HIDDEN GEMS, WYOMING’S BEST EATS: Cheyenne Food Truck Celebrates Two Years With Loyal Following

By Kristine Galloway

Special to the Wyoming Truth

CHEYENNE, Wyo. – A food truck would not have been the first place I would have expected to find mouthwatering recipes handed down for generations.

I would have been wrong.

Chris and Marci Sanchez, owners of Queso’s Kitchen, prepare New Mexican-style cuisine from cherished family recipes—and their food is better than what I’ve sampled in some upscale restaurants.

The couple, who started their business with a food tent in 2017 and worked Saturdays at the farmer’s market selling breakfast burritos, bought the food truck in 2021 when the COVID-19 pandemic began to abate.

“I learned a lot of what I know from my mom and [what] her mom taught her,” Sanchez said. “We use some of my grandma’s recipes still, and some of our other family’s recipes from New Mexico.”

Sanchez’s mother is among the family members who work in the truck for events, such as Fridays on the Plaza, car shows and occasional lunches at Beach Please Drink Company. Queso’s Kitchen is a family business, and sometimes the Sanchezes need extra sets of hands to help take and fill orders.

Sanchez said they start preparing a couple days before an event to ensure they have all the necessary groceries and supplies. Sometimes, they cook all night to be ready to open on Saturday morning.

“We want everything as fresh as possible,” Sanchez said, noting they’ve served up to 200 orders a day.

A friend and I tracked down Queso’s Kitchen at Blue Federal Credit Union’s annual car show last month. Several people approached the window before the truck had opened, and by the time the window had been raised, a line of customers had formed.

Sanchez said the top two customer favorites are the deep-fried tacos and the green chili fries.

Order the deep-fried tacos ($11), and you’ll get two fresh tacos filled with a beef and bean mixture, lettuce, tomatoes and red tomato sauce.

The green chili fries ($12) come with a generous helping of fries smothered in green chili and topped with a shredded cheese blend. The fries are crispy enough from the start that even the ones on the bottom don’t become too soggy.

And the green chili is just spicy enough to have kick without taking away from the flavor.

“I call it gold,” said Marci.

We also ordered Queso’s Burrito, which comes as a handheld burrito ($13) or smothered in green chili ($15), and is filled with carne asada, fries and a cheese blend.

We rounded out our meal with nachos and queso ($8). The menu doesn’t note it, but the thick, crispy nachos are homemade and pair perfectly with Sanchez’s queso, which he spices up a bit with a variety of peppers.

Beyond running the food truck, the Sanchezes still hold full-time jobs: Chris is a road designer for the Wyoming Department of Transportation, and Marci teaches second grade at Davis Elementary.

As for the challenge of working full time and running a their own business, the couple agree the effort is worth it.

Sanchez said he loves “just being able to put a smile on [customers’] faces. It feels good to be able to make people’s tummies happy.”

The weekly schedule for Queso’s Kitchen can be found here.