Chico's Restaurant — Restaurant in Great Yarmouth

We've been to Chicos twice in the last 2 years. We live out of county (travelled up for holiday from Essex) and always fancy some lovely and wholesome fresh seafood. Lovely little restaurant with super attentive and friendly waiting staff. Good atmosphere, but it does get busy, especially during peak season and peak times, so be sure to book in advance to avoid disappointment.

In 2023, we had my mom over from South Africa, and we had a summer break in Norfolk, so I booked with Chicos, and we all had very tasty and filling meals. It was well worth it. The service was great and we didn't have to wait too long and the food was served nice and warm. The dessert was yummy as well.

In October 2024, again, we visited the local area (Hopton - a few miles down the coast from Yarmouth) for half-term and booked at Chicos again. This time, we felt the service was not up to their usual very high standards, as we waited longer than we normally would to get our food, and my son was absolutely ravenous, so it was a bit disappointing. We noted that they were busy that evening, so maybe that's why. When the food arrived, the portions were generous, but my son's fish was a bit overcooked and dry, and the batter was too thick and crispy for his liking. My salmon was a good size with added veggies, etc, though the salmon was a bit dry as well. Again, maybe cooked too long? My greek salad was nice, though. My wife had the lobster, which was good, just lacking enough garlic sauce to go with it. By the time we were done, we had been there a while and decided not to do dessert and decided to pay up and go.

Overall, we definitely had a much better experience at Chicos in August 2023, compared to October 2024 (a bit difficult to rate properly as not able to give 1/2 stars - possibly an overall 3 and 1/2 star rating overall would be fairer).

Have never had a problem with the owner, and they have always been kind, friendly, and responsive during communications and bookings, but do wonder if our last visit was just a once-off, we will never know as my wife has asked me not to book at Chicos again and try other seafood restaurants in the area. It's...

Overall disappointing, went there based on rave online reviews. Place is dingy and cramped (there is zero elbow room around the table and extremely low ceiling does not help - also dark to a point where we had to shine our cellphone light onto the menu to be able to read it) but we said food must be great in which case it's worth it. First of all to say that all food was cooked well, the issue is with flavour. Except for Haloumi, Chicken and Calamari rings everything else (Fish Plattter for 2 and Lobster Thermidore) was smothered in garlic (to a point where we could taste nothing else but garlic) and when you consider that those meals cost more than £100 together it felt like daylight robbery. Lobster size also looked pretty small (I would have thought ones of that size should be thrown back into the ocean) so also did not feel like value for £45 meal. Extra star is for the staff, they are all friendly, attentive and nice and they kept bringing different components from the Fish platter in waves which was a nice touch. All in all I can see why the place is popular but if you are going to charge as if you are a michelin star restaurant there should be some resemblance to it at least of which...

Visited here with 4 friends celebrating 3 birthdays. We were greeted very happily by the hostess who took us to are table that had 3 birthday balloons ( foil design ) on the table. Wonderful touch. After a couple of mins we ordered drinks and looked at the menu which is amazing with an excellent variety of dishes, not including the 6 selections on the specials boards. I had the full rack of ribs which were some of the best ive tasted, accompanied by homemade onion rings and fresh cut chips. Others had Rack of Lamb, baked Haddock and a Lasagne all of which came out hot and beautifully presented. The desert menu was just as good very satisfying too. All in all our night was 1st class with fantastic well presented food and drinks. As for our young waiter well he was the icing on the cake. Very approachable and knowledgeable too, always chatting and laughing a complete credit too the restaurant. I for 1 will be returning as will my 4 friends i hope others read this and try it for themselves as they wont be dissapointed. Thank you Chico and your team for making our...