M’tucci’s Italian restaurant moving into Kellys Brew Pub site in Albuquerque

M’tucci’s, an Italian restaurant with locations in Albuquerque and nearby Rio Rancho, is opening another eatery in the closed Kellys Brew Pub and Restaurant site along Central Avenue (aka Route 66) in the city.

KRQE-TV in Albuquerque reported on the development:

President John Haas says M’Tucci’s fans will find plenty of their favorites on the menu. To cater to the Nob Hill crowd, the new spot will be more bar and cocktail-focused as well as feature more small plates and a charcuterie station. “We really believe in building restaurants around communities because ultimately that’s what you’re investing in, this is a business, but it’s the community that you bring together and makes that business survive,” said Haas.

Haas also said M’tucci’s also plans to expand the bar area and outdoor space to make it more intimate.

The Nob Hill area of Albuquerque generally contains a younger and hipper clientele, so it’s smart M’tucci’s is making these adjustments to its forthcoming site at Kellys.

A local judge last fall ordered two previous owners of Kellys Brew Pub and Restaurant to pay nearly $1.4 million as part of settling a class-action lawsuit that claimed it underpaid its employees. More than 100 former workers were set to receive an average of $9,000 in the settlement, depending on how much they worked. The settlement stated the previous owners admitting no wrongdoing in the case.

In 2016, Kellys Brew Pub was sold to Santa Fe Dining, which was not named in the suit, according to a previous report in the Albuquerque Journal.

KOAT-TV in Albuquerque reported that Santa Fe Dining no longer owned the property last year.

M’tucci’s, the station reported, will reopen the site by December.

Kellys Brew Pub is in the former Jones Motor Co., built in 1939. Kellys Brewery bought the building in 1999 and restored many of the 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.

(Image of Kellys Brew Pub in Albuquerque by Second-Half Travels via Flickr)