Chilango

Alright, are you ready? I’m about to make your fast food Mexican dreams come true.

Have you ever heard of Chilango? Maybe you have, it’s a series of Mexican chain restaurants that have been popping up all over London and other various parts of the UK (so far, there are a total of eight).

I’ve always been a massive fan of fast food Mexican places like Chipotle, Moe’s and Qdoba, but those are in the states. Where’s a girl to find delicious made to order burritos in London?

Sure, there are still a few Chipotles around… but these are always packed. It’s the novelty of an American fast food chain, after all. So I want to indulge you in one of London’s own and finest, Chilango.

I was invited to try out the restaurant to taste the burritos and of course, frozen margaritas on what may have been the rainiest day in London. But there’s no way I could say no to Mexican food. Or tequila.

So we ambled over to North London, hopped off at Angel tube station and found ourselves in burrito heaven. From a glance on the outside, you wouldn’t think this is a chain sort of place, it’s stylishly unique and by all accounts, bold.

We walked through the doors and were greeted to a packed restaurant. Seats were full, and there was a queue leading up to the counter. Don’t mind the queue though, they keep things incredibly fast moving.

As you approach the counter, you start to overhear the conversations with the customers. Every customer is greeted warmly, by a staff that’s buzzing with energy. When we were up we chatted to Allan, who’s in charge of this particular Chilango spot. He’s abundant with joy, grinning and joking with the rest of the assembly line. You get the feeling that it’s a really good place to work.

I asked a few quick-fire questions about everything and then we ordered up.

It’s assembly line style ordering. Quick and easy with fresh ingredients.

A vegetarian burrito for me complete with: rice, black beans, roasted peppers, mild salsa, lettuce and a ton of guacamole. Oh, and a little bit of cheese.

J ordered ‘The Legend’ with rice, extra chicken, black beans, lettuce, mild salsa, cheese and guacamole.

As we made our way through to the checkout, we chatted away with the entire staff assembly line. I’m kind of blown away by how friendly everyone was.

We had one last order of business before tucking in. What to drink?

The recommendation: frozen margaritas. Who were we to say no to this on a Thursday afternoon?

The main downstairs eating area was fairly full up, so we explored our upstairs options.

Up a winding staircase, we managed to snap up a booth to feast in. I’d recommend to go into Chilango just after the lunch rush, we were there towards the end of it, so managed to find a table. But if you’re after a quick takeaway back to the office, this is a great option too. You won’t wait long to be in burrito heaven.

A beautifully wrapped burrito.

Time to dig in.

Impossible to eat without making a mess. It’s all part of the enjoyment.

It was amazing. I’m almost embarrassed to admit that I ate the entire thing. Almost.

It’s great to find a new fast food Mexican place in London serving up quality fresh ingredients. Usually when I go back home to the states it’s on my must list to go for Chipotle or Moe’s in the few short weeks that I visit. Now… we’ve found a great London spot with Chilango.

We washed down our meal with our margaritas. I don’t think I can rave enough about these. I’m a massive fan of margaritas and tequila, and these were so good. I tend not to order them frozen, I’m more of an ‘on the rocks’ type of person. But these left me impressed. We almost ordered another round. But it was only 3PM… and these packed quite the punch.

So we sat and leisurely enjoyed ourselves before heading back out into the dreary day that London had served up.

We had a really great time at Chilango. I’d recommend it to anyone and everyone… and I sort of already have been since we were in last week. Sometimes you just want to go for a casual meal, but without skimping on quality. Chilango is your place for that.

So what do you think of my newfound Mexican food hotspot?

Kelly xoxo

PS. I’m seriously missing those margaritas…

Chilango
27 Upper Street
Angel, Islington
London N1 0PN
(We visited the Upper St location, but there are plenty of others around London)