El Sombrero

I quite liked this place, whilst the food was nothing I have not had before, it was extremely filling.
It’s not the biggest Mexican Resturant but it’s local (ish) and as you can use Tastecard there that makes it even better.
So pointers, Tastecard cannot be used to access the happy hour cocktails, Tastecard cannot be applied to the house specials .
Anyway it is a small friendly restaurant the staff were very welcoming and the actual environment of the restaurant is ok, painted walls with Mexican imagery along with pictures of Hollywood legends in action mood, think Charles Bronson and Clint Eastwood (to name a few) and so the list goes on. Except there is a picture of Gregory Peck in his civvies, which I really did not get.
The cocktails were very good I will be going back without the car to sample more. The fact that you can order a pitcher of the cocktail you have is cool, the Mexican Banger is good
The food is served in good portion sizes, except my starter of butterflied king prawns, could have used more than 3!!!
The mains were all of good size and very filling. They could use slightly more spice but I guess that is a personal taste thing.
All in all I will go back just to sample a pitcher of the Mexican Banger

Sigh. It’s sad that I have to rate on a Croydon factor, but the truth is dining options aren’t that varied or impressive. I expected it to be a lot worse, honestly, so was pleasantly surprised that the cocktail (a tequila sunrise) was good, and the food decent.
Except for the nachos — for some god awful reason they put the salsa on before heating the cheese, so when it arrived I honestly thought they put marinara sauce on it! It was just hot mushy tomato paste which just made the chips soggy before it even got to the table :/​
The staff was super friendly and sort of fun, bringing around sombreros to wear if you want and genuinely enjoying the hen party that flowed in. This place is good for fun nights out or a place to take kids. I was in a celebratory mood — hence the tequila sunrise order … the last time I had that was on spring break in mexico — so I rather enjoyed myself.
My one complaint is that the staff knew very little about the menu — really basic questions like what was in a certain cocktail or how the beef was prepared in the burritos (ie shredded or ground/​minced) seemed to unnecessarily confound them but they were nice about going and finding out.
Oh and this place is def not spanish … no tapas here. It was most certainly tex mex, mex, bbq.

Fantastic Mexican. I’m an expat Californian and I’ve found it hard to get authentic tasting Mexican food in London but El Sombrero delivers! We had burritos, chimichangas, and fajitas. Everyone was happy. Everyone is happy.
Also, drinks menu. If you like variety, this is your jam. Take the bus from East Croydon.