Where to Eat Birria in London: Tacos, Consommé and Quesabirria

If you want birria in London, the places to look are food halls and markets more than restaurants. Of the Mexican venues in our London listings, 7 mention birria in their name or in their directory description, and most of them trade from a stall inside a market or a container park rather than from their own dining room. This guide lists them, explains what birria is and where it comes from, and tells you what to expect when you order it.

We have not eaten at every stall below, and we do not score them. The Google figures, where we hold them, are as recorded in our directory in October 2026. Food-hall traders also move more often than restaurants do, so check a stall's own channels before crossing London for it.

What birria is

Birria is a dish of meat marinated in a chilli adobo and slow-cooked until it falls apart. It comes from Jalisco, in western Mexico, where the word was historically the regional name for meat cooked in a pit or earth oven, the method called barbacoa elsewhere in the country. It is traditionally made with goat, though beef and lamb are also used.

The version most Londoners know came by a longer route. In Tijuana, on the US border, a taquero switched to beef because goat was dearer and less fatty, and by adding more liquid to the pot created the broth-rich style now known as Tijuana-style beef birria. From there came tacos dipped in that broth, the consommé, and later quesabirria, a birria taco with melted cheese, which spread across North America during the 2010s. When a London stall advertises birria tacos with consommé on the side, this is the tradition it is drawing on.

Where birria appears in our London listings

The table lists every London venue whose name or directory description mentions birria. The last column shows where the word appears. Venues with a Google rating are listed first.

Venue	Address	Google rating (reviews)	Where the dish appears
BIRRIA TACO	75 Chamberlayne Rd, London NW10 3ND	4.6 (1,699)	in the venue's name
Birria Taco BOXPARK Camden	BOXPARK Camden, 56 Bayham Pl, London NW1 0EU	–	in the venue's name
Birria Taco London Metropolis Vauxhall	London Metropolis, Vauxhall, London SE11 5RH	–	in the venue's name
Birria Taco Mercato Metropolitano Ilford	Mercato Metropolitano Ilford, 1 Cranbrook Rd, Ilford IG1 4DU	–	in the venue's name
Hermanos Taco House	Mercato Metropolitano, 42 Newington Causeway, London SE1 6DR	–	in our directory description
Los Gordos	Seven Dials Market, 35 Earlham Street, London WC2H 9LD	–	in our directory description
Meathead Mexican	West Yard, Camden Market, London NW1 8AF	–	in our directory description

A few patterns stand out. One business name accounts for several rows, with stalls in Camden, Vauxhall and Ilford and a standalone taquería in Kensal Rise; that standalone site is the only one with a Google rating in our data, and it carries a large review count. The other rows are mostly food-hall stalls in Camden, Southwark and Covent Garden, the kind of operation that can open, move or close quickly.

The venues in more detail

These entries show what our directory holds for each venue: address, Google rating where we have one, and the hours listed. Market stalls usually follow the market's own hours, which change for holidays and events.

BIRRIA TACO

Address: 75 Chamberlayne Rd, London NW10 3ND
Google rating: 4.6 from 1,699 reviews (as held in our directory, October 2026)
Opening hours (directory listing): daily 12:00–23:00
Website: birriataco.com

This is the one birria venue in London with its own premises and a Google rating in our data, on Chamberlayne Road in Kensal Rise, north-west London. It is also the clearest case of the format becoming a brand: the same name runs stalls elsewhere in the city.

Meathead Mexican

Address: West Yard, Camden Market, London NW1 8AF
Opening hours (directory listing): Mon–Fri 12:00–18:00 · Sat–Sun 11:00–18:00
Website: meatheadmexicangrill.com

A stall in the West Yard of Camden Market, which our directory lists as street food rather than a restaurant with tables. Camden Market is busy at weekends, so expect a queue at peak times.

Birria Taco BOXPARK Camden

Address: BOXPARK Camden, 56 Bayham Pl, London NW1 0EU
Opening hours (directory listing): Mon–Thu 10:00–23:00 · Fri–Sat 10:00–23:30 · Sun 10:00–21:00
Website: birriataco.com

Another Camden option, in the BOXPARK container development on Bayham Place, from the same group as the Kensal Rise taquería. Our directory describes it as halal.

Hermanos Taco House

Address: Mercato Metropolitano, 42 Newington Causeway, London SE1 6DR
Opening hours (directory listing): Mon–Thu 12:00–22:00 · Fri–Sat 12:00–23:00 · Sun 12:00–21:00
Website: hermanostacohouse.com

A stall in the Mercato Metropolitano food hall on Newington Causeway, between Elephant and Castle and Borough. Our directory description mentions corn tortillas and birria tacos alongside its burritos.

Los Gordos

Address: Seven Dials Market, 35 Earlham Street, London WC2H 9LD
Opening hours (directory listing): not listed in our directory
Website: losgordos.co.uk

A trader in Seven Dials Market, the food hall off Earlham Street in Covent Garden. Its directory description mentions beef birria tacos among a Mexican and Colombian menu.

How to order and eat birria

Birria tacos are messy by design, and a few habits help.

• Ask for the consommé. The broth is the point. Dip the taco into it before each bite, or drink what is left at the end.
• Quesabirria or plain? Quesabirria adds melted cheese inside the folded tortilla, which is often griddled in the fat from the pot. Plain birria tacos let the meat and adobo show more.
• Garnishes. Chopped onion, coriander and lime are standard. Add them to the taco, not the broth.
• Which meat? In Jalisco the traditional meat is goat. In London nearly every stall cooks beef, the Tijuana way. If a stall offers goat or lamb, it is worth trying for the comparison.
• Eat it hot. Birria tacos do not survive a long delivery ride. That is the case for eating them at a market stall: they reach you within a minute of the griddle.

Making birria at home in the UK

Birria is one of the more forgiving Mexican dishes to cook at home, because it is a braise: time does most of the work. The adobo is built on dried chillies such as guajillo and ancho, which UK Mexican shops and online sellers stock. Beef shin, chuck or short rib all work, and a mix of cuts gives the broth more body.

Our beef birria recipe takes you through the adobo and the braise, our lamb birria recipe is closer to the traditional goat version, and the quesabirria recipe shows how to turn leftovers into griddled cheese tacos. For the dried chillies, our Mexican chilli heat scale explains what each one brings.

Corn tortillas matter here more than in most dishes, because they are dipped and griddled. Traditional Mexican cuisine, inscribed on UNESCO's intangible heritage list in 2010, rests on maize prepared by nixtamalisation, cooking it with lime, and tortillas made that way hold together far better in hot broth than ones made from untreated flour. Our guide to reading a tortilla label in the UK shows how to tell them apart in the shop.

Birria elsewhere in London's Mexican scene

In our London listings, birria is above all a food-hall and market dish. For the city's taquerías more broadly, see our list of London's highest-rated Mexican restaurants on Google and the area guides for east and north London and south London. If you are after the spit-roasted pork rather than the braise, our guide to tacos al pastor in London is the companion piece to this one.

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between birria and barbacoa?

Historically, birria was simply Jalisco's name for meat cooked in a pit, what other regions call barbacoa. Today, outside Jalisco, birria usually means meat braised in a chilli adobo and served with its broth, and that is what London stalls sell under the name.

Is birria spicy?

Usually mildly. The adobo is built on dried chillies chosen for depth and colour rather than heat, and the heat comes from the salsa you add.

Is the birria in London made with goat?

Mostly not. Nearly every London stall follows the Tijuana style with beef. Goat is the traditional meat in Jalisco.

Are these places halal?

Our directory describes some of the stalls from one group as halal. Confirm with the venue, as menus and suppliers change.

Sources

• Wikipedia, Birria (origin in Jalisco, Tijuana-style beef birria, quesabirria): en.wikipedia.org
• UNESCO, Traditional Mexican cuisine: ancestral, ongoing community culture, the Michoacán paradigm (inscribed 2010): ich.unesco.org