Sneakerz Sports Bar & Grill Review

Location: 4104 San Mateo Blvd NE, Albuquerque, NM 87110 505-837-1708

Hours:  Mon-Wed 3pm-2am

Thurs-Sat 11am-2am

Sunday 11am-12am

Website: www.sneakerzsportsbar.com

Sneakerz is a sports bar located in Albuquerque just off of San Mateo and Montgomery. Most people drive-by and miss it due to the building being set back away from the street. Depending on the time of day and/or day of the week the parking lot may be so full that you have to park at one of the neighboring businesses. When you walk up you will see a sand volleyball court surrounded by a mesh net, loud music playing and lots of people dressed for the beach are hanging out and having a cold beer.

Once you walk into the rundown building, you get a whiff of damp and musty wood and a reeking of old beer. It is a hodge-podge of collected items from the scuba diver hanging from the ceiling to the marlin to the Lobo's memorabilia. The tables are worn down, the floor is warped, and there are graffiti-ed dollar bills hung around the bar top. When you take a walk around you will find it is much bigger than it appears from the outside. At any time you could encounter the floor set up with a ping pong table, dance floor, large 6 foot folding tables for additional seating, dart boards, video games, a live band, arm wrestling tables, pool tables, karaoke or a Pay-Per-View UFC fight. Sneakerz’ has a plethora of things for you to do and enjoy and the flexibility to accommodate almost any request. An anonymous Google user states “This is my favorite place to have a large variety of good beers, great food (the full court calzones are amazing), and having fun not only watching sports but playing them too.”  You will be engulfed by a wall of televisions. There are three large projectors strategically surrounded by other extremely large televisions, so that during football season you won’t miss a game. 

Sneakerz’ menu has a wide variety of items from traditional fried bar appetizers, a small new Mexican food section, pizza and calzones (I believe to be their best items), kid’s food,  and even breakfast that can be ordered at any time. They fall short in the availability of some items.  This seems to be a sporadic occurrence as it is never the same item or product. They offer a vast selection of drinks; draft and bottled beers, liquor, mixed drinks and non-alcoholic beverages.

   

On my most recent visit I went to play some pick up volleyball on a Sunday afternoon. We were greeted by one bartender, we made our way out back where they have additional outdoor seating and volleyball courts.  Due to the number of staff working at the time we had to go back into the bar to order our drinks and food. We ordered Sprites, Bluemoon and Jaeger bomb. All our drinks came in plastic cups much like you would find at your own barbeque. We started with some chips and salsa but were informed after returning to our table that they were out of salsa (they make their own) and we offered queso dip, which is usually more, but were not charged a difference. For our meal we ordered 2 kids corn dogs and a mini calzone. The kids corn dogs came with tortilla chips and a pickle and were served in a red basket. The mini calzone which is a 10” pizza dough shaped to fill with whatever topping you like. We decided on a favorite of ours; ham, pineapple with both marinara and ricotta. It was cooked to perfection, crisp on the outside, still slightly doughy, and everything inside melted beautifully together. It took about 20 minutes from the time we ordered to taking my first bite. It was large enough for 2 people to eat and be comfortably full with left overs! We ordered ours to go but were still brought plates and silverware to eat with.  Our ticket was about $35.00 and we spent four hours there.

We enjoyed our meal between playing games of volleyball with other customers who were also enjoying a very hot and gorgeous Sunday. With only one staff member to help all areas of this large bar, we did have to go in every time to place an order. Another staff member, a waitress appeared about 4 or 430. By that time we had a decent tab going and we were not willing to start or transfer as we would be leaving in an hour.  The waitress was there but did not seem ready to wait on tables. On many occasions I have had this experience and not even been greeted by a waitress. It is very disappointing as I come to a restaurant to be waited on.  S.G. agreed with me on his Yelp review: “The service here is some of the worst I have seen. We waited at a table for 30 minutes to get served. We then gave up and went to the bar. That took ten minutes” (Yelp)  I feel the wait staff has a hard time being encouraged to be there and give good service as Sneakerz is first a bar and then a restaurant.  Due to that they do not get a “dinner rush” like most chain restaurants.  As an ex server/bartender I can understand being discouraged when you are slow but that is the exact opposite  attitude you need to portray when you are slow, you should be doing everything to wow the customer you do have!

   

© Cassandra Hidalgo

Sneakerz has an appeal that most chain/corporate restaurant do not. It is not a place you go to eat and leave. It is a place you can come and stay for a while and never feel like you have been there too long! You can find patrons of all ranges and walks of life. They come to be a part of a league weather that is volleyball, pool, or darts. Many folks bring their children making it family friendly until 10pm. A reviewer on Citysearch commented “Sneakers is a very satisfying atmosphere to be in. All types of people go there as well as families. There are fun and games for all ages as well as laughs for everyone.” (momo3712)

Overall Sneakerz is an okay establishment. Do not go in expecting 5 star dining and a building to match. Sneakerz is an old bar in an even older building that needs to be updated. The biggest complaint of the surveys that I took was a bathroom upgrade (Corona; Shomin).  They need to become more social media friendly and get a user friendly website that is kept current weekly, daily would be even better. However,  if you want to go where the staff will know your name (like Cheers) and make friends that will last for years, this is a place to try. You will find an unusual appeal in Sneakers Sports Bar & Grill if you give it a try, probably a couple of tries. It takes years and years for a piece of coal to become a diamond and I think Sneakerz can make that happen with a fresh approach to a classic place.

Sources:

"Sneakerz Sports Bar (sneakerzsportsbar.com)." Sneakerz Sports Bar (sneakerzsportsbar.com). Web. 30 June 2015. <http://www.sneakerzsportsbar.com/>. 

"Google." Google. Web. 30 June 2015. <https://www.google.com/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&rlz=1C1CHKZ_enUS434US435&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=sneakerz albuquerque&lrd=0x872274deef95879f:0x10cf4aea6a442bbb,1>.

"Sneakerz - Business Parkway/Academy Acres - Albuquerque, NM." Yelp. Web. 26 June 2015. <http://www.yelp.com/biz/sneakerz-albuquerque>.

"Sneakerz Sports Bar Albuquerque." Citysearch. Web. 26 June 2015. <http://www.citysearch.com/profile/6941899/albuquerque_nm/sneakerz_sports_bar.html>.

Corona, Jessica. Personal interview. 29 Jun. 2015

Shomin, Tanya. Personal interview. 29 Jun. 2015

Check out this analysis on my blog! http://cassandrabuchanan.blogspot.com/2015/06/sneakerz-sports-bar-grill-review.html