Side Effex

Reading the reviews I was a little skeptical but this palce turned out to be a great spot right on Central with food, drinks and live music. For food we had the green chile turkey sandwich with side salad and I'd defeinitely order it again! It was meaty and the bread was toasted just right. The side salad with the green chile dressing was a nice option. We also had the rojo maron chicken tenders and fries. The rub was a little sweet & spicy and the fries were nice and crispy. The frickles were one of the best I've had (and I've had quite a few). A little greasy at the bottm but yeah, they're frickles. Next time I'll try the fralapenos. The only one con was that there was only one guy - a really nice guy - taking care of the whole bar so things just took a bit of time.

This place is alright for a drink. The prices are a bit high for the size of the drinks. Staff doesn't really pay attention to the customers. There are other places in the area for drinks that would be better.

What happened?? Such an awful take out experience. Sooooo salty and no sauce for vegan wings... Our order was literally inedible, and we were refused a refund. Sadly disappointed when it used to be super tasty ... After several failed attempts, I'm done taking my business here until I hear from friends that their food has drastically improved.

Today was the second time I have been to Side Effex. The first time, they had sold out of pretty much all the vegan options and so we had a drink and decided to come back another time. Well, we finally did and it was a pretty lackluster experience.They have a "vegan drag lunch" event TOMORROW and yet they were still out of a ton of vegan items. No vegan cheddar for the burger, no vegan queso for the nachos or mac and cheese. No vegan ranch. They were out of some other items, too - but the list was too long for me to remember. We ordered the beyond beef green chile burger, two orders of vegan wings, and some fried mushrooms. The only things worth eating were the burger and the mushrooms - and they were just okay.The vegan wings are really *not* good. Imagine eating a ball of seasoned, deep fried play doh. By far the worst mock meat I have had. I have had much better cauliflower wings at The Acre and better mock meat wings at Thai vegan. The point being - good vegan wings are a THING and these are not it. We ate maybe 3 out of the two orders. And they didn't serve with ranch (they were out) or any carrots or celery.The fries that came with the burger were inedible. Instead of being cooked, I think someone sat them near the deep frier for a few minutes and called it good. The inside of the fries were cold and grainy and the outside was practically white and soggy. How do you mess up fries?!I'm bummed. Vegan food is delicious when done right, and if you are going to make greasy, good ol' comfort food, it is even harder to mess it up. As much as it pains me to give a low rating to a vegan friendly joint, I would pass this up. I hope they will try harder - but given my experience with going in twice and finding them sold out of a lot of items, I think this may just be the way it is.

So...I'm not a vegan but I am trying to eat less meat on the reg. Plus, some of my closest pals are vegan. There are a decent number of vegan places in Albuquerque, but not a ton that aren't ethnic. I wanted to find some good ok' bar food that was meet-free. Side Effex nails it. Plus, there's a dang full bar (and a handsome and knowledgeable bartender.) So, I was with my carnivore friend and we started with the "regular" fries with quest which were absolutely to die for. Could have stood to be a bit more spicy, but the fries themselves were crisp, hot, and tasty. Then, I was leery about ordering the vegan "wings." The bartender made up TWO of them (vs a full order) so we could try. They were a little firm, but the taste was lovely. I'd order them again (even though he sold us on the real wings and the .10 wing night on Tuesdays.) For dinner, my friend had the blue cheese burger that looked fantastic. I braved the vegan pulled pork on top of vegan Mac and Cheese. Mmmmm. Could have had a little bit more salt overall and more authentic bbq sauce but the texture of both the pork (soy curls) and the "cheese" was quite lovely. As an omnivore, I'd easily order again! An amp-up on some of the spices on the vegan food would get this 5 stars. Totally legit vegan bar food, which is something ABQ was definitely missing. And they are open until 2am! Way to go, downtown ABQ!

It's an interesting little place attached to the night club. They have a full vegan menu which is awesome! The food was a little underwhelming at least what we ordered. The vegan wings were not what I was expecting but tasty. I like the chill atmosphere even though it is attached to a night club. They hosted a vegan German meal that was amazing! They do it every other month or so where they have a different country. It's so good! I would definitely go back for that and get their wings every once awhile but probably not their other food.

Came in as a six top and even spoke to the bartender (who was the only one there) to ask if we could move two tables together and she said yes. We sat down. Waited 15 minutes. Bartender never acknowledged us again and only spoke to the two small groups at the bar-top and we were the only other ones in there. We weren't greeted so we came to Last Call which was 2 doors down. Last call was amazing. Don't waste your time at this place if you want food. We were literally the only people sitting at a table, there was maybe 5 people at the bar. Never greeted, not even a drink order was taken; worst service ever.

I too was a bit skeptical after reading the other reviews, but I thought this place was pretty good! We had to go to the bar to order, which is no big deal considering how busy they were. The nachos were nice and spicy (actual queso, not rubbery shredded cheese) and the lemon pepper wings were tasty. Beer selection was great too. All in all, not a bad spot to hit if you're downtown.

This bar is a great starter before going into Effex.....has a nice, low key ambience with a DJ playing background music. I was soooo happy the bartender has heard about the drink I wanted!!!! Soo many bartenders just look at me like I'm crazy....they've never made it before. It made my liver happy :-)

I like to go to this plAce on Tuesday! They have 25cents wings and I personally think they are better wings, size is bigger and more and really delicious you do have to buy a beer to get them that priced though. But I high recommend if you like wings and beer and hangout with friends downtown.