Cocina Azul owner prepares to expand portfolio with West Side restaurant

A longtime local eatery is preparing a new restaurant concept — featuring a mix of something old, something new and something blue — for Albuquerque’s West Side.

Blue Mesa Cocina is the name of the restaurant, bar and brewery that Cocina Azul owner John Quintana plans to bring to 3421 Coors NW. The restaurant will feature New Mexican dishes similar to those found at Cocina Azul but with some new, creative options mixed in.

Gilbert Hidalgo, who will lead the venture as general manager, said the pair hoped to open Blue Mesa in mid-December, but a pending liquor license and inspections pushed the opening date into the new year.

“We’re looking forward to getting on the West Side and letting the families there have a good place to eat, new food and something a little bit different with a new environment,” Hidalgo said.

“It was the right location and the right neighborhood and I’m sure the West Side will be very excited with all this,” Quintana added.

Quintana owns two Cocina Azul restaurants on Holly Avenue and Montgomery Boulevard, which he acquired from the restaurant’s founding family, the Barelas, in 2019. The Barelas still own the original location on Mountain Road.

Quintana has been considering a new restaurant concept for roughly five years and began targeting the West Side over the last eight months. He recently signed a 10-year lease for the roughly 10,000-square-foot space.

Sobremesa, a New Mexican-inspired restaurant and brewery, operated in the space for five years before closing in September.

The Cocina Azul team has started cleaning up and renovating the space, which Quintana said is already “pretty well remodeled” and features an event center that can welcome parties and small weddings of about 150 people.

The restaurant will create between 25 and 50 full- and part-time jobs, Hidalgo said.

One motivator for launching Blue Mesa instead of another Cocina Azul was the desire to experiment with new menu items, Hidalgo said.

Some dishes people can expect to see on the Blue Mesa menu include grilled salmon tacos, baby back ribs with a red chile Dos Equis barbecue sauce, chicharrones and a large beef rib that has been braised for nearly 30 hours.

“They fall off the bone,” Hidalgo said of the beef rib.

Locally crafted margaritas, beers and liquor will accompany the food, Quintana said.

Kylie Garcia covers retail and real estate for the Journal. You can reach her at kgarcia@abqjournal.com.