Chiquito

I love Mexican food, and this is a super place to eat an mexican dish. The food taste good, with propper spices like corriander and chillie and the service was okej :-)
BIG minus:
When visiting a restaurant it’s important that chairs, tables and manus are clean. Here the chairs, tables and manus was dirty so it felt a little bit snabby, whenever it’s a cheap or expensive restaurant I expect the chairs, menu and table to be clean.
BIG plus:
The atmosphere was delightful. They served food in a very Mexican way in colourful ceramic bowls. So it felt like Mexico for a little while ;-)
Would I visit the restaurant again? Yes, I think I would :-)

I don’t visit this branch of Chiquitos for one reason. The head waiter or manager whatever his position is in the restaurant is extremely rude and thinks he is above his customers. The one time a group of 4 friends visited he said that when I was ordering a 3 course dinner that I should wait until I finished my first 2 courses before ordering my desert. It might not sound bad but it was his tone and attitude which displeased me and he didn’t use a pad and paper to take my party’s orders which subsequently sent 2 out of 4 people in the party the wrong dishes.

Hmmm, Chiquitos, this is a tricky one. I like Mexican food, in fact I adore it. I’m not sure this is the Mexican restaurant I would go to if I’m in town as there are many more that I love. It is on the cheaper side that some of the rest so it does have that going for it.
This particular Chiquitos is situated in Brewery Quarter, a section of Cardiff rammed with eating establishments of all price ranges. I suppose out of all the restaurants in this sector, I would opt for Chiquitos out of all of them because of my love for Mexican food.
It’s good to go here if they are doing special deals, the food is good, but not anything to rave about. It feels nice and cosy inside which is always nice and the tables are pretty well spaced so you’re not sitting on other people. This place is good if you’re looking for cheap, no frills Mexican food.

My God, this place is a romance killer. Chiquito is like one of those restaurants you’d see demonised in a Mike Judge or Kevin Smith film. Its laughable attempt to appear authentic and family friendly smacks of desperation and tackiness, exacerbated by cuisine that’s not much better than what you’d find in the freezer section at Sainsbury’s.
The menu items are terribly overpriced, especially for a chain. Don’t bother ordering a margarita because it’s just a glass of sugary mix with a shot of shelf tequila.
I was here on a date (figures!) and extremely embarrassed because it was I who suggested this restaurant in the first place, so I had nobody to blame but myself.
The best (or worst, depending on your disposition) part of the evening was hearing The Baha Men’s «Who Let the Dogs Out?», arguably the worst song to emerge from the 90s and now the ludicrous background music to our absurdly average meal.
Thankfully, my sweet-​natured dining companion and I thought it was hysterical, but it was just one more reason I’ll never, ever come back here.

If you love Mexican food and don’t feel like cooking, the only option available is to grab your sombrero and mosey on down to Chiquito’s in the Brewery Quarter.
For what is essentially a greasy chain restaurant, this particular one is pleasantly surprising. So pleasantly surprising that I seem to return to the scene of the crime again and again, and with good reason — the food is tremendous.
It’s the same scenario every time. While there is a wide selection of starters on the menu, I can never seem to read past the chicken wings in tequila sauce without finding myself licking my lips like a fox at a cock fight. They are without a doubt the finest thing to come out of Mexico since Corona, which coincidentally are always good to have on hand to add to the Mexican aura of the meal.
But anyway, back to the wings. Coated from top to bottom in dripping tequila and lime sauce, these slippery customers can and will get all over the place, so come prepared with a napkin or, preferably, a box of them.
Once the devilish poultry has been exorcised, it’s on to the main course which is a lot more difficult to choose than the starter. With Mexican classics like quesadillas and enchiladas fighting for the right to your plate with the likes of the tequila red snapper and chilli hot dog, picking out a main is about as hard as completing a rubik’s cube in the dark with your toes.
In the end, I inevitably opt for some form of steak in tequila sauce as a compromise and enjoy while reminiscing of the tequila covered starter I had eaten moments earlier. Despite the wide selection of desserts, I can never seem to get as excited about these as the previous two courses, and often opt to leave to enjoy the ride home, accompanied by the taste of dried tequila sauce that borders my mouth.
Definitely recommend Chiquitos, definitely recommend the wings and definitely recommend the tequila sauce.
Adiós!

Located right at the heart of Brewery Quarter, this branch of Chiquito has a great year-​round, covered, city centre location — and should, in theory, be a huge success…
Plenty of my friends had said good things about this chain restaurant, and while I have to admit that the food was tasty I was a bit disappointed to find the service soooooo s-​l-​o-​w. Our waiter was actually very friendly, which put me off complaining, and perhaps he was trying to do his job well — but the food just took ages to arrive, despite the place being half empty.
When the meals did finally arrive, the food was pretty good — so, no complaints there. However, we then waited another eternity for coffees after our meal, and a further wait for our bill. Good job we didn’t want dessert or I might still be sat there. Either they’re seriously understaffed or there’s something going awry with their systems because it should not take that long to get a coffee and your bill!

I went to Chiquitos as part of a friend’s birthday celebrations but wasn’t very impressed. The food was okay, but I wasn’t amazed by it, in fact it seemed quite mass-​produced. The prices were also quite high for the quality of the food so I didn’t think it offered great value for money.
If they ran offers then sure, give it a go. Or if you’re margharita mad then the cocktails are worth a shot. But otherwise don’t get your hopes up.

In past, years ago before my time of Blighty exodus, I had several good meals here. I remembered this place as fun and busy, with jolly staff, great prices and a good atmosphere. Not exactly classy eating as you might find elsewhere nearby, but it was certainly always a good eat. This was why I was so disappointed when I went back recently.
I had a similar experience to Laura, in that we were hurried through and sat neatly at a table before being ignored for a long while. There were a lot of staff and the place wasn’t very busy, otherwise I might have been able to understand. Our waitress ignored my meercat impressions, and in the end I ordered with another passing waitress.
We only ordered two starters because I knew that their portions are quite big, and this seemed to annoy them no end. The food was tasty, but not worth the price tag unfortunately. My friend’s coffee was poor to say the least.
I was scouting out a restaurant to have my birthday celebrations (in the end I chose Las Igunanas — so glad I did!), so perhaps I was being a little more critical than I might usually have been. But I will avoid in future, which is a shame as I have good memories.

Without a doubt Chiquitos is my favourite chain restaurant, and I just keep coming back to this branch in the Cardiff Brewery Quarter!
Anyone familiar with Chiquitos, will know that it specialises in good quality Mexican Food. The menu consists of many, many dishes and combinations; wraps, tacos, nachos, enchiladas, fajitas, it’s got them all (I’m ever so slightly addicted to the Santa Fe Wrap).
The décor is also Mexican themed, expect to see a lot of cactus motifs, and the toilet doors are even renamed ‘Signors’ and ‘Senoritas’.
When it comes to the Cardiff Branch of Chiquitos, your experience really depends on what time of day you visit.
At lunch time in the week (and often the weekend too) the place is absolutely dead (made even worse by the fact that this is very large space). Many a time I’ve come here in the day with friends, and we’ve actually been the only table in the place, and it feels a little awkward that there are more customers than staff.
In the evening however the place is generally packed, and it’s often very tricky to get a table (so book ahead).
As for prices, they also depend on what time you visit. The lunchtime menu is incredibly good value, you can have a three course meal for a fixed price which is under £9, and there’s plenty of options. In the evening prices are high, it’s not uncommon to spend around £30 a head, which is rather expensive for a chain restaurant.
I would definitely recommend this place. If you’re after a bargain, than go for lunch, however it’s a good atmosphere you want then stick to the evening!

I’m starting to lose count of the number of times I’ve visited this particular Chiquitos. I can honestly say I have not had a bad meal here. I’ve taken everyone I know and love here at some point which will always make this place special for different reasons to me.
I generally always have the nachos platter to begin with. Think of the Sahara dessert made of nachos with an oasis of salsa and your close to the amount your given.
For mains I’d like to recommend the Enchiladas. Spicy chicken inside a wrap with cheese cwtching it all for good measure, with a side of rice. Again if your there in the evening and don’t order this as a lunch, you portions are massive. Tummy exploding type stuff here, but all very tasty and served by charming staff. Prices are a little pricey here, depending exactly what you get. For what I get plus a jug of margarita, it comes to about £20−25 a head.

I was very disappointed with Chiquito restaurant.
My boyfriend and I were greeted and seated quickly. Our server was quite rude and sullen. She left us and didn’t come back to take our drink order for about twenty five minutes.
Sure that she would leave us to starve if we didn’t order immediately, we also placed our food orders. She was extremely put out, though I’m not quite sure what by.
The ambience of the restaurant was terrible. Admittedly, this was due in large part to the table of drunken shouters behind us.
Our food arrived fairly quickly (clearly the chefs aren’t quite so bored as the waitresses) but the chips weren’t hot and the food itself was not worth the money. There is, though, a lot of choice for the meat eaters.
We left pretty swiftly after we’d eaten. I won’t be going back to this restaurant.

Chiquitos is a modern Mexican restaurant in the Old Brewery Quarter on Caroline street, I had no interest in going there until one of my friends said that it was worth checking out, so since I am a big fan of Mexican food I agreed to dip into my hard earned cash and spend £10.90 on a dish of Mexican food, and all in all, it wasn’t that bad, but defiantly was not worth over a £10! In my honest opinion, it was pretty tasteless. Where was the flavour of the salsa? Where was the spice?
But this restaurant is good for one thing, and that is cocktails! Fairly priced, tasty, and such a wide range! I would recommend coming here one night after a hard day in work and chilling out by the bar with some warm crunchy garlic bread and an ice cold cocktail!