El Paso

2014 update:
FOLKS, HORRIBLE HORRIBLE MARGARITAS. I’m sorry, if a Mexican restaurant messes up with simply what their drinks should be known for, then I mean. c’mon. Don’t even bother brother.
My friends and I almost puked on the first sip of out margaritas. Nachos tasted almost as awful. Same goes with their black bean butter squash dip and their burritos.
AVOID IN ALL COST

Bad food and slow service, what a combo! I’m not usually really picky with anything if the food is good, but everything about this place is surreal (at least for me)
I went there with a couple of girlfriends to get beers and some food. It took us ages to order something, despite being almost empty. Our drinks arrived among with the Nachos. Beers were good (it’s beer!) but the nachos were insipid. Not too much guacamole or sour cream, and the cheese was disgusting.
On top of that we waited 45 minutes for the main courses. Tacos and quesadillas; plain and with no flavour at all.
We asked for the bill straight away. They took the service out of the bill. I was so embarrassed but we just had to do it.
I read this place is awesome for breakfast or coffee time but please avoid it for lunch/​dinner. It’s not Mexican food, or food at all!
Oh, yeah, the place looks trendy, in a Shordeitch-​kind-​of-​way, so I’ll give it two stars!

Abysmal… terrible… horrid. Do yourself a favor and avoid eating here. It took almost 45 minutes for a breakfast burrito at lunch, 45 minutes! And the place was not busy. Unacceptable.

It’s usually semi full during the day with people working and iPhoning and MacBooking to the taste of great coffee. The evening is the restaurant and it’s an interesting take on Mexican cuisine.
The chimichanga, although tasted great, wasn’t filled with usual Mexican delights. It was basically a chimichanga without sour cream, guacamole or cheese. So although a solid base, tasted only remotely Mexican.
Service though was great, and cocktails STRONG! Would be great for a small group getting a bite to eat before hitting a bar.

Came in here for lunch and stood at the sign that says: «Please wait here to be seated». Waited for a while, then went up to the chap behind the bar to ask if we could just choose one of the many many empty tables. «No», he said, we had to wait by the sign until someone came along…
So that wasn’t a great start. We were shown to a tiny table on the ground floor in the second room. I declined and we took a bigger table with considerably more comfy seats next to a piano type instrument.
We ordered margaritas and nachos to start with (it was a Thursday after all…). I was not keen on either. The margaritas were small, and rather sweet. The nachos had too many carrots (!) in the salsa for my taste, and although the guacamole was delicious, there was not enough, and not to sound like Goldilocks, but there was too much sour cream. Also, the cheese that they use is very very synthetic.
We also ordered burritos (one steak and one chicken). They were ok, but again the tomato salsa that came with them had loads of carrots in it. The steak had the texture and taste of duck… it was a bit odd.
While we ate, a huge delivery came in — meaning that the double doors were open the whole time, plus, they piled bags of onions, boxes of avocados and boxes of limes up, right next to our table.
The place is cool though and the service is friendly (excluding the rule abiding barman), so perhaps I’ll return to try the cheese and pickle baguette that is also on the (Tex Mex) menu…

I like this place a lot. They provide a workspace for office floaters by day which is subsidised by the food trade at night. I love this concept, the idea of trying to give back a little.
Mexican food is pretty simple to get right, so I wont go into too much detail on that, but what they get right in this place is the very interesting décor. Its spacious and quirky.
Good for casual dining.

First, let me say: Do not come here if you’re looking for Mexican or Tex-​Mex food.
Just don’t.
DO come here if you’re looking for a massive, light-​filled café with great WiFi and TONS of fantastic private booths for laptop working. This place is quiet and never as full as nearby coffee shops. The food is kind of mediocre but it’s cheap.
The staff are friendly and they don’t mind if you stick around all day.

El Paso is one of the cooler places I’ve been to in Hoxton, for several reasons:
1. They were wonderful Tequila Tuesday hosts. We came here for our 42^nd night out, and they reserved us a table, which is great since we have flexible size reservations. They also said they were available to take other tables, even those that were occupied, because they had let everyone working in the area know they had a big party coming.
2. Food comes out of the kitchen super fast, and they do a pretty fantastic nachos with chili con carne on top (you have to ask for the chili, but they don’t charge extra). Margaritas are solid, though I do wish they had a few extra drink options.
3. It’s also a working space, so you can turn up during the week and do your thing with cool music and atmosphere, and it’s totally allowed.
4. On a rambunctious Saturday night when I stopped in with a friend just before midnight, we were able to get a table upstairs, the place wasn’t too crazy, and we had food and drinks that were pretty solid. Unlike so many other places in the area, it doesn’t turn into the Realm of Pumps and Mini-​Skirts when the sun goes down, so we were comfortable turning up in jeans and flats and just chilling.
Generally, I was impressed with my various experiences there, and have considered going back to work when I don’t have office space. It’s a cool place, centrally located in the heart of Hoxton/​Shoreditch, and always chill.

I’ve frequented Shoreditch before and thought what a great situation the upstairs of El Paso would be for watching the cycling, stomping and tripping East London lot. It always looks so effortlessly cool — even at hipster-​central.
It is. Although it’s too early in the day to be chomping on any faux Mexican food, I thoroughly enjoyed my tea and warm almond croissant. It’s quiet, comfortable, the service is friendly but discreet and I feel totally at ease to sit here for another 30 minutes with my book.
Definitely recommended for a chill and an early in the day catch-​up.

Avoid!
Okay so we knew what we were signing up for when we came here, we understood it was Tex-​Mex and not that genuine Mexican street food that is oh-​so-​trendy at the moment. So we expected lots of cheese, big portions, sour cream, that Americanised Mexican style you tend to get at a joint like this. We would have been happy with that!
But we didn’t even get Tex-​Mex, I’d call it more ‘Tesco-​Mex’. It was like one of those terrible dinners your flatmate makes in the first year of uni because their mum didn’t teach them how to cook, so they go to the supermarket and buy some kit to make Fajitas, and they have no clue about flavour so they substitute expensive ingredients like chillies and coriander and peppers with CARROTS. Yes, carrots. Since when did carrots form part of Mexican chilli? There was no flavour, everything tasted like it came out of a tin or a packet. Disgusting!
On the plus side, the décor was nice and the waiting staff were friendly and helpful. They almost made up for one of the worst meals I’ve had in London!

I really want to like El Paso because it is one of my friends favorite hang out spots. However, between the food and the service, this is probably one of my least favorite places in London. On the food end of things, I’ll admit that anywhere in London that serves Mexican food just won’t have access to the same quality of ingredients that they do in the US. But what El Paso serves up as nachos are just soggy tortilla crisps soaked in sour cream. Bleh. On a personal note I was yelled at by one of the waitresses when I tried to bring in a milkshake from across the street. I’d just had a piercing that made eating painful, my friends had already ordered and I was still planning on ordering something since I planned to sit with them. Everyone I’ve talked to seems split on this issue, maybe it’s just very American of me to have thought I could do something like that, but having to sit in Hoxton Square by myself and drink my milkshake in the cold didn’t endear me very much to the El Paso staff.

During the day El Paso is a brilliant place to come if you need to get some work done but don’t want to be cooped up at home. There’s free wi-​fi, plug points for nearly all tables, and the environment is relaxed. It’s a good place for holding meetings and interviews too.
EP is also a good place for lunch, service is quick and the breakfast/​lunch menu is as delicious as the dinner menu.
There’s more of a bar vibe at night, though they serve food until midnight so diners are welcome. I’d suggest booking a table at weekends though, because it can get quite busy.
The food is great [especially the steak burrito], and the drinks are reasonably priced for London. If you want a real Mojito, this is the place to go.
The staff are always friendly and the management are reasonable. I’ve organised events in the downstairs space before and I’ve never had any problems with hidden costs or anyone asking for more than originally agreed. Contact is always prompt and pleasant, and I didn’t feel like the management was trying to rip me off. It’s a great space and worth inquiring about if you need a decent venue.

Normally I don’t write reviews in anger… but this one… is personal.
Now don’t get me wrong, I have been here a few times, the drinks are reasonable, the staff are lovely, the venue is pretty chill… so why is this review getting one star? The management.
The downstairs was booked over a month ago so that we could host some live acts and DJs to raise a few extra quid for a friend who ran the marathon. The initial cost for hosting was reasonable and we agreed to take the venue. However, the day before the Marathon, the manager sends an e-​mail demanding DOUBLE the original price upfront and £1000 at the downstairs bar. Less than 1 week from the scheduled event, the bar is demanding a charity event to raise £1000 at a bar that doesn’t even have draught beer taps.
While our friend was out running 26.2 miles of London concrete to raise money for Leukaemia, El Paso management were sitting around counting the pounds they will be pocketing. However, they forgot to remember that more pounds in their pockets means less for the charity.
Maybe if this was said upfront when we booked it over a month ago I wouldn’t have such bad feelings, but with less than a week before the event, they should’t be changing the goalposts. Shame on you El Paso… shame…

i’m quite a fan of the bar/​café vibe in here — it’s very chilled out and laid back. the main reason that i come here, however, is that for shoreditch, the bar prices are really reasonable — i think it’s something like £3.30 for a large glass of house wine, which is pretty good.
we ate food here the last time we came as we needed to grab some dinner before a gig. the food isn’t amazing, but again it is reasonably priced (not the hugest portions however). i had the chicken and avocado salad and it was okay — i kinda drenched it in hot sauce, but without that it would have been pretty dull — fresh vegetables though so can’t complain. i think if you come here, come to drink, and perhaps partake in a snack, but go elsewhere for proper dinner.
i will definitely be back here though when i am in the area for reasonably priced beers and a relaxed atmosphere.

First off, let me say that the idea of a coffee shop-​style workplace that’s also a Mexican restaurant is brilliant. It conjures up enormously fun images of beginning the day with an espresso as you read through your emails, then making the seamless transition to Corona and margaritas as it gets later in the day.
So that angle is fun — but El Paso has to put in some serious work on their food before I’d suggest eating here. I had chicken and steak burritos here with a friend, and I’d say they were both… dull. They’re good sized, and served mojado style with sauce and cheese on top, but digging into them I was sorely disappointed.
The burritos were like a simple stir fry lazily inserted into a tortilla — long grain rice, very simply (a bit of salt and pepper) seasoned meat, and almost no detectable spice.
That said, the space was nice (definitely trendier than the taquerias in my usual home of San Francisco) and there’s Wi-​Fi and beer, so you could do much worse for a space to sit and work. But seriously, people — you could probably also do much better.

No point beating around the bush… the food in El Paso sucks… dont bother trying it… even the nachos are crap — how hard is it to serve decent nachos?
On the upside, drinks are good, and the venue and location is AWESOME so i really think they should invest a bit of effort into improving the quality of food…
i would go back… to use it as a café for some googling or for a few drinks… not for the food

There are a couple of good reasons I have been coming here for years, a nice relaxed atmosphere and great food!
Right in the heart of London’s overly trendy Shoreditch sits El Paso, a Tex Mex restaurant & bar with none of the pretensions many places in the area suffer from. They have a ridiculously large bar menu with many cocktails, spirits, beers on tap, bottled beers, ciders, shooters, something for everyone. They have drinks & food menus on their site to give you an idea.
The prices are also really good compared to many of the places in the area.
The place itself is split into 3 floors, the main bar area with seating & tables, a mezzanine floor for diners, and a basement for the club at night. The menu here is typical of what you would expect a decent Tex Mex place to serve, burritos, fajitas, nachos, ribs, burgers, and a whole lot more.
The food has always been really tasty, especially the fajitas which come out sizzling on a metal hot plate!
Service has always been nice and quick, no complaints.
They serve the food until very late every day which is always handy.
The club that opens later on in the evenings downstairs has a great soundsystem, and most importantly, places to actually sit! They do club nights and live music nights which are always good fun with a nice crowd, upcoming events are listed on their site.

Um, have any of these reviewers actually eaten decent Tex/​Mex food? The folks at El Paso are trying, but they’re not producing anything close to it.
The food was decidedly bland. I ordered the (supposedly hot) chili, but didn’t even consider reaching for my water. Jalapenos and ground beef alone do not a chili make. The chicken in the burrito was tasty, but the rest of the plate was uninspired.
I thought the service was very attentive and the bar selection (including coke in a bottle) was solid.
Stopping in on 5÷5÷09 I hoped at least for something for Cinco De Mayo, but apparently word of Mexican Independence hasn’t yet reached El Paso.

Great location, right in the heart of the Old Street Bars and Pubs, making El Paso the perfect place for dinner before hitting the town.
It’s super chilled, which I love, but there’s nothing fancy schmancy about it — it’s rough and ready, so maybe don’t take the parents-​in-​law here if you want to impress!
The food’s pretty good — standard mexican fare, generous portions, all pretty reasonably priced. I’ve had better mexican elsewhere, but for location and atmosphere it’s worth a visit.

As you may gather from the name there is a distinct Mexican feel to this restaurant/​bar/​club thing. El Paso is not a place you want to let pass you by (ha ha) with its rough and ready décor, friendly staff and down-​to-​earth clientele.
It’s not the most swanky place on earth and the food is probably not the highest quality you’re ever likely to come across but you’re unlikely to come across and more relaxed and personable atmosphere in London. The drinks selection is larged and varied with cocktails, lager and spirits in good supply. Prices for this area are very reasonable.
A great place to begin an evening with a large group of mates. Perfect for conversation, nibbles and laughter.