Mexicola Locale Woodstock — Restaurant in District Six

On Thursday afternoon, my business partner and I agreed that enough is enough, June and July’s winter was cute, but August was pushing it. It’s absolutely freezing for no reason at all. After a shared rant, we decided to distract ourselves with belly-warming spicy food. Not just any spicy food, Mexican. Tacos, nachos, churros… and of course, margaritas. So it was settled, Mexico (in Cape Town), watch out, here we come! We arrived at Mexicola Locale and were transported to a much warmer, vibrant atmosphere. Lively, feel-good Mexican music filled the space, with bold colours of deep orange, reds, and blues. Mostly open-air, spacious yet intimate, casually cool but full of personality. Our host, Kamva, greeted us warmly, turned on the heater above us, and instantly made us feel like we were at a beach club in Mexico. He explained the menu, authentic Mexican food, fresh-juice margaritas, and double shots of tequila. He suggested the pineapple margarita, one of my favourites. Made to order, so a bit of a wait, but quality wins every time. While we waited, we ordered jalapeño & olive dip, guacamole, and salsa with house-made tortilla chips. The chips were golden, crisp, lightly salted, perfect for scooping. The jalapeño & olive dip was pale green but bold, tangy, and just spicy enough to wake up the palate. The guac was ultra-smooth, fresh, creamy, garlicky. The salsa was rustic and chunky with charred tomatoes, sweet, smoky, and a touch spicy. Then my margarita arrived, huge, golden, tropical glow, frothy citrus foam, garnished with pineapple like a sunhat. Bright, zingy, smooth, and dangerously easy to drink. Beach holiday in a glass, without the sand. We ordered more food: cordero quesobirria (lamb) and Mexican street corn. The corn arrived with a swirl of smoke rising from charcoal atop golden breadcrumbs. Coating the buttery, charred corn in them added toasty, nutty depth, sweet, smoky, slightly spicy, and fun to eat. Then, the quesobirria. Golden tortilla, crispy edges, stuffed with cheesy lamb, served with shimmering lamb jus. I dunked it, let it soak, and bit in. Crunchy tortilla, melty mozzarella, juicy lamb… and that jus. THE JUS. Bottle it, sell it, marry it. Rich, umami, silky, smoky, a twelve out of ten. Back into holiday mode, we ordered a paloma,peachy-pink sunshine in a glass with grapefruit. Zesty, fresh, and a generous pour of tequila. Just as it kicked in, our tacos arrived. The Papa Dulce (vegetarian) looked like a rainbow on a tortilla. Sweet caramelised sweet potato, hearty black beans, feta, pickled onions, and the star, the smoky, rich romesco sauce, all in a warm, soft tortilla. I’ve been dreaming of it since. The El Pastor had glossy strands of braised pork, creamy avocado, purple cabbage, lime, ripe pineapple, and subtle chilli heat. Fall-apart tender pork with deep savoury-sweet flavour. I love both tacos equally, but differently. Dessert was churro waffles, golden brown sugar-coated, with vanilla ice cream between them and dark chocolate sauce draped over like it was auditioning for a telenovela. Crunchy outside, fluffy inside, ice cream melting into every crevice, rich bittersweet chocolate, and a hint of horchata spice. Tall, dark, handsome, and delicious. An absolutely amazing afternoon, from the atmosphere to the flavours and fun-filled drinks, we felt well looked after. I can highly recommend Mexicola Locale, it’s the kind of place you’ll return to time and time again. Thank you, Mexicola Locale!...

Food is very average. Cocktails hardly have any alcohol in them except a load of sugar; quite sickening really. I asked for another cocktail which they offered on the house. I highly appreciated this. However, the cocktail they gave me was just added with spice. Still no alcohol whatsoever.

Everything is extremely overpriced and they’re trying to bring more customers in by all these specials but everything is really average.

The first time my boyfriend and I came nothing was ready and you could only order tequila based drinks.

Not sure how this place is gonna survive as the waiter that served us both times just seems like he wants to join the table with how much he wanted to converse with us about the most redundant things. Kind of uncomfortable…. We even found our waiter conversing with other tables that seemed extremely uncomfortable and awkward. It was as if he was asking to join each table.

The guacamole also came EXTREMELY oxidised and brown meaning nothing is fresh. Don’t order fish is the consensus.

The meat in the taco was like it was air dried. The meat didn’t taste like it was the meat it stated it was and the “tacos” were served with soft tortillas. Absolute disgrace.

TLDR: No server reads the room. Prices are way too high for what you receive. Cocktails are...

The Woodstock branch is still new, so we give grace that they're still finding their feet. The lamb mozzarella mini tortillas with the lamb jus were VERY delicious, and so was the olive and jalapeño dip with the tortilla chips.

The chicken wings were average in flavour, and overcooked.

They offered me a pineapple margarita (they had no drinks menu yet), I asked them to add chilli, and the result was a very tasty jalapeño pineapple drink. I appreciate them making me a special order. Shout out to the 2 bar men, they were lovely.

Service from the waiter was warm and friendly but the wait times for food were extremely long, given that there were only 3 tables all night and we ordered only 3 plates of tapas.

I'd like to have the food again but I think the prices were exorbitant for what you get. Not that the food isn't good - the portions just felt a little scammy for the price. Didn't feel like a fair trade in my opinion. I wish them success though, and I don't think anyone would regret their decision to eat there...