Revitalizing Downtown: Ex Novo Brewing Co. brings restaurant, taproom to Albuquerque

It has been about four years in the making, and Ex Novo Brewing Co.’s new space in Downtown Albuquerque opened this week.

Ex Novo’s Albuquerque Taproom and Restaurant, 701 Central NW, held a soft opening for media Thursday evening and opened on Friday.

In May 2020, Ex Novo owner Joel Gregory put the word out that he was looking for a space in Albuquerque and came across the old Firestone tire store on the corner of Central and Seventh.

“(We were) seeing what’s out there, knowing that kind of stuff takes time,” Gregory said. “I’m really glad that we did see it when we did because it did take so much time to get to this point. I’m blown away how much the finished space reflects some of those ideas we had about it in the early days walking through it.”

The 11,500-square-foot building is broken into two levels, with the restaurant, kitchen, taproom, indoor seating and a large patio on the first level and a full-service bar with food service upstairs.

“It’s quite a bit larger than anything we’ve ever done,” Gregory said. “And in that vein, we didn’t want it to just be some huge, cavernous place where you get lost. So we really wanted to break it up a little bit into different fields and different experiences under one roof. ”

Gregory referred to the lounge area as the bar of his dreams.

“I’ve always wanted to build a really large horseshoe bar,” he said. “The bar is always too small and only a couple people can work back there at a time and they’re kind of on top of each other. But this is really designed for the bartenders’ comfort and we’ve got like 25 bar stools and I think we’ll have a lot of regulars in the Downtown community that live and work down there that will find it is a good spot to be.”

Gregory described the new space as “beautiful” with its original 1930s boat truss ceilings.

“It just feels light and airy in the main space,” he said. “And attached to that is the large outdoor patio, which will have seating for over 100 (people) and this stage for live music when we get to that point. I think it’s really important for Downtown and Route 66 to have as much live music as possible.”

Guests will find full bar service upstairs at the Bitter Nun, which was named after a painting in Gregory and his wife’s art collection. The space will be more cocktail-driven, but beer will be available on tap. The bar will be open until midnight Thursdays through Sundays.

Another section of the building will serve as a cafe and deli called Sammy’s. It was named after Gregory’s son.

Award-winning Chef Marc Quinones is leading the culinary program, bringing his New Mexican ranch cuisine with small and large plates.

“It was always like, ‘How can I tell the story of this Puerto Rican kid who moved to New Mexico (from the Bronx, New York) and always had a love for food,” the 2024 James Beard semifinalist said.

Quinones said he educated himself about New Mexico and its geography.

“It also fosters an environment where you have the most amazing wild game, the most incredible vegetables, chiles, aromatics out of the earth, right here in New Mexico,” he said.

Quinones said he connected with Gregory’s business perspective and sense of community during their first meeting.

“We would make it a little bit less modern, but every bit as artistic and beautiful and world class, but we don’t have to charge 70 bucks for a filet mignon, right?” Quinones said about discussing the culinary format at Ex Novo with Gregory. ”We could make this accessible. We want to make this food accessible to everybody without impeaching the integrity of the quality and the technique behind it.

Quinones said he could not pass up the opportunity to join Ex Novo and its quest to help revitalize Downtown.

“What I hope and pray is this is going to be the cornerstone of the Downtown revitalization area,” he said. “And we’re just going to play a part in that.”

Take a look at Ex Novo in downtown Albuquerque