New to Zurich – cuisine inspired by Mexican dishes – with fluctuating service quality: Restaurant & Bar Sinaloa (15. January 2026)

This is the third restaurant in this location since I’m in Zurich and somehow none of the previous ones were bad, but it seems like they do not survive here for more than 5 years. In any case, the Restaurant & Bar Sinaloa is relatively new to Zurich and offers a selection of dishes, which they claim are from Mexico, but I think saying that they are inspired by Mexican food is probably more accurate. Once you’re seated, you get some “tortilla chips and guacamole”, which are both actually fine.

Given, it is a Mexican-inspired restaurant, you get a few different salsas ranging from a little spicy to a little more spicy. The fun thing was, though, that our waiter explained the salsas and explained that the plain red one was a “salsa verde” – which is hilarious considering that “verde” literally means “green” in Spanish!

We decided to go for a few bites and started with the “croquetas Oaxaca (Oaxaca cheese, jalapeño, aioli)” (CHF 8.00), which was quite nice, but in all fairness, that was never ever queso Oaxaca. The taste of queso Oaxaca is just soooo different and absolutely not comparable to what these croquetas had. Else, they were good.

The “Tres Taco de Asada (flank steak, salsa tatemada, pico de gallo)” (CHF 22.00) was nice, I must admit. I mean, you had a bit of bell pepper, and you had great tasting flank steak, but honestly, for a taco, it was somehow missing a little bit of something. From a flavor perspective, it was rather disappointing, since it was basically just the meat without any of the riches you’d typically put into a taco.

The “Carne Apache (Iberian beef, chipotle Sbrinz, olive cream)” (CHF 22.00) was something I enjoyed quite a lot. The flavor profile is hard to describe since it is a mixture of yet so many flavors that it isn’t entirely easy to grasp, but it was tasty, that’s for sure.

The “costilla de res (short rib, mole negro, corn cream)” (CHF 31.00) was quite lovely too. The meat would fall apart superbly easily, which was lovely – and definitely something to enjoy. And the rich mole negro in which it came was definitely something I enjoyed.

Now, the “ribeye à la Parilla (300g high back bonemarrow, Jerusalem artichoke, salsa tatemada)” (CHF 68.00) was … uhm … definitely too expensive. I get it, it’s not the cheapest meat there is, and it comes with nopales, which aren’t necessarily what one would call ‘native’ to Switzerland, but comeone, CHF 70.00 for a few stripes of beef? It just doesn’t seem right. On top of that, the flavor profile wasn’t all that amazing either, so, personally, I was a bit disappointed.

The “Alcachofa de Jerusalén con chicharrón (Jerusalem artichoke cream, apple pork belly, salsa macha)” (CHF 14.00) on the other hand was great. You’d get that intense and rich flavor of the Jerusalem artichoke enriched by the pork belly, which was lovely – especially considering the price of it.

Now, since I absolutely love corn, I was more than surprised to see that they offered a dish, which had huitlacoche – and it had. The “Maiz (corn cream, grilled corn, huitlacoche hollandaise)” (CHF 11.00) was rich and intense – perfect flavor profile from my perspective.

Last but not least, we decided to go for the “tonka churros (churros, ancho ganache, miso dulce de leche)” (CHF 13.00), which were delicious, but frankly, too sweet for my personal gusto.

The interior hasn’t changed all too much compared to the previous restaurant DAR, but the decoration has shifted a little. Other than that, I must say that the quality of the service highly depended on the individual attending us. Personally, I found the waiter quite incompetent and too much in a sales mode, while the lady, who helped us was absolutely excellent, attentive, swift, and just really pleasant.

So, frankly, the food is good, it’s not like actual Mexican cuisine, but it is quite close for being in Switzerland. That being said, most of the dishes are also fair in price, but frankly, the rib eye is – price-wise – a no-go. Other than that, the quality of service highly varies between individuals, and last but not least, the place is fine. So, it’s not like I was blown away by the visit, but I must admit, that I found the place and the whole experience all in all quite fine.

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Contact Details:

Restaurant & Bar Sinaloa

Gasometerstrasse 5

8005 Zürich (CH)

Tel.: +41 43 366 91 34

E-Mail: info@sinaloa.ch

Homepage: https://www.sinaloa.ch

About the Author: Sven

I started the blog in October 2009, while living in Milan which I definitely consider to be one of the food capitals of the world. I was in touch with food since my early childhood (as my father is a former chef). Whenever I can, I travel the world to discover new places, to meet people but mostly to try local dishes and to find hidden gems! If you know a place worth going, please drop a line to: info@thediningexperience.org. Currently, I am a member of the following food-related associations: Chevalier @Chaîne des Rôtisseurs Zurich-Ville; Membre Gourmet Dégustateur @Ordre Mondial des Gourmets Dégustateurs [OMGD]; Gesellschafter @Goldener Fisch and Member @Slowfood Convivium Zurich City.