After seven years of establishing themselves as a Las Cruces favorite, the Rios family has returned to their roots—or should I say wheels?

The savory aromas of Hatch chile and carne asada on the grill hit me as I walk up to Matteo’s Eatery food truck, then I spot the containers of their signature aguas frescas lined up on the table next to the truck. I’m not the only one in line looking for a midday fix of carne asada tacos and ice-cold horchata. 

Melody and Hugo Rios, owners of Matteo’s Eatery, first launched their food truck in 2018, setting up shop in the downtown area between Las Cruces City Hall and Thomas Branigan Memorial Library. Matteo’s, named after their son, quickly gained a local following, and over the next few years, the business expanded to four brick-and-mortar fast-casual locations in Las Cruces, Alamogordo, and El Paso. 

Last November, the owners abruptly announced their decision to close all their locations, with hopes of returning in the future. “It just came down to the cost of goods going up, us trying to keep our quality of food high. So it was just a lot of factors that came into play,” Hugo told me. “We do have a real estate license and we’re just kind of ready to start a new journey.” At the same time, the family was proud of what they’d started. And he said they received a lot of messages of support from community members, including pleas to keep the “Matteo’s legacy” alive. “It’s more than just a restaurant or a business. It’s something that we’re very passionate about and it’s something that we want to keep building,” Hugo said.

It wasn’t long before there were hints on social media that Matteo’s might be back sooner than expected. After four months of overhauling the food truck, which had been sitting in storage for several years, Matteo’s Eatery came full circle and held its soft opening parked in their original location. “It has just been like a dream come true. Every day that we get to wake up and live this reality of serving our delicious food, making our food from scratch, making our aguas frescas from scratch, going out and serving each and every customer personally, like we first started,” Melody told me. It’s a family affair behind the scenes, with Melody’s parents and the couple’s three children helping where they can. 

And while the menu hasn’t changed exactly, it has been downsized from the full restaurant menu. “We’re very limited inside the food truck, but we also didn’t want to overwhelm ourselves with bringing a very large menu. So we started very small,” Hugo said. The restaurant’s popular carne asada, made by coating slices of beef in a house-made dry seasoning rather than a marinade, made the cut and can be ordered in the form of tacos, quesadillas, tortas, and burritos, or in a bowl, skipping the tortilla. Speaking to what distinguishes their asada and their restaurant’s popularity in general, Hugo said, “It just comes down to freshness [of ingredients],” and small-batch production.

Matteo’s aguas frescas are one of the eatery’s top—if not the top—sellers. Rows of colorful containers filled with refreshing, fruity drinks used to sit behind a glass case at their restaurants and customers got to mix and match like they were at an ice-cream shop. Not all the flavors have carried over to Matteo’s Eatery, but Horchata (my favorite!), Blue Ocean (a pineapple base with blue spirulina), and Cucumber Chia Limeade are part of the daily lineup. Dragon Fruit, Mango, and Piña Colada are just a few of the pop-up flavors you might catch on certain days. I recommend mixing Blue Ocean and Horchata for a delightful, not-too-sweet treat.

Little by little, the Rioses are adding more items to their menu, largely based on customer requests. Their New Mexico–style stacked enchiladas—available with red, green or Christmas—were brought back in April, as well as their brisket. 

“Right now, we actually have a lot of people asking for our flautas and our carne asada fries, but we don’t have a fryer inside the food truck,” Hugo said, adding that they are brainstorming ideas, like possibly modifying the food truck, to bring back those customer favorites.

On Fridays, the Rioses’ sixteen-year-old daughter, Sophia, offers her ceviche to customers, made from a recipe she perfected through trial and error. The nearly two-year-old side business for the teen started as a pop-up inside the Matteo’s Mexican Food downtown Las Cruces location. “She pretty much came up with the whole concept and we executed together and it’s been such a hit,” Melody said, particularly with their use of high-quality shrimp, hand-squeezed lime juice, chopped cucumber, tomato, onion, and cilantro, seasoned to a black-peppery finish. “We take pride in making sure that everything that we serve our community is the highest standard of excellence,” Melody said. “I really would love to have the opportunity to serve everyone that hasn’t been to Matteo’s.”

I’ll be keeping an eye on Matteo’s Eatery and the new ways they decide to stretch their creative muscles, especially if it means a new agua fresca flavor to pair with my tacos.

📍896 N Main St, Las Cruces, 575-404-5398