When it comes to tacos, Lausanne is such a tease.
After years of mediocre Mexican food, Amigo Taco arrived. It was an adorable family operation with tortillas so good they brought tears to our eyes. Our hearts were broken a year later when it shut down.
But then a couple weeks ago, we got word that some of the same personalities behind Amigo Taco had a new project. They’ve dusted off the tortilla machine (hallelujah!), sourced high-quality Swiss meats, ordered authentic spices, and opened up on the very convenient Rue Centrale.
Bienvenidos Mexicana!
The concept is simple: four different types of tacos (beef, chicken, pork, and vegetable) can be dressed to your liking with pickled onions, chopped cilantro, guacamole, and pico de gallo. You can add chips with guac or a dessert “choco-taco” to complete the meal.
The food is really good. And while calling ourselves taco experts sounds a bit arrogant, we basically grew up on homemade tortillas and spicy salsa in Texas and California. So, yeah, we’re experts ;).
And our expert opinion is: these tacos are the closest thing to the real deal that we’ve found this side of the Atlantic.
The Mexicana concept is a typical takeaway taqueria but with high-quality, fresh ingredients. Don’t expect to come and linger – you’ll want to grab and go because the space is small and there are only three standing tables.
Is this the Mexican restaurant of our dreams? No. We still long for a sit down experience with bottomless chips, queso fresco, and pitchers of margaritas. But the fundamentals are solid.
For now, we’ll hope that the next stage of expansion for this new company will involve a more relaxed customer experience and maybe a mariachi band? OK, perhaps that’s asking for the moon, but a girl can dream, right?
In the meantime, muchas gracias to the team behind Mexicana! We’re so so glad that tacos are back!