Santo

If you’ve eaten Mexicanfood in America, Mexico or even the Chipotle chain restaurants in London you’ll be massively disappointed here. Lovely decorated place and nice drinks but it ends there sadly. We spent £120 for 3 people and had such average food that it made for good jokes and we made light of it. The staff didn’t really have much knowledge on the food and the quesadilla one of our party was served came on a small side place in a taco shell. If the price was about half what it is it would be passable but for this price you should get better than this.
Good spot for drinks but definitely not a food spot to recommend

The food here is quite good. My carnitas burrito was delicious, absolutely. However, everything’s just a couple pounds more expensive than I think it ought to be given the amount of food you get. Smallest margarita I’ve ever seen! But again, it’s all good. Just be prepared to spend a bit if you arrive hungry and/​or thirsty.

Great testing taco and burritos.
Taco is to small.
Modelo beer — great presentation in iced glass — same can’t be said about the cocktails.
Didn’t like the15% added service charge

Nachos! NACHOS! My sweet nachos! Finally, somewhere in London that does them right. I came for the tequila (which I had, of course), but I left with a belly full of nachos. I should just end the review there and call it a day.
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Okay, I’ll carry on. This was one of my last Tequila Tuesday stops in London, and was a nice choice since it was on the west side of town, where I hadn’t spent much time. Trekking to Portobello Road was enjoyable in its own way, and I liked how authentic the restaurant was inside; I got the impression that this stretch of road prides itself on total commitment to their craft, be it goods, services or food – that was just from the storefront impressions though.
For food, I really only did have my nachos, which I split, because I wasn’t particularly hungry. They were fantastic, with chili con carne, and all the other necessary toppings. I paired with a beer and ended the meal with a leisurely stroll through a tequila blanco. The service was very good, especially as I had sat for about 45 minutes without ordering while waiting for a friend to arrive for dinner.
All in all, it was a wonderful night of tequila and food, with the air coming in the open window and good company.

I gave this place a 5 for the quality of waiter – very nice and the flavor of the food. I also love its location and vibe. But the portion to the price are even off by London standards. i took my 10 year old daughter who LOVES Mexican food and her 3 friends. when I got the bill, i was so disappointed to see all the extras we had been charged for. Extra cheese, which literally came in an over sized thimble was 3 pounds, a small plate of nachos were 11.50, extra salsa was 1.80, 4 extra small tortillas were 2.50. My advice to Santo, if they want to compete in the emerging Mexican restaurant market, drop your prices, stop charging for your extras or serve portions decent sized enough that extras aren’t necessary.

So I used to think that London had terrible Mexican food. I found this place through one of the best bartenders in the world, who also happens to be Mexican. If he thought this place was good, then maybe it was worth a shot.
Yes, this is the best Mexican food in London. It’s actually great!
We started with the best thing ever, queso fundido. It’s basically melted cheese in a dish. It’s a really good idea. And if it weren’t enough, they can put pulled pork on top! An even better idea. It’s absolutely delicious. I can’t even describe how melty and salty and delicious it is. You don’t even need tortillas.
Next the tacos. I went for Al Pastor (the manager claimed they were the best in London; he’s probably right). They’re small, but you get a plate of 3. I’d love to go back with a big group to try a bunch of different varieties.
I’d never had lamb, but they do a cool dish that is the Mexican equivalent of a lamb stew. It was tender with a flavourful sauce — and their big dish was easy to share with two people.
The menu is gigantic, with tons of dishes to choose from. They do a tasting menu on Sundays, and once a month you can go to a Wednesday dinner with a special chef and menu of «posh» dishes inspired by Mexican flavours. I hear they have salsa on Fridays but haven’t been.
Definitely book ahead of time if you’re going to be there during the weekend.
Gluten free notes: Most Mexican food is naturally gluten-​free except for flour tortillas. Make sure you get corn tortillas instead, and make sure they’re 100% corn (masa harina) with no (wheat) flour.

Santo is pure heaven. I moved to London from New York and I am enthused over a well-​made margarita. And the fish tacos! Pure heaven.
The chefs are as cool as they come and you can find them sipping tequila in their chucks by the bar most nights. I’ve learned a few secrets to their most addictive dishes so lots of aha moments.
I live in the neighborhood and find the staff exceptional. Never been a moment where they weren’t attentive, friendly and accomodating. Sometimes people have overwhelming and busy days so I understand there’s room for the other reviews. However, I’ve been to Santo well over 15 times (small estimate) and I’ve never experienced anything other than a warm, inviting atmosphere. I’ve brought my friends and fam from the U.S. and they all love Santo as I do.
On Friday nights after 10 they have a DJ and salsa in the back room. I don’t know if its because Santo’s in such a stiff neighborhood that many of the clients just stand around drunk and watch but if you can dance this is the time and place to show your skills.
Otherwise go for the great food, leave the ego at the door and you won’t be disappointed.

Went in at about 5pm, completely empty except for a family of 3 who had just finished eating and were leaving. We ordered 1 glass of water and a coke. The coke was double what you would have paid for aswell as all the other drinks being terribly expensive compared to other restaurants. I ordered 1 thing that cost £7.20,it took 25 minutes in a completely empty restaurant to bring 3 tiny tacos with some pork inside and sauce ontop. Do not recommend to anyone.

This place is SWEET!
When I moved to London, I feared never again experiencing Mexican food the likes of which I had access to in San Francisco. Now this ain’t no Burrito truck, and you won’t be paying $ 5 for your meal, but this is some of the best «fancy» Mexican I’ve ever had.
We had the carnitas tacos, the beer battered Prawn tacos and the chicharon de pescado and ended up loving the prawn tacos so much we had to grab another set of those and carnitas tacos. Total gluttony.
The «but wait there’s more» part is that this place delivers AND they have DJ’s that play Salsa and dance beats. Can you dig it?!
PS… be careful if you have their margaritas. they may be expensive, but there’s a reason. YOu’ll be tilted sideways walking out the door!

Authentic Mexico City food in Notting Hill. On occasion there is a live band playing in the back, but there is always guaranteed to be a good DJ. It’s the perfect place for a fun, inexpensive dinner on the weekend, or anytime.
The food is traditional and spicy! I love the fish tacos and nachos, but the rest is great too. The chef, Fernando, is always around and loves to chat with the patrons. One night we weren’t so please with the food and asked if the chef had changed — it hadn’t and Fernando came over and chatted with us for at least 10 minutes about the restaurant and how the menu has changed. He appreciates constructive criticism and changes the menu ac coring to what people want.
It’s a great place, and highly recommended. No need for a reservation on most nights, but on the weekends it’s recommended.

Welcome to a small taste of culinary cielo (heaven).
On our way down Portobello Road last night, in search of an Iranian restaurant we had been tipped off about, we stumbled across Santo. Now, I’ve only written a handful of reviews so far, but if you haven’t noticed, the soul of the restaurant/​café is just as important to me as the food served. So it’s no surprise that, when we first walked into this low ceilinged, salsa music playing, candle lit hole in the wall, it was love at first sight.
First, and foremost, lets talk burritos. For those of you who are in constant search for a good mexican restaurant, but seemingly always end up with overpriced TacoBell, you’re in for a treat. The burritos consist of a flat, soft tortilla filled to the brim with whatever meat or vegetables you choose. My choice for the evening was Pollo Asado (literally meaning ‘roasted chicken’). But don’t let the literal name fool you. There is far more to this dish than a bit of roasted chicken and some tortilla chips on the side. A hearty helping of rice, beans, lettuce, tomatoes, and a tangy sauce accompany this meal, making for a definite fiesta en su boca (party in your mouth). Along with a variety of tasty chicken dishes, Asado offers beef, lamb, fish and vegetable dishes (all available in burrito form though some are available as tacos, quesadillas or even cazuelas).
Drinks are plentiful and range from a large list of tequilas to beers. A side note about their margaritas. For those of you who have ever had a margarita in any chain restaurant, you’ll know that you receive a massive glass with quite a bit of liquid. You’ll also know that most of this liquid consists of margarita mix rather than the tequila itself. That said, don’t be put off by the size of the margaritas at Santo. While the glasses might seem small, what’s inside is a small amount of margarita mix followed by your fair share of good quality tequila (an acceptable explanation for the price of £7.50).
Now, as I wrote earlier, soul and atmosphere are just as important as the food itself. While the low ceilings and candle lit tables make for a very intimate experience, the DJ controlling the salsa, bachata and lambada music, mixed with the personable waiters and waitresses constantly on the run, adds a definite sense of fun and excitement to your experience. Santo makes it their duty to ensure their customers feel as close to Mexico as possible without literally being south of the Border.

Wandered in here Saturday past for a bit of shelter and some food as it was raining, turns out this wasn’t a good idea. Worst eating experience I have had in London.
Blender was broken so they couldn’t do 2 of our party’s drinks (only 1 blender when ¹⁄₃ of the drinks menu consists of blended juices??), but they notified of each drink needing to be changed separately 10 mins apart, and in the meantime it was too complicated to bring over tap water and a bottle of beer. All up we had to speak to them 4 times over the course of 20 mins to get an orange juice, 2 tap waters and a beer.
3 of us ordered tacos and one ordered a mini burrito. The mini burrito at £5 was around double the size of the 3 «tacos» at £6.80. Basically the soft shell tacos consist of 3 soft tacos sitting flat on a small plate, each approx 7 cm in diameter, with what can only be described as a spoonful of filling sprinkled on each one. Our orders took 50 mins from first ordering to arrive at our table, and the food was cold. Even though my carnitas tacos said they had mexican salsa on them, they were basically chopped onions with a small piece of meat embedded in there. No liquid sauce evident. We asked for some actual tomato based salsa sauce to moisten them, and they brought out a 10 cm diameter shallow dish of salsa, and later tried to charge us 80p for the privilege.
If the food came quickly and was 30% cheaper than it was, it might have been fine, but as it was if I worked there I would be embarrassed to serve customers what comes out of the kitchen.
Summary: slow and ridiculously over expensive for at best mediocre food. Otherwise they are terribly inconsistent and there were some serious problems that day.
The place was busy, but only about ²⁄₃ full and about 50% of tables only seemed to be having drinks… so if you can’t feed ¹⁄₃ of the capacity of the restaurant on what is probably their busiest day of the week, there are problems here. AVOID AVOID AVOID if you intend on eating. If you want drinks, then just shout until it happens. As we were leaving I went down to bathroom and there were 3 staff cooking in the kitchen and they didn’t seem too hurried about it, so I can’t see why such simple food takes so long!
Made all the worse as it took so long while we were waiting that the rain passed and I was thinking of the cheaper and better market food I could be having in the sunshine! When you’re competing with a better cheaper alternative… you really need to make yourself shine!

Best Mexican restaurant in London, really authentic and they make fantastic cocktails. Try the cochinita pibil or the tinga de pollo, their burritos are also great. Good vibe, friendly staff. If you’re looking for proper Mexican food, this is your best bet.

Santo is a mexican joint that incurs good food and drink. I have only tried the chilli hot chocolate as recommended by a friend and its indeed tasty and good esp just to meet up and catch up with friends! I haven’t really had to opportunity to eat the food yet so thats yet to be accomplished!!! Have only eaten quazidillas (apologise if i spelt this wrong!)the price is abit dear but maybe because its the location! I like this place and the staff are very friendly and they recognise me as i go there every week. Nice people! Warm inviting environment!

Having reviewed El Camino previously, and slated Santo within it’s review I thought I better justify my distaste for this place. So here goes.
The most overwhelming aspect of my visit here was the slow and indifferent service. We ordered a Hibiscus Margarita not once twice but 5 times, all in all it took 55 minutes to arrive. By which point all the other food and drinks we well past finished.
Now this could have been rectified if it weren’t for the incompetent management who seemed indifferent to our plight. We pointed out the ridiculous service and was simply pointing out that my companion could not be expected to pay for a drink she had only been delivered as we were paying was met with confusion and indifference.
None of this is helped by the bland food and steep prices.
What a shame, as Portobello could have done with a competent Mexican restaurant…

So this review is based on takeaway, but I thought I’d put in my two cents anyway. A friend recommended Santo for Mexican and since I’m on the hunt for the perfect burrito, I thought I’d give it a go. I expected (read: hoped) for a taqueria but Santo turned out to be a nice sit-​down type place. I was actually very pleased I went to check it out because I’d never actually walked up that block of Portabello, despite it being around the corner from my flat, because I figured it would resemble the same block on Ladbroke Grove which is full of chicken village-​type places. But instead I found cute Santo and a couple of other yummy looking restaurants and more vintagey boutiques. ANYway, the burritos are a bit high end, but I was happy with what I chose – chicken asada (£8). The chicken and vegetables were fresh and grilled and the guacamole and beans were tasty. In my takeaway pack I also got two cooked jalapenos, which were too spicy to eat by I squeezed the juice on my burrito and it was perfect. At those prices I wouldn’t go back for takeaway but would definitely consider it for a night out with a group. The DIY tacos looked especially enticing.

Santo is a very nice Mexican restaurant and lounge bar which serves delicious food and great cocktails. The minimal look and the great care of every detail makes it a very enjoyable place where to dine and have a drink. Lunch and weekends’ brunch are also very nice. Everything I had was really good so I find it hard to recommend anything in particular. Avocado is awesome and incredibly fresh, coming straight from Mexico! Also fresh juices are great and are the perfect complement to a 360° Mexican food experience. Burritos are very nice (either prawns and carne asada) and I also enjoyed a very tasty enchillada de pollo. Starters are not huge but main dishes are very generous. I suggest to have a starter and a main dish each if you’re hungry… even better if you share starters with your mates. All the crew is very kind and treat you with kid gloves. The best thing is that all this pampering comes at the right price! Despite many other trendy places (often only pretentious…) Santo’s prices are definitely in the right range. I’m not saying cheap but I’ve never been disappointed by the bill.
Though I’m a fan of the place and have been there quite many times now, I have to partially agree with Zoe H. The combination of food + service is not always the same (don’t know why honestly) but overall my experience has been very good! Give it another go Zoe, maybe for a Sunday brunch! :)

I thought I’d visit Santo because it always seemed to be very busy and I do like Mexican food but wish I hadn’t bothered! Santo is a prime example that first impressions can be very deceiving. Initially we were pleased to get an outdoor seat because the other diners showed no sign of leaving in a hurry.
After browsing the menu we waited… and waited for someone to take our order. The drinks eventually arrived after ten minutes when I was forced to go inside and ask if we would be served anytime soon.
We should have left at this point but I was still hoping that the food would make up for the bad service. When the food did arrive I wish that we had left– my burrito looked more like a snack not a main meal and the chicken was tasteless!
The interior is minimal and stylish but I don’t think I will be returning to Santo