VARA Tasting Room - Balloon Fiesta Park — Restaurant in Albuquerque

There are many reasons that I decided to rate this restaurant/winery/distiller so highly.

Although getting a permit to distill spirits is a much higher hurdle than for a winery, even in Las Cruces, we have 3, albeit, one started in Silver City. Perhaps, since, until the 2020 legislative session where provisions were passed that relaxed a restaurant's ability to serve spirits. Heretofore, NM issued a finite number of licences, making the sale of spirits licenses quite a lucrative enterprise. So, Vara in additional being a distiller is a winery specializing. in Spanish wines from when the area was under Spanish rule. It is thus no surprise that Vara' s menu are tapas.

This review is of the tapas our party of four tasted. Papas bravas (fried potatoes, chorizo, rosemary with an chipotle aoili), pan con tomate (ciabatta toast with hierloom/garlic spread), lamb ( lamb with brandy mustard and pickled red), brussel onions), gambas alajillo (marinated shrimp with salsa seca crunch), braised beet salad (arugula, goat cheese, pickled red onions, almonds with Cava vinaigrette), fried Brussels sprouts with sherry and balsamic vinegers, asparagus (citrus roasted with sea salt and chili oil), and albondigas (pork and beef meatballs, manchego cheese in spicy heirloom tomato sauce. All with exception of the Brussels sprouts, and albondigas, and asparagas (did not taste) were exquisite. As you can see, tapas with a New Mexican take on the ingredients. However, the one item I would get every time, is Vara's flan/chocolate cake stacked combo. I never get flan by itself, but topping a slice of chocolate cake makes this dessert one to die for.

This restaurant on Alameda just past an irrigation canal offers good views of Rio Rancho, but all dining is al fresco, so when it is windy, as it was when we dined or NM hot dining might a bit uncomfortable.

Been to Jose Andes' flagship tapas restaurant in DC and I only say too bad Vara's is a 4h drive...

Go to any other winery/tasting room and save yourself the disappointment of this establishment. We’ve eaten here three times. The first time the food and service were excellent. The second time the food was excellent but the service was terrible - our server was a woman with a giant chest tattoo that certainly treated us like she had better things to do than her job. The third time the food and the service were absolute trash. We had the same server with the same entitled attitude and made us both feel uncomfortable. We ordered the paella bombas which had no seafood inside and when asked, the manager said it’s minced into the bombas. Not true. I crushed up all three bombas and found no meat or seafood, just dirty seafood-water cooked rice. We also ordered the scallops which were absolutely the scallops from a frozen Trader Joe’s bag. They were tiny and incredibly fishy and covered in a thick lukewarm orange sauce similar to orange chicken sauce, which I assume was to cover how fishy they were. I asked if we could exchange them for the corn instead for those reasons and the server and manager both made us feel like we were putting them out, made no apology, gave no explanation, just “here’s your corn” with an attitude like we should apologize for expecting quality ingredients from food priced like it should be higher quality. We both finished our meal and left as quickly as we could seeing as our service practically stopped after that. Even in Albuquerque where the bar for service is generally very low, they somehow managed to knock that bar down to the ground. We will not be back until management steps up quality control of its servers...

If you’re a foreigner or just visiting the U.S., avoid this place at all costs. My group and I went in to enjoy a wine tasting, only to be met with outright discrimination. The server demanded ID, which is fair, but when we presented a valid foreign passport, she rudely informed us that only U.S. passports or driver’s licenses are accepted.

A passport—an internationally recognized and official form of ID—was not enough for them. This policy is not only ridiculous but also an obvious attempt to exclude non-Americans from enjoying their establishment. It’s appalling in a country that prides itself on welcoming people from around the world.

The server handling the situation was unprofessional, dismissive, and showed no willingness to understand or accommodate. Instead of providing a sensible resolution or even showing basic courtesy, we were treated like second-class citizens.

This place clearly doesn’t care about customer service, inclusivity, or even common sense. If you look young and don’t have a U.S. passport or driver’s license, don’t bother coming here—they’ll treat you like you don’t belong.

Save your money and go somewhere that respects ALL customers. Would give zero...