Ah, the margarita. It’s, perhaps, the most unifying cocktail of them all. Enjoyed by nigh on everyone, there’s something about the blend of earthy tequila with bright, zippy, lime that will never cease to intoxicate us – quite literally! But did you know it actually traces its lineage back to an older, but similarly tart and refreshing, cocktail called ‘The Daisy‘? In fact, ‘Margarita’ is the Spanish equivalent of the name ‘Daisy’. The more you know! Thanks for the drink, Daisy! So, where to find the best margaritas in London? Read on for 18 places to get your next margarita fix:
1. Hacha, Dalston and Brixton
We kind of have to start here. The margaritas at Hacha are so popular, and so delicious, that they’re the stuff of London legend. I recommend kicking things off with the Honeybee Margarita, where Don Julio Blanco Tequila or Banhez Mezcal is shaken up with Hacha’s house sour mix and chipotle honey. It’s one of their bestselling cocktails for a reason, with a rich flavour and a satisfying kick of spice from the chipotle. But we’d be remiss to not also mention the Mirror Margarita, where the Hacha lore began. The crystal-clear margarita can easily be bought in bottled form and is perfect for celebrating at home.
For Margarita Day, the brand will be offering guests an ‘Escape to Tulum’. Running for a month, starting on February 22, the activation will find the two Hacha venues partnering with Patrón Tequila on a lively Mexican party resort pop-up. They’ll be running special menus, selling limited edition bottlings of Mirror Margarita, and even offering the chance to win a trip to Tulum!
📍 Hacha Dalston, 378 Kingsland Road, E8 4AA. Nearest stations are Dalston Junction and Haggerston.
📍 Hacha Brixton, 12 Market Row, SW9 8LD. Nearest station is Brixton.
2. Viajante87, Notting Hill
For a delicious margarita with a dash of style, an ounce of eco-consciousness, and lashings of flavour and ingenuity, head to one of Notting Hill’s newest, and best, cocktail bars, Viajante87. We’ve already heaped absolute bundles of praise upon the stunning new bar, and more than just a great place for delicious cocktails, it’s definitely one of the best places to order a margarita in London. No wonder, since this zero-waste bar is heavily focused on agave spirits and drinks.
Specially for Margarita Day, Viajante87 has mixed up a riff on the iconic cocktail in their distillery lab (I want one of those): The Sherry Margaret. The drink is a wonderfully unique take on the cocktail, making use of tequila blanco, manzanilla wine infused with oyster leaf and kelp algae, Cointreau l’Unique, saline solution, lime oleo saccharum (lime oil), lime juice, and topped off with champagne. The limited time special also keeps true to the bar’s zero-waste ethos, using discarded herbs and lime husks in its creation.
📍 Basement, 87 Notting Hill Gate, W11 3JZ. Nearest station is Notting Hill Gate.
3. La Cantina de Margarita, multiple pop-ups
Not strictly one place to drink margaritas, La Cantina de Margarita is a series of pop-ups taking over some of London’s best cocktail bars. The collaborative events from Patrón tequila and Tom Sellers will run for two weeks around International Margarita Day, variously hitting One Hundred Shoreditch, Satan’s Whiskers, and Silverleaf. On the nights, traditional small plates of delicious Mexican food are paired with perfectly made margaritas. I’m sorry, did someone design this event explicitly for me?! Head to the individual venue websites to book your table.
📍 One Hundred Shoreditch, 100 Shoreditch High Street, E1 6JQ. Nearest station is Shoreditch High Street.
📍 Satan’s Whiskers, 343 Cambridge Heath Road, E2 9LJ. Nearest stations are Bethnal Green and Cambridge Heat.
📍 Silverleaf, 3rd Floor, Devonshire House, 3 Bishopsgate, London EC2M 4JX. Nearest station is Liverpool Street.
4. The Arber Garden, Fitzrovia
Look, the margarita is already delicious enough in it’s purest form – but damn if everyone doesn’t love it when extra flavours are added to make it even more delightful! And The Arber Garden has just the sort of fruity margarita that gets a stamp of approval. Their Mango & Chilli Margarita nods to the Mexican delicacy of chilli-and-lime-dusted mango with its blend of both tequila and mezcal, mango, spicy agave, and lime. We’ll take three, please!
📍 1 Pearson Square, W1W 7EY. Nearest station is Goodge Street
5. Corrochio’s, Dalston
We couldn’t write this list and not mention one of the best Mexican eateries in London, could we? Of course not! The margaritas at Corrochio’s are absolutely thrilling – and they claim to have the best in town. Go for the Margarita a la Diabla, which is, by all accounts, one of the spiciest margaritas in the UK. No wonder, given they use their house habanero sauce in it! It burns so good!
📍 76 Stoke Newington Rd, London N16 7XB. Nearest stations are Dalston Kingsland and Rectory Road.
6. Cavita, Marylebone
We’ve got two words for you: watermelon margarita. And this ain’t the typical sugar-laden drink you’d typically associate with a watermelon margarita. The Cavita Margarita adds fresh spiced watermelon to balance the sour lime for the ultimate refresher that you’ll have to keep from downing in one. You’ll be telling everyone about this one. Be sure to check out their hidden mezcal den while you’re there!
📍 56-60 Wigmore Street, London W1U 2RZ. Nearest station is Bond Street.
7. Florattica, Aldgate
Try out a margarita with a floral twist with Florattica’s Alma cocktail. Their lavender-scented take on the margarita utilizes blanco tequila, hibiscus infused mezcal, ancho chile liqueur, lavender syrup, and citrus. It’s spicy, earthy, and just sour enough to keep you coming back for more!
📍 Level 11, Canopy by Hilton London City, 11-15 Minories, EC3N 1AX. Nearest station is Aldgate.
8. Callooh Callay, multiple locations
Want a good cocktail? Then… head to a good cocktail bar. Duh. And if you head to one of London’s OG high-quality-low-pretension cocktail bars you’ll find yourself face to face with a flawlessly executed margarita. Taco Tuesday at Callooh Callay finds the bar offering up a delicious menu of six different margaritas, of which your first comes with a free taco! International Margarita Day may fall on a Wednesday this year, but Callooh Callay will still be serving up their delicious margaritas. You’ll just have to make sure to return again next week for the free taco…
📍 Callooh Callay Shoreditch, 65 Rivington Street, EC2A 3QQ. Nearest stations are Shoreditch High Street or Old Street.
📍 Callooh Callay Chelsea, 316-318 King’s Road, SW3 5UH. Nearest stations are South Kensington or Sloane Square.
9. El Pastor, various locations
Margarita Day isn’t enough for El Pastor, they’re going the whole hog to celebrate Margarita MONTH! And they’ve got a whole menu of margaritas for you to drink – from hibiscus and honeydow margaritas, to lageritas, and more. Throughout the month they’re also offering up a special Carlito’s Margarita – named for El Pastor’s Group Bar Manager, Carlos Fontoira. Each order finds guests entered into a prize draw to win a £150 voucher to spend across the El Pastor venues. If you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go and do the maths and figure out how many margaritas and tacos I can get for £150…
📍 El Pastor London Bridge, 7A Stoney Street, SE1 9AA. Nearest station is London Bridge.
📍 El Pastor Soho, 66-70 Brewer Street, W1F 9UP. Nearest stations are Oxford Circus and Piccadilly Circus.
📍 Casa Pastor, Coal Drops Yard, N1C 4DQ. Nearest station is King’s Cross St. Pancras.
10. Skylight Peckham, Peckham
Skylight Peckham don’t just serve up a perfectly executed classic margarita. They also have a delightful Apricot and Lime special variant on the drink for a fruity twist that keeps you coming back for more. All the better, since on Margarita Day they’ll be running a 2-4-1 special priced at just £11. Grab some friends and head on down to try their delicious margaritas.
📍 Theatre Walk (in between Peckham Library and Mountview College), 120 Peckham Hill Street, SE15 5JT. Nearest stations are Queens Road Peckham and Peckham Rye.
11. The Sun Tavern, Bethnal Green
This famously raucous neighbourhood bar can always be depended on for delicious cocktails at affordable prices that don’t skimp on quality or flavour. For Margarita Day they’re making a push for the title of best place to drink margaritas with their twist on the drink, the Bonnie’s Margarita. Giving the classic tequila cocktail a spicy twist, The Sun Tavern’s take mixes up Ocho Blanco Tequila, Pisco, Lively White Vermouth, Scotch Bonnet Ferment, and citrus. Not one for the faint of heart! But delicious nonetheless, and a well-deserved entrant into their £9 cocktail list.
📍 441 Bethnal Green Road, E2 0AN. Nearest station is Bethnal Green.
12. The Lillie Langtry, Chelsea
Speaking of spice – here’s a margarita with a kick that you may be surprised to find on offer at such a homely cosy pub. The Lillie Langtry‘s Jalapeño Margarita offers up just enough kick to make you question why you can’t stop sipping it.
📍 19 Lillie Road, SW6 1UE. Nearest station is West Brompton.
13. TOCA Social, The O2
Add some footy fun to your margarita-drinking experience by heading to TOCA Social. There, at the venue’s special Tequila Taka Bar you can sip at your choice from 34 delicious tequilas – but you’re here for a margarita! In that case, opt for the Frozen Margarita with Cazcabel blanco, Lime, Cointreau, and Agave, or the Lionel Mezzi with Koch El Mezcal, Ginger, Lychee, Yuzu, and Lemon. Score!
📍 Peninsula Square, SE10 0DX. Nearest station is North Greenwich.
14. Korean Dinner Party, Soho
Korean Dinner Party is a frenetic mix of east-meets-west dishes, kitsch cocktails, craft sake, and Korean hip-hop. So, essentially, it’s an incredibly fun time! They already have a delicious margarita on the menu in the form of the Osmanthus Crystal Margarita: a smoky twist on the classic with mezcal, agave, and osmanthus flower. But they’ve also just added the limited edition Yuzu Spicy Margarita – it’s got “Citrus, spice + everything nice”. Oh, and for Margarita Day the margaritas are a steal at just £5!
📍 Top Floor, Kingly Court, Carnaby, W1B 5PW. Nearest stations are Oxford Circus and Piccadilly Circus.
15. Señor Ceviche, Soho
A fusion restaurant merging the worlds of Peruvian and Japanese cuisine might not be the most obvious choice for drinking the best margaritas in London. But just wait until you’ve tried them. Their MAMACITA, for example adds chilli cordial to the typical margarita specs, for an exciting twist on the classic. The best part? They’re also offering up their margaritas for just £5 for National Margarita Day! Even outside of National Margarita Day, their MAMACITA is available at a steal during their Lima Happy Hour from 3-7PM, Monday to Friday.
📍 Kingly Court, Carnaby, W1B 5PW. Nearest stations are Oxford Circus and Piccadilly Circus.
16. Henson’s Bar, Soho
For Margarita Day, Henson’s Bar has partnered up with artisanal agaveria, Mijenta Tequila, for two special margaritas that you won’t want to miss. Available for £10 each, the two drinks make use of the brand’s blanco and reposado tequilas. The Classic Mijenta Margarita is, well, a classic margarita made withe brand’s blanco tequila, while the Mijenta Toreador mixes the reposado with a largely typical margarita recipe, supplemented with apricot brandy for extra complexity. They won’t be around for long, so don’t miss them!
📍 57 Frith Street, W1D 3JG. Nearest station is Tottenham Court Road.
17. STK Steakhouse, multiple venues
Sometimes the deciding factor in what makes a venue the best place to drink margaritas in London isn’t just the quality, but the cost. Which is why I had to include STK Steakhouse in this roundup. For National Margarita Day they’re running a delightful half-price special, slashing the cost of their Perfect Margarita down to just £8! While you’re there, make sure to also try the Spiced Watermelon Margarita. It has a slight spicy twist, with a unique blend of Patrón Silver Tequila, St-Germain, watermelon, lime, and jalapeño.
📍 Find your nearest venue at the website.
18. Barrio, multiple venues
And now for something slightly different… With one of their bars laying claim to being the biggest tequila bar in the world, where else would you go for affordable and delicious margaritas? But that’s not all they offer. They also host incredible party nights of MARGARITA PONG. That’s right – the typically beer-oriented endeavour is massively improved by smashing up everyone’s favourite cocktail with the classic college game of mayhem. After the fun, there’s even a DJ and an evening of non-stop immersive entertainment at Barrio’s Livin’ La Vida late night experience.
📍 Find your nearest venue here.
So, there you have it. The best margaritas in London. Go forth and libate. (And feel free to invite me too!)