El Pastor occupies an unusual position in London's restaurant landscape: a taqueria that takes its food completely seriously — the tortillas made fresh from masa harina milled in-house, the proteins cooked over wood fire, the salsas made daily from imported Mexican chillies — while wearing its seriousness lightly enough that a Tuesday lunch still feels like an event rather than an occasion.
The Hart brothers — whose portfolio also includes Barrafina and Quo Vadis — developed El Pastor with head chef Crispin Somerville as a vehicle for Mexican regional food in a format that the city hadn't quite seen executed at this level. The Borough Market original, which opened in 2016 under the railway arches of Stoney Street, was immediately and remains consistently full. The Covent Garden second site, which opened in 2019 in a former banana warehouse on Henrietta Street, added capacity but not, by most accounts, the same amount. Borough Market has something — the arches, the proximity to the market, the particular evening energy of that end of Southwark — that has proven difficult to fully replicate.
Bermondsey is, however, a more natural territory for El Pastor's second act than Covent Garden was. The street's established food culture — Zucca, José, Bermondsey Street Bees, the Saturday antique market that draws a weekend crowd aligned with El Pastor's own demographic — gives the new site a neighbourhood context it can work within rather than create from scratch.
The Site
The Bermondsey Street site is a double-fronted ground floor space with a small courtyard at the rear — the outdoor element is, the group has indicated, central to its plans for the location given the success of outdoor dining at the Borough arches. The kitchen will include El Pastor's standard wood-fire setup: the comal for masa tortillas, the wood-burning grill for proteins, the cold prep station for the salsas and guacamoles that are made to order through service.
Seating will run to approximately 65 covers across inside and the courtyard, making it the group's largest site by capacity. A dedicated natural wine bar section at the front of the room — an expansion of the wine focus that has developed at both existing sites — is planned as a standalone space that can function as a drinks destination independent of the main dining room.
The Menu
El Pastor's menu travels intact: the taco de pastor (marinated pork shoulder, slow-cooked on a vertical spit in the wood fire, served with pineapple and salsa verde) that gives the group its name, alongside rotating tacos of wood-grilled fish, braised oxtail, duck and seasonal vegetables. The tlayuda — a large flat tortilla served open, with black beans, Oaxacan cheese and various toppings — is now a staple across both sites and will feature at Bermondsey.
The drinks programme, developed by the group's buyer, centres on natural wines with a bias toward skin-contact and orange styles, alongside a mezcal and tequila selection that has grown steadily more serious with each new site. The Bermondsey bar is expected to carry the group's most extensive spirits list to date.
El Pastor Bermondsey is targeting an October 2026 opening. No further details on the team or specific opening date have been released.