Hackney Dive Bar and Taqueria Will Close

The site occupied by taco restaurant and dive bar, Bad Sports, on Hackney Road is for sale and its owner — Dom Prosser — has today confirmed to Eater that it will close “soon.”

Prosser told Eater that running a small independent restaurant in London is more work than fun in the current climate. The site is listed with a £150,000 premium and states a “passing” annual rent of £52,000. (Because it’s an assignment of an existing lease, the rent is currently stated at this value, and is non-negotiable.)

Bad Sports Hackney Road will soon be closing it’s doors. The last year and a bit we’ve had a lot of fun making delicious tacos and powerful drinks for our friends and family. It’s been a great experience but in the current climate a small independent restaurant is a lot more work than fun and it’s time to get back to throwing stupid parties for spurious reasons. Thankyou to everyone that made it down. Look out for merch collabs, World Cup parties and us in front of the bar for once X

Bad Sports opened towards the end of 2016 — at a time London seemed gripped by a taco trend. Following Santo Remedio’s first restaurant in Shoreditch, its opening coincided with El Pastor in Borough Market, Corazon in Soho and Breddos launching a first permanent site in Clerkenwell.

As well as tacos, it became known for its cocktails and dive bar style, regularly showing American sports on screens in the basement.