EL SANCHO

El Sancho is back with a fresh new look and the same killer tacos. Part taco stand, part neighborhood living room, El Sancho has always felt effortlessly hardwired for joy—held together with hot sauce and scrappy, low-key magic that somehow works. So when a fire rolled through the eastside location last June, it felt like someone pulled a chair out from under the city. 

The building may have burned, but El Sancho’s spirit never flinched. The crew regrouped, rallied its crowd and cranked out an insane amount of tacos at the Galveston location during the eastside rebuild. It turns out that good people—and good tacos—don’t mind getting a little messy.

Different Walls, Same Sancho Vibes

“We built the original restaurant with whatever we could scrounge up,” said co-owner Joel Cordes. “The rebuild allowed us to create the space we always dreamed of—even though the path wasn’t ideal.” Almost a year after the fire, El Sancho East is back with a fresh new look. The sprawling outdoor patio is once again pulling in Bend’s taco faithful. A line occasionally snakes through the parking lot, but nobody cares because the air smells like grilled meat, citrus and everything else good in the world. The dining room got a major glow-up—less squeeze, more ease, with joyful colors and funky artwork that crank up the energy without sanding down the charm. Cordes calls it “a slightly more grown-up El Sancho.” Everyone’s still wearing flip-flops, but the tables no longer wobble.

El Sancho’s food remains as unfussy and glorious as ever. Just real-deal Mexican street food best eaten near a pile of napkins. Fried plantains, served with a tongue-tingling dollop of serrano aioli, are the perfect little snack. And the tacos still crush it—carnitas dripping with salsa verde, barbacoa buried under a pile of Cotija cheese and grilled mahi-mahi fresh enough to summon a sea breeze.

Of course, it wouldn’t be El Sancho without margaritas. Every drink begins with fresh juice, squeezed daily by an actual human. Pineapple Serrano, the margarita darling of the seven-flavor lineup, continues to seduce guests with its slow, welcome burn. “And when you just want a great margarita, go for the El Camino,” Cordes advised. Cointreau steps in for Triple Sec, tequila gets upgraded, and a splash of fresh lime juice brings the zing.

Some things have changed. And some haven’t. El Sancho never stopped being El Sancho, because the stuff that mattered—tacos, people, spirit—never burned. Walls come and go, but vibes are forever.

TACOS

BEEF BARBACOA
PORK CARNITAS
CHIPOTLE CHICKEN
SAUTÉED SEASONAL VEGGIES
POBLANO RAJAS

EXTRAS

SANCHO BOWL
CHILAQUILES
FRIED PLANTAINS
TLACOYO
SANCHO SALAD
TORTILLA SOUP

EL SANCHO
1254 NW Galveston Ave., Bend
335 NE Dekalb Ave., Bend | Reopen Summer 2025

541-797-7999 | elsanchobend.com
Open daily 11 a.m.-10 p.m.

Read more about El Sancho here | Written by Maisie Smith | Photos by Tina Paymaster