Cartel Del Taco flicks on the bright lights at its shiny new taqueria in New Farm
After what seemed like an agonising wait, Cartel Del Taco is finally gearing up to open its brand-new New Farm taqueria. The neon-lit newcomer will bring a bit of Mexico to Merthyr Road when it officially opens its doors to the public this Friday February 28. Expect classics like al pastor tacos and octopus tostadas, plus a host of new dishes and more than a dozen kinds of margarita.
The week before Marco Ramirez and Erick Martinez first opened the doors to their Hawthorne taqueria Cartel Del Taco in 2022, they were a bundle of nerves.
“Me and Eric – a couple of nights before opening – we were wondering, what if no one shows up?” Marco recalls. “We’d done so much and we’d invested everything we had. We maxed our credit cards, I had to sell my car. The night we opened the bar had three bottles of tequila.”
It seems strange to think that, at one point, Cartel Del Taco was anything but a sure thing. But before you couldn’t get a seat without booking well in advance and before Cartel Del Taco earned a reputation as one of Brisbane’s best spots for Mexican food, nothing was certain. Their fears were for naught, though – people showed up. And they kept showing up, again and again.
Fast forward to 2025 and Marco and Erick are days away from opening their second Cartel Del Taco location, this time over the river in New Farm. The new haunt, perched on the corner of Merthyr Road and Brunswick Street, is already the talk of the town. Friday February 28 – opening night – is already booked out and, pretty soon, the whole weekend will follow suit.
If Marco and Erick are nervous this time around, they’re doing a great job of hiding it. But, then again, they’ve done this before.
Cartel Del Taco New Farm follows in the footsteps of its Hawthorne sibling, boasting the same 1980s Mexican taqueria-style aesthetic across its 100-seat interior (built and fashioned in collaboration with Enixr Built and Arch Interiors). From the outside, the venue gleams – especially at night – with a luminescent sign beaming above the entry and bifold windows giving passers by a glimpse at the neon-lit interior.
Entering the space, guests are greeted by an eye-catching bar coated in approximately 6000 coloured tiles, with a lightbox used to advertise Cartel Del Taco’s various drinks. To the right sits the kitchen, which is Erick’s domain. This is, perhaps, the biggest point of difference between New Farm and Hawthorne. In addition to its trusty Trompo spit, Cartel Del Taco’s New Farm kitchen is equipped with a charcoal grill, heralding a greater focus on woodfired meats, seafood and vegetables. An oyster display is amply stocked with moreish molluscs on ice.
Much like before, Marco and Erick scoured Mexico for nearly everything you see inside – from its iconic red tables and folding chairs to the carrito (trolley) and vintage Corona beer cooler – and freighting it back to Australia at no small expense. Eagle-eyed patrons will also spy hand-crafted molcajetes (stone mortars used to make guacamole) from Puebla, handmade jarra de barro (brown clay vessels traditionally used to make coffee and cafe de olla), volcanic stone plates, and a metate – a ground stone tool used for grinding nixtamalized maize. Artwork from Mauricio Groenewold can also be found on the walls.
It’s the kind of above-and-beyond, all-or-nothing approach that no doubt made Marco and Erick’s palms sweaty at the beginning, but also what helped Cartel Del Taco stand out when it opened.
“We try to put all of these materials in our restaurant to give a touch of that authenticity,” says Erick.
While the Cartel Del Taco crew is hewing close to the formula that made its Hawthorne taqueria a runaway success, Marco and Erick aren’t content with doing things exactly the same – especially when it comes to the menu. Months of R&D has gone into punching up New Farm’s offering, roughly 50 percent of which Erick estimates is composed of new items inspired by Mexico’s gastronomic diversity.
“I think now that people trust us, we have the opportunity to show them just a little bit more than Mexico City,” says Marco. “We aren’t forgetting the actual concept of the restaurant, but we have the opportunity to showcase things that are special from Oaxaca or from the coast of Mexico. I think the new and exciting items on the menu will make diners feel like they’re on the streets of Mexico, in the markets of Mexico or on the coast of Mexico.”
“We want to mix things up and keep the Australian sense as well,” adds Erick. “The Australian palate is important to us – we’re not just trying to educate, but join together. We want to make sure that Australians are happy to try our food and say, ‘Wow, that’s good’.”
Naturally, Cartel Del Taco’s menu is still anchored by tacos. You’ll find classic al pastor (spit-grilled pork marinated with guajillo chilli adobo) along with suadero (slow-cooked beef brisket), pollo asado (grilled marinated chicken), carne asada (grilled marinated rib fillet with salsa roja molcajeteada) and fish tacos boasting beer-battered snapper with chipotle mayonnaise. These classics are joined by a chef’s special taco, filled with woodfired octopus and pineapple guajillo salsa.
If you’re on the hunt for new morsels to try, look for the beef pastes (empanada-style baked pastry filled with pulled chipotle beef and topped with sour cream, ricotta cheese and salsa verde) in the snack section. There’s also street-style dishes like gorditas (deep-fried flat tortillas stuffed with confit pork carnitas) and beef birria tortas, plus teetering seafood towers.
Over in the mains, you’ll find pork chamorro (braised pork knuckle in tomatillo and chile morita salsa, served with tortillas) and braised lamb-shank barbacoa. A clutch of flame-licked morsels fresh from the parilla grill are also available – think chargrilled king prawns with clarified butter and a weighty 1.2-kg tomahawk served with calabacitas and smoked chimichurri.
Perhaps the biggest addition to the Cartel Del Taco offering will be the incorporation of a brand-new breakfast menu, which is launching soon and will be a hybrid of Australian and Mexican dishes.
“Our vision is doing some traditional Australian breakfast dishes here with the Mexican touch, but also showcasing some dishes from Mexico – the kind we used to have as a breakfast,” says Erick, who tells us to expect the likes of chilaquiles rojos and heirloom tomato salsa with chiltepin chilli alongside atole and silky cups of ONA Coffee.
On the bar front, the Cartel Del Taco team is keeping guests well watered. A clutch of classic margaritas – all made with Patrón Tequila – leads a lengthier selection of house variations (including the cult-fave La Chula, which boasts watermelon, 818 reposado tequila, Cointreau, chilli, lime, Peychaud’s Bitters and a chamoy rim). The back-bar offering has been expanded with the addition of a few more artisanal mezcals, while beer drinkers can knock back a jar or two of Cartel’s own Mexican lager, sip on imported tins or spice things up with a michelada.
Though Marco and Erick have come a long way since the anxiety-riddled early days of Cartel Del Taco, the duo remain humble, despite their restaurant being more popular than ever.
“Hospitality is a way to express art and your feelings,” says Erick. “Our intention is just to bring a little piece of Mexico to New Farm.”
Cartel Del Taco opens to the public on Friday February 28 – head to The Directory for operating hours and contact details.