The pair who opened Manchester’s first and most viral birria taco bar have opened their refurbished space in the Northern Quarter.
Sam, one of the Birria Brothers himself, confirmed to Mancunian Matters that tacos would now be sold out of the Koffee Pot on Oldham Street from 4pm until 11pm every day apart from Monday.
Sam and Chris have owned the Koffee Pot for years – Sam works the front of house, and Chris cooks all the food. But it was during lockdown that they decided it wasn’t viable to have a business selling classic breakfast foods that shut at 3pm.
Having both previously lived in New York, the pair started to sell birria tacos outside the front of their Manchester store. The pop-up soon became a local hotspot – with queues of more than 4 hours stretching down Oldham Street, and police monitoring the crowd.
The taco pop-up went viral on Instagram. Even though Sam called this “pure blind luck”, their videos reached tens of thousands of people who became obsessed with dipping a crispy birria taco into the consommé that the meat had been slow-cooked in.
“We decided to take the plunge,” Sam said, although he was referring to the pair’s decision to sell their infamous tacos out of the Koffee Pot permanently rather than using the consommé as a dip.
The store front on Oldham Street has since been transformed into a “2 in 1 restaurant” where you can get an all-American breakfast between 9am and 3pm, and delicious tacos (as well as margaritas) between 4pm and 11pm.
Sam and Chris described how they gutted the building in order to finish the refurbishment in just 12 days. Sam himself was up the night before they debuted their new look tiling the front entrance of the restaurant with the emboldened letters T-A-C-O-S. He described it as a “rip-off of the taco signs you see in Mexico”.
“Hopefully the new frontage will make things a bit clearer for people” laughed the waitress who was placing down our food. She remembered how people came into the Koffee Pot expecting toast, only to be fed tacos.
The food is certainly worth the hype. The Quesabirria boasts slow-cooked beef that is accompanied by fresh onions and house salsa that cuts through its rich flavour.
There are plenty of vegetarian, vegan, and halal options too. The tacos de canasta are loaded with black beans and salsa verde.
Sam’s top tip? Use all of the accompaniments provided – they were chosen for a reason. If your dish comes with a consommé pot, Sam even suggests that you drink it.
“It’s the proper northern thing to do!” he said.
Happy Hour takes place between 4pm and 7pm between Tuesday and Friday. There are 10 flavours of margarita – from Vimto to pina colada.
“We roast the pineapple in vanilla, pineapple syrup and coconut and blitz it to a puree,” Sam said. Each margarita is crafted from fresh ingredients that contrast yet complement the flavourful tacos.
Although Birria Brothers Tacos and Koffee Pot do not take bookings, because Sam is a self-described “techno-phobe”, he said: “If you turn up, we’ll always get you a table.”
Birria Brothers Tacos is open Tuesday to Saturday, between 4pm and 11pm at 84-86 Oldham Street M4 1LE- with 25% off on Taco Tuesdays.
