Los Brothers can satisfy your hunger

Today is the last day of the Sun’s series on small locally owned restaurants and food trucks in Westman. We’ve been tasting what our great corner of the province has to offer for the past month, and it has been great to get a sampling of the city. This week, I visited the Los Brothers restaurant on 10th Street.

Trying to catch a food truck in western Manitoba these days can be a challenge. And not because I can’t outrun them.

The overall food truck scene in Brandon has shifted quite noticeably in the past year, with the contraction coming in the wake of the permanent cancellation of major community food events like Food Truck Warz, which announced last year that it would not be returning.

And while individual trucks still operate during the week — Indigenous Eats and Sullivan’s Delights, to name a couple — several others have scaled back truck operations due to time commitments. For example, the owners of Sabor Latino, which operates the Mexican King food trailer, was slated to make the trip down to Melita Banana Days this weekend. I was told this week, however, that because the owners are extremely busy at their main restaurant on Ninth Street, they had to cancel that commitment.

Others, like Indian cuisine specialist Masala Moods, have limited hours. A relatively new venture that first opened its window in August 2025, Masala Moods opens from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays. Look for them at the Riverbank Discovery Centre for community festivals and weekend pop-ups.

And perennial favourite Smokes & Sauced finds itself outside the city this week. The black and orange truck was slated to be in Waskada last night for the community’s Bulls on the Border cattle riding event, and will travel to Melita for the weekend.

It’s much the same case these days for Los Brothers, which opened up their current location at 260 10th St. in 2023, and this year decided to take over as the canteen operator at the Community Sportsplex.

The restaurant’s mix of Mexican and Salvadoran food first hit Brandon tastebuds in 2020 when owner Rick Yanes launched his iconic bright yellow food truck in the city. That was a year after he first started selling food out of a hotdog cart in 2019.

Business has been growing ever since.

These days, Los Brothers seems to be primarily event-oriented when it comes to its food truck service. Just last month, Los Brothers drove down to the Deloraine Summer Fair to serve lunch and supper for the Friday and Saturday event. On the menu? Their signature smash burgers, tacos and poutine.

We’ve written about the Los Brothers street food truck over the years, and if you’re wanting a juicy, flavourful cheeseburger, they’ve got you covered. But without a weekly food truck location to patronize, I decided instead to head to their 10th Street location for a sit-down meal with an old friend of mine, former Sun staffer and Brandon University communications director Grant Hamilton.

One of the most interesting aspects of the two kitchens — the mobile and the stationary — is that the menus are almost entirely separate and different. You won’t find a burger on the menu at the Los Brothers restaurant, for example.

Instead, you’ve got plates of nachos, burritos, tortas and something brand-new on the menu — a chimichanga.

The one thing that both kitchens share, however, is soft tacos served on traditional corn tortillas. They come with a variety of proteins as well; everything from beef steak, Mexican pork (carnitas), spicy chorizo, lime chicken, chipotle chicken, ground beef and their signature cheesy birria tacos that are served with a side of savoury consommé.

Tacos remain one of my all-time favourite foods, so I was game to try them. I ordered the pork, spicy chorizo and the cherry birria, as well as the vegetarian option, which comes with refried beans.

I asked for extra refried beans on the side, with spicy pickled onions as well, which are obviously all made in-house. All told, it came to $29 — certainly a little pricey. This wasn’t Taco Tuesday, after all.

I have to say that while I’m no vegetarian, I sure didn’t miss the meat from the refried bean taco — it was flavourful and smoky, with a sour-hot bite from the pickled onions I added on top. And the birria taco was a flavour bombshell with the consommé as a savoury dip.

Grant tried the chimichanga ($19), which was filled with rice and beans and his choice of Mexican pork.

It may not exactly be “Food on the Go,” but it sure looked enticing.

It also made for a huge portion on the plate, which prompted his line “I’m glad I came hungry.”

The shell of the chimichanga was perfectly fried — not so crispy it shattered, and not soggy either. Just the right amount of chew.

We washed it all down with a pair of Aguas Frescas strawberry lemonades, which both hit the spot and the wallet at $6 apiece.

While I can’t argue about the flavour of the tacos or the chimichanga — the food was extremely tasty at Los Brothers without exception — the price point is a bit challenging, particularly for lunch.

The verdict: 4/5 stars.

If you’re looking to catch the Los Brothers food truck this month, I suggest you watch their Facebook page or Instagram accounts for updates, or look for them at your favourite events. Just watch for the big yellow sign.

Otherwise, their 10th Street location is a tasty option.