Mariposa restaurant open after more than a year's wait

Mom and son to open new restaurant in former Point Grill location

The open space next to the Mariposa Community Center has had two restaurants in it so far, the last being The Point Grill, and now it will get another one. A mom and her son, Francesca and Kellen Wilson, plan to open up a bar and restaurant, serving bar-style food, called the Screaming Coyote. “We […]

RIO RANCHO — Rumors about a new restaurant in Mariposa, one of Rio Rancho’s up and coming communities, started well over a year ago with many speculating what kind of restaurant it would be.

The Screaming Coyote, a small bar and restaurant near the Mariposa Community Center, has hushed all rumors and is finally open after Rio Rancho owners Kellen and his mom Francesca Wilson publicized their potential opening in November 2023. They had a few soft openings in March to test it out.

“The liquor license took a bit,” Francesca said in reference to the slow opening.

Kellen explained that the liquor license can impact other certifications and inspections required to open. But he said this was fairly typical for anyone and the Wilsons just didn’t expect it because it was their first time opening a business that required a liquor license.

There were some other challenges with the opening.

“Obviously staffing, which is why we’re expanding our hours next week to 12-9,” he said.

Francesca said the location somewhat hinders people’s ability to go in at certain times. Mariposa, being in the far reaches of northern Rio Rancho, can be a longer drive for some. But she said people who live in Rio Rancho might not have to commute as far.

“If you don’t want to commute anymore, we’re here, we’re local, we’re family owned, we’re not corporate, you can talk directly to us,” she said.

Kellen added to that point, saying deliveries can also be a challenge that far out.

“We’re always the last delivery or they get lost,” he said.

There were also some changes with the menu in that year and a half interval as the Wilsons realized their capabilities with the space in Mariposa.

“We’re not doing pizza. We brought all our equipment and realized that the kitchen’s not big enough for our pizza oven,” Francesca said.

To make the oven work, it would have involved a lot of renovation, she said. The menu is not meant to be anything more than fast-casual, anyway.

“We’re in between a local place and a sports place and a kind of elevated place because of where we are. It looks nicer, but the vibe is definitely very local, casual, community-driven,” Kellen said.

The Screaming Coyote is meant to be a place where community members can go “hang out,” according to Francesca.

“The biggest thing that we wanted was to cater to everyone,” Kellen said.

The expansive menu includes alcohol products for any palate, hot dogs, salads, wraps, nachos, burritos and, despite not having pizza, flatbreads. And for people who can’t or don’t want to leave the kids at home, there’s a kid’s menu. The space, including the patio outside, can fit about 99 people.

“Which is about how big we want to be,” Francesca said. “We really don’t want to be any bigger. There’s room to expand, but we’re not interested in doing that. We like the size.”

“Once we found out our capacity, we kind of catered everything to that. So, if we did expand, we’d have to do an expansion in the kitchen as well, and construction was one of the biggest things that took so long for us,” Kellen said.

So far, the Wilsons have seen positive feedback. “The feedback’s been really good. People were very anxious for us to open,” Francesca said.

The Wilsons mainly heard relief from the northern Rio Rancho community members that there is something close by.

“We’re the only thing within a 10-mile radius, and that’s what everyone says when they walk in here. They’re like, ‘It’s so nice not having to drive 15 minutes into town to grab something,’” Kellen said.

Francesca added that most people just want a place to gather and hang out.

“I’m sure they would love a bigger, better menu, but they’re very happy with just a place to go,” she said.

Their goal is to provide a space for meetings, sports teams and community members to gather, according to her. She said while the restaurant is available mainly to Mariposa residents, she gladly invites all northwest Rio Rancho communities to try it out.

“You can feel that this part of northern Rio Rancho is just dying for things like us. In Enchanted Hills, it’s great that The BLOCK opened, but from City Center to the whole rest of the area there, people are just waiting for something,” she said.

Screaming Coyote is currently open from 2-8 p.m. Thursday to Sunday with plans to extend from noon to 9 p.m. when more staff is available.