Taco Bandits – We’ve stolen a culture and made it our own!

We are riding the surf of a 20ft taco wave beginning to hit the shores of England. If you have not yet had your senses smashed by us or even heard of us then please take the time to read what we have to offer, it won’t be long until the craving kicks in.

Inspired by the Mexican street food culture of tacos and the lacking ability to satisfy a craving here in England we felt it was about time someone did something about it. However, some might say ‘this is not completely Mexican’! Well if that’s you then you’re not wrong! We are Bandits and we’ve stolen a culture and made it our own. We’ve done it all the right way using much of the same authentic ingredients and methods but have added our own touch to them to keep them completely original.

We couldn’t be prouder of the fact we make the lot from scratch, the soft taco base, the mole sauces, the pico de gallo, we make everything. Tacos are fun to eat right? Well we’ve made them a whole load more fun. Our tacos aren’t just fun to eat but their vibrant colours make them something cool to look at as well as crave for after a bite. We make spinach taco shells making them bright green, beetroot tacos making them bright purple and soon to hit the squad a pure black charcoal taco with rock’n’roll attitude.

We fill them all with flavours that hit your jaw like a shot to the face from an outlaw’s 9mm magnum in the old country! Tacos only take a few bites to nail which means you want something darn good in your mouth for those few bites and thanks to that outlaws 9mm magnum ours are just that. You’ll be coming back for more time and time again.

We try to reach out to everyone by offering meat, fish, vegetarian and vegan options. A few of our favourites so far are, ‘Red Mole Chicken with Mooli Slaw’ ‘Blackened Cod with Barbecued Sweetcorn’ ‘Marinated Mung Beans with Feta Cheese’ & ‘Marinated Mung Beans with Blackened Tofu’. We serve all of our tacos with Pico de Gallo, Sour Cream, Chipotle Sauce, Fried Corn Kernals and Coriander Cress.

We always use fresh and local produce, make everything from scratch and pay attention to everything we add, this ensures they are a healthy as well as fun thing to snack on! Normally when you try to satisfy that hungry beast in your belly you’ll be caped in grease. Well you don’t need to worry about that anymore, you can satisfy that beast with Taco Bandit tacos and be guilt free, in fact you’ll probably feel better than you have in ages!

We are local to Oxford and very proud about it too. We first popped onto the scene earlier this year at the Gloucester Green Saturday Market. Taco Bandits is owned and run by Ben Gibbons and Oliver Lee, we have known each other for around five years, after working together at St Aldates Tavern when it first reopened. We have both been chefs for around 15 years, so serving fun good food that looks the part is something built into us. Ben trained in Worcester College for 10 years before moving on to St Aldates Tavern where he ran the kitchen and worked alongside Oly for about 18 months. He then went to run Oxfork's kitchen adding British Tapas to the menu during the evenings. Now alongside running Taco Bandits he is the Head Chef at Hertford College. Oly is Michelin trained having worked under several Michelin chefs and worked in France, after working back in Cheltenham, his home town, he relocated to Oxford where he joined Ben at St Aldates Tavern. Since then Oly has worked as a private chef and now focuses on the running and development of Taco Bandits.

Taco Bandits first came about right at the end of 2016! Oly knew somebody holding a street food market in Cheltenham so secured a spot and decided we should do something together. Ben had been thinking of this concept for different coloured and flavoured tacos for a while and the market seemed like the perfect place to try it out. The rest as they say is history!

You can get your hit by visiting our weekly pop up in Barefoot Oxfords Jericho café every Friday and Saturday evening from 7pm – 11pm, where we’ll be serving the famous Taco Bandit tacos along with ice cold buckets of beer, shots of Tequila Gunslingers, Margaritas and our favourite Square Root soft drinks. You should also check our website and social media sites to find out where we’ll be popping up next. We often pull up a stall at Gloucester Greens Market on a Saturday and if you are planning on attending Brill Festival on August bank holiday you’ll find us there too. We have headlined a few Oxfords College Balls, including Hertford College and Worcester College. We’ve also taken bookings for weddings and launch parties, there’s really nothing we won’t have fun doing so if you want to eat like an outlaw for a day and have fun doing it then get in touch with us. You can find our details and more information about us and where we’ll be next using the links below:

Instagram - www.instagram.com/tacobanditsuk

Facebook - www.facebook.com/tacobandits1

Twitter – www.twitter.com/tacobanditsuk

www.tacobandits.com

Hasta luego amigos,

Taco Bandits

Ben Gibbons & Oliver Lee