Former Bournemouth University students open Mexican food store in Poole

Arun and Zach, former BU students, have opened up their third site for their Mexican food business.

Inspired by Mexican street food, Arun and Zach created Loco Lime in June 2023 after finishing university the month before.

After noticing a gap in the market around Bournemouth and Poole, they decided to specialise in Mexican food.

Arun told the Daily Echo: “We met in first-year halls and studied on the same course.”

Zach added: “We knew at the start that we were going to be friends.”

The two friends had a passion for cooking throughout their studies, and they managed to save up some money to buy equipment to run a takeaway service from home.

They started to cook the food at Zach’s house, where they ran a business through the takeaway service Deliveroo.

In the summer of 2023, they opened up a pop-up in Bournemouth’s Helch Market, where they gained permanent residence in January last year.

For their third sire, they opened in The Dolphin in Poole in October 2024.

The pair are extremely excited about the future of The Dolphin, stating it’s only going to get busier with the additions of new businesses.

At the moment, they are in the process of introducing more menu items, such as smoothies, coffees and a few other side.

In the future, Arun and Zach are looking to launch in a few different markets, such as Winchester, Southampton and Christchurch.

They are also interested in running events over the summer, potentially providing catering for weddings or parties.

Arun said: “There’s quite a lot of good opportunities.

“We will start planning in the next month and see where we can expand, it’s always fun launching new sites and concepts.”

Featured Image via Instagram @thelocolime