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By Elizabeth McCall, City Desk ABQ
Albuquerque’s Westside now has a new food truck park and community plaza, which city officials say is part of their plans to revitalize the area and to bring the community members together.
City leaders, developers and residents celebrated the unveiling of Nuevo Atrisco’s food plaza (201 Unser Blvd NW) Tuesday after years in the making. This is the newest addition to an extensive development project that started with an apartment complex.
Mayor Tim Keller’s administration and YES Housing, Inc. initiated the first phase of Nuevo Atrisco in 2021 with a 68-unit affordable housing apartment complex with retail spaces on the ground level. Keller said the project is “much bigger than something like housing and a food court.”
“The idea is that, for way too long, there has not been a sort of centralized community hub out on the Westside, and also a place to bring together the North and Southwest side,” Keller said. “We are breaking through some of the community-building and place-making challenges that we’ve had on the Westside for too long.”
The new space includes both inside and outside dining areas, along with spots for food trucks. The building includes a teaching kitchen and self-serve ordering stations that allow guests to order from multiple food trucks at once. There is also an outside stage for live performances.
There are nine food trucks, which include Roadrunner 66, Sumo Strips and Cinnamon and Sugar. There will also be a shipping container used as a bar that will offer beer, wine and other drinks.
City Councilor Klarissa Peña, who represents the area, said it is all part of a vision to grow the Westside and that she is looking forward to what the future holds.
“This is just one of the few steps that we’ve been taking to really revitalize West Central,” Peña said. “If you see, we have the visitor center now. We obviously have this. We have a library. We have the fire station…I’m just so proud of all of this work.”
The food plaza will be open every day from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. and will stay open until 9 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays.