First Look: It’s All About the Tortillas at New CBD Laneway Spot Super Taco

Melbourne isn’t short on Mexican spots. In the past year alone, we’ve welcomed numerous new taquerias and restaurants, each bringing its own interpretation of the cuisine. The latest, Super Taco, in a tiny 30-square-metre shopfront on Crossley Street, is taking a restrained approach. Rather than arriving with a sprawling menu, the CBD newcomer has bet its reputation on one thing: getting tortillas right.

For owner Georgie Larkins, the idea to open a taqueria has been years in the making. She has long been obsessed with Mexican food – fuelled by years eating her way through taquerias in New York while living there in the mid-2010s, and travelling through Mexico City in 2016 and 2023.

After two decades working behind the scenes in hospitality marketing and venue development for groups including HQ Group (Her, Arbory), she found herself craving something of her own. “I wanted something I could eventually build around my family,” says Larkins, who has three young children.

But Super Taco “really started with tortillas,” says Larkins. “We weren’t going to go anywhere near opening this unless we could get them right.”

After leaving her job in 2025 to spend more time with her kids, Larkins found herself with more time to cook and became obsessed with recreating the fresh corn tortillas she’d loved overseas, but struggled to find in Melbourne. Books, podcasts and Youtube tutorials gave way to months of testing.

Now at Super Taco, each tortilla is pressed in-house using only water and imported Mexican white corn masa. They’re the foundation of a menu built around four tacos: pork al pastor, grilled cauliflower, crispy fish and grilled skirt steak.

Leading the kitchen is chef Jose Angel Derado Juárez, who owned 200-seat restaurant El Mezquite in his hometown of Pachuca in Hidalgo before moving to Melbourne in 2022, where he most recently worked as a chef de partie at Rockpool. Juárez’s family salsa recipes sit alongside diced onion and coriander at the self-serve salsa bar, while the signature al pastor is cooked traditionally on a trompo – the vertical spit synonymous with Mexico City’s street-side taquerias.

“The pork chars against the flame while the pineapple juices caramelise the meat,” Juárez says. "You can’t really recreate that any other way.”

The offering extends beyond tacos with fries, guacamole and house-made corn chips, and a carlota de limon soft serve inspired by the classic Mexican no-bake cake. Drinks are equally straightforward: Mexican Coca-Cola, Topo Chico mineral water, Pacifico beer and, soon, Margaritas.

The venue itself mirrors the menu’s simplicity. Concrete columns and exposed brick frame an open stainless-steel kitchen. And a handful of standing tables encourage guests to order at the counter, watch their tacos come together, finish them with salsa and eat shoulder-to-shoulder, much like you would at the taquerias that inspired the concept. “We’re trying to capture the spirit of a taqueria,” Larkins says. “It looks simple, but there’s so much technique behind it.” For Larkins, that’s the goal. Not to reinvent Mexican food, but to celebrate it thoughtfully.

Super Taco
Shop 8, 26 Crossley Street, Melbourne
No phone

Hours:
Tue to Sat 11am–8pm

@supertacoau