The 71 Places That Call Themselves a Taquería in the UK, and What That Word Is Doing

In Mexico a taquería is a specific thing: a place that sells tacos, usually with one protein done well, a griddle or a spit in view, and two or three salsas in squeeze bottles on the counter. In the United Kingdom the word has become an aspiration, a design brief and occasionally a marketing decision. Seventy-one venues in our UK directory are classified as taquerías, and they range from a market stall in Swansea to a Battersea Power Station unit with a tortilla machine.

This is a guide to all of them: where they are, what they cost on Google's price scale, and what the word is being asked to mean in each case. One number up front, because it shapes everything below: not one of the 71 carries a Google rating in our directory. Every single rating we hold for the UK — 167 of them — belongs to a venue classified some other way. So nothing on this page is ranked, and nothing can be.

Where the UK's taquerías are

Twenty-six in London and forty-five everywhere else. Nottingham having four — the same as Belfast and more than Leeds — is the surprise in that table, and we cover why in the Nottingham guide.

Group one: the chains that use the word

A large share of the 71 are branches of fast-casual groups, and they are honest enough about the format. Tortilla appears across the country — Liverpool's Lord Street, Bath's Cheap Street, Newcastle's Eldon Square, Nottingham's Victoria Centre, Manchester's Oxford Street — and its listings describe "California-style burritos and tacos", which is exactly right. A Mission burrito is a San Francisco invention and the better chains say so rather than claiming Oaxaca.

Barburrito (Leeds' Boar Lane, Nottingham's King Street, Sheffield's Meadowhall) describes "fresh burritos, tacos and nachos made to order". Zambrero at Birmingham's Bullring leads with its meal-donation model — "every meal purchased donates a meal". Benito's Hat has multiple London sites including Great Castle Street, Covent Garden and Farringdon. Chilango appears at Chancery Lane. These are counter operations at Google's £ tier, and the word taquería on the sign is doing marketing work rather than describing a kitchen.

Zapatista in Newcastle is the interesting middle case: two sites, Grainger Street and Ridley Place, described on their own listings as an "independent Mexican burrito bar". Independent, chain-shaped, honest about the burrito.

Group two: the ones built to be taquerías

A smaller group is attempting the actual thing, and their listings say so in specifics rather than adjectives.

• El Pastor — Soho (66-70 Brewer St), King's Cross (Coal Drops Yard), Battersea Power Station. The Battersea listing mentions "freshly made tortillas, tacos al pastor and tequila cocktails". Making tortillas on site is the dividing line that matters most.
• Taquero, 6-8 Heathcoat St, Nottingham — described as an "award-winning taqueria... designed like an authentic Mexican taqueria with terracotta, exposed brickwork and bright tiles".
• Taquiza, 115 Rye Lane, Peckham — "hidden under railway arches... open kitchen and a true taste of Mexico". Two Rye Lane listings exist in our data for this operation, which is a duplication on our side rather than two restaurants.
• La Taqueria, Belfast — two sites, Ormeau Road and Castle Street. The Ormeau listing describes combining "Northern Irish produce with ingredients" from Mexico, from the teams behind Home Restaurant and Mourne Seafood. That is a serious culinary pedigree for a taco bar.
• Tigre Tacos, 92 Stoke Newington High St, London — a "So-Cali style taco specialist that grew from a Bermondsey street stand".
• Taqueria, 141-145 Westbourne Grove, Notting Hill — the plainest name on the list, described as a "cheerful indie Mexican dive" with tacos "stuffed with chargrilled steak" and slow-cooked fillings.
• Sabroso Street, 10 Town St, Farsley, Leeds — a "family-friendly Farsley taqueria from husband and wife team David and Anika".
• Downtown Taqueria, 47 Colston St, Bristol — "Californian tacos with Mexican spirit", blending "Texan, Cali and Mexican influences", which is at least a precise statement of what it is not.
• Carlito Burrito, 12 York Place, Brighton — "homemade tacos daily and chillies imported directly from Mexico".
• Casazul, Brighton Open Market — "simple, quality tacos and loaded tortillas", a BRAVO Awards winner on its own listing.
• Club Mexicana, Market Row, Brixton — vegan Mexican street food, which is a genuinely Mexican idea rather than a Western substitution: much of the country's everyday eating is plant-based by default.
• Los Gordos, Seven Dials Market, London — Mexican-Colombian, "famous for beef birria tacos".
• Bodega, 14-15 Albert Place, Leith, Edinburgh, and Pica on Belmont Road, Belfast — both independent neighbourhood taco rooms.
• El Mercado, Swansea Market — a market stall doing "burritos, tacos, quesadillas and salad boxes with vegan and vegetarian options".
• Paradise Tap & Taco, 26 Oxford St, Harrogate — tacos and beer, open to midnight on Fridays.
• Mexcellent, Royal Tunbridge Wells; Homies on Donkeys and Del 74, London; Brorritos, Clapham; Taquitos, Belfast.

What separates the two groups, in practice

Three questions will tell you which kind of room you are in, and you can ask all three at the counter.

Are the corn tortillas nixtamalised, and are they made here? This is the single biggest difference between a taco and a filled wrap. Nixtamalised corn tastes of corn; a wheat wrap tastes of flour. Venues that do it will tell you proudly because it costs them time and money. How to read a tortilla label explains what to look for in a shop-bought one.

How many salsas are there? One chipotle mayonnaise is a sandwich shop. A red and a green made that morning, plus something with a habanero in it, is a taquería.

What are the fillings called? If the menu says "beef", "chicken", "pork", it has been translated for a British audience. If it says suadero, lengua, cabeza, al pastor, campechano, it has not — and our ordering glossary will get you through it.

The price picture

Taquerías in the UK cluster at the cheap end of Google's scale, which is as it should be: the format is street food. Of the 71, the large majority sit at £ or ££ on Google's tier, with none at ££££. The full £-tier list across all types is in our guide to the 85 cheapest-tier venues. At the other end, the UK's most expensive Mexican rooms — KOL in Marylebone, Santo Remedio in Marylebone, Mezcalito in Chelsea — are classified as something other than taquerías, which is the correct call.

Why none of them has a rating, and what we are doing about it

This is a gap in our own data and it is worth naming plainly. The UK directory holds two populations: 167 venues with Google ratings and thin descriptions, and 214 with rich descriptions, types and price tiers but no rating at all. Every taquería, cantina and Tex-Mex listing falls in the second group. So we can tell you a great deal about what these 71 places say they are, and nothing about how Google's reviewers rate them.

We would rather publish a guide that says that than one that quietly lists a quarter of the country's Mexican venues as if they were all of it. The same honesty applies to the obvious question: we have not eaten at these 71 places. Our directory is mapped, not reviewed, and every description quoted above is the venue's own or Google's, not our verdict.

The full listing with addresses and hours is at our UK restaurant directory. If a taquería you know is not here, add it.

Frequently asked questions

How many taquerías are there in the UK?

Seventy-one are classified as taquerías in our directory, 26 of them in London.

Which UK taquería makes its own tortillas?

Several claim to on their listings, including El Pastor's sites and Taquero in Nottingham. Ask at the counter; the ones that do are glad to be asked.

Are these ranked?

No. None of the 71 carries a Google rating in our data, so no ranking is possible, and we do not rate venues ourselves.