If you’re one of the Burqueños complaining that there is nothing to do in Albuquerque, there’s an underground guide that can save you from boredom and save overlooked businesses from obscurity at the same time.
“I am one of the town’s biggest defenders,” said Kat Cox, managing editor of “An Underground Guide to Alburquerque.” “Whenever I hear anyone complain that there’s nothing to do, I can shoot back about 17 things they just haven’t done yet.”
Co-founder Adam Rubinstein said the additional ‘r’ in the guide’s spelling of Albuquerque is a tribute to the city’s history and soul, because that is how the city’s name was spelled originally.
The Guide is a compilation of reviews by locals about local goods, services and attractions. It includes places you can find graffiti in arroyos (free from prying eyes), a mysterious box where you can find old CDs and other goodies, and reviews on local businesses such as the Dollar Theater.
The release party for the sixth edition of the Guide is Friday, where 2,000 printed free copies will be available, each with a suggested $10 donation. Copies can also be ordered online or found at any local business that advertises in the Guide.
In addition to the annual book, Cox said the Guide is available in an online version, which has reviews left out of the book due to lack of space.
“It’s kind of like the book is a snapshot of Albuquerque right now, and the website is an organic thing that keeps changing, so they serve different purposes,” she said. “There’s also a lot more artwork in the book, so it’s got a collector’s item feel with how-to comics … I can’t give it all away, but we have a lot of really fun stuff in this year’s edition.”
Cox said the reviews are entirely crowd-sourced and not solely based on the publisher’s opinions. Michael Griego, UNM student and contributor to the Guide, said the casual reviews make readers feel like they are getting a friend’s opinion.
“I had no experience being a food critic, so I just wrote what I knew,” he said. “This is also why I like the Guide: It is informal; it doesn’t take a world-class critic to contribute. I was 19 years old, and they valued my input.”
Rubinstein said it is unique among other review publications because there is only one qualification: The reviewer must have patronized a business at least three times before writing the review.
“We just want to prepare consumers for the experience of that place,” he said. “Maybe the charm of a local bar is, you’re not going to feel or be welcomed, and it wouldn’t serve your needs if you walked in, and the bartender smiled at you. If you’re looking for that kind of dive, we want to tell you that that’s the kind of dive it is.”
Susan McAllister, the Guide’s business manager, said local businesses are exclusively featured because locally spent money stays in the local economy, as opposed to money spent on corporate products, which is sent overseas.
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“With the dire straits that we’re in, if you’re keeping money within the local economy, that means that more local businesses are going to have to hire people, which means more jobs in the community, which means more gross receipts tax, which means more services,” she said. “It’s just a big loop of keeping the money where it’s going to do the most good.”
Cox said the Guide is more than a collection of reviews — it pays homage to the city.
“We have a really unique sense of ourselves here,” she said. “The Guide came from a bunch of different people who are from Albuquerque. It’s not Yelp. It’s not Google. It’s the Underground Guide. I’m really proud of that.”
Release party for sixth edition of “An Underground Guide to Alburquerque”
Friday, Dec. 9, 7 p.m.
Dialogue
1501 First St. N.W.
Undergroundabq.com
RSVP only
$5
