Taco Cartel in Exeter

Taxi Cartel, a Mexican restaurant in Bali, offers delicious cuisine, but be prepared for slower service. Despite the wait, the food is definitely worth it!

The food was amazing, staff friendly and the different margarita options were delicious! An all round good vibe, a good place to go for a meal with friends.

Hidden away at the side of a hairdressers/barbers/plant shop, this tiny restaurant could be so much more. On entering, it fills you with wonderment as you are not sure what to expect. Nice decor, mood lighting and a nod to Mexico on the wall. A lovely little place. Then...... A sharing platter was presented to us, beef brisket, chicken wings and chicken thighs, guacamole, tomato salsa, stuffed jalapeños and refried beans all in authentic looking terracotta dishes. Served with a side of fries and we added spicy rice. We weren't expecting much but were nicely surprised with the quantity and the flavours. It was a decent meal for £68. This included 2 Modelo and 2 Jarritos. It was such a shame the staff member lacked engagement. He did the bare minimum and it is the lack of hospitality with not see us return. He said hello, took the order, delivered the food, no check back. I had to ask for the 2nd drink and get napkins off the bar. He didn't ask if we enjoyed our food just wanted payment. There was no presence in the room except to clear dishes. To top it off the music was really inappropriate rap. I wish the establishment the best because it has huge potential to be a buzzing hub of food lovers.

Amazing food, great service, friendly staff and good music!

Couldn't order as there were no staff at the till

Had some of the best food I've ever had, and all the staff were great, so glad we found it, we will be going again soon

For the best selection of taco's in Exeter, you need to head here. Great service and amazing tasting tacos and burritos. Drinks went down a treat aswell.

Taco cartel has some business breaking consistency issues. The food is fantastic when they’re on form and horribly disappointing when not. With our order today, the tacos were tiny with barely any filling. Weirdly , if one orders from Deliveroo you receive 2 tacos for £8 and if you order in house it’s £7 for one. Go figure. The rice in the burrito was so overcooked to be basically baby food and had zero salt in. It was pretty terrible. And the dip with the birra tacos was literally water. It looked like they had run out of the dip and with the small amount left watered it down to stretch it out. Again, very disappointing. It’sa real shame because when this place is good it’s amazing and when it’s bad it’s so, so bad. Hopefully the owner reads this and clamps down on their consistency issues. Otherwise it’s going to fail.

In Exeter for the weekend near this place and it was great. The 2 staff behind the bar were super helpful and friendly, and the food was delicious. 100% coming back when we next come this way. Ladies behind the bar made me a chelada while I waited which was perfect even tho not on the menu. Cheers guys!

We did a hen do bottomless brunch here and it just wasn't great. The staff weren't terribly helpful even though they offered a couple of times. The food was slow, the drinks slower. The atmosphere was tricky because just across the other side was private hired for a party with a very very loud disco we thought we could participate but got told off. The place we sat for bottomless brunch was cramped. When we first arrived upstairs were quite rude telling us where to go. It wasn't at all clearly labelled. It felt more like a Mexican gangster watering hole than a luxurious place for a hen do. It was dark we had one pink florescent light to light our corner which kept switching itself off. You couldn't hear each other and barely see each other. Perhaps our fault for going on a night when there was a private party but we weren't told that. We had discussed in advance playing hen games there and they had said it would be fine but I was too dark to fill in quiz sheets and too cramped to do anything requiring moving! I'm sure it is lovely for some but it wasn't to my taste I'm afraid. 😏

Food was tasty, but portions pretty poor. I counted a grand total of 7 nachos on my 'Brisket nachos' and 3 Jalapeño poppers on my side dish. Photo attached of my order that was delivered by Deliveroo. If the portions were up to scratch for the price, I'd of given a solid 9/10 as it was nice food. Just a shame it wasn't decent portions. Expensive for very little food!

Definitely not child friendly. The high chair did not reach the table, so our child had to sit in our lap. Very unpleasant way to eat like this with a child like an octopus-arms everywhere... The service was very slow and the servers were asking back a lot when we ordered food and drinks. Made me very uncomfortable. Not to mention that they looked like it was their first day, but they were not bothered at all. Did not even asked us, how the food - or anything else - was. The toilets were downstairs, so I did not even try to go there with my little one. The food was not even close to what I would describe as taco...and was cold too. Salsa? Was huge chopped tomato pieces with some red onion and coriander on it...dry, almost asking for some lime juice itself. Sum it up, the whole experience was terrible and very disappointing 😞 It is a never ever again.

First time at Taco Cartel but definitely won’t be our last. Really lovely food and plenty of it. Service was great. Will definitely be back. 3 people : one birria, one taco and one burrito. Jalapeño poppers, spicy rice, corn and queso and chips.

Disappointing. The jalapeño poppers were over fried and hard. For £6ish you get one soft taco. Or there is a special at the moment where you can get 2 ‘fried’tacos for £8, either pork or beef. We ordered the beef, they were so greasy we couldn’t finish them. We also had issues with our bill being incorrect and wrong dishes arriving. Felt rough later.

First time I went 45 minutes after they were meant to start serving they said the kitchen wasn’t open yet so we left. Second time the tacos were really nice but the service was SHOCKING. No one seating you or taking your order, then they didn’t have enough change for me. So rather dealing with that themselves they forced me to tip them. Seems to be run by Uni students or the likes of. Has potential but currently not worth it!

Tasty food, great cocktails and friendly service

Had an excellent lunch here. The honey and paprika chicken burrito bowl was awesome - full of different flavours and great value for money, a proper portion of food rather than the usual smaller lunch portions many places offer. Solid drink and food for £9 deal too. Staff were very attentive (offering us an extension lead so we could work on the tables in the sun) and gave good recommendations too.

Ordered the honey chicken taco.... Received pork... Tasted pretty good though..

I love this place. Whenever I'm in Exeter I always make sure I come here. The tacos are excellent! I tried the birra taco and OMG it's amazing. The only downside is, without the happy hour deal, it can get expensive fast! Also, the beer selection isn't quite on poont- most times I go something isn't there and I was given an Italian beer and told it was Spanish. However, the Margs they have are out of this world! Do come here!

Oh my gosh, the guac was gone off!!! I’ve never seen guacamole so dark made with rotting avocados… The chips were so tough, and the tacos were so tough also. The inside fillings were good. Oh the churros were tough too!

Service is super quick and very attentive. We went during happy hour, which was brilliant, two for one on cocktails, and the margaritas are fab! The food was tasty, and I had the nachos with a topping of chicken, not the biggest portion, so definitely don't share! The jalapeño poppers were amazing! Really good vibe and music, personable staff. Reasonable prices, especially with happy hour!

If you haven't been to TACO CARTEL then why on earth not!? You like tacos? You should go! You like burritos? You should go! You like nachos? You should go! You like churros with chocolate or dulce de leche? For the love of God just go! The food is bloody delicious and the service is top notch, there is no way you wont love it! Go now, thank me later!

*Edit* I BLOODY LOVE TACO CARTEL!! Awesome food, awesome service, just the best! I cannot say enough great things about these guys! They are fantastic! Really delicious food, we had a bit of everything, chicken burrito, brisket taco, corn, queso n' chips and dulce churros. Literally all of it was divine, cannot fault any of it and although it was arguably too much food for two people, I can't see that there's a single thing I could do without when we order again!

The staff are so KIND. That place made our night. Will definitely come again ❤️

We came for their first unlimited chicken wings and it was insane. They were not stingey like usual places. You started of with 10 wings, and then they keep them coming!!! The flavours were sooo good, and they were really meaty! We finished off with some churrus which we're insane! Sooo excited to come again and try the tacos and the frozen Margs! Such a great place and the staff are great!!! 100% recommend!

Rosie and Amy were so lovely and the food was great ❤️

Restaurant was quiet but food and cocktails absolutely delicious, recommens the honey and paprika chicken taco. 2-4-1 deal 3-6pm is an absolute bargain!

Bland and unskilled preparation. A total disappointment. We got the following 1x & chilli tiger prawn taco, 2x ancho belly pork taco, 1x honey and páprica chicken taco, 1x BBQ beef brisket and some chicken wings. It was just terrible, Totally bland for a start, the beef brisket was undercooked so that it was still tough and chewy, the very small “tiger” prawns had been so over cooked that they were as chewy as the beef. i’m not even sure the pork belly was actually belly. Everything was so lacking in flavour and absolutely drenched in sour cream. it was clear to me that whoever prepared it has little interest or understanding in food let alone any passion for Mexican cuisine.

Great food and cocktails. Fabulous service. A little tucked away but now found it is a firm favourite!

Awesome flavours, cool vibe. Loved it

Amazing tacos, best I've had, 2 great veggie options, 3 bean and baja banana (tasted like vegan battered fish taco) also great margaRita's and friendly service.

Very good food, good sized portions and the 241 deal on tacos is great and very worth it. The atmosphere is chill, although I do wish we got plates with the tacos rather than baskets. I strongly recommend the frozen mint margarita!

We got takeaway. They were out of Baja banana blossom (boo) so we got refried black bean tacos and burritos. The taco (yes, you get just one—not enough to fill anyone—should be two or even three) looked like someone had fallen down the stairs holding the box. Otherwise, not the worst. The burritos were, in contrast, pretty huge (possibly too huge) and quite nice. NOT refried black beans though—looked like whole pintos / kidney beans (which is probably better for “mouth feel” anyway, even if black beans are healthier). We know what we’re talking about too—we lived on the west coast of the USA for 13 years and enjoyed Mex food from big-but-good chains (Baja Fresh, Taco Del Mar etc) to amazing local eats (like the brilliant Por Que No in Portland, OR). This place sounds and looks good but seems to have a long way to go to be anything close to really good Mexican food. Seemed like a good atmosphere in the little seating area though, and the branding is decent. They just need to elevate their food offering.