A drink by the fire
13 places · best Nov–Mar
Cold nights here are clear and dry, made for sitting close to a fire with a drink in your hand. Pick a rooftop fire pit with the city lit up below, or a fireplace and a deep chair inside. Outdoor fires depend on the weather, so call ahead on windy nights.
Outside, by a fire pit
Vintage 423
A rooftop fire pit in the far Northeast Heights, with the Sandias in view. Settle in with a cocktail and stay for dinner.
There’s a dress code.
G. Toti
Fire pits on the roof of Hotel Andaluz, with downtown lit up around you. The bar is named for the site of Albuquerque’s first bootlegging arrest.
Too cold up top? The lobby library downstairs has a fireplace, and the hotel’s speakeasy, Deco, is inside.
Level 5 Rooftop
Fire pits glow along the edge of the Hotel Chaco rooftop, over Old Town and the Sawmill. Come for the sunset, then pull your chair closer to the fire when the light goes.
Reservations required. There’s a fireplace inside too.
Volaré Rooftop Bar
Deep, comfy chairs around big fire pits, seven floors up in Uptown. The Sandias are out one side and the sunset’s out the other.
The fire pits go off around 11:30.
Sandia Bar
The Chavez family ran this Corrales bar from 1948 until 2018. Now there’s a fireplace on the patio, under a huge old cottonwood, and ice-cold beer to drink beside it.
You can order food from next door.
Flock of Moons Brewing
A roaring fire pit in the beer garden out back, under string lights, a few blocks from UNM. Fifteen house beers, heavy on crisp lagers.
Food trucks park out back, and you can bring in outside food.
The Block
Gas fire pits on the lawn at Rio Rancho’s container park, with blankets out on movie nights. Up at Top of The Block, the drinks come with the Sandias straight ahead.
La Cumbre Brewing
A fire pit on the patio at La Cumbre on Girard, the brewery behind Elevated IPA. When it’s cold, look for their dark Schwarzbier on draft, roasted and a little nutty.
Canteen Brewhouse, with its own fire pit, is a few minutes away on Aztec.
Canteen Brewhouse
A patio under string lights and shade sails, with a fire pit, at the brewery that’s been pouring on Aztec since 1994. On music nights there’s a band on the patio stage.
Inside, by a fireplace
Remedy Coffee
Come in from the cold, take the chair by the fireplace, and pull a free book off the shelf above it. The Apple Pie Chai is made with their own apple syrup.
Casa Rondeña Winery
A glass of red by the tasting-room fireplace, in a Spanish-style winery under old cottonwoods in Los Ranchos. On cold afternoons the fire’s going and there’s often live music.
Open every day, noon to 7.
Savoy Bar & Grill
A seat by the fireplace and a glass of wine at a Northeast Heights wine bar and grill. Happy hour runs 3 to 6, so you can be by the fire before dark.
Catopia Cat Cafe
The cats nap in front of the fireplace, and if you sit still long enough, one might curl up on you instead. Every cat here is up for adoption.
There’s a small entry fee.