Celebrated table

Lucia’s

Lucia's serves charcoal-grilled Mexican food in a tiny Hackney Wick spot. Expect beef barbacoa tacos, crab tostadas, and pork chops alongside mezcal palomas.

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The story

Lucia's London Review: Mexican Tacos and Mezcal in Hackney Wick

The charcoal glow and the counter seats

Lucia's in London anchors a focused Mexican kitchen recognized by the Good Food Guide for its consistent appeal. Owner Jo Kurdi manages a straightforward queue system that asks diners to leave their details and await a notification when the next table opens. Patrons settle onto counter stools positioned directly before the active charcoal grill, observing the cooking process as orders are prepared.

Grill-fired tacos and substantial cuts

The menu structures Mexican cooking around four categories: tacos, tostadas, plates, and cuts. Juicy beef barbacoa fills warm corn tortillas. Fresh coriander and chopped white onion accompany the meat, while lime wedges sit ready for squeezing. Crunchy tostadas present sweet white crab beneath a sharp tomato salsa, providing a distinct textural shift against the tender proteins. Bone-in pork chops cost £25 and arrive cooked well beyond blush-pink, offering generous portions ideal for the intimate dining room.

Mezcal palomas and chocolate truffles

Service behind the counter delivers drinks rapidly, centering on paloma cocktails prepared with either mezcal or tequila according to taste. The drink selection expands to include bottled beers and authentic Mexican sodas. The dining experience closes with dark chocolate chilli truffles, a concentrated sweet note to balance the savory main courses. While the background of the restaurant's namesake remains obscure, the execution of each dish proves sufficient to establish the venue's identity.

Recognition

Awards & accolades

2026

The Good Food Guide

Good

Details

At a glance

The Good Food Guide 2026 — Good

Cuisines Mexican

History

On the record

2026

The Good Food Guide — Good

The only way to secure a seat at this tiny Mexican restaurant is to put down your name at the door – owner Jo Kurdi will pencil you into his book and give you a bell when your table is ready. He estimated we’d have to wait an hour for a spot – and we did. Nearby microbreweries Howling Hops and Crate are good, if noisy, places to kill time. Once you're in, drinks come quickly as you perch on stools at the counter in front of the glowing charcoal grill. There's a choice of paloma cocktails (mezcal or tequila... name your poison), as well as bottled beer or a Mexican soda. The menu is split into tacos and tostadas, ‘plates’ and ‘cuts’. Beef barbacoa tacos are juicy and piping hot, the tender meat and soft corn tortillas garnished with coriander, lime wedges and chopped white onion. Tostadas are contrastingly crunchy, loaded with plentiful sweet white crab and fresh tomato salsa. The ribeye is all gone, so we accept another wait for a pork chop – a whopping great thing for a bargainous £25. It’s cooked just past blush-pink – we should have reached over and pulled it off the coals ourselves – but it’s tremendous meat, served with the bone, for caveman-style chewing. You probably won't have room for pudding, but a pair of dark chocolate chilli truffles should satisfy any sweet cravings. We don’t know who Lucia is – the restaurant’s website and social media reveal the bare minimum – but judging by the food that’s cooked in her name, we think we’d get on.

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Established

Location

Find us

43 White Post Lane, Hackney Wick, E9 5EN
London, United Kingdom
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