M’tucci’s Bar Roma restaurant, located in the iconic Jones Motor Co. building in Albuquerque, received a $10,000 grant from the city’s tourism bureau to upgrade its patio.
Howie Kaibel of M’tucci’s told KRQE-TV in Albuquerque the upgrades via the Visit Albuquerque grant would allow it to be an all-weather patio with misters and a water feature for the hot summer months.
Other improvements to the property at 3222 Central Ave. (aka Route 66):
- Plaque as a registered historic property
- Wooden garden arbor for the entrance
- Patio entrance sign
- Lancaster table and walnut host station or podium
- Water feature
- Directional signpost for historic cities of New Mexico
- Misting system
- Partnership with local digital agency for a digital guided tour of Nob Hill neighborhood
M’tucci’s will remain open for the improvements, hoping to finish them by spring.
M’tucci’s took over the former Kellys Brew Pub property in 2022.
Kellys Brew Pub was the former Jones Motor Co., built in 1939. Kellys bought the building in 1999 and restored many of its original design elements, including the Texaco pumps and the original garage doors.
The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places and remains a city landmark.
A local judge in 2020 ordered two previous owners of Kellys Brew Pub to pay nearly $1.4 million to settle a class-action lawsuit that claimed the establishment underpaid its employees.
(Image of M’Tucci’s Bar Roma from its website)