03 Mar, 2025
Restaurants have traditionally been resource-intensive operations, from energy and water usage to food waste and packaging. At Gringos Mexican Smokehouse, we’ve spent the past year implementing comprehensive changes to reduce our environmental impact while maintaining the exceptional dining experience our customers expect. Today, we want to share the journey we’ve undertaken toward greater sustainability—both to be transparent about our practices and to perhaps inspire other businesses in our community.
“When we evolved into a smokehouse concept last year, it was a perfect opportunity to rethink every aspect of our operation,” explains James Wilson, our founder. “We asked ourselves: how can we honor both Mexican culinary traditions and our environmental responsibilities?”
The answer has involved changes throughout our business, some visible to customers and others behind the scenes. Here’s how we’re working to become one of London’s most environmentally responsible restaurants.
One of our most significant initiatives has been dramatically increasing the percentage of locally sourced ingredients on our menu. While certain authentic Mexican ingredients must still be imported, we’ve formed partnerships that have transformed our supply chain:
“Local sourcing isn’t just about reducing transport emissions,” notes our head chef Miguel. “Produce harvested at peak ripeness and delivered within hours simply tastes better. It’s a win for flavor and the environment.”
This approach does require more flexibility in our menu planning. Rather than demanding specific ingredients year-round, we adapt our offerings to what’s seasonally available, with special menu items highlighting the best of each season.
Food waste is one of the restaurant industry’s most significant environmental challenges. We’ve implemented a multi-faceted approach that has reduced our landfill contribution by 85% compared to last year:
“In both Mexican cuisine and barbecue traditions, there’s a beautiful history of using every part of an ingredient,” Miguel explains. “We’ve embraced these traditional practices while adding modern techniques.”
Examples include:
We’ve partnered with London Compost Collective to ensure all unavoidable food waste is composted. Much of this compost returns to our urban farm partners, creating a closed-loop system.
For takeaway orders, we’ve introduced:
“The most surprising outcome,” James notes, “is that these waste-reduction measures have actually improved our profitability. Using ingredients more completely means we get more value from every pound spent on supplies.”
Running a restaurant—especially one with a smoker—requires significant energy, but we’ve made substantial improvements:
When we installed our “Fast Eddie” smoker, we worked with the manufacturer to optimize its efficiency:
We’ve installed solar panels on our south-facing roof, which now supply approximately 35% of our electrical needs during summer months.
“The traditional image of a smokehouse is something that consumes resources intensively,” admits our pitmaster Alex. “We’re proving you can honor traditional techniques while still being mindful of efficiency.”
Restaurants are notoriously high water users, but several changes have reduced our consumption by over 40%:
A simple but effective change has been our service water protocol—we now ask customers if they would like water rather than automatically providing it, reducing unnecessary waste.
Perhaps our most powerful sustainability initiative has been empowering our team to lead changes:
“We formed a staff-led ‘Green Team’ that meets monthly to review our practices and suggest improvements,” explains Elena, our front-of-house manager. “Some of our best ideas have come from staff who noticed inefficiencies in their daily work.”
All new employees receive sustainability training as part of their onboarding, and we hold quarterly workshops on different environmental topics relevant to restaurant operations.
“Having everyone engaged means sustainability becomes part of our culture, not just a management directive,” James adds.
We recognize that sustainability is a journey, not a destination. We’ve established measurable benchmarks to track our progress, and we’re committed to transparent reporting of our successes and challenges.
“We’re proud of what we’ve accomplished, but we know there’s always room for improvement,” James acknowledges. “We’re currently working toward carbon-neutral operations, with a target date of 2026.”
For our customers, there are several ways to support and participate in our sustainability efforts:
“Ultimately, we believe exceptional food and environmental responsibility can go hand in hand,” says Miguel. “The same care that goes into perfecting our smoke techniques or making authentic mole sauce from scratch extends to how we treat our planet.”
We invite you to join us in this commitment to enjoying amazing Mexican smokehouse cuisine in a way that respects both culinary traditions and environmental stewardship. After all, creating sustainable restaurant practices ensures we’ll be here serving you for many years to come.
