Mexican Restaurants in Edinburgh: A Neighbourhood Guide

Edinburgh is a small city with a lot of Mexican cooking packed into it. Walk from the Royal Mile down to Leith Walk and you pass taquerias, Tex-Mex dining rooms, fast-casual burrito counters and a couple of shops that sell the dried chillies and masa harina you need to cook the same food at home. This guide gathers the Edinburgh businesses currently mapped in our UK directory and groups them by the area given in their address.

A word on what this page is and is not. RecetasMexas maps places; we do not rank them, score them or eat at them. Nothing below is a review. Everything you read about a venue comes from its own listing in our directory: the address, the price band, the format and whatever the kitchen says about itself. Where a listing records opening times or a phone number, that detail comes from the same source.

Price bands follow the directory convention: £ is budget, ££ mid-range. Opening hours change, kitchens close for holidays and menus are rewritten, so ring ahead or check the venue's own website before you travel across town.

Old Town: the Royal Mile, Victoria Street and Cockburn Street

El Cartel Roxburgh

Listed at 1 Roxburgh Court, 323 High Street, Edinburgh EH1 1LW, this is the third El Cartel location and the one that sits on the Royal Mile itself. The listing describes Mexican street food and cocktails on High Street in Edinburgh's historic Old Town, and places it in the mid-range band.

Mariachi

A family-run Mexican restaurant at 7 Victoria Street, Edinburgh EH1 2HE, in the Old Town. The listing records more than a decade of trading on the street and describes the kitchen as serving authentic Mexican cuisine. It is mid-range, and the recorded pattern is evening service from 17:00 on Mondays and Sundays with an earlier 12:30 opening on Fridays; the phone number on file is +44 131 623 0077.

Viva Mexico

Round the corner at 41 Cockburn Street, Edinburgh EH1 1BS, Viva Mexico is described in our directory as one of Edinburgh's longest-running Mexican restaurants, open since 1984 and serving traditional Mexican bistro fare for over 40 years. Mid-range band; the number listed is +44 131 226 5145.

New Town: Thistle Street, George Street and St Andrew Square

El Cartel Thistle Street

The original El Cartel, at 64 Thistle Street, Edinburgh EH2 1EN. Our listing describes tacos, mezcal and margaritas in a buzzy, casual setting on one of the New Town's narrow back streets, in the mid-range band.

Paz Taqueria

Also recorded at 64 Thistle Street, Edinburgh EH2 1EN — the directory holds both entries at the same address, so it is worth checking which is trading when you plan a visit. Paz is described as a new-wave Edinburgh taqueria known for hand-pressed tacos, bold flavours and cocktails in a warm New Town space. Mid-range, with recorded hours of 12:00 to 22:00 and a phone number of +44 131 259 4435.

Las Iguanas Edinburgh

At 141-143 George Street, Edinburgh EH2 4JY, this is the Edinburgh branch of a Latin American chain rather than a strictly Mexican kitchen — the directory files it under Tex-Mex. The listing mentions flame-grilled dishes, sharing plates and cocktails, in the mid-range band.

Wahaca Edinburgh

Wahaca's Edinburgh site is at 16 South Saint Andrew Street, Edinburgh EH2 2AU, which the listing places near St Andrew's Square. The chain was founded by MasterChef winner Thomasina Miers, and the entry describes sharing plates, tacos and margaritas. Mid-range band.

Around the university: Forrest Road and Teviot Place

Three listings in our directory sit on or beside Forrest Road, and all three note their proximity to the University of Edinburgh. Two of them are the cheapest entries in this guide.

El Cartel Teviot

The second El Cartel, at 15-16 Teviot Place, Edinburgh EH1 2QA, near the University of Edinburgh. According to the listing it is popular for £5 tacos and wings, with mezcal and tequila cocktails. Mid-range band.

Barburrito Edinburgh

A budget-band counter at 55 Forrest Road, Edinburgh EH1 2QP, part of a Mexican street food chain. Burritos, tacos and nachos made to order. Recorded hours run 11:00 to 22:00 on weekdays and from 11:30 on Sundays; the phone number on file is +44 131 225 4779.

Tortilla Edinburgh

A few doors along at 26 Forrest Road, Edinburgh EH1 2QN, Tortilla is described as fast-casual California-style burritos and tacos made fresh to order. Budget band, with recorded hours of 11:00 to 21:00 and a number of +44 131 287 2873.

Lothian Road

Topolabamba Edinburgh

At 93 Lothian Road, Edinburgh EH3 9AW, on the western edge of the city centre. Topolabamba is a Scottish-based Mexican chain, and this listing describes sharing feasts, cocktails and Mexican dishes the kitchen calls authentic, in what the entry records as a vibrant atmosphere. Mid-range band.

Leith

Bodega

Bodega is listed at 14-15 Albert Place, Edinburgh EH7 5HN, on the Leith Walk stretch. The directory describes a modern taqueria serving gourmet tacos and feisty flavours in a casual setting, notes a BYOB option and records it as a popular neighbourhood spot. Mid-range band.

Shops for Mexican ingredients

Five Edinburgh-based shops are mapped in our directory, including two online storefronts run from the same premises as their bricks-and-mortar counterparts.

Lupe Pintos Edinburgh

At 24 Leven Street, EH3 9LJ. The listing describes it as Scotland's premier Mexican and American ingredient shop, supplying hard-to-find Mexican ingredients for over 25 years: dried chillies, masa harina, Mexican spices, hot sauces, tequila and American groceries. Recorded hours are 10:00 to 18:00 on weekdays and 12:30 to 17:30 on Sundays; the number on file is +44 1312286241.

Lupe Pintos Online

The same shop's online ordering service, listed at 24 Leven Street, EH3 9LJ, with delivery across the UK of the same range — dried chillies, masa harina, spices, hot sauces, tequila and American groceries. Useful if you are outside the city.

Weigh To Go

Listed at 27 Crighton Place, EH7 4NY, on Leith Walk. It is a refillery and Mexican goods store, so household refills and eco products sit alongside corn tortillas, salsas, Mexican chillies, hot sauces and what the listing calls a huge selection of Mexican groceries. Recorded hours are 10:00 to 19:00 on weekdays and 12:00 to 18:00 on Sundays.

WeighToGo Online

The delivery arm of the same Edinburgh business, at 27 Crighton Place, EH7 4NY. Corn tortillas, salsas, Mexican chillies, El Mexicano products, hot sauces and Mexican produce available for delivery.

Caoba Edinburgh

Not a grocer: Caoba, at 56 Raeburn Place, Edinburgh EH4 1HJ (Stockbridge), is a Mexican craft and interior shop trading since 2001, with handmade textiles, tin ornaments, candles, alebrijes and Day of the Dead pieces. Recorded hours are 09:30 to 16:00 on weekdays, closed on Sundays; the number listed is +44 131 343 2757.

Cooking it at home, and keeping this page accurate

With Lupe Pintos and Weigh To Go both within a bus ride of the centre, the ingredients that are hardest to source elsewhere in Scotland — dried chillies, masa harina, tinned chipotles — are genuinely available in Edinburgh. If you would rather cook than book a table, start with handmade maize tortillas, which need little more than masa harina, water and a heavy pan, and build from there with tacos al pastor or a batch of pico de gallo. If the mezcal lists at the taquerias above leave you curious, our British drinker’s guide to mezcal and tequila sets out what separates the two spirits.

Finally, the practical part. This is a directory listing, not a ranking, and it is only as good as the data behind it. Addresses, price bands and hours are recorded from each business's own information and can go out of date — venues move, change hands or close. If you spot something wrong on any of the pages linked above, use the report option on that venue's page and we will update the entry.