Los Antojitos - The Chorlton Tap

So, I was approached by Kelly (the head chef) to review the food which I was super excited about. I stated that I would give an honest review and I will. First, I am going to give some facts about the pub in which they emailed me. Los Antojitos has expanded on their successful menu in January this year. It is a pub in which welcomes everyone and anyone! This place is great if you want to take your dog! That is one of the first things I noticed when I walked in. the Manager of the Chorlton Tap (Emily) noticed a demand in this busy area for a full vegan kitchen and therefore hired Kelly whose company popped up on a semi-permanent basis and had a huge success in summer 2018 with the award-winning brewery Northern Monk in Leeds.

Getting there from Liverpool where I am from was a straight run however, if you’ve never been to Chorlton then it is a bit of a pain to find until you get to the main city centre. It is located facing the Morrisons and the train station on a busy road, so it can be missed if there’s cars parked outside as the actual place is in the Chorlton Tap Pub so don’t look for a Los Antojitos sign look for the actual pub name.

When I walked in, I didn’t know if we just sat straight down or waited for someone, so me and my partner just surmised we sat right down which you usually do in a pub, but not being local I wasn’t sure what to do. The menu is mainly Mexican but don’t worry they sell other items which include soups, burgers and the house ‘pie/pasty’. The only one criticism I would say about the menu is to have more on the table. Me and my partner sat on a 4-person table and it had 1 menu. Another thing I would say is that there were no condiments on the table or around, they bought hot sauce and vinegar to the table but no salt.

After deciding that I did not fancy Mexican me and my partner had the house ‘Pie’ which turned out to be a Pasty, this didn’t bother me. The menu states that there is a MINIMUM of 20 Minutes wait (which I appreciated) however, 45 minutes later we received our food. The wait time did not bother me, however if you are in a rush, I’d avoid the pasty, the time is stated for a reason! It came with Mash, peas and gravy or you could have it with chips. The food was piping hot when served which is always a bonus because there’s nothing worse than cold food. I would rate the food a 4/5, however my partner was not too fussed. He didn’t think the food had much taste but I enjoyed mine. I suppose you can’t win everyone! He is also a really a fussy eater so maybe next time he should try a more known item on the menu rather than trying something different because you have to ask at the bar what the ‘pie’ of the day is, whereas the other items on the menu are already stated. He also has A LOT of salt with everything but he’s a shy person so I’d maybe recommend just having the basic condiments on the table.

I could tell this place had a friendly environment and welcomes a lot of locals who seemed to know the staff well. The atmosphere within the PUB was one of that you would expect at 9pm on Saturday evening, I was there at 4.30 pm on the Saturday. If you don’t mind being around groups of individuals or a ‘louder’ environment then this place is perfect, if you’re after a more low-key quiet dining experience, maybe try this place through the week or at an earlier time. The staff in the pub where really friendly but not being a local within the pub I didn’t feel I spoke to them much besides ordering food, this doesn’t mean I wasn’t happy with the service they provided because I was. However, I could tell how friendly they where with those who attend the pub a lot.

If you’re looking for a dog friendly, street food local with a friendly atmosphere then I would recommend this place. If I lived more local I would definitely visit more with my little doggy’s and try more on their menu.

Blog soon, IAVT xoxo