Set in a former 1950s gas station and auto shop near Santa Fe’s Railyard District, Leo’s serves a seasonal menu inspired by the cuisines of Thailand and Malaysia and built around ingredients sourced from New Mexico farmers, markets, and producers. High ceilings and rich wood define the 36-seat dining room, which includes three communal tables and a rectangular bar. An enclosed patio provides additional seating.
Since opening in August 2025, the restaurant has drawn a lively crowd, with guests talking across the communal tables and sharing small plates with friends. The beverage program centers on low-intervention wines and experimental cocktails designed to complement the kitchen’s bold flavors. In December 2025, Esquire named Leo’s one of the Best New Restaurants in America.
Leo’s represents an evolution of the forceful cooking Pelaccio became known for at Fatty Crab and Fatty ’Cue. “It was rock ’n’ roll,” he says of that period. “I wanted to bomb people with flavors.” At Leo’s, the food is “lighter and brighter,” he says. “It has finesse.”
Pelaccio developed Leo’s with designer, woodworker, and cook Jonathan Boyd, who has, according to Pelaccio, “an infatuation with Thailand.” Executive chef Stella Achenbach oversees a menu that leans more Thai than Malay. Current dishes include catfish sum tum with green papaya, pomelo, and herbs, as well as chicken satay served with a savory Malay peanut sauce, house pickles, and pressed rice.
Pelaccio believes that “things should taste like where they come from,” a principle that guides both the kitchen and the wine program. Although the pantry necessarily includes Southeast Asian ingredients, the team sources from New Mexico farmers, markets, and producers whenever possible. The current menu, for example, features Lazy 6 Ranch beef in a nam tok salad, alongside seasonal local produce. The wine list similarly favors low-intervention bottles that express their origins. “I want wine to taste like where it’s made,” Pelaccio says.
Founding partner Ian Wolff helped establish Leo’s spirits program with an emphasis on whiskey and aged rum. The current cocktail menu, credited to Jose Noe, continues that interest in aromatic, spirit-forward drinks. Old Man & the Sea combines Martinique rum, pamplemousse, Luxardo, and clarified lime, while Makrut’s Daisy brings together shochu, tequila, makrut lime leaf, lemongrass, saline, and lime.
At Leo’s, diners order the full meal at once, and dishes arrive as they are ready rather than in formally arranged courses. The fluid pacing suits the restaurant’s communal format, as plates accumulate, circulate around the table, and reinforce its warm, convivial neighborhood atmosphere.
