Press release
El Cartel’s Bigger Brother has opened just off the Royal Mile.
Mexican street food restaurant, El Cartel, has opened a third venue in Edinburgh, in a move that reflects confidence that the hospitality industry is on the way back in Scotland.
The new El Cartel Roxburgh is situated in the heart of Edinburgh’s Old Town in Roxburgh Court. In a departure from the small more intimate venues of El Cartel Teviot and El Cartel Thistle, this is the largest El Cartel restaurant in the city with the capacity for more than 100 covers.
Designed to create an exciting and safe place to meet family and friends in larger groups, it is the first El Cartel with an outdoor seating area and has a large bar area offering the city’s biggest selection of tequilas and mezcals.
Known for its own take on authentic Mexican street food, El Cartel offers a vibrant and colourful menu designed by Head Chef Daniele Dessi. It follows the unique El Cartel style of making all dishes from scratch using fresh, locally sourced ingredients to create layers of flavour.
There are also new developments in the pipeline including ‘Build your own’ experiences alongside ‘Tequila & Taco Brunches’ which will be launched later this year.
The El Cartel Roxburgh team has been built around some faces well known to existing customers as the restaurant develops key staff members into new roles. This will ensure that the El Cartel ethos of a friendly welcome smoothly carries on to the new location.
Anthony Hester, Director at The Bon Vivant Group, which owns El Cartel said:
“The opportunity to locate to the building in Roxburgh came up and it was too good to miss out on. Mexican street food is a huge trend that shows no signs of diminishing and the El Cartel concept has proven to be extremely popular with locals and tourists alike.
“We know the smaller venues have limited what we can offer, so we are delighted to be able to develop the El Cartel concept with more tables in a larger, light and airy space. It can also be adapted to accommodate groups as a reflection of the fact that we all now crave time with family and friends having spent so much time apart.
“Opening with a mix of familiar existing staff and new faces guarantees that fans of El Cartel will immediately feel at home with the warm welcome, the quality of food and the comfortable environment that El Cartel Roxburgh offers. We are so excited to be open and to share this exciting new space with friends, old and new.”
El Cartel Roxburgh is open seven days a week, 12noon to 12midnight. As numbers will be initially limited, booking is advisable to avoid disappointment, but the restaurant will allow walk ins if space allows.
El Cartel is the latest venture between The Bon Vivant Group and property developer and investor Chris Stewart Group, following collaborations at The Edinburgh Grand, Lady Libertine and The Devil’s Advocate. Working together the two organisations are turning amazing spaces into iconic hospitality venues.
El Cartel Roxburgh was designed by Glasgow-based Scarinish Studio, who also created the stylish Lady Libertine bar on West Register Street.
