El Cartel in Edinburgh, City of

Very poor food. Expensive. Nothing was seasoned. Felt like half the menu was missing, including the guacamole which is baffling for a Mexican restaurant. When we brought up our experience with the waitress she blamed it on the fact that they were shutting down shortly. Very poor form overall.

The food is really dull, it’s under seasoned and misses any of the spicy, sweet or sour flavours you’d expect when you eat Mexican. The tortilla’s they use actually have more flavour than the taco fillings which gives an odd sensation in your mouth. The fried wings were underdone and the fat on them had not crisped up so they were just very pale fatty bits of wing, for some reason they don’t remove the giblets off the wings which is also weird. If anyone had checked back or asked how everything was when they cleared us I would have given the feedback there and then but no one did. It was expensive for what it was and really disappointing, I wish I had looked at the reviews prior to visiting and gone elsewhere.

There is no love going into this food, all very bland, no seasoning, no spice, no flavour, unpleasant tasting tacos. We tried 6 different dishes off the menu and every dish tastes the same…. Bland. Are the chefs tasting the food? No, no they are not, or they wouldn’t be serving up this tasteless menu. The Bon Vivant Group need to start doing a few mystery shopper audits and save their new investment! I’ve since read a lot of very similar reviews so not just me and my palette either!! Just don’t bother, very disappointing.

Great Mexican restaurant overlooking views of Edinburgh incl. Princes Stret Gardens, Waverley and the Scott Monument. Relaxed atmosphere and friendly staff with excellent food and drink selections amd snappy decor. Well worth a visit 🇲🇽

Excellent Mexican in Edinburgh. We made a stop to kill time before taking the plane back and we had some tacos. Delicious. They treated us 10. We will go again with more time because we liked it a lot

We were recommended this place by someone staying at the same hotel as us because word of mouth is always best right!? Nope not always, wish we had read reviews 1st big error on our part! It's mainly small dishes & Tacos and that's it! We both ordered 3 dishes each ( to share of course) The service was slow, the food was bland ( especially the Tacos) they also forgot to bring us one of our Taco dishes which was a blessing in the end ( after pointing out the mistake they took off the 10% service charge) The food looked good but sadly didn't taste as it looked. However the Guacamole was very nice To cap it off my other half felt unwell and spent 10 mins vomiting in the toilet so something disagreed with her instantly, that's a 1st for us on our food experiences.

Greeted rudely, and told we had missed our 15 min grace period, which was not correct. Service was incredibly rushed, with us being told to ‘order ASAP’, as if the restaurant was packed, which it wasn’t. Food was boring and bland for a ‘Mexican’ restaurant, and overpriced for the lack of traditional mexican flavour. Rushed. Half way ok food. Good music though.

There's a ton of great things about El Cartel. It's just off the Royal Mile but feels secluded since it's tucked away down a close. The staff are superb. We'd brought a birthday cake with us for a friend and they warmly offered to take it away and bring it out with candles lit at the end of the meal. Our waiter even stood on a stool to take better pictures for us. We were all doing dry January so the mocktails were flowing and they're really delicious. If I can get a recipe for the coriander and jalapeno syrup I'd be a happy man. The food is abundant and very tasty. I loved the carne asada taco and the ribs El pastor and the duck carnitas taco was pretty good too. Overall I found myself reaching for hot sauce a lot. Not because the food packed spice but because everything felt a wee bit underseasoned. Even the plantain chips that are served with the (delicious) guac had too little salt. My only complaint is that everything needed a sprinkle of salt and a squeeze of lime and I'm sure if I asked they'd have brought some to the table. Overall a great meal and a fabulous experience due to the extremely kind and attentive staff.

Always heard great things about original el cartel but this place was huge disappointment, food was so bland and couldn’t eat several parts of some dishes like the tacos, just devoid of any flavour , zero spice and no seasoning. Waste of money and so many better places to eat. Waitress was pleasant and drinks were all okay

Don’t visit for the food but good ambience and service. You will get much better Mexican in lot of other places.. Taco had burned taste.. Worst Wings ever.. The Service team was wonderful.

Amazing margs! Probably the best spicy margaritas I’ve ever had! Really good food and lovey staff, ended up chatting with Declan about how they make all their own ingredients for the drinks. Very impressive, definitely makes a difference for the taste. My friend and I also had the plantain chips and guacamole, really nice as ive never had plantain before.

Food is disgusting. Overpriced bland tripe. Nothing like Mexican food. Avoid. Portion sizes are tiny. Duck taco tastes like cat food but colder...Cod taco was like a fish finger in dough. Go somewhere else.

Brenda was amazing would recommend this place

Staff were great but the food was completely flavourless. We tried quite a few different dishes and none of them had flavour. They were also out of a few of the dishes we wanted to order which was a shame. If you’ve ever had authentic Mexican food I would not recommend coming here as you will be very disappointed

The server lies to you in order to make you spend 💴 more money. She said the order is just one taco and all of us ordered 2 of each. When the dishes arrived, we all had 4 tacos each plus all the extras. BAD BUSINESS POLICY I complained but they couldn’t care less.

Good tacos and friendly staff. You can taste quite a lot different ingredients inside. Bieeeeen. Better then others I tried in Europe. 🙌🏼🙌🏼🙌🏼

Delightful Mexican food, very busy but service maintained a high quality and consistently visited the table.

Food was average for the price. Maybe we went at the wrong time of day, around 3pm, but the chicken wings were dry like they had been sitting on the fryer too long and the tacos were tasty but also a bit hard to chew, so could have been fresher I guess. The bombers were very good and so were the bravas style potatoes we had.

Food was delicious, plenty of veggie options and lovely homemade tortillas with the tacos. Good spicy margaritas too!

Very tasty but the plantain with Guacamole was just processed Guacamole with some toppings and the plantain were a bit overdone. Hongos was superb as was the corn but to be honest I felt it was overpriced for what it was.

Great Mexican tapas. Was unique not to have corn or tortillas chips but food was great.

Food was good! The atmosphere wasn't for me, the music was a little loud, it interfered with conversation a little.

Not bad, flavours are a bit flat and similar no matter what you order. Tacos are way overpriced but I see that most places in the UK, no idea why as they are really cheap to produce. Acid, spice and seasoning needs to be pumped up across the board and make the flavours pop, as it was it was all a little bland. However the service was great and it's a nice venue.

Very welcoming and friendly atmosphere. Service was excellent and food was all fresh and delicious.

A Mexican restaurant, very good, a lot of stuff and the staff is friendly. The place is cozy and nice. The beer was also very good. We had 3 types of tacos, 3 types of sides and they were amazing

Food was really disappointing, Bombers were great and service was fine but the rest was just not very tasty....

Starters were good. Tacos probably shouldn’t be classed as tacos- not sure what the tortilla was but took over the flavor of the meat. Service was great. Probably shouldn’t be called a Mexican restaurant.

My favourite restaurant, hands down. Delicious food, great service. They've improved the tacos since I last visited, more sauce now which is great. The wings are amazing, as are the tacos and street corn. I don't even like margaritas but their frozen margs are delicious. Highly recommend.

Nice cocktails 🍸 and warm atmosphere. Rather a long wait for a drink, but it was definitely worth it!

Can't fault this place - been there 4 or 5 times and it is very consistent. Great food and a real buzz about the place - and the staff are so pleasant.

Food was cold, dry, tasteless and mushy. Not real mexican food. The cocktails were nice though.

مطعم مكسيكي متخصص بالتاكو .. موقع المكان جميل جداً ومميز .. ديكور المكان أيضاً جميل وواسع ومتنوع بالجلسات .. ومليء بثقافة المصارعة المكسيكية .. يقدم اصناف متنوعة .. الخدمة جميلة وسريعه . طلباتي : - BOMBERS 7/10 - GUACAMOLE NATIONAL 7/10 - CRANE ASADA 6/10 - POLLO 7/10 - PAPAS 9/10 - SPINACH & CORN SALAD 8/10 أتمنى لهم التوفيق .

It's a really good mexican restaurant. The staff is super friendly, the atmosphere and music are both fantastic

The food here is really unpleasant and I wouldn’t recommend. So bad that I complained and sent food back- something that I have never done and would usually avoid at all costs. There really was no excuse for the poor quality as the restaurant was very quiet at the time. When I spoke with the server about the quality of the ‘ceviche’ he asked me if I knew what a ceviche was- which is a really misjudged response- yes, I know what a ceviche is and what was dished up was definitely the worst I’ve ever eaten! The chicken wings were only okay- the sauce itself was fine but they were incredibly pale underneath and EVERYTHING was bland and under seasoned and nothing tasted fresh. There was a real arrogance in the response to my complaint, the idea that I didn’t know what good food actually was or hadn’t eaten Mexican food before was implied- but honestly it was just bad, and looking at previous reviews it seems like it’s not just me who has left feeling that way. It’s a shame as the one on thistle street was actually good and I had assumed this would be similar.

Nice little find on a rainy day. Good choice of dishes, tapas is always pricey, beer choice limited but worth a visit.

Not a patch on the original El Cartel. Food was really substandard, cardboardy plantain chips, weirdly acidic chicken wings, mushy quesadillas. Also very odd that they went round asking for last food orders at around 9pm!

Excellent food, great cocktails

The food was great and I personally liked the music in the shop that day :) I had the ribs and omg they were so nice!! Definitely recommend

Really wouldn’t recommend this restaurant at all - the only positive thing about this place was the service which was super quick but the food was honestly terrible. We ordered some quesadillas, tacos and wings and it was all really really bland - seems like they’re able to get the food on the table so quick because they put zero effort into it. Far too expensive for the quality of food.

Extensive tequila menu and I had the potato tacos -- really good! Unique flavor and appears they make their own tortillas, which is a win for me.

Goed en lekkere mexicaanse stijl tapas

One of the best Mexican restaurants in Edinburgh! The place is huge and incredibly well presented. We went on a week night but I imagine it quickly fills up on the weekends. The service was so fast and our waitress was very friendly. The portion sizes were perfect and the cocktails were delicious! I’d definitely recommend ordering the bombers, pulled pork tacos and the sweet potato quesadilla :)

Had a great time at El Cartel! Great concept, fantastic food, brilliant cocktails, friendly staff and awesome venue. Really enjoyed the Bombers and Tacos 🌮! Great value for money!

Appalling service and food was average

Avoid! Worlds smallest drinks.. food was fairly good.. However, the portions are dreadful.

Très bon restaurant mais peu en quantité

So expensive for the smallest portions 😭 awful

This is still not as quirky as the old El Cartel that was bought out during the pandemic but it is still a great Mexican experience what a peaceful oasis for lunch only yards from the crowds on the Royal Mile with great food and service.

Not sure if we just came here on a bad day but our experience of the food was pretty poor. The tacos in particular were missing any kind of spice or acidity and that really let them down - I don't know if the kitchen forgot an ingredient or something? The chicken and fish tacos were greasy and with the crema sauce adding to that feeling they were generally unappetising to eat. We actually considered asking if they had hot sauce or something to cut through the taste but thought it might be rude. We left feeling a bit nauseous, which is a real shame because the restaurant looks lovely and is kept nice and clean. Drinks were nice albeit a bit small. Won't be back in all.

El Cartel en el que cogimos reserva nos gustó mucho por las vistas a Princes Street y al Hotel de Balmoral. La comida normal, precios buenos.

Good Mexican food, with excellent in house mixed drinks. The menu is varied and well worth including a few starters to share.

Excellent authentic tacos with homemade tortillas, good size portions and delicious margaritas!

Lovely food and great atmosphere. Portions are bigger than I expected so perhaps go for less and order more if needed. Delicious though. Margaritas were fantastic.

I think if we had came on a busy period things would have been better. We got sat in the corner of the room by a nice window. This was lovely but what wasn’t lovely was the next guests to walk through the door, out of all free tables you guys sat them on the table next to us so we had to sit and listen to 2 men chatting away while we ate together. Don’t understand why you guys sat tables so close especially when it was so so quiet. With it being quiet we weren’t checked on while staff where having a wee chat. We had to head over to the tills to print and pay our bill unfortunately. Usually nice to have that at the table. Since we weren’t checked on i didn’t bother asking for fresh tortillas, both with our guacamole and on our tacos. Unfortunately the tacos weren’t grilled enough so tasted of raw flour kind of taste. And the dry deep-fried tortillas with the guacamole. Where a bit of a let down. All tacos could have been seasoned a bit better. Maybe even just salt at the tables would be perfect :) overall an okay meal but definitely will only be booking the smaller venue next time as that was such an amazing experience the first time we went. Gotta watch out for those quiet days guys!!

Service was efficient and very friendly, we loved the concept of the restaurant and the Margaritas. For food Tacos and patatas were fine, but the pork ribs a bit dissappointing, not tender at all.

Luke was great! Fast and brilliant service!

Fantastic venue, much larger than previous site but very open planned and it’s lovely inside. Staff super friendly Food is beyond explanation or freshness and taste, large mezcal menu and the variety is insane with a nice breakdown of terminology at the back of the book, drinks are very friendly to drinkers and non-drinkers. Will always return.

service was great but unfortunately food very underwhelming- a little flavourless!

Absolutely worth the trek up the stairs that’s for sure, staff were really friendly and welcoming. Food was amazing and a really fair price! Great atmosphere and vibe.

Hands down the best tacos I’ve had from the USA to UK! Foodgasm for real👍🏻

OMG I love tacos and I get tacos wherever I go. These are by far the best tacos I have EVER had! Please stop in and give them a try!

Taco fillings were super tasty but we weren’t a fan of the actual taco shells - maybe just personal preference! Service initially was good and attentive but then dropped off the face of the earth after we got our food. Left without ordering the second drink we wanted which was a shame for us as the frozen cocktails were great (and a shame for them as they could’ve had another £15 out of us!)

Bombers and Carnitas were the highlights. Very delicious food!

The menu is limited and still the food was very disappointing

Lovely lunch - guacamole tacos & ribs. Nice attentive service (thanks Freya) with freshly made food. We were in at opening so it was a bit quiet but I'm sure the atmosphere is buzzing in the evening.

Booked a table for 6 people, 14:15 on Saturday. Drinks ordered on sit down. Menu is OK. The delivery style is a little hap hazard as stated on the menu. But we got side dishes delivered before starters. And then some main dishes well after side's and starters. Not overly generous with the portions, steak in the Carne Tacos a bit tough. The Tortilla wraps must have been defrosted, very stodgy and dry, fell apart on pick up. Very poor. It is just a fast food style sit down. Not the best value or quality...

Service was good, staff are friendly. Kids meal was disappointing, 2 plain tacos with beef and potatoes was very dry. No sauce, cheese, veg. My child ate half, bit of a waste. They have no mayo or ketchup to offer.

Etwas versteckt, fast ein Geheimtipp. Tolles, leckeres Essen und guter Service! Nicht unbedingt günstig, bei der guten Qualität aber hinnehmbar!

Best margarita I’ve ever had! Served by Freya - so bubbly, charming and super attentive! 10/10 recommend

Lovely food with my friends Gorgeous margaritas to start Spicy chicken wings and fish tacos were lovely and a couple bottles wine to share Really lovely young waiter and this places has a cool vibe Loved it

I wanted to like El cartel but too many elements ruined the experience for me to recommend the place. The first thing I noticed when entering was the atmosphere, or lack thereof - uncomfortably loud music playing and bland seating arrangements and decor, the interior screamed that it was desperately trying to imitate more interesting Mexican restaurants. But this poor facsimile doesn’t have half the charm. The food and drink was also incredibly disappointing, either totally bland or overpowering on top of being incredibly overpriced considering you need two or three meals to fill you. Finally, the staff were rude, ignoring us when it came to paying while also laughing at us as we left, we didn’t make a fuss or anything so it was unwarranted

The food is always good, the only thing that is a gripe is the fact that it’s gone from 3 to 2 tacos per order, also they had a wider variety of meat, duck, ox tongue and these are no longer an option.

Great food, but they have zero desserts!! No dessert menu....who knew that was even a thing!?

Very good food. Wings were unreal!!! Food takes ages to come out however it is worth the wait!!!!

Très bons tacos au poulet et au boeuf. Petites portions, idéal pour reprendre quelques forces après avoir visite la ville d’édimbourg.

wonderful place to grab food. food was fresh and service was great

Probably some of the best mexican food in Edinburgh. We had the aubergine, carne asada tacos and the cheese and chorizo quesadillas and we were pleasantly surprised. The location and views were amazing, and our server Lewis was very helpful and accomodating.

Really disappointed, the food was below par @ £30 per head it was hard to pay especially when two of the guests couldn’t eat anything and left hungry! the sweet corn was awful the chicken tacos tasteless and potato dish was soggy and bland. Left waiting ages for drinks and staff rude when we asked where they were? We won’t be returning.

Nice food, bad service. One of four dishes didn't turn up. Took 30 minutes for bill to be produced and then paid.

First time in life I liked Mexican food

Excellent restaurant! The food was very nice. I had Pork Carnitas - Yum. Perhaps I am used to American Mexican food but the quantity of delicious chips that came with the guac, and the salsas was meagre. The orders should be at least enough to enjoy the dips! Otherwise wonderful. I really appreciate to alcohol free margaritas!!! Yay

Vibes ;p good but small drinks. Super friendly staff, super quick food! We’re we’re confused it was so fast, and very tasty. Apricot chicken wings. WOW! I’m going to make these at home. So good.

Pretty decent mexican food, nothing too memorable, especially considering the price! Some staff were a bit rude while others were lovely. Margarita was good. Probably won't go again.

We ate here as our last night in edinburgh. The atmosphere and views were amazing! The service at other tables was on point, but our waitress we didn't see very often. We asked other waiters as they were going by for assistance. The food was great! We had the steak, chicken, and cod tacos! They were all delicious!

Friendly staff Quick Service Food Delicious

Delightful Mexican tapas restaurant. On the close stairs. Great views of the city.

Delicious food, delicious cocktails and excellent service. Lewis in particular was very attentive and quick. I’ve been several times and have always had a great experience, highly recommend.

Food comes pretty close to real Mexican food for a European restaurant. Prices were not too expensive. Food was very nice and (not too) spicy. The music was way too loud in our opinion. They didn't have any desserts or coffee, which is weird. Service was friendly and fast.

Food and service was excellent. Cozy and good vibez. We were served my Lewis who was warm welcoming and exsplained the menu to us. He also checked in on us regularly but not to often which is an art in itself. Highlights from our meal were the carne asada and the pasionfriut frozen. 😋

We dined here twice during our stay in Edinburgh and loved it. Great food and our waitress Katie was excellent, a natural at customer service which is so rare in these days thank you.

The Pollo Taco and Champechano tacos were to die for. Maybe the best tacos I’ve ever eaten. Our kids enjoyed their meals, and the whole experience was wonderful. We loved the food and if we had been in town longer would have probably gone back a second time. It was that good.

جميل المكان ويطلب حجز غالباً المقبلات جداً طعمة ممتازه لكن مشكلتي خبز التاكو فيه ريحه غريبة ما ناسبتني ابداً الى درجة ماقدرت اكلها طلعت الخلطه الي داخل الخبز واكلتها بدون خبز للاسف

It was fine but wouldn't go again. Tiny portions for the tacos, they are mini tacos at best. I realise you're meant to go to a restaurant for the atmosphere and taste but that's lacking too. Waitresses never approached our table other than our initial order or to deliver dishes, no actual service or asking if we wanted anything else or more drinks. Dishes come out seemingly randomly, food forgettable.

Two Words: OUT OF THIS WORLD… well maybe more than two worlds, but good, seating area, SERVICE are all one spectacular bundle.. somehow this Mexican place took me back to the states ❤️ thank you all and much love from Saudi

Quite (nicely) surprised about the quality of the food !! Nice staff as well ;)

Not true Mexican food, but probably a scottish twist to mexican food. But the service can be better.

We did not have an enjoyable experience here. It started off ok, but we knew something was wrong when we waited a long time for the first dish to come out even though there were no other customers and a lot of staff standing around talking. Aside from one of the dishes being incorrect, four of the five dishes did not taste good at all. One of the most frustrating things was that all the dishes came out with long intervals between them. Each person would get their food, (attempt to) eat it, and be finished by the time the next persons came out. I ordered a side of plain avocado and they brought me a tiny (overpriced) cup of guacamole.

We had Freya who served us and it was an absolute dream. The food was great with special shout out to the Bombers and the Baja Tacos. Freya made us feel super special and welcome.

Comida deliciosa, servicio estupendo y rapido, ambiente muy agradable y estupendas vistas

Stumbled upon El Cartel by accident, but it was a great find. Best Mexican street food we’d had in a really long time. Fun atmosphere with great vibes. I would definitely come here again!