Two Fools Tavern, Nob Hill

Two Fools Tavern
3211 Central Avenue NE
Albuquerque, NM
http://www.2foolstavern.com

Telephone: 505.265.7447

Monday - Saturday:
11:00 am - 2:00 am
Sunday:
11:00 am - 12:00 midnight

Okay. Deep breaths-- I think Albuquerque is becoming home for me. And though I don't drink beer, finding an (amazing) Irish pub somehow really helped to seal the deal. I've been to a few bars in the ABQ now, but Two Fools is my favorite so far. It's actually nicer than the Irish pubs I've been to in LA (Irish Times, Finn McCool's, Dublin's, Daily Pint- all pretty grotty and dive-y) and has a pretty extensive collection of booze.

The bar has a lovely dark wood interior, heavy and imposing, with a fake bust of a stag over the fireplace (it's carved out of wood, not a real animal), various Guinness paraphernalia, including a toucan painted on one brick wall, touting two glasses of Guinness on his beak, and surprising bursts of flowers.

I like the vibe of this bar- it's busy on weekends, but never frenetic, the way bars in LA usually are, and never so crowded that you can't find a seat. The waiters and waitresses are nice, and there are enough staffers to keep everyone lubricated without insanely long waits. People don't dress up for this place, but it's still nice. I like that energy, the laid-back attitude of people in flip-flops merging with the bubbly giggliness of drunk people.

I've made some friends, managing to celebrate my birthday despite my best attempts to feel sorry for myself. On Saturday, I went to a wine tasting for Elk Cove at Savoy (great food- they make a duck dish that I actually like!), then went to Quarters to taste a tequila liqueur called Agavero, then went home for a brief respite before trekking out to Two Fools to end the night. It was a loosely planned day, nothing like the rigidly schedule birthdays I used to have in LA that involved Korean BBQ, karaoke, and frozen yogurt.

One of the best things I've learned lately is to enjoy the unexpected. I went to a wine tasting last weekend, at Seasons (sister restaurant of Savoy). In two weeks, I've tried twelve new kinds of wine and bought two bottles (one each week- a Kaiken Malbec at Seasons and an Elk Cove Riesling at Savoy). I don't generally like white wine, but the Riesling was my favorite on Saturday, a nice surprise. None of these things would have happened if I was the same person that I was in LA, always planning, always afraid to go out alone, always made up because I never knew who I was going to run into. I've never in my life gone to a bar in flip-flops until I moved here.

I don't know if these changes in me are permanent (I suspect they are, based off of my change in attitude after my travels earlier this year), but I like them. I like the more relaxed, less spastic person that I am becoming.

I've already been to Two Fools thrice in the past couple weeks (I love the word thrice!) and will probably go back, especially with the World Cup coming up. Where better to watch soccer (ahem, football) than in an Irish pub??