From a Mexico City mechanic’s workshop to the banks of the Brisbane River: the world’s most famous “auto-repair” taqueria is heading to the Queensland capital this March.
By day, it’s an auto repair shop. By night, it’s one of Mexico City’s most iconic taquerias.
El Vilsito is the kind of place locals don’t think to tell tourists about, but then are delighted when they discover it all the same. Although that’s perhaps changing, with the restaurant, owned and operated by the Blanco family, appearing in the first season of Netflix’s Taco Chronicles and getting co-signs from The New York Times and the Michelin Guide via its Bib Gourmand awards.
“I have a friend in Mexico City,” Katie Moubarak says. “She’s Mexican, not an expat, and has this incredible bar that she’s just opened. I remember meeting her that night and mentioned having had lunch at El Vilsito, and she said, ‘Where did you get these recommendations from? That’s literally my favourite taqueria in Mexico City.’
“That made my heart sing. We’d found the right taqueria.”
The right taqueria for a collaboration at Howard Smith Wharves for La Mexicana, a new Mexican food festival that in March will run alongside Margarita Week, the week-long Patron partnership that has become a fixture at the riverside precinct in recent years.
Restaurant reviews, news and the hottest openings served to your inbox.
Moubarak, Howard Smith Wharves’ brand director, had been in Mexico City on a food research trip. El Vilsito’s famous al pastor tacos lived up to the Michelin hype.
“I remember that first bite and thinking, ‘Yep, this is it, the best taco I’ve ever had.’ And we’d been in Mexico for two weeks by that point,” she says – but it was also about the restaurant’s service.
“It was like walking into somewhere you’re already a regular,” Moubarak says. “It just felt familiar. There was this lovely beauty to it.
“We just started chatting. I asked, ‘Would you guys be interested in collaborating with us on a Mexican food festival in Australia?’ And that was it. That was in September … so it’s come together relatively easily.”
For La Mexicana, two chefs from El Vilsito, along with Sandra Blanco, daughter of founder Juan Carlos Blanco, will work with local teams to prepare the taqueria’s celebrated tacos exactly as they are in Mexico City.
To ensure the menu is executed flawlessly, Moubarak says “countless” hours have gone into sourcing produce, including the arrival of four imported vertical trompo spits essential for that signature style of cooking.
“Every single detail has been considered,” Moubarak says.
Opened by Juan Carlos Blanco almost four decades ago, El Vilsito operates out of a mechanic’s workshop in Mexico City, transforming each night into a restaurant proper. The taqueria has become celebrated for its al pastor tacos, a beloved take on the Mexican street food where marinated pork is cooked on a vertical trompo spit, before being sliced thin and served in corn tortillas.
El Vilsito will spend much of March in Australia, appearing at La Mexicana at Howard Smith Wharves before travelling to Manly Wharves for the Sydney leg of the festival.
Margarita Week runs Thursday, March 5 to Sunday, March 15, with La Mexicana operating March 5-8 and March 12-15.
Matt Shea is Food and Culture Editor at Brisbane Times. He is a former editor and editor-at-large at Broadsheet Brisbane, and has written for Escape, Qantas Magazine, the Guardian, Jetstar Magazine and SilverKris, among many others.
