A few honest words on how we’re trying to do things a bit better

Let’s be honest, nobody comes to Amigos for a lecture on sustainability. You come for the nachos. We get it.

But behind the scenes, we’re quietly making a bunch of decisions that add up, and we figured it’s about time we talked about them without sounding like we’re auditioning for a documentary narrator gig.

The boring-but-important stuff

Good restaurants are built on good choices, and we try to make a few every day.

That means sourcing local ingredients wherever we can and backing regional producers instead of whatever’s cheapest and furthest away. It means our drinks menu is stacked with New Zealand craft beers and wines, because why fly it in when good stuff is basically down the road?

Behind the scenes, sustainability shows up in the details – recycled and reclaimed materials in our restaurant builds, better alternatives to harsh cleaning products, and yes, our furniture, uniforms, decor, and even the cutlery jars on your table are all sourced from op shops before ending up at Amigos, right down to the actual cutlery and plates you eat with! So if a chair (or fork) looks a little too well-loved, that’s on purpose. We’re calling it character.

Plant-based, but make it actually good

We’re not about to stop serving the crowd favourites (some things are non-negotiable) but we’ve been quietly growing our plant-based lineup because Mexican food genuinely does this stuff well. Beans, corn, avo, salsa – plant-based was basically the original plan.

More than half our menu can already be made vegetarian, and a growing chunk of that is fully plant-based. So whether you’re all in on plants or just plant-curious, there’s plenty to work with.

It’s the people though

If we’re honest, sustainability at Amigos isn’t just about ingredients and cleaning products, it’s about sticking around for the people too.

We try to build workplaces people actually want to stay in – decent pay, reward programmes, room to grow. A lot of our team have been with us for years, and that’s not an accident.

We also like showing up for the communities around our restaurants, sponsoring local teams like Football South, backing organisations like the Search and Rescue Avalanche Dogs, and chipping in to local charities with food and funds when we can.

Running a good cause and need a hand? Flick us a message at marketing@amigos.co.nz – we’re always keen to hear how we can get involved.

None of this makes us saints. It just means every burrito comes with a little less guilt and a little more thought behind it. And we’re always looking for ways to do a bit better tomorrow than we did today.