Chiquito — Restaurant in Ellesmere Port

We have to add to our previous review as your only allowed 1 review:

8th January 2025. The first ‘Wandering Wednesday’ of the New Year… Took Hubby Neil and I to Cheshire Oaks, to one of our favourite eateries…. Chiquito’s….. we love this Mexican restaurant. Fresh food, cooked to order, full of flavours and colour! We both had a pot of tea, as this day is so cold with the snow and freezing fog…. Starters: we both had the same: a double stack of tortillas, layered with garlic butter, parsley with mozzarella and oven baked….. thin and crispy, a perfect base…. A simple dish but sooooo tasty. Entrée’s: Neil had a tinga chicken and beef chilli Burrito filled with rice, black beans, salsa, mozzarella, quac, jalapeño cheese sauce, all wrapped in a tortilla, with added volcano sauce to spice it up, the dish was dressed with a side of homemade nachos with sour cream to dip…. Neil also added a side of spicy fries. I had tinga chicken with beef chilli Enchiladas, filled with rice, jalapeño cheese sauce, black beans, baked in the oven with rich tomato sauce, mixed with volcano sauce for that extra little kick and melted mozzarella over the top, with red pickled onions and sour cream…… A side of loaded crisp seasoned fries with chicken, chorizo and melted mozzarella….. All the dishes were perfect, our server today was a lovely lady who has served us previously, Amanda was professional, very courteous and attentive, a total credit to this establishment, many thanks for making our lunch perfect. Also massive complements to the chefs for their beautifully presented, culinary delights! Will we be back? Really! No need to ask!! 100% yes!

13 November 2024 ‘Wandering Wednesday’ this week took Hubster Neil and I to Chiquito’s at Cheshire Oaks. Starters: Neil had a double tortilla, oven baked layered with melted cheese, garlic butter, parsley and finely chopped red chilli on top, lovely and crisp with no soggy bottom! I had Quesadilla Birria with melted mozzarella cheese, fried onion and shredded beef….. served with a gravy jus. Entrée’s: Neil had Burrito filled with rice, refried beans, salsa, mozzarella, guacamole, jalapeño cheese sauce, tinga chicken, beef chilli and hot sauce all wrapped up in a large tortilla, the oven baked, accompanied with homemade tortilla chips and sour cream…..and a side dish of spiced fries. I had Enchiladas, tortillas filled with rice, jalapeño cheese sauce, tinga chicken and Barbacoa beef, baked in tomato sauce, smothered with Monterey Jack cheese, then finished off with sour cream and pink onions. A side dish of loaded nachos, jalapeño peppers, onions, melted mozzarella, sour cream, jalapeño cheese sauce, guacamole and salsa, with chicken and chorizo, tray baked so it all infused! Washed down with a pot of tea each, warmed us cockles as it was a very cold day. Our server was a lovely lady called Amanda, excellent service with a beautiful smile, very polite and attentive, totally professional, a credit to this restaurant, thank you, also many thanks to the chefs, your food was delicious, again thank you. The restaurants all around the ‘Coliseum’ at Cheshire Oaks look very tired and washed out from the outside but we can reassure you that Chiquito’s on the inside is gleaming, very clean, surrounded with very colourful, Mexican shades in the decor, truly beautiful inside and the food is OUTSTANDING, as always…… Will we go back? Most...

Chiquito, Ellesmere Port – 4pm on a Wednesday (Tex-Mex meets Travelodge lobby)

We visited Chiquito at 4pm, the mealtime equivalent of a shrug. Too late for lunch, too early for dinner — that strange hinterland where you question all your life choices and seriously consider ordering nachos as a personality trait.

The restaurant was about a third full, mostly people quietly chewing in laminated booths under mood lighting set permanently to “dusk in a theme park.” Staff hovered with polite smiles and the low-level energy of people who’ve already been asked three times whether fajitas come with sour cream.

Then there were the walls.

The walls were a riot of painted cacti, sombreros, and fake hacienda charm. It’s the sort of décor that feels like someone described Mexico to a man who once went to Benidorm and then asked him to design a restaurant. There were lizards on the lampshades. LIZARDS. I half expected the waiter to shout “Olé!” and slide across the floor like a flamenco-themed fire drill. It felt less like dining in Mexico and more like visiting a Mexican-themed gift shop run by a bloke called Keith.

I had the jackfruit enchiladas — which, to be fair, looked the part. Smothered in sauce, hidden under a duvet of melted cheese, they arrived piping hot and carrying the faint aroma of optimism. Jackfruit is a brave choice. It has the texture of pulled pork if you squint, but the flavour of damp optimism. Still, it worked — kind of. My wife had chicken burritos and described them as “alright,” which in marriage code translates roughly to: “Don’t ask me to elaborate.”

Service was friendly but moved at the pace of a sleepy burro. Lovely people, just in no rush whatsoever. We were halfway through our mains before we even noticed we didn’t have cutlery. For a moment, I considered eating with my hands in tribute to ancient Mayan traditions, but then remembered I was in Ellesmere Port, not Tulum.

Now, atmosphere-wise, it wants to be a fiesta. There are bright colours, themed cocktails, and a playlist that thinks Ricky Martin is the cultural pinnacle of Latin America. But it never quite lifts off. It’s like watching someone try to start a party with a kazoo and a bag of tortilla chips.

Suggestions (from a self-appointed Fiesta Consultant): • Replace the lizards with live maracas. Or at least glue googly eyes to them. • Include a “Spice Roulette” menu — one enchilada is secretly filled with Scotch Bonnet hellfire. Make dinner exciting again. • Add a dramatic “Guac Table Service” where someone in a sombrero makes guacamole at your table while narrating their heartbreak in Spanish. • Hire someone to slowly strum a guitar in the corner and look wistfully into the distance, just to create that moody telenovela vibe.

Final verdict? Not a bad meal. No disasters. No flavour epiphanies. It’s the kind of place where the food fills you up, the decor gives you something to stare at, and the drinks are probably stronger than they should be at 4pm on a school night. Exactly what it says on the tin. That tin may be made of papier-mâché and wearing a sombrero, but hey — it’s...

I reviewed this restaurant back in January where I gave it 5 stars on both food and service. How things can change though. My 12 year old daughter went here with a few friends all of similar age. This was for a birthday celebration for one of the group. The booking was made for 5.30pm so they could eat earlier and be gone before it got busy. They arrived and an adult saw them inside, spoke with the staff and saw them seated. The restaurant were fully aware that it was a young group dining without an adult and this did not appear to be an issue. They were all very much looking forward to this meal as it was a little bit of independence for them. Unfortunately the staff were rude from the beginning, immediately telling them they needed to be gone by 7pm. I don't recall ever being given a time limit as an adult. However they thought this would be fine as they were only ordering small meals and had no intention of taking a long time. Having ordered they patiently sat there for the next 90 minutes for their food. Feeling hungry and a little upset at the delay. They chased it and finally got their orders at 7pm. The staff then bizarrely stood there watching them eat and impatiently waiting for them to finish as they wanted the table. My daughter says how awful she was made to feel, being glared at, tutted at and left in no doubt they were not welcome and were clearly seen as a nuisance. The behaviour of the staff was intimidating, and bullying they saw a group of young people and clearly felt they weren't worthy of the treatment shown to older customers. This is a restaurant I have used many times and have previously highly recommended to friends and family. But...