London has a Michelin starred Mexican restaurant, and the Guide lists its cuisine simply as Mexican. That is the first thing worth knowing, because most writing on this subject still treats Mexican food in London as a taco problem.
KOL, on Seymour Street in Marylebone, holds one star and serves a seven course menu at 145 pounds. At the other end of the same city you can eat tacos off tortillas pressed that morning from heirloom Mexican corn for a fraction of it.
Both are the answer to different questions. Here is which is which, with every rule read off the restaurant’s own site.
The starred one
KOL, Marylebone
Chef Patron Santiago Lastra cooks Mexican technique with British produce, which is the whole idea rather than a compromise.
KOL
- Address
- Seymour Street, Marylebone, W1H 7BA
- Nearest
- Marble Arch
- Hours
- Tuesday 5.30pm to midnight, kitchen 5.30pm to 9.15pm. Wednesday to Saturday midday to midnight, kitchen midday to 1.45pm and 5.30pm to 9.15pm. Closed Sunday and Monday
- Booking
- Through their own reservations system. 020 3829 6888 or contact@kolrestaurant.com
- Price
- 145 pounds for a seven course menu. The separate Chef's Table seats up to 20 and runs five and eight course menus
- Standing
- One Michelin star, with the Guide listing the cuisine as Mexican
How to get in
Their own line is Mexican soul, British ingredients: mole, corn masa and ceviche rebuilt out of what grows here. Two private spaces sit alongside the main room. The Chef’s Table, modelled on an Oaxacan home, seats up to twenty and runs five and eight course menus with sommelier pairings. The agave led Mezcaleria bar does Mexican spirits with British botanicals and antojitos, and the two can be combined for up to fifty. Lastra’s cookbook, Mexican Soul, argues the flavour is not bound to one place, which is also the argument the restaurant makes.
The contemporary one
Fonda, Heddon Street
Fonda
- Address
- 12 Heddon Street, W1B 4BZ
- Nearest
- Piccadilly Circus or Oxford Circus
- Hours
- Monday 5.30pm to midnight, kitchen 5.30pm to 10pm. Tuesday and Wednesday midday to midnight, kitchen midday to 3pm and 5.30pm to 10pm. Thursday to Saturday midday to midnight, kitchen to 10.30pm. Sunday midday to 4pm
- Booking
- 020 3994 8888 or contact@fondalondon.com
- Standing
- Contemporary Mexican on a pedestrianised courtyard off Regent Street
How to get in
Read the two clocks. The room runs to midnight every night except Sunday but the kitchen stops at ten, so the last two hours are a drink and nothing else. There is no lunch at all on a Monday. And Sunday is the short day, finishing at four in the afternoon, though their own page lists the Sunday kitchen as running until half past four, which is half an hour after the room shuts, so ring if you want the last Sunday table.
The taqueria
El Pastor
Four sites, founded by two brothers who spent a decade in Mexico City, and the tortillas are the reason to care.
El Pastor
- Address
- Four London sites: Soho, Battersea, London Bridge and King’s Cross
- Nearest
- Varies by site. London Bridge for the original
- Booking
- Online. Large groups and exclusive hire handled separately
- Standing
- Fresh tortillas pressed daily from heirloom Mexican corn
How to get in
The corn is the distinguishing fact and it is not marketing: they press tortillas daily from heirloom Mexican varieties rather than buying them in, which is the single biggest difference between a good taco and an ordinary one. Menus run from brunch through to late night drinks, so this is the flexible one on this page. Four sites means you are rarely far from one, and the London Bridge room is the original.
The tequila bar
Mestizo, Hampstead Road
Mestizo
- Address
- Hampstead Road, between Camden and Euston, NW1 3EW
- Nearest
- Warren Street or Mornington Crescent
- Booking
- Through their own site. Catering for up to 200 guests
- Price
- Mestizo Downstairs is free to enter between 7pm and 8pm, then 10 pounds a head
- Standing
- Restaurant and tequila bar, with a Mexican market attached
How to get in
The one with a night attached to it. Mestizo Downstairs opens at eight and runs late, and the door is free only if you are in before eight, after which it is ten pounds a head. Above it is a proper restaurant and a tequila and mezcal list. They also run a Mexican market at 101 Hampstead Road selling salsas, cookware, tequilas and mezcales, which is the easiest place in London to buy the ingredients rather than eat them. Private events come with mariachis, dancers or a fire show if you want them.
How to choose
An occasion: KOL, at 145 a head for seven courses, and book well ahead.
Actual tacos: El Pastor, for the daily heirloom corn tortillas.
Dinner then drinks in one building: Mestizo, in before eight to avoid the door charge.
A central weeknight: Fonda, but not a Monday lunchtime and not a late Sunday.
Practical notes
Kitchen hours and room hours are different numbers here. Fonda’s bar runs two hours past its kitchen. This is the most common way to arrive somewhere in London and not get fed.
Watch the Monday and Sunday gaps. Fonda serves no lunch on Monday and shuts at four on Sunday. Mexican restaurants in London are unusually weekend shaped.
The corn is the tell. Restaurants that press their own tortillas from proper Mexican corn say so, because it costs them money. Those that do not, do not mention tortillas at all.
Everything here was taken from each restaurant’s own published information and rechecked on 28 September 2026, except KOL’s star, which was confirmed in the Michelin Guide’s own listing. Confirm before you travel.
Mexican restaurants near me in London
Four neighbourhoods, four different kinds of Mexican. KOL is in Marylebone by Marble Arch, Fonda in Mayfair by Piccadilly Circus or Oxford Circus, El Pastor in Soho with the original by London Bridge, and Mestizo in Camden by Warren Street or Mornington Crescent. Whichever is nearest to you is the answer, and they are not interchangeable.
Where to go next
The Peruvian restaurants are the other end of Latin America, and one of the best known has closed.
The Michelin guide puts KOL in context with the rest of the starred rooms. The restaurants guide holds the wider field.
For the same method applied elsewhere: Japanese, Thai, pizza and vegan.
By neighbourhood: Marylebone for KOL, Soho for El Pastor and Mayfair for Fonda.
Questions we get asked
What is the best Mexican restaurant in London?
KOL on Seymour Street in Marylebone holds one Michelin star and the Guide records its cuisine as Mexican. Chef Patron Santiago Lastra cooks Mexican technique with British ingredients across a seven course menu at 145 pounds. For tacos rather than an occasion, El Pastor presses its tortillas daily from heirloom Mexican corn across four London sites.
Is there a Michelin starred Mexican restaurant in London?
Yes. KOL in Marylebone holds one star and appears in the Michelin Guide under the cuisine Mexican, in the top price band. It serves a seven course menu at 145 pounds a head, and has two private spaces alongside the main room: a twenty seat Chef’s Table modelled on an Oaxacan home, and an agave led Mezcaleria bar.
Where are the best tacos in London?
El Pastor, on the strength of the tortillas rather than the fillings. They press them fresh every day from heirloom Mexican corn, which is the main difference between a good taco and an ordinary one and is expensive enough that restaurants doing it always say so. Four sites: Soho, Battersea, London Bridge and King’s Cross.
Where can you drink tequila in London?
Mestizo on Hampstead Road, between Camden and Euston, is a restaurant and tequila bar with a late room underneath called Mestizo Downstairs. It opens at eight and entry is free only if you arrive between seven and eight, after which it is ten pounds a head. KOL’s Mezcaleria bar in Marylebone is the more refined agave list.
Do London Mexican restaurants open on Mondays?
Some, but check the lunch specifically. Fonda on Heddon Street opens Monday evening only, from half five, with no lunch service at all. It also closes at four on a Sunday. Mexican restaurants in London skew towards weekends more than most cuisines, so a Monday lunch is a short list.
How much is Mexican food in London?
The range is wider than most cuisines. KOL is 145 pounds a head for seven courses with a Michelin star behind it. El Pastor is a taqueria where you order plates as you go. Mestizo sits in between and adds a ten pound door charge downstairs after eight. There is no single going rate.
Which London Mexican restaurant is best for a group?
Mestizo caters for up to 200 guests and has a private space with its own bar and taco station, plus mariachis, dancers or a fire show if you want them. KOL can combine its Chef’s Table and Mezcaleria for up to fifty at the other end of the market. El Pastor handles large groups and exclusive hire separately from normal bookings.
Written by Robert J Wills, no. 107 in the guide.
Last checked 28 September 2026 against the venues' own published information. Nobody pays to appear here and we take no bookings.
