Much-loved Mexico 70 reopens its doors after seven months of closure

People have missed the tacos, margaritas and more at the High Street West restaurant so much that they’ve been emailing the owners throughout lockdown asking when they’ll be returning.

Despite sister venue, The Ship Isis, in Silksworth Row, opening as soon as it was allowed to do so on July 4, owner Neil Bassett waited longer to reopen Mexico 70 due to its smaller size and policy of casual dining, which had to be restructured to allow for a booking system.

But after being closed since March 20, the restaurant has finally reopened and has been fully booked for many of its nights as soon as block bookings are released.

Other Covid-secure measures introduced include reducing the capacity from 36 diners to 30, a one way entry / exit system, screens between tables, sanitisation stations and staff routinely sanitising between serving each plate.

Neil says he’s delighted with the response to the reopening.

"It’s been great to see it as a restaurant once more. During lockdown, it was used a lot for storage for The Little Shop and No2 Church Lane, so to have people in it once again, enjoying their evening, is really exciting,” he said.

“We had lots of messages from people during lockdown, asking for recipes and asking when we’d be back, which is really touching.”

He added: “The way we serve and small plates means we require a lot of staff hours which meant we couldn’t operate a half full restaurant and be able to pay everyone, so it took us a while to come up with a way to reopen. A booking system was also new to us, but we hope to go back to walk-in dining, which suits our type of restaurant better, when we can.”

Other new additions at the restaurant include a new chef, Adam Fairbairn, who’s previously worked in The Dining Room at Seaham Hall and Träkol in Gateshead, some of the region’s most highly-regarded restaurants.

Along with a new chef at the helm, there’s some new taco additions on the menu such as madras fried chicken, and chorizo and black pudding, which run alongside its most-popular dishes such as Korean pork belly, and Baja cod.

The reopening has also meant building work can forge ahead on a bar being built in an upstairs room at Mexico 70, which will specialise in high end classic cocktails such as negroni.

Mexico 70’s reopening has brought some life back to this corner of the city centre which has been hit hard by the pandemic. Many neighbouring businesses, such as Sunderland Empire, Revolution, The Peacock, The Dun Cow and The Engine Room remain closed, but fellow independents such as No2 Church Lane and The Little Shop are managing to keep business alive by offering something different to the norm.

Sister venue Ship Isis is much larger, and while its seating capacity has decreased by 33% downstairs due to Covid, upstairs is being utilised more with 45% more seating than it had before. Its new hand-stretched pizza range is also proving popular, alongside its classic real ale offering.

*Mexico 70 is open Tuesday to Friday from 4.30pm and Saturday from 2.30pm. Booking is essential and sittings are allocated in one hour twenty minute slots.

See our guide to Sunderland cafes and restaurants doing deliveries here

Support your Echo and become a subscriber today. Enjoy unlimited access to local news, the latest on SAFC and new puzzles every day. With a digital subscription, you can see fewer ads, enjoy faster load times, and get access to exclusive newsletters and content. Click here to subscribe.