is bringing a bespoke Tex-Mex experience to Byron Bay at midday on Thursday 25 April when it opens for business in the new retail, dining, and entertainment precinct, Mercato on Byron.
A four-day launch weekend from Thursday 25 April till Sunday 28 April features all-day $2 tacos and happy hour from 4pm till 6pm each day. El Camino’s famous margaritas are served frozen or on the rocks, and in a rainbow of flavours: classic, strawberry, mango, and tropical Red Bull. Guests can indulge in complimentary refillable baskets of tortilla chips and salsas, served from converted Chevvy trucks, as they buckle in for a festive, music-fuelled Tex-Mex ride.
El Camino Cantina will donate $1 from every full-price margarita sold over the four-day launch weekend to The Byron Bay Community Benefit Fund, with the donation supporting the homeless. Over the launch period, customers will go into a draw to win one of 25 limited-edition, signed screenprints by Australian punk music and surf art icon Ben Brown, who has created El Camino Cantina’s floor-to-ceiling mural of boardshort- and bikini-clad skeletons surfing The Pass, which is an eye-catching feature of the restaurant.
Located on Level 1 of Mercato on Byron, El Camino Cantina has created 40 full-time and casual positions and has supported the local economy by engaging around 30 professionals and tradespeople on the project. The creator of the El Camino Cantina concept, Texan and Rockpool Dining Group chief executive officer Thomas Pash, said there was an exciting food scene in and around Byron Bay, to which El Camino Cantina would contribute a unique, value-driven dining experience.
‘We are humbled to be opening in the iconic destination of Byron Bay with its exciting and burgeoning food scene,’ Mr Pash said. ‘We’re committed to working with the local community via our charitable endeavours and are proud to offer excellent career development opportunities, including training programs that prepare employees to lead our restaurant and kitchen teams, both locally and interstate.’
El Camino Cantina is unashamedly Tex-Mex, which is short for Texan-Mexican, and distinct from true Mexican cuisine. Humming with trademark cool tunes, and colourful sombreros, the eclectic cantina accommodates 250 diners, including 130 seated on a spacious balcony overlooking Jonson Street, where customers can enjoy Byron’s balmy ambience.
A value-packed, crowd-pleasing menu caters to vegetarian, vegan, and gluten-free diners. Tortillas are housemade daily and complimentary bottomless chips and salsas are available all day. Signature dishes include a selection of soft-shell tacos stuffed with seven flavour combinations, including mushrooms with chipotle coleslaw, yoghurt and scallions, and beer-battered barramundi doused with green mango salsa and jalapeño aioli. Other must-try dishes include crisp quesadillas, hot buffalo wings, jalapeño poppers and queso blanco, which can be topped with chilli con carne, salsa fresca, or pickled jalapeños.
El Camino Cantina’s unmissable daily deals include happy hour every weekday from 4pm till 6pm, $2 taco Tuesdays, 10-cent buffalo wings every Wednesday, half-price fajitas on Thursdays, and a $15 burrito-and-beer weekday lunch special.
The quintessential Tex-Mex experience extends to the drink menu, which heroes El Camino Cantina’s signature, machine-blended margaritas. A new, limited-edition ’rita is unveiled each month. Beer lovers can cruise through a selection of Australian craft and flagship Mexican draught and bottled cervezas.
A fusion of urban chic and coastal cool, El Camino Cantina evokes a sense of playfulness.
El Camino Cantina:
108–114 Jonson St, Byron Bay
elcaminocantina.com.au
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