Artisanal taquería · Piața Amzei 13 · Bucharest

It all startswith masa.

Octopus taco with pickled onion, sesame mayonnaise and coriander on a sage-green plate, seen from above

100% made by hand

ma·sa (es.): — corn dough: kernels cooked with lime, ground, pressed into tortillas.
ma·sa (ro.): — the table, where we gather. With lime and coriander.

From nixtamalized corn we make masa, every day. From masa, tortillas. On the tortillas, crispy sea bass, smoked lamb, shrimp with mango or sweet potato with macha. Three tacos to a portion.

See the menu Find us

100% made by hand

M · A · T, spelled out

01
Masa
n. · Spanish
Corn dough. The kernels are cooked with slaked lime, rested, then ground. No bought flour — we make the masa ourselves.
02
Artisanal
adj. · workshop-made
Made by hand, from scratch. Our sauces and salsas are made in house from chiles brought over from Mexico. The stamp on the menu says “100% handmade”.
03
Taqueria
n. · Spanish
The taco place. Ours has rose-clay walls, macramé lamps, cacti and a terrace with mint-green chairs on Piața Amzei.

What we believe

Wehaveneverlikedshortcuts.Thecorniscookedwithlime,themasaisground,everytortillaispressedandbakedonthecomal—everyday,fromthestart.Itsoundslikealotforataco.Thatisexactlythepoint.

From kernel to tortilla

From the cob to the tortilla.

Nixtamalization is a technique thousands of years old: corn cooked with lime becomes tastier, more nourishing and binds into a dough. We do it daily, in our kitchen.

Hands holding white and red ears of corn with dry husks

01/ 05 · The corn

01 — The corn2019first corn sown
Whole kernels, not flour from a bag.
It all starts with whole corn. Since spring 2019 we have also sown it in Romania, on a plot farmed with Nea Tavi, the gardener we have worked with for more than ten years. Some years gave a good harvest, others less so — the weather has its say too.
02 — Nixtamal≈ 12hours, every day
Cooked with lime, left to rest.
The kernels simmer in water with slaked lime, then rest. The skins soften, the flavour changes and the corn gains the stretch a tortilla needs. Nixtamalizing and grinding take about 12 hours — and we start over every day.
03 — The mill
Ground on a mill brought from Mexico.
The nixtamalized corn goes through the mill we brought over from Mexico and comes out as masa: a moist, dense dough that smells of toasted corn.
04 — Tortilla0tortillas a year (2023)
Pressed and baked on the spot.
Every tortilla is pressed and baked in our own kitchen — yellow or, sometimes, blue.
05 — Taco0% made in house
Three to a portion. Lime and coriander, always.
On a warm tortilla: fish, meat smoked in house, vegetables by the season and sauces we make ourselves. Almost everything on the plate — 99%, by our count — is made here.

From the menu

Three tacos, one portion.

The menu is short on purpose: a handful of fillings, done well, changing with the season.

Two margaritas with salt-and-chilli rims on a wooden table, Mexican textiles behind

To drink

Strawberry margarita

Or a Paloma, a Tommy's margarita, a mezcalita.

42 lei250 ml

To finish

Dulce de leche

Or fig-leaf ice cream, served in our own clay cup.

32 lei170 g

Prices in lei, from the printed menu at the restaurant (February 2026). A portion = 3 tacos, 350 g. Some dishes are seasonal.

The full menu, with prices

The chefs

Two chefs and a field of corn.

Alex Iacob and Cristi Dăscăleanu in a cornfield at dusk, arms full of corn — Alex Iacob and Cristi Dăscăleanu, at harvest.Photo: MAT archive

Co-founder · chef

Alex Iacob

Winner of the first season of Top Chef Romania (2014)
“Great Chef of Tomorrow”, Gault&Millau Romania 2018
Master's in avant-garde cuisine at the Basque Culinary Center
Cooked at Kane, Conacul Mănăsia and Maison des Chefs

Co-founder · chef

Cristi Dăscăleanu

MAT was born in December 2018, over a beer with Alex
Built out the first MAT by hand, over seven months
The fig-leaf ice cream is his idea

„Artisanal, because I have never liked shortcuts.”

Alex Iacob to Restograf (2023), translated

The place

Clay, lime and cacti.

Piața Amzei 13 — perforated terracotta screens, macramé, cacti.Photo: Victor Bogdan Gheorghiță · Design: PickTwo Studio

The first MAT opened on 15 June 2020 in a former florist's at Mircea Vulcănescu 121, near Gara de Nord: clay and lime walls, wood, and dried flowers hanging from the ceiling.

In January 2024 we moved to Piața Amzei 13. The new room, designed by PickTwo Studio, has terracotta screens punched with holes like tortillas, macramé lamps, the Virgin of Guadalupe at the door and a terrace with mint-green chairs. About 70% of the furniture came with us from Vulcănescu.

2020: the first MAT, on Mircea Vulcănescu
2024: the move to Piața Amzei 13
4.7 ★: on Google, from 3,692 reviews
Terrace: on the pavement, mint-green chairs

Raised MAT letters on the rose wall, a cactus in front — The MAT letters on the rose-clay wall

Large macramé lamps over the tables, a banquette and rose walls — Macramé from Oradea, over the tables

A statue of the Virgin of Guadalupe against a wall with golden rays — The Virgin of Guadalupe

The MAT facade on Piața Amzei: MAT letters, wooden doors and the terrace — The facade at Piața Amzei 13

The first MAT on Mircea Vulcănescu: garlands of dried flowers on the ceiling — The first MAT: dried flowers overhead

The yellow counter at Al Pastor by MAT, with bar stools, cacti, trailing plants and a chequered floor

Tacos al pastor

The little brother

Al Pastor by MAT.

Since 2023, at Calea Griviței 46, we have had a place for a single kind of taco: al pastor. The pork is marinated in adobada and cooked on a vertical spit (the trompo), a technique that reached Mexico with Lebanese immigrants.

The same house-made tortillas, the same salsas, a short menu. Thursday to Sunday.

Calea Griviței 46, Bucharest@alpastorbymat

Photo: Anuala de Arhitectură 2023 · Design: PickTwo Studio

About us

What others write.

0.0 / 5

Google

3,692 reviews · October 2026

0.00 / 5

Bolt Food

4,743 ratings · Restaurant Awards 2022

Facebook

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Short summaries with a link to each original (Romanian) article. Ratings as shown by each platform on 7 October 2026.

sea bass & chipotlesmoked lambshrimp & mangopatatas bravasdulce de lechestrawberry margaritamezcalitachurros por favor

Visit

The table is set.
Just come.

Simplest of all: walk in — on weekdays it's easier to find a seat; at weekends you may wait a little. For a guaranteed table or a larger group, give us a call.