It’s taco time. But where to eat? This guide to the best tacos in London has got you covered.
Sometimes the mood takes you. The mood to pick your food up, lift an elbow high and attempt a dainty bite without pouring sauce down your chin. It’s the mood for only one thing: tacos.
The food has become increasingly popular in London over the last ten years with many used-to-be clandestine carpark cookhouses to brick-and-mortar operations sitting side by side with respectable culinary establishments.
Now from pure classics, lifted from the cookbooks of Mexico, to hipster joints that mix flavours from all over the world with things Mexicans would never dream of putting in a tortilla, London is ripe with taco choice. Here’s our guide to the best of them.
Best Tacos in London
Taco Taco
Whitechapel
With a strong focus on using fresh ingredients and on-the-day cooking, Taco Taco deliver on flavour. They’re a new kid on the block, only opening their doors in 2023 but they’ve already been doing the rounds of London’s food gossip, which is always a good sign.
They do a great range of fillings that take inspiration from a variety of countries. You can eat everything from salmon poke to Peruvian chicken pinched together in their signature soft shells. Our favourite though? The Ducking Delicious – Slow cooked shredded duck leg with onions and sultanas drizzled with gochujang sauce.
Homies On Donkeys
Walthamstow
Looking for some of the best tacos in london? You may have quite a mission on your hands. That’s because a lot of people will tell you – and we include ourselves in that – that tip-top tacos can be found in Walthamstow
The location? A graffiti-decorated, pokey, counter only taqueria called Homies on Donkeys. The kitchen is run by Head Chef Smokey, who knocks up an ever-changing menu of specials you need to order from and a mainstay spread of tacos that pack serious punch with the flavour.
Our favourite: chilli king prawn – try it and you’ll see why.
Tacos Padre
Borough
Run out of a booth in Borough Market, Tacos Padre is the result of culinary-whiz Nick Fitzgerald’s extensive tours of Mexico and a stint working the restaurant scene there. Once back in London the man started cranking out tacos at places like Meatopia Festival and at pop-ups around the city, gathering a cult following for tortilla wrapped bombs of flavour.
The tacos take a pretty traditional route but are done in a way that elevates them above much of the rest of the Mexican cooking you can find in London.
Meat eaters get your teeth around the Beef Short-Rib Suadero. Veggies go for the Cauliflower Al Pastor.
La Chingada
Surrey Quays
Another Mexican restaurant that you’ll need to (and should) travel for is La Chingada. It began as a hole-in-the-wall but has since evolved into a full-on restaurant – though still not a massive one.
The produce they use for the tacos is 100% organic which is just a minor perk compared to the amount of flavour they pack into their dishes.
They do a very good Al Pastor by turning meat on a spit much like a gyros – if you’re into your kebabs, make sure you order one of those. Make sure to wash it down with one of their margs while you’re at it.
Del 74 Bar & Tacos
And talking of margaritas…. If you’re at Del 74 you’ll want to get them in. The place lowers the lights and turns up the music to create a buzzing atmosphere for a drink or two.
Oh yeah, the food. The tacos here are kept simple – though you may not expect it from a Dalston restaurant you’re not going to find the chefs trying out experimental fusions between your tortilla here.
Instead just a simple menu of 8-10 tacos with the true-to-the-game favourites like barbacoa, fish, some great vegan tinga and a killer cochinita pibil (braised pork leg).
Taqueíra
Farringdon, Notting Hill
Taqueíra began life as a popular Notting Hill taco truck, then moved into a bricks-and-mortar structure off the back of their reputation for a solid bit of Mexican cooking. They’ve recently expanded into the foodie hub that is Exmouth Market to do more of what they do best for the Farringdon dining scene.
What they do best is a pretty extensive menu of traditional tacos and ones that stray from the beaten track into the realms of milanesa – breaded chicken breast and smoked cheese – or other experimental items like tacos of aubergine and halloumi drizzled with spiced pomegranate molasses.
Need we say more?
Ziggy Green
If you want the best tacos London has to offer you’re going to have to face an argument. Nobody will ever agree on where the best hard-shelled/soft-shelled meat-filled, pickle topped beauties are sold. Though there’s a good argument for them being at Ziggy Green.
This Tulum-themed taqueria does good trade as a cocktail bar too (notice the expensive postcode), and while here you shouldn’t overlook the other Mexican classics on offer. The tacos though, are something else.
Harissa and jackfruit tacos, coconut prawn. Citrus pork! With flavours like that it barely matters that the location was the cinema where the Ziggy Stardust album cover was shot – serve them off the back of an overturned wheelbarrow and we’d still be interested.
Caldera
If you’re after a taco restaurant London has you covered. That’s for sure. What else is for sure is that you’ll find a great feed at Caldera. It’s not going to play by many of the rules you would expect a taqueria to, but you’ll be thanking the chefs for it as you leave.
The restaurant gets its name from the Spanish word for cauldron. They say that represents the melting pot of cuisines that go into the tacos here. You’ll find things like gochujang next to items as traditional as baja fish and things as off the wall as miso-mole.
And by the way, while you’re here for the tacos it’s almost certainly worth giving some of the rest of the food a bit of consideration too.
Santo Remedio
Southwark, Shoreditch
Without a doubt some of the best tacos Shoreditch can boast are done at Santo Remedio. They might also be the best tacos London Bridge has to offer too. We’re pretty sure if these folks opened up in any other neighbourhoods they’d shoot right to the top there as well.
They keep it super traditional, even shipping ingredients over from Mexico. Before you get your back up over the air miles, know that many of these ingredients and techniques are ones that have been flagged by Slow Food as in danger of being lost.
In that respect you can actually claim that eating the tacos at Santo Remedio is doing your bit to preserve Mexican culture. Another soft chef fish taco please waiter…
Breddos Tacos
Clerkenwell
Another start-small-made-it-big success story is that of Breddos Tacos. The brand began as a taco shack run out of a Hackney car park and has gone on to join the slew of quality eateries in Clerkenwell. Since then they’ve opened two more in Oslo and taken part in hundreds of taco cookoffs all around the world.
The two friends that founded the business emphasise the use of British produce in their cooking giving what has been inspired by countless trips through Mexico and America on “research” missions we’re quite jealous of, a distinctively fresh flavour.
Club Mexicana
As far as we know – and we’ve searched far and wide – Club Mexicana is the only place serving up solely vegan tacos London has to offer. The place began as a supper club and moved into a bricks-and-mortar location on Carnaby Street almost a decade ago.
Since then they’ve become a mainstay of the taco-making community – and not just among the vegans. Their tacos mimic flavours of the traditional but use meat alternatives. Before you wince, know that the flavours stand up – these guys aren’t to be overlooked.
We should also mention that they do a menu of rather delicious frozen cocktails to wash all this down with.
Mexa
Tottenham Court Road
Running out of the posh Arcade Food Hall on Oxford Street, Mexa does a spread of pretty decent tacos, complemented by some fresh seafood dishes. The team that makes them are also behind popular Mexican joint Sonora over in Stoke Newington.
You’ll find much to love on their plates if your eye doesn’t wander too far along the other food offerings at Arcade Food Hall – something that can be all too easily done.
The tacos can be a bit pricey, especially compared to some of the others in our guide, so approach with caution. For a central London taco spot though, you can’t knock it too hard.
Nine Lives
Borough
You probably know Nine Lives as a cocktail bar. That’s how most people come across the place. In that function they’re really pretty good. But they have another side to them which is often overlooked by the thirsty punters.
That’s a menu of tacos that’s as good as any of the creativity-focussed drinks they shake up behind the bar. They only do four varieties, two of which are seafood-filled and two of which are veggie/vegan but they’re all worth coming to Nine Lives to try.
The place looks great as well, tastefully decorated with plants, embellished with bamboo, rattan chairs are achingly sleek tables – we warn you, you may not want to leave.
La Bodega Negra
Soho
If you’re in the market for tacos, Soho-style, La Bodega Negra is the ticket for you. We’re not gonna lie, his place isn’t going to be everyone’s cup of tea. So before going in, know that the restaurant is disguised as a subterranean sex shop and the door is kept by a dummy in a gimp mask.
Below ground you’ll find a place kicking off with loud music and a crowd that are there as much for the margaritas as they are the food, that food being pimped-out Mexican, served ready to be splashed all over your instagram.
Most beautiful – and most delicious – of all would be the squid ink crab taco. A blackened, belly-pleasing beauty.
Practical Tips for Exploring the Best Tacos in London
- If you are trying to take advantage of a taco Tuesday, London has a few places that will suit your needs. Check the websites of some of these places to see if they do deals. Not all will.
- If your heart is set on a place, it’s always smart to book ahead. We get that tacos can be a more laid-back, spur-of-the-moment type of meal though.
