Mar. 8—Figuring out the recipe for success is something Turtle Mountain Brewing Company has accomplished.

Turtle Mountain has kept the craft beer flowing and food menu growing for 25 years in Rio Rancho. It is commemorating the milestone with a 25th anniversary beer and a family-style lunch and dinner on Friday, March 22. Owner Nico Ortiz dreamt of opening a brewpub since he was 16 years old. His dream came to fruition in 1999 when he opened Turtle Mountain.

“Our biggest achievement, however, is that we are still around 25 years later,” Ortiz said in his blog. “Through Y2K, the bursting of the dot-com bubble, the 2008 real estate meltdown, and last, but certainly not least, COVID … Turtle Mountain has not only survived but thrived in Rio Rancho. We have become a place where regulars and visitors alike could come in and feel like they are part of the family.”

The 25th anniversary event will take place at Turtle Mountain North, 7835 Enchanted Hills Blvd. NE in Rio Rancho. The location in Enchanted Hills opened its doors in 2022. Turtle Mountain’s south location at 905 36th Place SE in Rio Rancho will offer a New York strip special to commemorate the silver anniversary.

“The number of restaurants that make it to celebrate their 25th anniversary is very small indeed, so we are pulling out all the stops to commemorate this remarkable achievement,” Ortiz stated.

Turtle Mountain North will have lunch seatings from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. and dinner seatings at 5 p.m., 6 p.m. and 7 p.m. The lunch menu, which is a condensed version of the dinner menu, is $50 per person and includes one token to exchange for beer, wine or a cocktail. Dinner tickets are $100 per person and includes two tokens for beer, wine or cocktails. Tax and tip are included for both lunch and dinner tickets. Tickets, plus fees, are available at turtlemountainbrewing.com/25th-anniversary.

Salad offerings are orzo cucumber dill, caprese, Brazilian potato or spring mix bar. Sides will be served family-style with a variety of options including pork fat fingerling potatoes, garlic-charred broccolini, four grain pilaf and pueblo bread.

“You’re gonna be served family-style,” said chef Chris Blanshine of the sides. “… We’re going to put it out at the table so everyone can get what they want, and then the meat and the protein and the entrees are going to be coming out, and you can kind of get as much as you want. We’re going to have a nice variety of food and you can eat as much as you’d like.”

Eventgoers will be able to indulge in a bizarre of meat choices. Some selections include Brazilian jerk pork tenderloin with green chile mustard sauce, chargrilled lamb with gremolata, and carne adovada.

The meats will be sliced for guests and served Brazilian steakhouse-style, minus the skewers.

“For the highlights, we’re gonna do a coffee and red chile encrusted strip loin and we’re gonna do adobo chicken (with fresh cilantro), herb marinated flank steak,” Blanshine said. “We’re going to be cooking white fish out of our woodfire oven with a gin beurre blanc. (It is) something different I don’t think a lot of people have done.”

Patrons can use their tokens for a Turtle Mountain craft beer of their choice or opt for wine or a cocktail. The craft beer selection feature current brews and offerings from the “25 Years of Cheers” throwback series including TMBC IPA, Yardsale Pale Ale, Red Rye Re-redux, Grandma’s Brown, Old Okú Barleywine and the debut of a special American oak-aged, fruited, anniversary Belgian red.

“This is actually a wheat ale (with) Belgian influence,” said David Pacheco, head brewer. “We have roughly 30% of white wheat in this gristmill, which is something to note when we’re talking about wheat allergies. This is not anywhere near reduced or gluten-free beer.”

The anniversary Belgian red has a vibrant deep pink hue from the Montmorency cherries.

“We used about 10 gallons of Montmorency cherry concentrate in this and even pureed some actual fruit as well and inserted that into barrels,” Pacheco said. “This is a sour Belgian ale concoction, two different bugs, essentially yeast and lactobacillus. So you will get a nice light tart sensation, but it’s certainly not overwhelming.”

Commemorative 25th anniversary glassware, T-shirts, hats and a celebratory wooden nickel will be available for purchase. The anniversary logo created by graphic designer Jason Stein will be featured on the merchandise.

“The glass is a nice 20 ounce glass,” Stein said. “It has metallic silver ink printing on it because it’s our silver anniversary and a little bit of a redesign of the Turtle logo with a big, fat 25 in the middle of it just to emphasize that we’ve been around for 25 years, which is something we’re all very, very proud of.”

The back of the glass is a nod to Ortiz’s fondness for the TV show “Cheers.”

“He loves the show ‘Cheers’ and envisioned Turtle (Mountain) as that sort of place where everybody knows your name,” Stein said. “We know way too much about all of our people. After 25 years, it’s a wonderful thing. So there’s a little bit of a nod to that 25 years of cheers kind of thing on the back of the glass.”