Which Mexican Restaurants Open on Sunday in the UK, and the 59 That Do Not

A Sunday guide is the most practical thing a restaurant directory can produce, because Sunday is when the plan breaks. In the UK our directory holds published opening hours for 344 of 381 Mexican venues. Of those, 285 open on Sunday and 59 close, and the 59 are not a random sample.

Read the closed list first. It contains the two most awarded Mexican kitchens in Britain, four of London's best-known taco rooms and most of the independent cantinas.

The closures that will catch you out

That is a selection of the 59, chosen for the ones most likely to be on your shortlist. Both UK venues at Google's ££££ tier — KOL in Marylebone and Peter Street Kitchen in Manchester — are closed on Sundays. So is Zapote at £££.

Belfast is the city Sunday hits hardest

Three of Belfast's four mapped taquerías close on Sunday: La Taqueria's Castle Street site, Pica on Belmont Road and Taquitos on Donegall Quay. For a city with fourteen mapped Mexican venues, losing three of the four best-defined ones on the same day is a material gap. Cú on the Lisburn Road (4.2 from 203 Google reviews) and Bad Boyz Burritos on the Glen Road (4.5 from 116) are among the Belfast venues that do trade Sundays.

Northern Ireland's Sunday trading culture is part of the explanation, but it is not the whole of it, because the pattern repeats in Leeds, Sheffield and Nottingham too.

Why the ambitious kitchens close

It is economics, not indifference. A kitchen with a head chef on the pass cannot trade seven days without a second brigade, and Sunday is the cheapest day to give back: fewer covers, higher wage costs, and suppliers who do not deliver. A chain site with rostered staff and a central kitchen has none of those constraints.

So the structural rule for Britain is the same as for Australia: Sunday pushes you towards the chains, the shopping centres and the larger rooms. Knowing that before you set off is most of the value here.

What is open, and what is open early

The Sunday-open list runs to 285 venues, so rather than print it, here are the ones that open before 11:00 and still trade into the evening — the genuinely useful Sunday addresses:

• Coyo Taco, 2 Orchard Pl, London SW1H — 09:00 to 22:00, and 4.9 from 883 Google reviews.
• Ixchel, 33H King's Rd, London SW3 — 09:00 to 23:00, Google's £££ tier.
• Los Mochis Notting Hill, 2-4 Farmer St, London W8 — 09:30 to 23:00.
• Tortilla Manchester, 50 Oxford St — 09:00 to 22:00.
• FreshMex, 55 Schoolhill, Aberdeen — 09:30 to 22:00, 4.4 from 413.
• FreshMex, 119 Lothian Rd, Edinburgh — 10:00 to 22:00, 4.3 from 368.
• Nanna Mexico, 29 Petty Cury, Cambridge — 10:00 to 22:00.
• Chipotle, Northcote Rd, Battersea and Cornmarket St, Oxford — 10:30 to 23:00.

Three of those are chains and two are the same small group, which is the point made above in list form. If Sunday brunch is what you want, Coyo Taco and the two Chelsea rooms on the King's Road are the places with both a 9am opening and a serious kitchen.

And the Friday and Saturday end, while we are in the hours field

Seventy-four UK venues publish a Friday closing time of exactly 23:00, twenty-three close at midnight, and twenty-two keep serving past it. The latest in the country, on published hours:

• Neon Cactus, 35 Call Ln, Leeds — 04:00.
• Mexican city, Hazel Grove, Stockport — 02:30.
• Dos Dedos, Bath; El Santo and El Jefe's, Glasgow; The Mayan, Birmingham; El Cenote, Camden; Brorritos, Clapham; Ixchel, Chelsea; Taco Libre Bar, Edinburgh; Azteca Öme, Battersea — all 01:00.
• Mezcalito Chelsea — 00:30.

Notice how many of those are classified as cantinas: a room built around the bar keeps bar hours. The full list is in our cantina guide.

Thirty-seven venues publish no hours at all

For completeness: 37 of the 381 UK venues in our directory publish no opening hours. Some are market stalls and food-hall residencies whose hours follow the host site — two of the Birria Taco listings are inside BOXPARK and a south London food hall, and one Taquiza listing operates inside a nightclub during the day. For those, the host venue's hours govern, not the kitchen's.

How to not get caught

Three rules out of this data. Assume the independent is closed on Sunday and Monday until proven otherwise — the 59 closures skew heavily independent. Check the food-hall sites against the host, not the listing. And phone the small ones: a kitchen with one owner changes its hours for a wedding, a delivery or a heatwave, and no listing will tell you.

Everything on this page is read from the venues' own published hours as recorded in our directory, and the handful of ratings quoted are Google's, not ours — our directory is mapped, not reviewed. Hours change, bank holidays break them, and Christmas breaks them for a fortnight. The current listing for every venue is at our UK restaurant directory.

And if Sunday defeats you, it is the best day to cook anyway: chilaquiles for the morning, barbacoa for the afternoon, and what Mexico actually eats for breakfast for the reasoning.

Frequently asked questions

How many Mexican restaurants in the UK open on Sunday?

285 of the 344 that publish hours. Fifty-nine close, and 37 venues publish no hours at all.

Why are the best ones closed on Sunday?

Because they are small and owner-operated. Both UK venues at Google's top price tier, three of Belfast's four taquerías and most of the independent cantinas close on Sundays.

Which UK Mexican venue is open latest?

On published hours, Neon Cactus on Call Lane in Leeds, which lists 04:00 on Friday.

Are these your opening hours?

No, they are the venues' own published hours as recorded in our directory. Confirm with the venue before travelling.