Margarita's Dempsey Hill is a Mexican restaurant and bar with a history spanning nearly 4 decades in Singapore, making it Southeast Asia's oldest Mexican restaurant and one of the few original tenants of current-day Dempsey Hill. It began as a hidden gem at Faber Drive in 1988, later expanding to the East Coast before settling at Dempsey Hill, where high-beamed ceilings and decorative wrought iron nod to the rustic elegance of Mexico's old-world estates.
The kitchen reimagines Mexican cooking through a Chino-Latino lens rooted in Singapore's own heritage — most notably with its take on Yúshēng, reinvented as a spicy, ceviche-like dish of fresh fish glazed with chamoy and salsa verde, tossed with pickled vegetables in a nod to Nanyang tradition. Alongside this sits a menu built on carefully sourced farm-to-table ingredients, from fire-roasted elote asados to hand-churned, hand-piped churros.
Margarita's has become a local go-to for family, friends, first dates and lovers, serving as a social refuge for late nights and casual lunches, with the occasional fanfare of live music. Its Grand Margarita — built from tequila, triple sec and lime juice with a salted rim — headlines the cocktail menu and has become synonymous with the restaurant's name.
Long before Dempsey Hill became one of Singapore's go-to dining and nightlife enclaves, Margarita's was already serving Mexican food to a hungry local crowd. With a history spanning nearly 4 decades, Margarita's is Southeast Asia's oldest Mexican restaurant and counts itself among the few original tenants of current-day Dempsey Hill.
Margarita's story began humbly at Faber Drive in 1988. As word spread and the appetite for authentic Mexican food grew, the restaurant expanded to the East Coast before eventually finding its long-term home at Dempsey Hill. Today, the space itself tells part of that story — high-beamed ceilings and decorative wrought iron nod to the rustic elegance of Mexico's old-world estates, intermingling the soulful antiquity of Mexican cuisine with contemporary art, comfort, and the occasional fanfare of live music.
What sets Margarita's apart from a typical Mexican restaurant is how deliberately it draws on Singapore's own heritage. Drawing a line from La Paz, Baja to Heroica Veracruz, the kitchen interweaves Mexico's most prominent regional flavours with local Nanyang influence. The clearest expression of this is Margarita's reimagined Yúshēng — a spicy, ceviche-like dish of fresh fish glazed with chamoy and salsa verde, tossed high with ribbons of pickled vegetables in the traditional lo hei gesture for good fortune and prosperity. It's a dish that only makes sense in Singapore, and it captures what Margarita's calls its 'asiático' identity.
Beyond that signature dish, the kitchen builds its menu around carefully sourced farm-to-table ingredients, with fire-roasted elote asados and hand-churned, hand-piped churros among the dishes that speak to a kitchen rooted in the nuances of traditional Mexican cooking — one that the team says shifts with the seasons.
A proper margarita, the restaurant notes, comes down to three ingredients done right: tequila, triple sec, and lime juice, finished with a salted rim. Margarita's own Grand Margarita has become the crowd-pleasing headline of its cocktail menu, crafted so consistently over the years that its flavour has become synonymous with the restaurant's name. It sits alongside an extensive list of mocktails and alcoholic beverages for guests looking to explore beyond the classic.
Over its history, Margarita's has settled into the role of a local classic — a spot for family gatherings, friends catching up, first dates, and long-term couples alike. It doubles as a social refuge for late nights and casual lunches, and hosts weddings as well as corporate and social events at its Dempsey Hill space.
Margarita's is located at 11 Dempsey Road, #01-19, Singapore 249673. The kitchen operates daily from 11:30am to 10:30pm, with last orders at 9:30pm Sunday to Thursday and 10pm on Fridays and Saturdays; walk-ins are accepted right up until last order. Reservations can be made through OpenTable, and the team can be reached by phone or email for enquiries. Guests should note that Margarita's has announced periods of temporary closure for renovations, so it's worth checking current opening status before a visit.