This place might be the only redeeming quality of my horrendous weak long work trip in ABQ. I won’t bore you with the details but I’ve never been so unimpressed by the culinary, social and entertainment options in a city and I travel most of the year. On to the GOOD. First off- what a good looking crew! The guys and gals that work here were all good lookin and personable which is always nice for a person alone away from home. The place was clean, aesthetically pleasing and located close to my hotel (less than ten minutes) Daisy made quick recommendations and I trusted her to piece together my meal. It always inspires confidence when a crew member is excited to tell me their favorite menu items. I opted for the Philly with green chilies and spiced fries, with a cold Petroglyph Wit beer. The beer was cold, crisp and true to a wit with hints of orange and coriander and that oh so calming cloudy color. These fries are what my taste buds will remember most. Just a hint of cayenne and battered- reminds me of my home pubs in Scottsdale, AZ. Thank you Lava Rock for lifting my spirits and restoring my faith in ABQ’s culinary scene! I am forever grateful.

****i can not recommend this place at all. *** Friendly staff when you walk in. It definitely seems like this establishment is understaffed. It took the waiters for ever to take our order. Once we ordered, we watched our drinks and food sit at the bar. My group ordered the nachos and wings. The nachos came with cold cheese. The wings came with brown carrots! I would not recommend coming to this place, unless they change things up!

What can I say, I used to really love Lava Rock. Their patio and beer are great. Enjoyed the live music when they had it but their menu recently changed and it is not good. Very limited menu appealing to a vegan lifestyle which is ok but the selection on the vegan menu was not appealing. The service is not up to par. We walked in and were told to seat ourselves which is fine but there were no clean tables so we had to wait for someone to come wipe a table down which took a minuted. Slow and poor service I will definitely be going back.

We always get bad service, ingredients are processed and taste like chemicals. I can taste the microwave in the cheese dip. We ordered a pizza only to discover they have flatbread pizza only. We tried eating cold pizza off napkins because our waitress didn’t check or offer us plates we ate off napkins with no silverware. I also had to clean my chair off from crumbs left from previous person. We won’t be back.

I have been to the Lava Rock a couple times before this recent visit tonight but I gotta say I was highly impressed with the service, the beers and the food! SAM was our beer tender and she was an absolute sweetheart and very attentive to our stay. It was a loud and busy evening and to see a beer tender actually handle our table alongside others was very refreshing I must say! I will definitely be returning with my babes in the very near future. Very Good Job Lava Rock & SAM!

MARCH 23rd, 2022 ..This place used to be great, I haven't been there in about a year.. When I went back last night I was wanting to grab some of their pizza which I remember being amazing. Apparently they got rid of the pizza side of the business. I ordered their flat bread pizza anyway and THAT WAS A MISTAKE.. it was the equivalent of a lunchable pizza.. cold, and gross. Seriously look at the picture, and I ate it some of it anyway cuz I was hungry but DAAAAMN.. not good. Wings were great, but they gave me BROWN CARROTS AND MESSED UP LOOKING CELERY.. like a dog chewed on them.. did not eat those. Staff seems to care more about socializing then attending their customers. Place has really gone down hill. What a shame, they were awesome last time I was there.

We dropped in on a whim to support local businesses. We live on the west side and drive by this place regularly We pleasantly surprised. The food was really good as was the beer. The staff was friendly and the service was great. Chris Raven Band played live and was outstanding I highly recommend this place

Don't come hungry! I didn't seem that the cooks put any care or effort into what you were serving and and our food was terrible today. We got there about 3:30 and ordered chicken nachos. The nachos came without pico but just a few finely diced tomatoes without onion, cilantro, peppers or flavor. The iceberg lettuce on top literally had ice in it. The chicken was cut into large thick slices rather than being appropriately diced and there were no jalapenos which the menus says should be on board. We asked for jalapenos and the cooks took a whole jalapeno and sliced it into uneven rounds. Some were very thick others were thin but all had the ribs, pith and seeds. The cooks did not even take the time to seed/prep the jalapeno before chopping. Later we ordered a pizza and had a to wait a long time for it. When it came there was no sauce on the pizza. I mean literally none. We pulled the cheese back and showed the server and she literally gasped and said she had never seen that before. I understand being busy but would have much rather waited a few extra minutes for a pizza that actually had sauce or be told you ran out if that was the case. We came for trivia and wanted to support you so we ordered food since we do not drink. Sadly that will not happen again.

Great experience! We held and catered our 20-Year high school reunion here, and Veronica took GREAT care of us. We ALL had a great time!

I've been here a few times before and during the pandemic and this is the first time I've gotten excited about the food. The new vegan menu is really good and so much easier on the stomach. Updated after visit on 7/15: I had given the establishment a five star review previously. The beers and ciders and selections thereof have always satisfied. Food has always been hit and miss, except for the short lived vegan menu, which is now discontinued. The nice thing about the vegan menu was it was pretty much gluten free and thus safe for those with celiac disease like us. We attempted to navigate the "bar food" menu for a safe option with the assistance of the wait staff and followed their recommendation only to have an extremely painful attack after heading home. This establishment does not understand dietary restrictions or their own food ingredients that they prepare. Use extreme caution if you stomach and/or autoimmune diseases.

Moved right across the street a little under a year ago, so we have given this place plenty of chances. At first it was a convenient place to grab some beers and bar food. Nothing spectacular, but not awful. Service has always been iffy here. Whenever we walk up to the door, we can already feel that we’re interrupting the servers socializing. Even when it’s slow, (which is most of the time), they are not attentive. When we first started coming to Lava Rock, my boyfriend and I would alternate between ordering either the nachos, wings, or their burger, so we became familiar with these menu items. For some reason, there was usually something off about the order, or it was just a completely different interpretation of the meal. I’d usually have to remind the server of missing items from the meal, which wasn’t a huge deal as long as I could get their attention. The menu food became even more inconsistent with random items marked out in pen, which left very little to choose from. One visit in particular, we noticed most of their original menu crossed out, and then a separate Vegan Vato menu. I am not a vegan, but I enjoy vegan foods and thought that it was a neat idea, but it just seemed really out of place, not to mention confusing. We had to ask the server to explain the two menus to us. We ordered some foods off the vegan menu and they were very good. After that, it seemed like Lava Rock had figured out their kitchen situation, until I ordered one of my usuals, the nacho fries, and they were about 1/4 of the original size. It would not have been a problem had there been a new price to reflect the change in portion size. All around, this place is inconsistent, has bad service, and just doesn’t seem to know what they want to be. I just found out Vegan Vato will no longer be at Lava Rock, so it seems the experimentation will continue. As a regular customer, this is very off putting and will probably not return anytime soon.

It's a nice brewpub. Our server was excellent, but like many places in ABQ, it seems like they are short staffed. There was a guy there playing solo. Good pipes on him. A bit on the loud side if that is a hangup for you. I only tried the German style lager which was good. Amateur tip, if you are gonna get a growler, it may respond negatively to being left in a hot car. Food was good and for only being one server came rather quickly. They pride themselves on their fries. They are good. Kinda in 5 guys vein.

After a relaxing massage at our favorite place we decided to come here for the first time, to our surprise the food was full of flavor, the beer was heavenly and the manager bought our first round, since it was our anniversary! So sweet, and very unexpected. Our server Chase was very accommodating. We will be back

PROS: we all liked our food. The nacho fries were great. I didn’t get any alcoholic beverages, but my friends liked theirs. The bathrooms were clean. The choice of ambient music made me nostalgic for my early 2000s high school days. CONS: the server appeared to be the only one on duty and she seemed overtasked. It took her a long time to get us our checks, etc.

Every time I visit the food changes in quality or design, but it was always passable. But getting a BBQ pulled pork sandwich with no BBQ sauce on it was frankly stomach turning. I always get that sandwich, and it always had sauce, but something was very wrong with it. Even the pork tasted off, and dry. Didn't finish it. Won't be returning.

Hadn’t been here in a few years, we decided to give it a try again. We were told to sit down where we’d like and waited for 10-15 minutes with no help. We sat at the bar and finally got service. Their beers are decent, with an average variety. We split a pizza here, it wasn’t bad, tasted just like a Peter Piper pizza. In the kitchen window, you could see the chef using his bare hands for a lot of things, including putting salad mix directly on the plate for folks to eat. Not the most appetizing/appealing thing to see. Overall I would only come back if my other favorite spots were too busy.

We went in for my friends birthday and I surprised her with a confetti cannon outside the restaurant. However, what made it even more fun was that the owner or manager told us to do it inside so we were able to shoot another one. This was a great experience and our server Victoria was awesome.

A year ago I left a bad review for Lava Rock, that has all changed. Their food is great! Pizza is awesome! If you are not in the mood for pizza, go for the pulled pork nachos, also awesome! Cold beer and fast, friendly servers. If you read my old review, disregard it, they have stepped up their game!

Nashville Chicken was completely burnt on the outside not sure if it was supposed to be battered but, it looked bald with a corner holding what looked like charcoal. Replaced it with a burger and it was delicious. Not to complain again but, the fries looked like they been sitting there for quite some time and not even hot when the re order came out. BTW the drinks were Great..

Not a crowded place. R&B music? Not sure how to describe the genre, but it gave it a club vibe with the music, if that helps. Had the mango habanero wings, and yes, felt the heat, but it had good flavor! Sweet potato fries were perfectly salted and right texture.

First time experience not server review. More like food quality not good pizza dough was tough. Tasted like it was old. Pepperoni was thin sliced as to bought in supermarket. Chicken,ground beef, and sausage was old. Only thing good was the bone in wings and fries. Ipa beer was okay. Will not be going back. I take culinary I've made pizza and this was not up to standards.

We stopped by Lava Rock Brewing for an early dinner while traveling. The food and service were excellent. The southwestern Cobb salad and Philly cheese fries were particularly good and the kids "mini" pizzas were giant. would definitely visit again if in the area!

Four stars! Tasty beer flavors for everyone, wings were perfect. Our server Aubri was polite, nice and showed up at all the right times. Clean and modern I'll be going back!

I think it more suited as a place to have a few rounds for couples or single people. Definitely didn’t feel a family vibe and for food made this simple it shouldn’t take so long. Servers weren’t readily there, had to request each refill. But overall a decent place.

We came here to enjoy some drinks and food with family after driving about 7 hours. Unfortunately, there was a political fundraiser going on at the same time. We ordered a few drinks and menu items that were quick and easy. After an hour and a half, we were told that our nachos and wings were going to take another half hour to 45 minutes. Although the server was nice we just paid for the drinks and canceled everything else. Our family members were embarrassed and kept apologizing. Hopefully, this was only because they were overwhelmed but we will never visit this establishment again.