwood West shopping center, near Harbor Freight, Albertsons and a now-closed Joann fabrics store.

It is unknown when Marshalls’ Coors location will close, but the property’s owner, Art Gardenswartz, said the store’s lease for the space runs through February.

The Marshalls spokesperson did not respond to inquiries regarding the reason for the move, but Colliers retail expert Ben Perich said the “synergistic co-tenancy” at Cottonwood Commons could have been the draw.

A store like Marshalls, he explained, might have a better chance of capturing customers shopping at the nearby World Market and Five Below versus those shopping at Harbor Freight and Albertsons.

Gardenswartz said there are no new tenants currently lined up for the 29,000-square-foot and 16,000-square-foot spaces that Marshalls and Joann, respectively, are leaving behind, but that a few businesses have already shown interest and “hopefully we get someone good.”

State’s Del Taco restaurants acquired by local franchise group

New Mexico’s Del Taco restaurants are entering a new chapter with fresh ownership at the helm.

All 10 of New Mexico’s Del Taco locations were acquired by a local franchise operator and real estate investment company known as Sonaya Group, the company announced earlier this month.

The acquisition took place in May, marking the group’s first investment in the fast-food restaurant industry, according to the company’s website.

“We’re always looking for well-known brands, proven concepts, but they’re still scalable,” Pranav Patel, Sonaya Group founder and CEO, told the Journal. “Del Taco fit the bill for us just because there was a lot of opportunity to grow the brand presence here in New Mexico.”

Sonaya Group launched in 2014 when it opened its first Great Clips salon. Since then, the company’s portfolio has grown to include 15 Great Clips locations. The group is also the exclusive franchisee of Koala Insulation of New Mexico.

Patel said the Del Taco deal had been in the works since February, after the former Arizona-based franchisee, Diamondback DTNM LLC, decided it was time to focus on its other franchises, according to Patel.

As a vegetarian, Patel said Del Taco’s eight-layer veggie burrito has always been a favorite of his. Under the Sonaya Group’s ownership, New Mexico’s Del Taco market is now the only one in the nation with green chile options, and Patel said he is excited to continue growing a brand that he and New Mexicans care about.

“When this opportunity came along, I just felt blessed because we’ve always been fans, and I think it makes it a lot better when you’re already a customer and you’re a fan of the product,” he said.

The franchise will retain its employees and create six new jobs per location through the acquisition, Patel said.

“We believe in the workforce of New Mexico, and we believe in creating jobs and we want to be a good steward of that,” Patel said.

The group also plans to remodel locations at Montgomery Boulevard, Coors and Central NW in Albuquerque and the Los Lunas location to bring them up-to-date with the latest design scheme, which Patel said is at the Bernalillo and Gibson locations. The company will complete the remodels by the end of this year, he said.