6 Best Nightlife in Albuquerque, New Mexico

Come to this longtime, low-key destination for brew fans for live music Sunday afternoons (and most Thursday nights). Picture casual picnic seating (indoors and out, where there's plenty of shade) and a sweet choice of IPAs (try the Flashback), a good red ale, a steady brown (Pecos Trail), or a briskly cold 2016 World Beer Cup–winning High Plains Pils. Don't miss the Canteen's hard ciders, wines, and seasonal selections as well.

This outstanding venue programs an inspired, eclectic slate of genres, from local nuevo folk to techno, jazz, and traveling East Indian beats. Some big names—especially from the jazz world—show up at the compact, comfortable space (perfect for serious listeners), which is a key player in bringing the world-class New Mexico Jazz Festival to the state every September.

Usually an annual affair in late September, ¡Globalquerque! is a dazzling two-day multistage (indoors and out) world music festival that firmly places Albuquerque on the global music map. The National Hispanic Cultural Center has been a perfect home for it since it launched in 2005. In addition to three evening performances, a full day is devoted to (free) family-focused programming.

Striking nature photographs line this popular, modernly rustic pub (an early location of a growing state-wide empire), which offers memorable ales like their Scotch-style Scotia and the award-winning Pistol Pete's 1888 as well as IPAs, hard seltzers, and ciders year-round. There are also seasonal specialties like Elephants on Parade (a raspberry-tempered wheat ale), traditional cocktails and wine, and reasonably priced savory snacks to accompany them all. Their brewmaster has made Bosque a multi-time National IPA Challenge Champion.

Key brews at La Cumbre include its award-winning Elevated IPA, the year-round, traditional Bavarian wheat ale A Slice of Hefen, and the seasonal Azulito, a blue-corn-based Mexican-style lager. Food trucks await outside the convivial taproom and its outdoor-seating "corral."

Fancy some great fish-and-chips (and apple ’slaw) along with your crisp cold beer (local and international, draft or bottle)? Two Fools is the place: convivial, fun, and lively. The food (a wide array of Irish standards plus some New Mexican ones and salads, too) is no afterthought here; it’s all good, as is the impressively deep list of whiskies. Imbibe the best, with a fine selection from Scotland, Ireland, and even the United States.