Stopped in for dinner on a Monday night. The place was pretty full (it's a small place) and we only…read morehad to wait a few minutes. We started with a couple of their local draft beers, the chilaquiles(special) and the elote. The chilaquiles were delicious! Very flavorful but all the chips were quite soggy and a little thick. We also got a hot sauce on the side which was divine! It was spicy and had a great taste as well! The elote was sweet, juicy and the spices it was covered in were delicious! For our meals we got the steak and chorizo tacos, cauliflower tacos, Baja cod tacos and the pork carnitas tacos. All of the tacos were delicious! Again, the tortilla was a little thick, which was nice but it was falling apart a little. The cauliflower tacos already had a nice amount of spice to them. These were a great veg option for our vegetarian. The steak and chorizo tacos were interesting as it seems they were blended into a crispy pan fried patty and the sauce it came with was incredible. The cod tacos were my favorite! The fish was well seasoned, super crispy and very light! The sauce it was served with was rich abs tasty as well. I wasn't a fan of the pomegranate but that was my fault--should have ordered without it. They did not have any dessert. The service was also so great! The staff is very friendly and efficient. Would definitely recommend!

My friend and I came here on whim while walking through Edinburgh. When we arrived, we were the…read moreonly customers in the restaurant. They have good specials and we ordered their two taco special. The beef in the tacos was on the tough side and definitely could have been more tender. The service was slow despite us being the only people in the shop at the time and the waitress we had was not very friendly. The margarita was weak and watery. Overall this was a disappointing stop and I likely wouldn't come again.

OK, we're all geeks here, right? Right. We've all seen Guardians of the Galaxy?…read more The scene in the prison where all hell breaks loose, and Rocket and Groot are fighting bad guys, and the bad guys are all like "PEW! PEW! PEW!" and Rocket doesn't have a gun, and then Drax arrives and is like "BAM! BAM! BAM!" and kicks people and throws Rocket a gun, and Rocket says "Oh.... yeah!" in an almost religious way? That "Oh... yeah!" was how I felt when I took my first bite out of a Jack's burrito for the first time in a long time this evening. I donated to the Jackstarter to help Illegal Jack's return from the dead, so I popped in today for the first time since the reopening to see how things had gone (and pick up my swag bag, priorities, people!) and I didn't plan to stay and eat due to lack of time... Then I saw a couple of burritos being built in front of me. And I smelled the pulled pork... and I caved, people. I folded quicker than a paper tent in a hurricane. I watched the staff look after the woman ordering two burritos to takeaway, wrapping the first one and leaving it where steam and heat would stop it going cold while the second was assembled. I love attention to detail like that. Also, using the lid of whatever filling you choose to catch any spillage so the fillings aren't cross contaminated. Little things make a difference, people. It came to be my turn. I opted for carnitas (that's what the pulled pork smell wafted out of) with a mild salsa, sour cream, pinto beans, seasoned rice and cheese. I watched in awe as the burrito was rolled. I really need to learn how to do this myself some day, I took my cup, filled it up with Coke and sat down. One bite later, I was back in Tex-Mex heaven. I'd missed Jack's, I really had. Other places may have more branches, but quantity isn't quality. Jack's is quality. The new premises are still a work in progress as Mr. Jack (nice bloke!) explained to me, but are still clean, bright, comfortable and welcoming, and even the music being played ticked all the boxes for me. Black Crowes, Lynyrd Skynyrd? Perfect Tex-Mex music. Honestly, I can't fault it. I will be back, I will eat too much every time I go, and I wil swear that I'll never do it again. But it's a lie. It's all a pretty little lie... Oh, and if you're in over the next week or so? Ask about the cranberry salsa - it's astonishing! Welcome back, Jack. You were missed..

BURRITOS! WHO DOESN'T LOVE EM??…read more Last night after a long and rainy day at work I coerced two coworkers of mine to join me for a bite out. My bus routes being what they are, I'd not only seen the remnants of the old Illegal Jack's on Lothian Road (though never got to try it), but now had spotted the new location along St. Patrick's Square nestled in the corner. Because we were looking for a budget meal that we could still sit down to, we decided to give Illegal Jack's a go. The first thing that became apparent to us is that Illegal Jack's has actually employed friendly staff. Wha... what? Where even am I? Walking in the door to being greeted with smiles and genuine friendliness is such a novelty when so many places give you the ambivalent "I'm being nice because I have to" luke-warm treatment at best, or downright snubbing at worst. And yet when we walked into Illegal Jack's the two gals at the counter of wonder were chatty and all smiles, and we had a short conversation about how good the music they were playing was. (Guardians of the Galaxy soundtrack anyone?) Next comes prices. I got a small veggie haggis burrito (score!) that was somewhere around 6 pounds. Normally I'd be greedy and add chips or sides, but even this burrito being small, it's actually massive (I was impressed the gal at the till managed to perfectly roll it, and even smush it all around so the proportions were evenly mixed--MY HERO). So I topped it off with a nice wheat ale from Stewart's and left with my bill around 11 pounds. Not bad at all for a solid beer and a solid burrito. Next came seating. Illegal Jack's isn't quite up to restaurant standards of atmosphere for obvious reasons, but the seats feel a lot cozier and less standardized than your typical Pinto's or burger chain. We sat down next to a gentleman mysterious staff member who was doing some laptop work--he very nicely jumped to shift some of his things to the side for us so we could sit. Again, as I was remarking loudly that the music was lovely he thanked me for noticing as he must've been the man in charge of the playlist (come on, Grateful Dead was playing, my hippie heart rejoiced!). But enough about my music tastes. How was the burrito, you may ask? Delicious, of course! That was a really damn solid burrito. My coworker even did a happy dance (twice) whilst she ate it, which I think is a good sign for any burrito. Even more than that, when the gentleman staff sitting next to us noticed my bottle of Louisiana hot sauce on the table he disappeared into the back and plopped down a bottle of Scotch Bonnet + Mango hot sauce from his personal supply in the back for us to try. Damned if it wasn't delicious, but whoo it had some great heat! Overall I left this place feeling 1) chuffed as all get out 2) with super duper happy tummies 3) pleased at how NICE everyone was and 4) STOKED that I have found an amazing burrito place that I can easily get to (lamenting the fact that Los Cardos is all the way on the other end of town in Leith!). So if you're fancyin' a fairly-priced burrito in a joint that feels just a little bit closer to home, give Illegal Jack's a scope. I know for certain I'll be back!

While away on a weekend of debauchery with the other half's brass band, I found out that one of his…read morefriends from Uni lived in the area and that we were going to meet up with him for lunch. Right, so I was in charge of finding a place. To be honest, there's not much Yelp help in Perth, but I did find this place, which seemed reasonable (and cheap), and could probably take the six to eight of us who were going to go to lunch. (As the location I tried before was unlikely to be able to fit us all in). The pub is very nice! It seems like it's not really going to be there, but all of a sudden you happen upon it. It's also a pub that does table service. Which is a bit odd, but also kind of nice when you're waiting for people. Four people had pies (fish, steak and ale, and chicken and ham) and they all really seemed to like them. The other half and someone else had the Balmoral chicken (chicken with bacon and haggis), and they both raved about it. I had the tex-mex burger (a chili burger with onion rings, cheese, and a spicy sauce), and I was very impressed with how spicy everything was (one of my pet peeves is seeing "spicy" on the menu and the food not being at all spicy). The pub itself is quite spacious and has an outdoor seating area (if that's your thing, which in November, it's definitely NOT my thing). If we're back up for the band competition next year, we may have to stop in again.

The Twa Tams is one of the many places my love and I went for a pint and a bite to eat while we…read morewere in Perth on holiday. We decided to make a night of it one night, and ordered food and drinks while waiting for a band to play. We were able to book a table and asked to be seated close enough to the stage so that we could enjoy the band. The band of the night was a band called Tunna (pronounced Ton-a) who were a Celtic band. My boyfriend is pretty particular about his music, but we quite enjoyed ourselves, even though we only stayed for half the set. It was a really loud set up, and we decided the next time we make our way to Perth and happen upon this place, we'll ask to be sat a bit farther away. The food was pretty spot on. We ordered some chicken wings to start which were absolutely delicious and it came with the best BBQ sauce I'd ever had. I meant to ask what kind it was, but forgot. For the mains, he ordered a burger with haggis on it, which came with chips and I ordered the gourmet chili dog, without jalapenos which also came with chips. We also ordered onion rings to share, which I thought were pretty gross. They reminded me of the frozen ones you can get out of Morrisons that are basically minced onion in a battered ring. Yick. All in all, the staff was pretty amazing. Very tentative and waited on us at our tables. That's the first time I'd ever been in to a pub and had table service. We had two different people wait on us, and it was pretty great. They had one of my favourite ciders available (spiced apple) and we also had a voucher for a fiver off, just for joining their email on their website. There is an outdoor patio area with loads of seating for eating and drinking. Pretty great once the weather gets a bit warmer! If we're ever in Perth again, I'm sure we'd stop back by Twa Tams! It's great time!

Went here a few years ago and had an incredible meal! Went yesterday, had a very sad excuse for a…read moremeal. Can't say one good thing about the food anymore. Poor food quality, enchiladas tortilla fell apart like it was super old and dried out, the enchiladas were cheese only but had a very sharp aged white English cheddar in them. Not edible. Beef tacos had no cheese at all and were so greasy they also fell apart. Rice was ok, beans were old and bland. Nachos were ok. A half carafe of plain margarita was like £28!!!! It was only 2.5 drinks in there! Plus it was frozen for some reason (did not indicate that style anywhere on the menu) and were difficult to drink. Brain freeze! Unfortunately, the staff/owners probably don't care because the place is packed anyway. Eat here at your own risk.

My family and I went here to visit my sister and were really craving some good Mexican food…read more Originally we went and they put us in the basement and there was not many people and no music so the ambiance was a bit awkward. After a little while more people came and they put on some music which made it a pretty good vibe. The service was really good and we ordered the nachos, burritos, and chimichangas with vegan hagis and they were all really delicious. The tortilla soup was a little too spicy for my comrade but still delicious nonetheless. They crammed us in to one table with 5 people but it turned out to be fine so I'd give a review of 4.3/5.0.

We found the food tasty, the service excellent and the atmosphere jubilant without being over…read morepowering at Topolabamba. Traveling through Scotland we've been amazed at all the Mexican food restaurants. After a terrible plate of natchos, we've avoided them until last night. The lure of a margarita brought us in to this place that serves water out of Jose Cuervo bottles. The ambiance was lively and had the bright ceramics of our home town neighbor. Ben, our waiter, was wonderful-calmly dealing with our concerns and bringing us dishes one at a time. We started with fish tacos which were delicious and had slices of Serrano peppers. The spiciness was welcome. We had prawn tostadas that I would order again without hesitation. Quality of the prawns was excellent. The spirit of Mexican cuisine was in these dishes although they were different than the Mexican food we've had in Mexico and in San Diego. The calamari was a stretch for being Mexican but tasted great. We were disappointed to not have the margarita rims salted and the avocado was barely adequate for us but otherwise this place is great for Mexican food in Scotland.

The service was so nice--truly lovely people--but if you have ever had actual Mexican food you will…read morebe unbelievably disappointed. If you're just craving churros then this is the spot! Just avoid everything else.

I'm so pleased that when going for a meeting in the Hub I decided to pop in for a drink...which…read morethen turned into lunch! This is a great example of the perks in Gentrifying an area! It's a beautiful space complete with daffodils and comfortable tartan chairs. The staff were all pleasant and attentive, and happy to answer my questions! I ordered a chai latte to go, and the waiter checked if I wanted it with or without a shot of coffee. Yes my initial instinct is to bristle when someone suggests coffee in chai but I'm glad they Asked and gave me the option. The take away cups are nice and recycled, but I did burn my tongue on the drink...boo. An hour or so later I returned for lunch. I was very happy with my decision. I ordered a Brie and cranberry panini and asked for extra bacon. We shared a portion of chips. The chips were perfect. Skin on, a little on the dry side rather than oily which was really nice and they came with a side of garlic mayo. The panini was fabulous. Just what I wanted. The Brie was creamy and just the right amount of cranberry. My second chai latte of the day was very tasty. They make it with syrup so it is a bit on the sweet side, but very nice none the less. They do offer Gluten and Dairy free too! Both with soups and sandwiches, then also with cakes! I was advised that the afternoon tea offer they have also comes with gluten and dairy free options! Just make sure to let them know if you book. Overall, very happy with this find! I foresee it becoming a regular. Be sure to check it out if you're in the area.

Lovely place! The food is lovely and the drinks and cakes are really nice - beautiful atmosphere…read moreand really friendly staff

In respect to the current global issue of highly pressured, low supply restaurants, I am ashamed to…read morehave expected more. Thank you for choosing to be open and offer food in this difficult time. I want to give 5 stars on that alone, but this is about food - as is. Given the area (Leith) and the attempt to offer Mexican (non-authentic), I rate my steak burrito and tacos below average. The accessibility, friendliness, and portion size makes up the rest. You definitely get a bang for your buck. Would not go back but it was filling. Suggest to focus on garlic, onion, and citrus flavors through marinades or infused rice.

Black beans and salsa verde !!! O ya that's what I'm talking about! I've tried a few Mexican places…read morein Scotland this last year and 1/2 and nothing is ever good enough to bring me back. But this place is awesome! I only had the chicken burrito so I can't judge the rest of the menu but the people next to me had the quesadillas and they looked huge and awesome! My burrito was also huge and loaded with black beans !!! I LOVE BLACK BEANS!!! Something few places have here! And best of all this place was reasonably prices! Nothing worse then bad over priced Mexican. ... This place is like a connection to home (CA) for me! So excited! Will be back again for sure!

This Mexican restaurant prides itself in being authentic Mexican, rather than Tex Mex. A little bit…read morehidden in the back streets, but close to the centre of Montrose, we received a warm welcome from the Mexican lady who runs El Tajin. The food was excellent and clearly freshly prepared and the service friendly and efficient.