It only seems like yesterday that I walked into the old Firestone Tire building at Second Street and McKnight Ave to gaze upon an empty concrete structure that would become Rio Bravo Brewing.

Well, actually, it was January 29, 2015 when I was invited over by co-owner Randy Baker to check out the place as it was under heavy construction. They were aiming for a May opening, but it was not until August 14 that they could hold a soft opening, with a September 22 grand opening following that.

So yes, that means a full decade has passed since Rio Bravo poured their first beers. If anyone needs to know just how much has changed, all one has to do is look at the trio of sisters who are all but running the show nowadays, Randy’s daughters Jennifer, Lindsey, and Kristen.

“I remember in December 2014 he got us in the truck, the three of us and our mom (Denise), and drove over here,” Jennifer said. “And he’s like I just bought this building. This was after he and my mom were talking about having this small little, maybe like six chairs at the bar (and) a couple tables, a Cheers bar. When he showed me I was like don’t do it, this is way too big.

“It didn’t end up being exactly like a Cheers bar in size, but in the same way that Albuquerque is just a big little town, Rio Bravo is a big Cheers bar.”

Rio Bravo will be saying cheers to 10 years this Thursday and Saturday, with a beer dinner first and then a big old anniversary party after that. The former costs $60 per person, with tickets available at the bar or by calling 505-900-3909. It’s a four-course meal with the special anniversary beer included to go with the main dish, sweet and savory maple apple pork chops. Tickets are limited as it will be held upstairs in the barrel room.

“And then, on Saturday, it’s free, all ages,” Jennifer said. “Time-wise it’s about noon to 8 p.m., but it really is all day. We’re going to have music. We’re going to have a radio station (100.3 The Peak) in here giving away tickets. We have a partner, Strange Kind Ballooning, they’re going to be giving away a free balloon ride. We will also have a whole (lot) of new merch. Some of it will have a relation to the new beer coming out.”

There will be plenty of space for everyone as the brewery utilizes all of its considerable space, something that they have grown into over the years.

“We’re calling it a Psychedelic Decade, just because it’s been a trip,” Jennifer added.

When the brewery first opened, Jennifer was the only one of the three sisters who could take advantage, at least somewhat.

“They opened the week I turned 21. For me, I loved it,” she said, but her parents had other ideas. “They’re like you’re 21, start pouring beers.”

Jennifer has gone from slinging beers behind the bar to serving as the brewery’s marketing director.

As for Lindsey, she was a little younger, so she had to wait a bit before enjoying any pints, or even pouring them.

“2014 was the year I graduated from high school,” she said. “They hired me and my friends. Some ex-boyfriends ended up working here. It was a good group. We all worked here until we went off to college, pushing brooms around everyday.”

Lindsey now oversees most of the brewing operations at Rio Bravo.

As for youngest sister Kristen, she had to wait even longer to start working in the family business, starting off as a server in 2017-18. Now she holds a variety of roles, from sales to helping out in the brewery.

“We’re trying to come up with a good name for her role back there,” Lindsey said. “We had one.”

“Operations manager or something,” Kristen replied.

“I think what’s equally important is that my mom and dad really enjoy that they can come here and hang out with all of their friends, drink beer and eat dinner,” Jennifer said. “But now, it’s trickled down to us. Now all of our friends come here. We’ll have five different groups, all friends and family.”

The sisters certainly have a proud papa watching over all of them.

“I think the addition of my three daughters to the brewery scene has been more positive than anything else,” Randy said. “Now I’m not the bad guy, they’re the good girls.”

Yes, all three rolled their eyes at that comment.

“These 10 years for me have been such a flash in the pan,” Randy said. “It’s been an experience. It’s been a fun experience (despite) COVID, we’ve had a downturn in the economy, we’ve had so many things that have happened over the years. But I still reflect back and look at all the positive things. The people we’ve met, the things that we’ve done, the interactions we’ve had.

“I would say now that Rio Bravo has become what my original goal was, to have like a Cheers bar. Everybody came, you made new friends, you had a chance to open up and share your love of life. I’ll tell you what, we have the most diverse group of people in this place that you would ever see anywhere. It brings everyone together in a culmination of friendship, fellowship and just a love for everybody.”

It was not a journey without a few bumps in the road. The evolution of Rio Bravo from that 2015 opening to now has come with quite a few challenges to overcome.

“Originally, when we came out of the chute in 2015, everyone was like oh my god, look at what they’re doing,” Randy said. “My intention was to be one of the top five producers of beer within the state, maybe work our way up to four. Back then was Santa Fe, Marble, and then next was probably either La Cumbre, Bosque, or Sierra Blanca.”

Rio Bravo had a capacity of about 6,000 barrels with the equipment they started out with, Randy said, and ultimately without fully filling the brewery space with more tanks they were not going to break into that top five.

People tended to expect breweries of that era to start small and to grow in stages, much in the way Marble did over the years. Rio Bravo started big in size and then had to learn how to really grow into their own space.

“I think that when we opened, just like it was for a lot of breweries when they open, there was a cookie-cutter (list) of what you’re supposed to do,” Jennifer added. “Everyone was trying to do the same thing. I think once we realized we had the space that we do and started to lean into events, that’s when we started thriving. We just came into what we could do the best.”

Jennifer said they started out with food trucks parked out front, though those were inconsistent at best. The area that is now the beer garden on the east side of the building was a parking lot. The first two big changes were closing off that lot and making it into a true outdoor space, while refocusing an unused part of the interior into a permanent food option.

“We were sitting on that area where the kitchen is, it was just an empty room,” Jennifer said. “And then, in 2016, we partnered with a temporary kitchen, The Burger Stand. It didn’t translate properly the way the brewery was set up and the way they did service.”

“The marriage was (quickly) annulled,” Randy joked.

“So we had this kitchen space and we did a cannonball into the water and opened a kitchen,” Jennifer continued. “I would say the first year or two it was definitely a transitional period. We went from being a brewery with food trucks to all of a sudden we’re a full restaurant. We didn’t force it or anything.”

Before long, Randy said the kitchen was running at full speed, so they expanded it further into another unused room. That added another element to what the brewery could offer in terms of events.

“The great thing now is we’re able to do beer dinners,” Kristen said, such as the one this Thursday.

Rio Bravo has even reached a point where they do off-site catering, Randy said.

“It shows how great our kitchen is that people come here, and then they reach out to us wanting to cater their affairs,” Kristen added.

Because Rio Bravo can be sectioned off, in a way, it has helped them in terms of scheduling various events. They can have one event in the barrel room upstairs, another out in the beer garden that can hold 200-plus customers, and then still have normal bar/kitchen service for their regulars out front in the main taproom.

“I think it’s great that so many people get to have their personal life events here,” Jennifer said. “We’ll have baby showers, bridal showers, rehearsal dinners, weddings, celebrations of life.”

“This place is really breathing when we have an event out back, we have an event upstairs, we have something going out at the bar,” Kristen added.

Even when faced with big challenges outside their control, such as the COVID lockdown, Randy said Rio Bravo has been able to overcome. He had just spent money on finishing the kitchen and adding the front, west-facing patio.

“We had just gone through the expense of the buildouts — the front patio was $120,000, the kitchen was $140,000 — and all that money out, all of a sudden we’re down from $2,500 a day (in revenue) to $450 a day,” he said. “But you still have to pay the bills, pay for the equipment. We took the PPP (loan) and kept everyone on board. During that time we had everyone get their Cicerone (certification). We really trained our infrastructure.

“I think it still shows today. I would say 80 percent of those that were with us then are no longer with us, but I think it’s filtered down and we have probably one of the best teams we’ve ever had as far as servers, people that want to be involved here.”

“I think the structure transcends no matter who’s working here,” Jennifer added. “The life of the service industry is it does change over periodically no matter where you’re at. I think we have a good core of training system in place so everyone that comes in.”

“The fam just keeps getting bigger. It’s way more than a ‘Baker’s dozen,’” Lindsey said before smiling and adding, “Maybe we’ll start a reality show.”

“No,” Jennifer and Kristen quickly replied.

Yeah, it’s just best to focus on the beer and the food and the events. While I will be across the country at a family wedding, I would encourage everyone else to head to Rio Bravo this Saturday for the anniversary party. Grab a pint of Oktoberfest (it’s a delicious batch) and sample that mystery anniversary beer, and raise ’em up to the Baker family and all they have brought to our local beer scene.

A big thanks to Jennifer, Kristen, Lindsey, and Randy for sitting down before their days got even crazier than usual.

Keep supporting local!

— Stoutmeister