Whoever said that Albuquerque lacks charm has definitely never been the Sawmill Market. Sawmill market, located at the crossroad of Rio Grande and Lomas, was originally a factory for the American Lumber Company in 1903. Then in 1958, it became a showroom for Paxton Lumber Company. In 2019, it was restored to a 34,000 square foot food hall, complete with indoor and outdoor dining areas. Sawmill market has now 27 individual merchants, complete with food from across the globe. Sawmill is a short walk from Albuquerque’s old town, making for a perfect afternoon complete with dinner.On a quaint Saturday a friend of mine and I took it upon ourselves to explore old town. There we found ourselves in a special tin store, with many beautiful paintings made of tin or other metals. We walked into a soap shop, and spent just under thirty minutes picking up every individual soap and smelling it. Smelling soap helped us work up an appetite.

So, for dinner we walked the short half mile over to Sawmill Market. Pro Tip: The parking at the sawmill is free- and the parking in Old Town is not. Get your steps in, and don’t pay a parking ticket. We wandered around the market for a bit, looking for a bite to eat. Sawmill has a wonderful variety of food; there was Mediterranean, Italian, Japanese, barbecue, and many more. I chose to have a bowl of pho, and my friend got a barbecue sandwich. The line for food was surprisingly short. The food was ready in less than ten minutes, and my friend’s food in less then five. My major critique for the sawmill market however is their total lack of a reasonable price on water. I personally always need a sip while I drink, but the water was five dollars. We bought ourselves lavender lemonade with the same amount of money, and sat outside.
Sawmill has a variety of different places to sit, with seating areas both outside and inside. Outside, there is extra seating on the sides of the building and covered courtyard area. Inside there is sitting next to the vendors, and in an elevated second story. The ambience outside was lovely, with extra seating on the sides of the building. Indoor seating was a tad crowded, and I couldn’t exactly make out the exact words my friend was saying. Sitting outside was much better.

My pho was wonderful. The flavors melted together immaculately. My only concern was by the time that we had gotten our drinks and found a place to sit, it was lukewarm. This was probably more a fault of mine, and not the marketplace. My friend enjoyed her food, but only said that the barbecue sauce was a bit too sweet for her taste. After dinner, we went to the waffle store and shared dessert. We got their banana waffles. These waffles are topped with bananas, caramel sauce, candied pecans, and vanilla ice cream. We ate it in about two minutes, and scraped the plate clean.

The dining experience at sawmill is perfect for a fun weekend activity, especially those for picky eaters. This seems like the ideal restaurant for a family group with wildly different tastes, or a fun date night activity! The food is wonderful, though strays on the pricier side, and the ambience is just lovely. Go have a taste of Albuquerque and see for yourself!