Tortilla

Had the most delicious tacos here that perfectly catered to my dietary restrictions (gluten free and vegetarian) and budget. Couldn’t recommend it more!

On s’est retrouvé dans ce quartier très animé un peu tard le soir, et parmi tous les bars où les salariés sortent boire quelques verres le soir après le boulot, il y a quelques restos rapides, dont le Tortilla.
Ayant travaillé dans un resto mexicain à Cambridge, UK, dans ma jeunesse, j’étais curieuse de voir la version londonienne quelques 20 ans plus tard…
Ce n’est ni plus ni moins que du fast-​food mexicain, plutôt dans un genre «Subway», pour le côté «je choisis ce que je mets dans mon burrito».
Le choix des ingrédients et des tortillas est conséquent, et Tortilla mise sur la qualité et la provenance de ses produits.
Sur les tables, des prospectus expliquent «comment manger votre burrito», comment le plier, comment faire pour que né vous coule pas sur les genoux… fort utile !
Ce n’est pas mauvais en goût, mais c’est un peu bourratif, le burrito (ha ha ha — trois neurones rescapés…); c’est surtout assez bon marché et ça change un peu .
Ca né vaut peut-​être pas la peine de courir après ce resto, mais si vous tombez dessus, ça né devrait pas être une expérience catastrophique !

I ate a burrito here for dinner last week. I had steak with all the trimmings. I have to say it was just ok. The steak was a bit chewy, the rice had no flavour, and the medium spiced sauce had no flavour at all. You can’t really go wrong with a burrito and I did eat the whole thing but I much prefer Benito’s Hat or Wahaca.

My company has moved their office to the area so I went to explore lunchtime opportunities. Tortilla is a lovely, medium size restaurant offering tasty burritos. Medium or large, mild or spicy, meat version or vegetarian; they even offer Halal chicken!
The tricky part is to know how to handle your little monster (even a medium size is BIG!). Unwrap the foil at the top of your burrito, but keep the rest on it otherwise you’ll end up with some rice on your laps. For those who prefer forks & knives, you can help yourself to a plate & the cutlery.
The only shame is that their offer their peppers with onions (I’m not a big fan of onions), but the staff is really cool and spend extra time to separate them for me. Extra star for that!
You can expect to spend around £5 for a medium size meal & £6 for a large one. I think it’s a good value for money, but you’ll have to make your own verdict!

For photos, please go to

When the lovely Jaxies asked me months ago if I was interested in a Burrito masterclass, I gave it about two seconds before saying yes! I can’t recall the last time I had a burrito, it might actually be a case of never and was looking forward to giving this a go.
So one fine day I find myself trotting off after work ready for some food and action. I was greeted by the lovely Ewa who gave each of us a T shirt and some additional info on the ingredients that are used in the form of a booklet.
When everyone has arrived, we were ushered to a more private area and were given a quick talk about the ingredients. It was really interesting to listen to their experiences firsthand and what they went through. Their passion for burritos clearly shines through, especially all that talk about the beef. I am seriously salivating and WANT to try the beef that was highly raved about.
Next up, a whole bunch of ingredients (cilantro, onions, avocado, tomatoes etc) was presented to us and we were given the opportunity to make our own guacamole. This will be my virgin experience at making guacamole; in fact I don’t even know what goes into one other than avocados.
After some serious mixing and mashing, I hoped I made guacamole lovers proud or at least a little. Here is my attempt; if anything xxx said that it was really creamy. =)
It was burrito making time next and we all huddled around the counter and some of us couldn’t resist sampling the food. We are foodies after all. MY, those beef are GOOD!
One by one we lined up, wore our gloves and made our burritos. The tricky bit is in the wrapping of the ingredients in the tortilla. I managed to do a nifty job, yeay!
What goes into a burrito? You start with a tortilla which is lightly toasted. Next pick your choices of vegetables and beans followed by the choice of meat. No guesses which one I selected! Pile the guacamole next and the hot sauce. In Tortilla, there is a mild, hot and fiery option. If that is not enough, you can still put any of these.
After we have all made our burritos, it was time to eat. I really enjoyed mine. The beef was juicy and overall it tasted fresh and yummy. No oily or greasy aftertaste. We all got a certificate after for attending the masterclass, that was such a nice touch.
I have to say a few days later, I couldn’t help myself but went into another eatery to have a burrito for lunch. My experience was not great as the burrito was sloppily made and wasn’t as tasty. I won’t be naming this other place here.
After trying out at least another place, I’ll say Tortilla will be one place I’ll be coming back to.

When the lovely Jaxies asked me months ago if I was interested in a Burrito masterclass, I gave it about two seconds before saying yes! I can’t recall the last time I had a burrito, it might actually be a case of never and was looking forward to giving this a go.
So one fine day I find myself trotting off after work ready for some food and action. I was greeted by the lovely Ewa who gave each of us a T shirt and some additional info on the ingredients that are used in the form of a booklet.
When everyone has arrived, we were ushered to a more private area and were given a quick talk about the ingredients. It was really interesting to listen to their experiences firsthand and what they went through. Their passion for burritos clearly shines through, especially all that talk about the beef. I am seriously salivating and WANT to try the beef that was highly raved about.
Next up, a whole bunch of ingredients (cilantro, onions, avocado, tomatoes etc) was presented to us and we were given the opportunity to make our own guacamole. This will be my virgin experience at making guacamole; in fact I don’t even know what goes into one other than avocados.
After some serious mixing and mashing, I hoped I made guacamole lovers proud or at least a little. Here is my attempt; if anything xxx said that it was really creamy. =)
It was burrito making time next and we all huddled around the counter and some of us couldn’t resist sampling the food. We are foodies after all. MY, those beef are GOOD!
One by one we lined up, wore our gloves and made our burritos. The tricky bit is in the wrapping of the ingredients in the tortilla. I managed to do a nifty job, yeay!
What goes into a burrito? You start with a tortilla which is lightly toasted. Next pick your choices of vegetables and beans followed by the choice of meat. No guesses which one I selected! Pile the guacamole next and the hot sauce. In Tortilla, there is a mild, hot and fiery option. If that is not enough, you can still put any of these.
After we have all made our burritos, it was time to eat. I really enjoyed mine. The beef was juicy and overall it tasted fresh and yummy. No oily or greasy aftertaste. We all got a certificate after for attending the masterclass, that was such a nice touch.
I have to say a few days later, I couldn’t help myself but went into another eatery to have a burrito for lunch. My experience was not great as the burrito was sloppily made and wasn’t as tasty. I won’t be naming this other place here.
After trying out at least another place, I’ll say Tortilla will be one place I’ll be coming back to.

Build your own Mexican. Lovely, tasty and heavy.
Only let down is the Sainsbury own-​brand tortilla chips. Very disappointing.
The selection of beers seemed quite interesting — they offer Sierra Nevada Pale Ale which is always good.
Good choice for lunch.

I’m still fairly new to the Burrito clan. I’ve had one from Freebird which was fantastic. Torrential rain coupled with a burrito need only meant one thing, the closest wins — and in this circumstance, the closest was Tortilla. I wasn’t disappointed, but there wasn’t a wow factor.
Restaurant location is great, it’s lovely and clean, staff are willing to help, and convenience is good — but I’d only go here for the convenience. If you’re looking for a quick bite to eat that will satisfy hunger, Tortilla is the one.

A really tasty meal in a flour tortilla — i always go for the braised pork and a bean mix topped with cheese and sour cream with the mexican rice.
These are very weighty so make sure your not on a night out as you wont be able to move afterwards.
I did ask to sample their steak but it was too chewy so stuck with my usual pork filling though i havent tried the chicken filling as yet

I went here recently on a Tuesday and was pleasantly surprised. I sampled a fish taco as I thought I would get in the spirit of things. I found the fish to be well seasoned and had a nice flavour. It was also fresh! Never frozen and had been bought in that very morning. I know this because I asked.
I was massively impressed by that and the way it had been cooked meant that it kept a nice flaky texture and wasn’t too
I liked that there was a choice of flour or corn taco too. Sometimes I don’t like the corn ones so much.
The food was palatable. The chilli sauce could have had a bit more punch though, but overall everything else had a nice freshness about it and there was a nice differentiation of flavours.
I especially liked the choice of beers available in Tortilla. They sell Blue Moon which with every sip takes me back to sitting in the Zeitgeist bar in San Francisco.
The décor in Tortilla is great, but I especially like the photographs. It has pictures of many great burrito places in California with particular attention payed to San Francisco which is only right given that this place is the mecca of burritos.
You haven’t lived until you have eaten a burrito from the Mission district in SF.
If you don’t believe me go there and try one and you’ll know what I am talking about.
In the meantime I will console myself with what can be found here. But as far as burritos and tacos go I found what I ate here to be really good and they had nice guacamole too.
I will be back especially as this one is in a great location.

I MISS southern Cali. And I give this place a MEH 2 stars. I paid 6 pounds for a small bowl of «naked burrito» and the meat had this weird first taste, which completely threw me off. And I felt this was a chain that was an imitation of Chipotle. Although chipotle is great in the states, apparently it isn’t in london and I feel tortilla lacked much more than this.
Near the border you can get awesome burrito for 3 quid with all the works. And actual Mexico has no burritos, only tacos. which are delicious!
All in all, still on the quest for authentic mex food. Being near the border has certainly made me more picky. But I definitely don’t recommend this place. You can get something better with the money, for sure.

We were looking for a quick place to stop for a late lunch/​dinner and Tortilla satisfied that. I was expecting a terrible Taco Bell-​ingredients-​of-​questionable-​origins experience, but I was pleasantly surprised.
The menu is set up such that you choose your main protein, plus all the rest of the fixings. I ordered tacos with corn tortillas — I enjoyed the tortilla, but the fillings were a bit soppy.
They also do not offer any nachos with toppings on them, but my boyfriend cleverly suggested later that you could order a «naked» burrito and then just order a side of nachos. DOH.
The highlight for me was the guacamole — loved the bits of coriander, and ingredients were quite fresh.
Overall: pleasantly surprised. London seems to have some very slick fast food chains.
PS. Was a bit baffled by their locations stated on their wrapper: Mexico, California, London?

Tortilla is fairly average. They are rapidly expanding which must mean they are popular, but I generally agree with the previous reviewer (except I rank freebird below Tortilla).
The meat is quite dry and of variable quality, and although the other ingredients look promising, unlike the better burrito places in London, Tortilla’s are not greater than the sum of their parts.

I went here last week to try their fish tacos. I loved ‘em. I also really liked their guac.

Unfortunately, the fish tacos are only available on Tuesdays and only at this particular location (Tortilla has a few restaurants in London). But fingers crossed they’ll prove a hit and Tortilla will add them to the regular menu at all their eateries.
Compared to the Upper Street location, which is the only other Tortilla I’ve visited, this venue is very comfy and a bit swish in its design. It’s a good place to settle in for a decent meal. And as I noticed on my Tuesday visit, it’s extremely popular. So, if you plan to go for lunch, try to make it on the early or late side! Otherwise, you might have to wait.

Man cannot live on pork alone… He needs hot salsa, guacamole, refried beans and a tortilla wrap too.
A fledgling chain operation, Tortilla provides freshly prepared burritos, fajitas and tacos to the worker drones around their central London locations. Their newest site is almost directly opposite my office and just couldn’t be ignored.
I went expecting to grumble, suspecting a lack of authenticity, flavour and most importantly spice, and from the second I walked in nothing disabused me of this feeling. There’s a real feel of the franchise to the décor here. Walls covered with faux brickwork and wipe clean prints of other more authentic carnitas joints back in the old country (well, California). One of those serve it yourself Coke machines occupies a wall, and a counter contains the take away necessities amid bottles of extra spicy sauce.
We worker drones joined a long queue towards the counter where the servers each prepped a section of meal, none trusted with the complete picture, all asking the same questions to each person. «Lime or Mexican rice sir?», «hot, medium or mild salsa madam?» I made the mistake of trying to give my full order to the first person in the line, only to have to repeat it another 5 times as I was taken down the production line. my wrap grew, through rice, beans and the all important meat stage (braised pork natch), past sour creams and guacamole, «would you like guacamole sir that’ll be 50 pee extra» before heading into the all important final spicy straight.
Dear reader, I paid. It’s about a fiver for the pork, chicken or veggie rolls with steak having a 50p supplement, certainly not overpriced for central London lunch fodder. Taking my foil wrapped flour roll torpedo back to the office I have to confess to being slightly excited by the weight and the heft of the thing as I took it out of the bag. Initial tastings of the tortilla wrap didn’t blow me away. Bland and slightly too doughy with no discernible taste of its own. I know it’s a different cuisine, but I much prefer the wrappings they use at Moolis, a company so obsessed by their flat breads they travelled to San Antonio, Texas to pick up a specific brand of flatbread maker (they’ve nicknamed it Moolita, bless.) — that’s the sort of bready obsession with detail I’m looking for.
However I’ve got to say that it does get better from here. The carnitas pork ha obviously been marinated overnight and pulls apart easily. The whole meal (other than that tortilla) is spiced and flavoured with reference to authenticity rather than a milder European palate. The rice and beans do their job but aren’t overloaded in an attempt to cheaply bulk out the wrap and the hot salsa is heaven… a deep dark red dredge of chilli, properly loaded onto the groaning wrap. Tingling heat and a softer slower burn, as Gregg Wallace would no doubt say if he’d joined me, «That’s An Accomplished Sauce».
It’s across the road from my office and it works for a spicy, quick lunch fix. I could go to the more accomplished Benito’s Hat on Goodge Street, but you know what, I’ll very seldom be bothered walking that far for anything other than Moolis, and if they ever move up the road to Market Place, I’m moving in.

I realise this isn’t authentic Mex or even Tex Mex but it’s fine for a stop gap. The chicken is far more flavoursome than the beef, the salsas are rather mild, and the guacamole is really tasty.
As it’s 10 secs from the office it serves a good purpose.

Tortilla is one of many burrito places in the Fitzrovia /​Soho area and from the looks of the lines, you’d expect it to be the Burrito Second Coming! While it is certainly good, I can’t say it’s the best I’ve had, nor is it worth a wait in a line that twists around the counter, back through the store, and all the way to outside.
The setup reminded me strongly of an American Chipotle – straight down to the artwork on the walls. The ordering is the same: Stand in the queue, pick your meal type, meats and toppings, pay, then hope there’s somewhere to sit.
I grabbed a salad with steak and veggies. The veggies were awesome, a nice collection of well seasoned green and red peppers and onions. The steak was boring, unseasoned and cold. I also grabbed a bag of tortilla chips and a side each of salsa and guac. The chips were excellent and the guac had tons of lime, which gives it (and only it) 5 stars in my book!
Tortilla isn’t horrible – I’d give it 2.5 stars if I could – But I don’t think I’ll be going back when there are other places nearby.

Oh dear. Train wreck.
I love Burritos. LOVE. Burritos. As a Californian it was the one thing I was jonesing hard for when I moved to London but mercifully a number of solid burrito spots have popped up across the city. I’ve tried to sample them all just to see what’s on offer.
I was in Oxford Circus recently and happened across Tortilla, which a fellow expat had actually recommended quite highly so I thought I’d give it a whirl. The décor was average, nothing special, with some rather trite images of chilies etc on the wall with poetic descriptions. But I’m here for the food, not the décor, so whatever.
I went up to the counter and had a look at the menu and the ingredients and opted for my usual; a carnitas (pork) burrito. The VERY disinterested staff member tending to my burrito was frankly hard to understand and there were a few awkward moments where we just stared at each other over the refried beans. They were a little stingy with the accoutrement (sour cream and cheese) and so I asked for more and with a big sigh the guy obliged.
I took my reasonably sized burrito and glass (free refills on soda, nice touch) and took a seat. I unwrapped the foil and once the thing stopped dripping from the low grade sour cream and sloppy beans (not how they should be), I took a bite.
Quick aside, have any of you ever seen that episode of the Simpsons when Marge develops a gambling problem and Homer has to make dinner which consists of cloves, Tom Collins mix and pre-​made pie crust? Remember his face when he takes that first bite? Yeah… that was me when I bit into this burrito. The pork seasoning was just… wrong. Like really wrong. It had flavor alright but it was like chipotle gone wrong, horribly wrong. I thought it might have been a one-​off so I ploughed through but no, the taste remained throughout. Carnitas are supposed to be toasty and warm with subtle flavors that let the braised pork shine through. Not with this one though, no sir.
It should be noted that I went through what must have been 10 napkins while eating this thing. It wasn’t well put together and the watered-​down ingredients destroyed the tortilla within minutes.
There were two positives I could draw from my experience here, free refills and competitive price. But that won’t make me go back. Ever. There are so many great Burrito places in London that you should go to before going here; Benito’s Hat, Chilango, and Daddy Donkey to name a few.
In the immortal words of Homer Simpson «…let’s go see Mom.»

Oh huzzah! Another totally passable burrito shop discovered in my ‘hood! I was on my way to Benito’s Hat from the office, intending to pick up some Friday night decadence for me and The Boy, and accidentally stumbled across this new Mexican-​ish joint a mere 4 minutes from my desk. This gave me an excuse to both branch out in my UK-​burrito knowledge AND get on the bus at my normal stop (rather than having to muscle my way on at Tottenham Court Road if I’d gone to Benito’s Hat). Sweet!
We avoided a minor ordering catastrophe when I realised at the last second that they’d misunderstood my order of «Just, um, carnitas» as «chicken fajitas,» but aside from that the employees were friendly, chatty, and pleasant. The tortilla chips are quite good if mildly greasy (?!), and the burritos were totally decent. As Eamon mentioned, they were way more Chipotle than SF Mission District, but when you’re jonesing for some ‘ritos, they’ll certainly do. And they’re proper two-​meal, «leftovers for breakfast» sized, so they’ve definitely got the bang-​for-​your-​buck factor.
I feel that it is a bit unfair for serious burrito aficionados to rate «Mexican» places like this, because we’re working on a different scale, much as a London Kebab-​ophile or Curry Connoisseur would rip apart the California version of either. As far as the burritos I’ve gotten in London are based, Tortilla is a clear 4.5-star sort of place. Yummy, gigantic burritos served by pleasant servers in a cool little shop. Judging against all the burritos in the WORLD, though, it drops down to a middle-​of-​the-​road 3.
Apologies to Tortilla for not having more stars to give them; don’t worry, you’ll still be seeing much more of me than any other place on my 3-​star list. You’re cool in my book.

London must have known I was coming. They also must have known exactly where my office was going to be located. I know this because, with the addition of the new Tortilla within two blocks of my office, and the Chipotle moving into Soho, there will soon be 7(!) burrito places within a 10-​minute walk. To think that I thought I would be living a burrito-​free existence for my time in London.
Much like its competitors (Benito’s Hat, El Burrito, etc…) this place crafts a perfectly respectable burrito. It’s definitely more Chipotle than SF burrito, but the ingredients are good quality and seem fresh, if not necessarily bursting with flavor. I’d still say the Freebird does the best impression of a great burrito in London, but an average burrito is still better than most anything else.