Chiquito

Attending most restaurants on a Saturday evening will always be busy, but despite the chaos of The Printworks, and how busy Chiquitos was on this particular occasion, they handled it well.
Who cares about a 30 minute wait when you can sit on a terrace with a Desperado (without lime!), watch the World go by, and wait for a table inside?
This particular Chiquitos has a nice mezzanine, which is where we were seated. Every table was occupied, but we ordered drinks, and browsed the menu. Unfortunately, on this occasion, the restaurant had run out of Brahma, the Brazilian beer, which was disappointing as I wanted to try this. Maybe next time!
The next difficulty after ordering starters, and a long wait, the waitress informed us that one of the starters wasn’t available, but an alternative was chosen. My moto is: «if you don’t ask, you don’t get.» The result was two free starters. Despite it being busy, and our waitress serving on many tables, the restaurant and management handled the evening very well. Full credit goes to «Luce» our waitress, who deserved big tips this night, and I hope she was rewarded for her great and friendly service.
Now lets talk about the food;
My starter was the Cantina Mushrooms, which i chose due to the mushrooms being covered in hot habanero sauce with melted mozzarella, and it was served with tortilla chips. Absolutely delicious and worth the extended wait! In between courses, and with a little more waiting, we were given a couple of Tacos to keep us sweet, which was appreciated.
I ordered pulled pork tacos for my main as I often cannot resist pulled pork, especially when in it is marinated in BBQ sauce. With the course, one receives four tacos with a sour cream dip and a salsa dip, and the tacos are covered in cheese and pink onions. The mix of the pulled pork and crunchy taco is a great combination of taste offering smooth meaty flavour and a crispy cover.
I also sampled the Fiery Chilli chicken, and my goodness, it was fiery, but also tasty. I think I will order this as my main next time.

Came here after watching deadpool in the cineworld that’s in the same complex.
It was super busy as it was a Saturday evening during half term so the place was packed.
We had roughly a 10 min wait after being told it would be at least 20 mins, which is always nice.
Sat at a booth with very well worn sofas. Worn through in places. Service was efficient, but not particularly friendly.
The menu is too lengthy in my opinion, but the food we recieved was nice so maybe they can handle the scores of dishes available.
Two of the dishes were accompanied by an interesting onion, lime and Jalapeño jelly which was just too limey, luckily it was on the side so it didn’t spoil the meals.
I’d go again, but I’d rather go the 20 extra yards along the street to Nandos.

We ordered 2 vegetable fajitas and they were literally 75% onions with a few pepper strips mixed in. They should rename this plate onion fajitas. And the onions were really undercooked as well. They might have as well just served us a whole raw onion on a plate and call it vegetable fajita. This has happened to us twice and we’ll never go back again.

Chiquito’s have a set menu which is always nice.
The great thing about this restaurant as its close to the MEN arena and you dont have to wait long for a table if its busy (10 mins max) they give you a table buzzer and send you to the bar.
Food was nice and fresh I had the ‘Chilli Chicken’ very HOT! ha ha get some onion rings with a cool dip to calm down the chilli sauce!
My friend had fajitas always great, but very filling.
They did mess the bill up a few times though, but were apologetic about it.

This was my first time here but it was really nice. It was really busy as the arena is near by and Saturday nights in manchester are always busy.
We just wanted something nice to eat that was quick as we was going to see John legend, the service was great we had to wait 20 mins but we didn’t mind we had a cocktail outside while we waited.
We ordered 2 meals and some chillie nachos and shared them between us it was a nice change having a pic.
The food was hot and the service was great. Would definitely go again.

Great for a nice meal after an afternoon on a pub crawl. Service and staff are great!

Great food, great service, great atmosphere, great pitchers of Margaritas!
Can get busy on the weekend, so be prepared for a wait. But I’d say it’s worth it.

The surrounding and ambiance were excellent. Staff very friendly and attentive. The breakfast we had was a big sizzler for £5.95 and unlimited Tea/​Coffee for £1.95. Although the quality was very good it was definitely evident of an example of portion control and as such I would not return because I can get an equivalent but better value else where in town… Apart from that I would have returned, after all the price of extra beans and an additional hash brown would be peanuts and outweigh a customers dissatisfaction as in this case.

They do breakfast. Who knew?
My Saturday morning fry up craving became too strong to ignore. It was bucketing down with rain, the Printworks was a brollyless dash away and Chiquitos looked very inviting.
We were seated very promptly and handed the breakfast menu. Also on the table was the obligatory hot sauce and a cocktail menu — both very tempting. Ordering 2 full breakfasts, my partner and I soaked in the Mexican vibes.
No matter what time in the day you visit, the Printworks has a knack of tricking you into thinking it’s midnight. It’s dark, there’s no windows and the Universal Studios style lighting seems to cut you off from the real world outside and all concept of time. Eating a full English breakfast in a Mexican restaurant in the Printworks couldn’t have felt more wrong. but it arrived and I instantly got over it.
Served on a skillet, set into a wooden board, was a pile of bacon, 2 eggs, roasted tomatoes on the vine, a pot of baked beans, a couple of mushrooms and 2 hash browns.
They were out of sausage — very disappointing and the mushrooms tasted a little weird, but everything else was top notch. It could have done with some toast (which I think you can order separately) but it turned out to be a perfect amount. Cutting into the food on the skillet was a little off putting as it felt like you were scraping away a layer of the pan — but if it meant that everything arrived warm, then it’s a small (and probably quite fussy) compromise.
The restaurant was clean, the staff were nice and the fry up was satisfying. Even more satisfying was leaving the dark confines of the Printworks and realising that we still had the whole day ahead.

I came here for the first time when I moved to Manchester and I was quite impressed… although I had just moved from Wales… I loved the art that decorated the place and the waitress went beyond the call of duty. the quality and the diversity of the food also impressed me…
Since then, I feel like the quality has gone down… I went a few weeks ago to find it moderately busy… What I noticed is that… there is a lot of staff running around… but actually not working effectively… the end result is everything become disorganised and it takes much longer for you to get served…
My friend and I ordered the nachos to share for a starter. thinking ooo we will split the £7 course in half so its more cost effective… the waiter confirmed if we wanted two plates. which we agreed… for the main I ordered the mexican sea bass… which for £17 I expected it to be amazing… unfortunately it was ‘just ok’ and a little dry… when I looked at the bill afterwards I discovered we were charged £12 for the nachos because we stated that we were sharing… which we have done many times before. and the portion was the same of a regular one…
Overall…this place has lost its magic with me… the staff are friendly when you do get to speak to them, the décor and bar are really homely feeling… and they do really tasty margaritas… particularly the strawberry slush one…
but the lack of organisation and the quality of the food is letting it down…

To start with I am not gonna claim to be a food critic or be a posh diner. That being said, I know what I like. We went here on a friday night after a few beers, we had booked a table for 2 for 7 but by the time we got to the place there was 4 of us. We asked if we could increase our table to 4 and the greeter was very accommodating and we were very lucky that’s group of 4 just left.
The greeter could very well have said no and we wouldn’t have sat together but she was going to look to see what she could do which is excellent. We had to wait at the bar for a few moments while the table was being prepared but this took a matter of minutes.
The waitress came very quickly to take our drinks and food orders and wheat an amazing popcorn with paprika nibbles put on the table. That was gone within a few minutes and the food came not too long after wards.
I had ordered the chicken cowboy which was 2 southern fried chicken fillets with pulled pork and spicy mayo. I fell in love instantly. It was really hot throughout and the mayo was amazing, loved the spicy ness of it and finished it quickly.
I had gone to the toilet and found out the server had overheard us say it was my birthday so she asked to verify and when I returned she brought a cupcake and whipped cream with a candle which was the best I have ever had! Not only that we weren’t charged for it.
The restaurant wasn’t the biggest so I don’t think we would have got in quickly if we hadn’t booked a table on a Friday night. It was fairly reasonably priced for a city centre restaurant but I have had cheaper. With 4 mains, 3 beers and a lemonade it averaged to £16 each. I would definitely go here again in a heartbeat.

A lot of people on here have said that Chiquitos food is far from Mexican, and after a menu change (late last year I think) this seems to still be the case.
Having said that, the food is good and the atmosphere here is very lively. The staff are friendly and if you go here you’ll have a decent meal. Try heading here at quieter times as it gets very busy at peak (you’ll be sat around waiting a while for a table).
I tend to go for the veggie option as their veggie chill is great, but I’ve had the BBQ Double Cheese Burger too which was good for a change.

First ever experience of Chiquitos was in Leicester Square when I was a teenager, its a great mexican place that I introduce to all my friends old and new when ever i get the opportunity.
I checked out Chiquitos in Manchester and it didn’t disappoint… well except for the long queues and having to wait at the bar for a table, but I can only think that this is a telling sign as to how good the restaurant is.
The food was great, the staff were friendly and it wasn’t that expensive.
I enjoyed it that much… i went back a few days later too.

I went there with my partner awhile ago and I must say it wasn’t satisfied with the food or the staff. The staff that served us were not friendly and seem to be lack of knowledge of the food they offer. The food was ok but i had higher expectation if it is charged at this price. However, the cocktails were nice. It may just have been this restaurant which is like that but I would not recommend it to my friends.

Located in the Printworks, the lunch menu is the pull for me to go here instead of the menu alternatives.
£5.99 for one course, plus add a drink for £1.50 (a truly lovely glass of wine at that) and extra add ons for 2 and 3 courses = a full stomach at lunch time for a tenner.
Oh, and free nachos.
Nice décor and a varied enough menu to cater for boring people like me, it’s a recommended joint for the lunchtime slot.
Doesn’t go the extra yard to blow your mind away (as reflected by the Unilocal rating), but all things considered, it’s decent. So many alternatives in this part of town though.

Lunch menu on a quiet Thursday afternoon.
Complimentary Nacho’s and Salsa once we ordered. The waitress knew we was sharing the initial starter of Nachos but no individual plates. No biggie.
Main course was a footlong Hot Dog with the whole works and a Chill Con Carne. The footlong was a mess, the bread was dry so it crumbled and the fries looked like they had been in the fryer… twice.
The service was fine, the Hot Dog and fries were sent back and refunded. Shame really as previous visits have been excellent with the food.

It’s Mexican, Jim, but not as we know it, not as we know it, not as we know it… and by that I mean it’s not Mexican at all. Now as I’ve said before, while I’ve never really experienced authentic Mexican food, I know what I like. I like chunky, thick guacamole, spicy salsa, soothing sour cream preferably with some added chives and hot, wholesome flavours. Chiquito seems to have tried very hard to do the opposite of all this. Avocado purée, ketchup and natural yoghurt alongside bland, tasteless flavouring does not a Mexican feast make.
The only reason we were forced to come here was due to a ‘business meeting’ which the other half invited me to, involving monetary talks with one of his now ex-​bandmates, that guy’s other half and the BF’s parents. (They’d made an investment in the recordings. Long story.) Anyway as this particular despot he used to work with was calling the shots, he insisted we go to Chiquito, beloved of him and his lady. Blagh. I felt so sorry for my mother-​in-​law, there was literally nothing on the menu she liked the look of. And she avoids dairy, so the fact that so much of it comes smothered with cheese (and not a smoky, authentic tangy cheese, no, the kind of plastic cheddar we feed to children with no tastebuds) was hugely off-​putting. She ended up with a limp effort of a salad that I wouldn’t give to my rabbit. If I had one.
No, Chiquito is not the way forward. If you can deal with a more casual dining affair, go for Barburrito as for my tastes the flavours in there are the most enticing I’ve tried thus far. But leave Chiquito be. Reading so many American reviews of the place I can safely say it’s one of our country’s biggest embarrassments, alongside Roy Chubby Brown, Steps and our attempt to remake That 70s Show. We’re sorry guys. Please forgive us and let us come live with you so we can sample some decent Mexican fare.

If you ever crave Mexican food, Chiquito should be your last choice. It is anything but Mexican. They have tried every inch to make their food so, but alas! The place as such, is very pleasant and the bar is great; but when it comes to the food, it is just not worth it! Everything is rather too much flour and too fried. Anything you order, it will have the exact same taste and filling only different shapes.
It is quite popular though, since it is the only Mexican (near Mexican) joint around and it benefits from being different than the other restaurants surrounding. The place is nowhere near Las Iguanas are. They do Mexican perfectly well.
Only thing I really love here, are the barbeque chicken wings, they’re worth licking every finger after!

Un exceptionally poor, the food takes the inspiration from Mexico but also does some Spanish stuff in a nice big clump of Hispanic stuff. The food was very okay, the steak in my fajitas was a tad on the chewy side.
My friends experienced similarly okay stuff, I don’t know if its just an isolated experience to central Manchester as I’ve only heard good of the restaurant in didsbury. The staff are attentive and do there best but theres something funky going on in the kitchen.
They do gorgeous nachos though, I am an addict to those, try to get em in takeaway though lol.

Chiquito is as far from a Mexican restaurant as Pizza Hut is from an Italian restaurant. It’s not great.
The food is very simple and pretty pricey for the measly portions you end up with. The staff aren’t great, nor are the drinks… why am I eating here?!
It’s centrally located and there’s not much in way of competition anywhere near it for Mexican (type) food. Everyone raves about fajitas but I don’t think they’re that great and they’re no where near as good as TGI’s!
I had the enchiladas and it was like chicken with ketchup wrapped in a tortilla. Not very impressed.