Sancho Taqueria & Tequileria, a New Mexican restaurant opening on Stafford Road in Stafford in early June, is the latest venture from the team behind Farmhouse Kedron and Oh Boy, Bok Choy!, and it is built entirely around a cuisine that most Australians have never encountered, let alone tasted.
It’s easy to confuse New Mexico with Mexico, but they’re not the same, and that distinction sits at the heart of what Amanda Scott is building at Sancho. The landlocked American state sandwiched between Texas and Arizona carries one of the most layered culinary histories in the Western Hemisphere, shaped over centuries by Pueblo Native American traditions, Spanish colonisation, Mexican influence and the American frontier.
The result is a cuisine with its own vocabulary, its own official state question and its own deeply regional soul, and almost none of it has made it to Brisbane until now.
“We’re not doing a Mexican restaurant because it’s on trend,” Scott said. “We’re doing a New Mexican restaurant because it’s part of our family story. Every venue we do has a connection with our family story.”
A Family Connection to Albuquerque and Santa Fe
The connection runs deep. Scott’s father moved to New Mexico as a child and it was there that he fell in love with the Spanish language and culture. Her parents married in Albuquerque and honeymooned in Santa Fe. New Mexican food has been part of the Scott family table for her entire life.
That personal history shapes the entire premise of Sancho. Rather than chasing a dining trend, Scott is translating lived memory into a neighbourhood restaurant, the same instinct that drove Farmhouse Kedron, which has won Restaurant and Catering Australia’s Best Breakfast Restaurant in South East Queensland and consistently features among Brisbane’s most celebrated cafés, and Oh Boy, Bok Choy!, the Southeast Asian kitchen that opened next door on Stafford Road in June 2021.
Sancho will occupy the space previously held by King of the Wings, right alongside Oh Boy, Bok Choy!. It seats approximately 90 people, designed for both drop-in dinners and larger celebrations.
A Cuisine Brisbane Hasn’t Seen Before
New Mexican cuisine traces its roots back to what food historians call the three sisters: the companion planting of corn, beans and squash that formed the backbone of Indigenous American agriculture for thousands of years. Spanish colonisation brought wheat, rice, beef and new cooking techniques that blended with those Indigenous foundations.
Cross-pollination with Mexico added further layers over generations. The result has less in common with the Tex-Mex most Australians know than it does with something altogether older and more regional.
The defining ingredient is chile, and New Mexico’s official state question, “Red or green?”, tells you everything about how central it is. Red chiles are fully ripened, dried and pureed into a mellow, earthy sauce. Green chiles are harvested earlier, roasted and chopped into a brighter, spicier sauce. Every meal comes down to that choice, or “Christmas” if you want both.
Scott is working with consultant chef Julius Villamor, formerly of Baja, to shape a taco-driven menu where salsas take centre stage. The Fiesta banquet will open with sopapillas, the hollow, pillow-shaped fried bread that has been a table staple in New Mexican homes and restaurants for generations, traditionally served with honey.
It will close with bizcochitos, the anise and cinnamon shortbread cookies that have held the title of New Mexico’s official state cookie since 1989.
“As far as the menu, tacos will be the main thing,” Scott said. “But our Fiesta banquet will start with sopapillas and will end with an excellent bizcochito.”
Pink, Orange and No Sombreros
The look of the place is as considered as the food. Scott has ruled out the visual clichés entirely.
“There’ll be no sombreros, no chilies hanging from the ceiling,” she said. “The colour scheme I’m going with, the pinks and oranges, reflects the colours of the Sandia Mountains in New Mexico. The sunsets there are spectacular.”
A feature mural in hot pink and tangerine orange will anchor the interior, drawing on the mountain range that frames Albuquerque to the east, one of New Mexico’s most recognisable landscapes. The fit-out is understated beyond that, letting the food and the story do the work.
The drinks list follows the same logic: a focused selection of tequila and mezcal alongside signature cocktails named after New Mexico towns, with a map of the state printed on the back of the menu so drinkers can locate the places that inspired each drink.
Planning Your Visit
Sancho Taqueria & Tequileria is on track to open in early June 2026 at 264 Stafford Road, Stafford, next door to Oh Boy, Bok Choy! Free parking is available at the rear of Stafford Central. Keep an eye on future updates.
Published 26-April-2026
