chiquito

A buzzy little place in Camberley. Serving packaged up Mexican style food. The food here is filling, the waiters are friendly and the food is good. Price… well about £20 a head so if your going out with your family and you want something different but not too costly I would defiantly recommend it. If you a total food concise your though it’s not going to get a Michelin Star in the near future,

Ah Chiquitos, the boy band of TexMex restaurants.
TexMex food packaged up in a clean cut image which is bland and innocuous enough so as to not offend anyone but with no real substance beyond the shiny exterior. Meanwhile behind the scenes a team of bigwig management types at head office are trying their hardest to get as many people to buy into it as possible.
In terms of a TexMex experience it’s about as authentic as a Rolex picked up from a market in Shanghai or a compliment from a stripper. It’s not that it’s bad food, it’s just a bad attempt at TexMex food.
Before we ordered we were brought a complimentary dish of, you guessed it, tortilla chips. Right? Wrong. Here you get the well known Mexican staple of popcorn to help you decide what to order.
I went for the choritzo and sweetcorn tostadas followed by the southern fried chicken with BBQ pulled pork. Tostadas were reminiscent of eating very small ham and sweetcorn pizzas with a dollop of sour cream on the top. It was very much a knife and fork affair, street food this isn’t. Although to be fair they don’t pretend it to be.
My main was uninspiring chain restaurant fodder. Chips, a small piece of corn on the cob, a pot of coleslaw and a fried chicken breast in a bland southern fried coating topped with some pulled pork and some lava like cheese which managed to retain heat much longer than anything else on the plate. Nothing had any kick to it, I used up about half a bottle of hot sauce before conceding it was either watered down or had never been hot in the first place. I suspect the latter. The pulled pork was the best bit, but sadly also the bit there was least of.
Bottom line is Chiquitos is unlikely to make anyone’s top 10 best restaurants ever list, and you’ll probably never hear a death row inmate ask for one of their dishes as a last meal but it’s sanitised enough that you could come here with pretty much any group of people and they will all find something they are willing to eat.

We visited this place for the first time last week and were generally happy with the food and service we received. On arrival you are taken to your table and provided with a bowl of Nachos and a dip to tuck into whilst making your food and drink choices. The waiter was very attentive, although it wasn’t very busy on the Tuesday night that we were there. I opted for the 2 course £9.99 menu and opted for the starter of Chilli Poppers (Three breaded jalapeños filled with cream cheese & served with chilli jelly). They were really tasty but pretty small. For the second course I chose the Border Wrap (A soft flour tortilla filled with strips of crispy crumb-​coated Southern fried chicken, lettuce, ranch dressing & smoky BBQ sauce. Served with skin-​on fries). The 2 courses together were very tasty and good value for money. My wife chose off the Main Menu and started with Deep Filled Potato Skins for £4.99 (With sour cream, spring onion & melted cheese, with or without crispy bacon bits. Served with a dip pot of smoky BBQ sauce on the side) which looked and tasted great but was once again quite small. For her main course she tried, and really enjoyed, the Texan Chicken Melt for £13.49. (Grilled, marinated chicken breast with grilled bacon, melted cheese & smoky BBQ sauce. Served with skin-​on fries, corn on the cob & coleslaw). This meal was almost twice as expensive as my meal and neither of us could see where the extra cost came from as both meal portions were of equal size. The only downside I can think of is that the main course could have been a little warmer on arrival. I would suggest a visit here because the food tasted great, but would recommend the 2 courses for £9.99 menu as this represents far better value for money.

My husband and I often go here with our children. The service is generally okay. The food is decent, although I’m taking off a star because they seem to use processed cheese on the nachos. The selection of children’s meals is really good and the selection from the adult menu is comprehensive for mains — the starters are a bit less interesting with most either fried or doused in cheese, but then again, you don’t eat Tex-​Mex for its healthy aspects! Sharing nachos are huge and margaritas are good. In all, I’d recommend this place for a good meal out.

We ate at this Chiquitos for the second time recently (May 2011). We’d been really impressed on our first visit four months earlier. But this visit was on a Saturday, with no lunch deals, so how did we feel about it when paying the higher prices?
Well, it’s a dark place, but purposefully so with lots of dark wood, orange lights and Latin props. We were greeted well.
On both occasions, waitresses have been lovely. The food was slow on coming on this visit, considering they were only about a quarter full. Last time, it was a slow chore trying to pay and leave! But friendly waitresses lessened the suffering.
This time, I had the burrito. £10 and it didn’t even have a shred of salad beside it. My wife had the burger and fries again at almost £10. For our son, we ordered their tostado style garlic bread, which I really enjoyed as our son had almost filled up on the complementary nachos! With a large soft drink each, the bill was £29.
So, for this visit, I’d give it 3 stars. Nice food, but so stingy with the burrito, that I felt a tad ripped off. And when you know you’re paying s premium just because it’s a Saturday…
But I will give 4 stars for the lunchtime deal in the week. We got so much for our money!!! Great deal. I’ll be back soon, in the week, but wouldn’t go again on full price day, to be honest.

This Chiquito open up recently in November 2008 — so it’s all shiny and new! it sports the same great menu and cocktails as all the chiquito restaurants, with a great restaurant and bar setting. It does some really great, fun parties for children as well as accommodating for large groups. The dessert menu is to die-​for and this chain offers a welcomed breath of fresh air from other restaurant chains. Def. worth a visit with friends, family or loved ones. It plays some funky latino music for a lively night out! Its great location means you’re only a few steps away from the bowling alley and cinema