To start off the 1 stars is because I've have 3 bad experiences out of 5 but tonight was the worst. The good: there is a bar tender with a big beard, awesome dude! Great service though I haven't seen him in a while so maybe he saw the poor management and ran. Food is decent and they always have double white. The bad: service is terrible at times (at the time of this post it was 2/22/19 around 7pm.) Truly only the bearded guy gives good service even if the place is empty. Tonight it took 5 min for me to be acknowledge and 15 to be served (1/4 capacity). One girl behind the bar sat on her phone and the other had friends that came in and she only wanted to service them at first. The ugly: well take a look at the picture. I watch a growler I had being filled over flow for 8 minutes. Excuse - I had to use the restroom. 2 other employees walked by the tap and the girl that I mentioned earlier on her phone, well, was on her phone feet away from the calamity. I'm sorry to the owner for allowing the beer to go down the drain but after watching how poorly this place is managed I had to watch the train wreck. I will not reccomend this place to anyone but thank you for always having double white on tap. The few beers I've tried that you have brewed have been amazing (hazy ipa top notch) Please reconsider your staff and this place could be a hit, especially since I hear you are about to start brewing more of your own.

Husband and I decided to go to Lava Rock for the first time yesterday (Sunday evening). We were impressed with the building very open space, clean and excited for the patio seating so we could bring our dog next time. As for the service, I'd have to agree with other reviews as it was lacking. They weren't very attentive and when they did come over, we felt rushed. They weren't rude but they weren't very welcoming either, just kind of there to do a job. We asked our waitress for food recommendations and she spoke very highly of the nachos which we decided to try. At first glance, they looked like I would have expected. We paid an extra $3 to have meat added but it was a sliver that was placed on top. The cheese was clumpy and cold and reminded me of vomit (i'm sorry if that's gross, just being honest). Needless to say, we will not be getting the nachos again. The gentleman who assisted us with our drinks gave really good recommendations (spot on)based on what we told him we liked. My husband likes wheat citrus beers and was told the Lava Wil was good, my husband really enjoyed it and although I don't normally care for these beers, I thought it was tasty. I like the darker beers and he recommended the dark red or the stout. I went with the stout and it was delicious! We will definitely be back for the beers but will probably eat prior to going.

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.
Food: 1
Service: 5
Atmosphere: 4

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.
Service
Dine in
Meal type
Lunch
Price per person
$10–20

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.
Service
Dine in
Meal type
Dinner
Price per person
$20–30
Features
Idk about covid but man I wouldn't be surprised if someone get food poisoning from there rotten carrots, old celery and cold undercooked pizzas (Flatbread)

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.

This food was nasty . Ordered a bbq pulled pork sandwich that did not come with any sauce on it .. and it was full of fat and gristle . The server asked why I needed “more “ sauce Walked in and the server handed me to menus and told me to go sit wherever I wanted to then we had to sit for a few minutes before, I finally stood up next to the table to show my face that we were there.. the only good thing about this place was spending time with my son, but I will never eat here or recommend anybody to eat here.And since I had to seat my own self, and we did not get acknowledged at all, I kept the tip.
Food: 1
Service: 1
Atmosphere: 1

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.
Price per person
$30–50
Food: 3
Service: 3
Atmosphere: 4

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.
Price per person
$10–20
Food: 5
Service: 4
Atmosphere: 4
Recommended dishes
Pulled Pork Grilled Cheese, Hand Cut Fries

I like this place's aesthetics and the friendliness of the staff, they are consistent in making a comfortable atmosphere. Tyler did a nice job of serving me tonight, he's a sociable dude. Certainly would recommend this place for any occasion (football watching, bands playing, getting together with friends, and catching sunsets and mules during the summer).
Price per person
$20–30
Food: 5
Service: 4
Atmosphere: 4
Recommended dishes
BBQ Pulled Pork Sandwich, Pulled Pork Grilled Cheese, The Burger
Parking space
Plenty of parking
Parking options
Free parking lot

I’ve really enjoyed my visits here. The bartenders are very friendly, the place has a nice open atmosphere, and the food and beer is quite good. I got the West Philly sandwich the first time I came, it was delicious. The wings are also very good. Looking forward to when they start brewing their own beer, but for now you can enjoy local favorites from the area. EDIT: Took over 20 minutes to get two growlers filled here. Half the beers you ask for they are out of or the taps are broke. This place has gone down hill. I feel bad for the bartender as this wasn’t really her fault be she was for sure overwhelmed.

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.

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.

On 4/14/23, I ate a crispy buffalo chicken sandwich with fries. I had it to go. When I got home to eat the sandwich it was a piece of thin brown chicken lightly crusted with a terrible chicken smell. Not a fan of brown meat as a chicken sandwich. I couldn't even finish, the fries were greasy and with little I ate, my stomach was upset all night. Worst chicken sandwich ever!! I don't recommend it at all!!
Service
Take out
Meal type
Dinner
Price per person
$10–20
Recommended dishes
Sandwich

Drinks were good! No issues there. I wouldn’t order food from the place. We ordered chips and guac which was $10.00. Not only were the chips stale but the guac had absolutely no flavor! I would never go back to eat. If you are going to have a brewery in New Mexico you need to have good food. I’ve lived here for awhile and this is the first place I’ve been to where the food was an absolute disappointment. The menu barely has options too.
Service
Dine in
Meal type
Dinner
Price per person
$20–30

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..
Price per person
$10–20
Food: 1
Service: 3
Atmosphere: 3
Recommended dishes
Sandwich

A wonderful little community brewery. Good beers and loved thier burger and homecut fries. Queso was good and creamy, not runny. Dog and Kid friendly with a great patio with beautiful views and great staff. Nice happy hour prices also. We've been coming back with new management and menu. Not a vegan menu anymore. I would recommend to my friends and family.
Price per person
$10–20
Food: 4
Service: 4
Atmosphere: 4
Recommended dishes
The Burger, Hand Cut Fries

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!

Food and beer were on point. It was difficult to catch our server's attention a few times. But otherwise was great. The only thing I wished we were told, was the children's Mac and cheese had Chile in it. Delicious for us, but the kiddos were not amused.
Service
Dine in
Meal type
Lunch
Price per person
$20–30
Food: 5
Service: 4
Atmosphere: 5
Recommended dishes
Landslide Nachos, Pulled Pork & Sweet Potato Fries

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.
Service
Take out
Meal type
Dinner
Price per person
$100+

Great food. My husband loved the beer. Bonus, the live music was going on while we were there...and it was pretty darn good too. We all had the wings, nachos with ground beef, sweet potatoe fries and regular fries. All of it was awesome. Not just average bar food. It was really good! We will be back.
Service
Dine in
Meal type
Dinner
Food: 5
Service: 5
Atmosphere: 5
Recommended dishes
Wings

****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!

Okay, so I went back after a few months, and then have to say, this new crew are great, bar tender was really good and friendly , Victoria was also really nice, give this place. Change it will get alot better now that they have all this great people working there
Price per person
$30–50
Food: 3
Service: 5
Atmosphere: 4
Parking space
Plenty of parking
Parking options
Free parking lot

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.

Back in 2020, I wrote a great 5-star review about this place. Since then, the staff and management has completely turned over and the service is unbearably bad. Reading all these other recent reviews, we've experienced all of that as well. We've given it so many chances but just can't anymore. This is such a shame because they've got a fantastic patio and they often bring fun bands in on the weekends.

Tried the capulin coffee pale, a lighter coffee inspired free. Santa fe brewerys java stout is darker, richer and a higher alcohol content. The Capulin here at lava rock is easier to drink and still has enough coffee flavor. I'd really like to try the seismic stout next time, the menu says it's inspired by guiness. I didn't order the food but people next to me really enjoyed theirs.

This place was legit. The nacho fries with pulled pork was amazing. I had to get the pulled pork sandwich afterwards. That thing was so good. I would totally recommend eating here. The staff was super nice and the food came out pretty quickly
Service
Dine in
Meal type
Dinner
Price per person
$20–30
Recommended dishes
Battered Fries, Chile Cheese Fries

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.
Price per person
$10–20
Food: 4
Service: 5
Atmosphere: 3
Recommended dishes
Wings

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.

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
Meal type
Dinner
Price per person
$20–30

I love Groove Line and the joy they bring to humanity. I drove 98 miles RT to listen to these wonderful people share there music. I tip well. I usually bring some with me but this time a went alone.
Price per person
$30–50
Food: 4
Service: 4
Atmosphere: 4
Recommended dishes
Sandwich, Landslide Nachos, Cobb Salad, The Burger

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!
Food: 5
Service: 5
Atmosphere: 5

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.
Food: 5
Service: 5
Atmosphere: 5

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.

Went for drinks with a friend. They had a live band playing which made it a little hard to talk. The place was busy and even tho it took our server a long time to get our drinks while we waited two other servers checked up on us. In the end the beer was great.
Service
Dine in
Meal type
Other
Price per person
$20–30

Ordered the nachos and it came with a big blob of nasty old guacamole on top turned brown I pointed it out to server and asked for some fresh and he brought us more nasty old guac. C'mon, really? Had to ask for them to take it off our ticket.
Price per person
$10–20
Food: 1
Service: 3
Atmosphere: 3

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!
Food: 5
Service: 5
Atmosphere: 5

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

Real good won't be disappointment
Price per person
$30–50
Food: 5
Service: 5
Atmosphere: 5
Recommended dishes
Chicken Wings, Landslide Nachos, Wings, Cake, Fried Mushrooms, Chile Cheese Fries
Parking space
Plenty of parking
Parking options
Free parking lot

Good food and good times. They had a live band that was great. It was busy...so the service was a little slow...but overall...pretty good!
Price per person
$10–20
Food: 4
Service: 3
Atmosphere: 5
Recommended dishes
Chicken Wings

I've been coming here for years, and Tyler is one of my favorite bartenders/servers. He has always taken care of me and always recommended either the Philly cheesesteak or BLT. This is a hidden treasure.
Food: 5
Service: 5
Atmosphere: 5

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!
Service
Dine in
Meal type
Other
Price per person
$10–20

I wish I could leave a picture but it never gets a chance. we found this place on accident and haven’t seemed to stop coming and we don’t even live on the west side! Love this place definitely going to miss the patio when winter comes …

The service was exceptional. The pizza was ok but the turkey sandwich was very good. I drink sours and the Pink Flamingo was delicious.
Price per person
$30–50
Food: 4
Service: 5
Atmosphere: 5

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!
Food: 5
Service: 5
Atmosphere: 5

Absolutely trash it’s 9 pm and they closed even though it states it closes at 10 pm. Update your info so people don’t waste there time.
Food: 1
Service: 1
Atmosphere: 1

Great service! Forgive me, I cannot remember my servers name, but she was/is awesome!
Price per person
$10–20
Food: 5
Service: 5
Atmosphere: 5

What a great place to hang out. I dug the atmosphere with the awesome 90's hip hop. The food and drinks were awesome! I can't wait to go back! …

Great place! Very friendly and courteous staff. Great beers and vibe
Food: 4
Service: 5
Atmosphere: 5

Great place for community, friends and family! The new kitchen is amazing and the Lava Juice is a terrific hazy IPA!