El Sancho on Bend’s Westside to become ‘Runaround Sue’ BBQ restaurant
Tyson Beauchemin
Bend, Ore. (KTVZ) — In an exclusive interview with KTVZ News, the owner of El Sancho taco shop laid out his plan to create a restaurant he’s wanted to make happen for a long time.
At the end of October, the El Sancho location on Galveston Avenue will close its doors. When it reopens, it will be a Western0themed barbecue place called ‘Runaround Sue.’
Bend foodies might remember ‘Runaround Sue Barbecue’ as a food truck back in 2019. In fact, the website for the truck is still up. While the truck did well, the owner wants more, calling it “something that’s always been on the back burner.”
During our interview, owner Jon Barvels called it “something we’ve always wanted to get going. We’ve done little things with it here and there, but nothing’s really stuck. So we kind of decided it was ready to to come out, and we’re going to start working on it this winter.”
Barvels mentioned that they’ve had a long-time collaborator working at El Sancho, who wanted to develop the ‘Runaround Sue’ concept. Now, he said, it’s time to make that a reality.
Barvels describes the restaurant as “Sancho-style barbecue,” with meat bowls and sandwiches, along side El Sancho staples like tacos on flour tortillas.
Runaround Sue may have some soft openings and pop-ups in January and February of next year, with the opening as late as March.
We’re told Bend’s Eastside El Sancho location will remain open and unchanged.