Death By Tacos, Chester
I wasn’t always this ‘vanilla’. I wasn’t always this mainstream or this fashionable…..not sure I’ve ever been mainstream or fashionable thinking about it. I wasn’t always about sunshine and rainbows, Michael Ball or catchy pop music. There was a time, albeit relatively short, where I dabbled in the slightly darker world. I never quite made it deep into that world, the darkness never quite engulfed me. There weren’t any faux alters or sacrifices. I just aligned with some slightly more alternative, indie vibes and became obsessed with music on the heavier side of rock and grunge. Or maybe this was just most people’s experience of their teen years?
I definitely think this era gave me some balance. After all, while purveying rock on the outside, I was also still very much enjoying listening to The Spice Girl on the odd occasion (maybe frequent occasion). I stand firm on the my belief that the best people have dabbled in the world of alternative music, skating, rock, grunge and even the full emo life. They have generally found a better balance, they have more reasonable opinions and a decent outlook on life in general.
I found my balance through Green Day, NOFX, Blink 182, Nirvana, Old School Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater, darker shades of just about everything (from clothes to humour); watching A LOT of the WWF WWE attitude era and of course rumours of Marilyn Manson removing a rib to perform an act of self gratification - these were the foundations of my teen years and really the building blocks of the current me.
When you get down to the nitty gritty, we’ve all been there or at least been tempted into that world for a short time. You don’t have to exist there for long but once you've tasted that world, it never really leaves you. (Although these days the darkest points I reach seem to be listening to The Darkness and eating black garlic!)
You might start to wear brighter clothes, you might start to appreciate lighter music. You might find that balance in your life and accept that The Undertaker was never actually from the dark side and Paul Bearer wasn’t his real Dad and you may even be able to accept that WWF WWE isn't quite as real as you thought it was but you’ll almost certainly have the balance and presence of mind to walk the tight rope of reality and happily fall on either side, as and when you choose, without compromising the fun, enjoyment, the escapism and imaginative stimulation that only the genius of professional wrestling provides. Of course, you will always understand that Hulkamania is within all of us, will live forever and will always be running wild!
My point being, you find your balance and most importantly you find your authenticity by indulging in different styles, cultures, music, food and environments even if it's just for a moment. The best people find their own, authentic balance and whether you dipped your toes into the darker waters and decided to head back to the beach or whether you are still swimming out to sea happily, an appreciation for these alternative influences will never leave you, that little part of your soul will always be ignited and there’s a sense of home whenever you hear, see or get to absorb this stuff.
My own journey has taken me to more colourful clothes, a seriously eclectic taste in music and to a place where this 41 year old Dad will happily admit his addiction to professional wrestling has never waned. I’ve also developed a complete obsession with food. Especially good food!
For me, there was no greater sense of home than walking into Death By Tacos. Dark interiors, music blaring from loud rock to metal, skateboards all over the walls. Skateboards covered in old school professional wrestlers. This is less dining experience and more a 15 year old Steve Wonderland. An actual dream! The fire within my soul, my inner child was ignited. Pure unadulterated excitement.
Death by Tacos’ authenticity is one of its super powers. I’m not talking about serving authentic tacos with nods to rural Mexico, I mean its own authenticity. Its consistent to its core vibe through the decor, the food, the service, the whole shebang. Something that I imagine runs straight through the owners.
Similar to the surroundings the food is loud and brash but well balanced. It’s refined enough and full of flavour. It shows generosity and restraint in the perfect balance.
The menu is almost irrelevant, I would eat everything on it. I’m indecisive at the best of times, I feel like a ‘Let The Kitchen Feed You’ option would be ideal!
The main focus is of course the tacos but there is plenty around the tacos to offer a balance to everyone. I’ve previously struggled with tacos, not how delicious they are but more in the ‘taconomics’ and the way we eat them in a restaurant environment in this country. Their value for money and their soul is often lost by restaurants who do a great job of gentrifying them for the middle classes. Especially in very taco specific restaurants. I've recently been proved wrong in my own town, Shrewsbury and I’m delighted to say it's happened again.
With the diverse choices and balance on the menu you don’t have to eat ‘just’ tacos but you also never forget that you're in a taco place - another really fantastic balance.
The ‘taconomics’ in this place are bang on point. So often places serve tacos in too much of a delicate way, under filled, too refined. Ultimately too expensive and not great value for money, often leaving me underwhelmed. We ordered the tequila chicken tacos - the first of many great decisions we made with this lunch. The corn tortillas were completely engulfed in the most wonderfully generous, well cooked chicken. Plenty of herbs and coriander and just enough tequila to peak an interest without giving you flashbacks of ‘that’ horrendous night in a Yate’s bar in 2006. There’s a sort of generosity here that makes eating the fun side of ‘too messy’. Impressively stacked but not daunting, that makes you sit back, move your head closer and sway from side to side to look at the food from all angles. Not just to admire how inviting it looks but also to plot and plan just how you’re going to eat it. If I didn't want to cheapen the image of them, I would be tempted to describe them as one of my most hated descriptions of anything ‘loaded’.
Some more of our good decisions included a tray of hot honey buffalo style chicken wings, some freshly fried nacho chips with heavily garlic studded guac and a couple of cocktails that all disappeared down our gullets under the same veil of us saying ‘oh yeah, that's delicious’. I had a chocolate, campari number which had a clever name I can’t remember and my wife’s spicy marg flew past her spicy marg exacting standards with ease. Both utterly delicious and matched the same authentic vibe as the rest of this place.
Whether this was intentional or not from the kitchen I’m not sure, but our best two decisions were left until the end. The chicharrones, two large chunks of deep fried pork belly, came out glistening in their own fat. A squeeze from one end and a river of beautiful molten lard trickled all the way down, flowing between every porky nook and cranny akin to a birdseye view of the Nile delta and somewhat reminiscent of my sweaty back at the end of a busy service back in my restaurant days. The sort of food porn moment that the influencers and food creators would flock to capture! But a food porn moment that also backs itself up when, after 5 minutes of filming from every angle, you finally get round to shoving it in your gob. They came with a pot of habanero and mango hot sauce which made the whole experience even more exciting.
Then there was the cabbage. What I now describe as THE Cabbage. All these food writers are mentioning 2026 being the year of the cabbage. I struggle to know if that's the case. Most of my years have been heavily featuring cabbage. I bloody love a brassica! Year of the cabbage or not, this is about as good as a cabbage can get! It’s already my dish of 2026 so far. It might even be the best cabbage dish of my life…..bet some of you don’t even have a best cabbage dish of your life, sort it out, it's the year of the cabbage afterall!……In fact, it's likely in the top 10 things I’ve ever put in my mouth in my life……take that with a pinch of salt…or tajin…..I get over excited with delicious food and make bold claims, there are probably over 100 things in that category as it stands……but you get my drift.
Caramelised, roasted and flavour packed hispi cabbage (or sweetheart if you're feeling a little more romantic) on a crema that's been revved up with chilli and everything else it needs to bring it to the exact point of sheer balanced delight. It was topped with some slightly salty, acidic queso fresca to bring it all back into line and to hold it right on the point of stepping over the flavour line. I was convinced that the addictive richness only comes with butter or a heavy seasoning of Hulkamania but my wife was convinced this was a dairy free option without the cheese. So it must have been the Hulkamania. Both of us were too busy guzzling it down to double check; we’ll just put it down to the Hulkamania and move on.
[Note to self…..season more often with generous amounts of Hulkamania]
We left nothing - we polished off the lot with joy and being honest, I can’t wait to be back to do it again. The 15 year old grungy me was happy, my wife was ecstatic, and the 41 year old food obsessed me was utterly delighted. Death by Tacos is one of the most edgy, unapologetically authentic, yet accessible places I’ve eaten. It's definitely a jewel in Chester’s crown. It shows a balance across the board that offers a really unique experience - the sort of balance that only comes from knowing itself, being completely content in its own skin and ultimately being truly authentic to itself, its owners and all of its customers in every way.
Its flavour packed and food focussed without either the food nor the flavours ever overstepping the line. The menu is written with the eater in mind which is the exact point so many places go wrong.
I didn't think the perfect lunch spot existed but maybe it's just because I’ve never eaten under the gaze of Andre The Giant and Macho Man Randy Savage listening to the soundtrack of my youth.
If Death by Tacos from this place was the punishment, then I’m guilty as charged!
And if the Hulk Hogan in my soul asks ‘What ya gonna doooo, brother?’ I’ll just say ‘I’m going to Death By Tacos’......
