[September 05, 2011] Albuquerque Journal, N.M., Rivkela Brodsky column Tweet Sep 05, 2011 (Albuquerque Journal - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- You can get a different kind of farmer's tan in Nob Hill these days. It's one of nine beers now being served at Tractor Brewing Co.'s new tap room in Nob Hill at Tulane and Silver SE -- just look for the big, red tractor out front. Tractor Brewing Co., which has been brewing beer in Los Lunas since 1999, opened the tap room at 118 Tulane SE on Aug. 5 after bringing on brewer David Hargis last year to expand the company's brewing offerings. "When I got there they were ... just brewing a bit, not to full capacity," he said of the brewery in Los Lunas that is attached to Ribs BBQ eatery. Hargis took the company from four beer offerings -- Sod Buster Pale Ale, Haymaker Honey Wheat, Farmers Tan Red Ale and Double Plow Oatmeal Stout, which are available year round -- and added a Farmers Almanac IPA and seasonal beers to the mix. He has also earned the brewery a few beer awards -- something Tractor Brewery had never achieved. "Since 1999, it's the first three awards they received which was great timing for opening here," he told the Journal during an interview at the tap room at the end of August. Hargis was also put in charge of opening the tap room for the brewery. He and another employee, Josh Campbell, built the bar and did all the carpentry work. Herb Pluemer, owner of Tractor Brewing Co., drove the red tractor to the tap room from Bosque Farms, Hargis said. "It's not very fast, but very loud," he said. Work started on the former Pilates and cycling studio spaces in early June. About $75,000 was spent remodeling the space. There is indoor seating at tables and the bar for about 84 inside and patio seating for about 50 or 60. Kegs from the brewery are brought up to the tap room daily and are stored in a cooler behind the building that connects to the taps. Nine beers are available on tap. Four more taps will be added soon, Hargis said. Those will include root beer and cream soda. No food is served but several Nob Hill-area restaurants will deliver to the tap room or patrons can bring their own food. "What I tell people is bring your family and bring a picnic," Hargis said. He said the neighborhood has been very welcoming and a great location and opportunity for the brewery to expand distribution of its product. "It's a limited market in Los Lunas. ...We thought it would be a bigger success to have a tap room and let it grow organically," he said. A 16-ounce pint costs $4, 12 ounces cost $3, 6 ounces cost $2 and a flight of four 6-ounce beers is offered for $5. Hours are Monday through Thursday from 3 p.m. to close, Friday from 1 p.m. to close, Saturday from 11 a.m. to close and Sunday from noon to 11 p.m. Hargis said closing time is usually around 12:30 p.m. to 1 a.m. For more, visit www. getplowed.com. Nothing Bundt Cakes A new kind of cake shop has come around to the Duke City. Husband-and-wife team Rima and Michael Rothweiler opened a franchise location of Nothing Bundt Cakes at Academy and Wyoming NE on Aug. 12. As the name suggests, the shop serves nothing but bundt cakes. The cakes come in ten flavors and four sizes -- 8-inch, 10-inch, a bundtlet and the smaller bundtini -- with two different styles of frosting and themed decorations for every occasion with titles like "Nothing Bundt the Best" and "Best Boss a 'Round,'" and "C'Round for the Day!" among others. "Bundt cake is nostalgic, bringing back a comfort feeling of home," Rima said. "It's a lot more current with the decorations. You see sheet cake and wedding cake and we wanted to fill the void -- or the hole if you will." Nothing Bundt Cakes is headquartered in Las Vegas, Nev., where the couple used to live and work. The couple moved to New Mexico, where Michael's parents live, to open the franchise. "It was our favorite cake in Las Vegas," Rima said. "It was personal before it was business." The couple spent a month and a half and about $200,000 gutting and remodeling 1,800-square-feet of the former Great Wall of China restaurant and 5901-X Wyoming NE in North Towne Plaza. Prices range from $3.99 for an individual-sized bundtlet to $65 for a tiered 10-inch bundt cake with an 8-inch cake on top. Bundtinis are bite-size bundt cakes sold by the dozen for $16.50. Michael said the shop can accommodate any order in 20 minutes. For more, call 924-2222 or visit www. nothingbundtcakes.com. Retail tidbits To clarify, the Xpressions Snap display product offered and on display at Exhibit Solutions of New Mexico at 4301 Masthead NE Suite C is a product line the company carries, not a company product created in-house. Owners of Bumble Bee's Baja Grill say the Nob Hill location has closed due to personal reasons, a news release announcing the closure says. Co-owner Bob Weil, at 77, no longer wants to commute daily between two Santa Fe locations and a Nob Hill location, the release says. Weil owns Bumble Bee's with his wife, B.J. The Nob Hill location, which closed recently, has been leased to "a prestigious restaurant operator." Two Santa Fe locations are still open and "continue to be busy and very popular," the release says. Send me morsels of retail and restaurant news by phone at 823-3820 or e-mail at rbrodsky@ abqjournal.com. ___ (c)2011 the Albuquerque Journal (Albuquerque, N.M.) 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