THE PLACE
You wait years for a Mexican street food joint and then two come along at once (although Carlos Burrito has now left the Wood Store to go on the festival circuit). Despite La Choza only being open a couple months it’s the talk of the town. And even without eating there it’s easy to see why. They have a simple menu where you choose between burritos, tacos, quesadillas and tostadas before picking a filling and a sauce. All the options weigh in at just over a fiver and you can eat in, grab a table outside or take your food away.
THE MEAL
We pop in for lunch because it’s quick and easy and we know we’ll get a table without too much trouble. Knowing how big the burritos are we opt for one filled with BBQ Shack’s legendary pulled pork (£6), topped with habanero sauce. It’s huge, with lots of textures and flavours merging nicely: the zingy hot sauce, the slow-cooked pork, sour cream and refried beans filled out with rice. The soft tacos are piled with slow cooked spicy beef (£5.50) and topped with green salsa, all fresh with salad – not rubbery or unhealthy like bad Mexican food can be. Perhaps it’s greedy to have nachos (£4.50) too, but they’re loaded with cheese, jalapeños, sour cream, guacamole and refried beans and we can’t resist. They’re a meal on their own. The curros (£3.85) are an interesting and delicious crispy take on donuts with a gooey choc-caramel sauce. We don’t eat anything for the rest of the day and that’s on just a £10 a head spend.
THE VERDICT
Like the rest of Brighton we love this place. Even though they’ve only been open a couple of months, that shows they’ve come firing out of the gates. Great food, incredible value, big portions, jolly atmosphere, plus margaritas – what’s not to like?
WERE WE SUSSED?
Well, we’re in there all the time, and they know we’re from SOURCE as our office is on the same road, but we don’t think they knew we were reviewing the food today.
36 Gloucester Road (01273) 945 926
Tues-Weds 11:30am-6pm, Thurs-Sat 11:30am-9:30pm, Sun 11:30am-4:30pm
