Review - Fiesta Latina

What a hidden, ignored gem in the centre of York!

Fiesta Latina exterior

York, though it prides itself on being full of independent businesses, has a surprising lack of non-chain brand restaurants. My boyfriend, his parents and I went for the early bird special so we’d get the 25% discount which you can grab every day between 4-6pm and on Tuesdays and Sundays all day for students – which, on our tiny-weeny budgets, is great.

Potato skins and half-eaten cheesy garlic bread

The starters were the best part about the whole meal, perhaps because I was so ravenous I’d happily have eaten the plastic Native American statue we passed on the way in, with potato skins and garlic bread slathered in melted cheese accompanied with a fruity salsa. My only qualm was the cheesy garlic bread was actually more like cheese on toast with no garlic to speak of. I love my garlic and this was a bit disappointing. A little bit off-putting while we ate were the huddle of four waitresses who would stand next to the bar near our table and chat together without even an attempt at looking busy for the most part of our time there. I’ve been a waitress and we were never allowed to stand idly around, there is always cleaning or tending to customers to be done.

Enchilada main course

The mains were a hefty portion worthy of the most clinically obese patient after a fasting session. My boyfriend couldn’t even finish his, and he finishes everything. It was delicious too and I wished I could have had some Hunger Games-style feast drink so I could have eaten it all. I had enchiladas with yet more melted cheese. Again the only problems were, because I chose mild (because I’m a pussy) the enchiladas were kind of flavourless. They hadn’t replaced the spice with any other herbs, but the cheese kind of made up for it. I love cheese.

Shirley Collins cocktail

They do 2-4-1 cocktails too. And it would be rude not to, really. I had the Shirley Collins (wahey) a raspberry cocktail with gin and it was delicious, you couldn’t even taste the alcohol so obviously I accidentally drank it in about three gulps. The bartender – a total Ross Kemp lookalike - was extremely professional and talented with added flourishes and bottle-spinning so the cocktails were an experience as well as a tasty treat. He chatted with us while he made our drinks and was funny too. Damn him!

Ceiling art

The decor of the place was really unique and fun to look at. Hand-painted murals of dancing and women in vivid colours really made the place stand out from the bland steel and cream wash of usual restaurants. It might be a little bit dated but that doesn’t take away from how eye-catching and interesting it was to just take in, and added to the whole experience of being transported somewhere else. Somewhere tenuously Tex-Mex where Native American statues, eight-foot guitars, floor-to-ceiling bars full of tequila and humorous wall signs all co-exist happily together.

Fiesta Latina interior

Overall, the experience of going to Fiesta Latina was a really great one and I can’t wait until I can go again, be impregnated with a spicy foodbaby, and get 25% off just for being a student. The staff were friendly, the bartender was the best I’ve seen, and aside from its little downfalls the place itself just has a distinctive personality that’s quirky and weird and completely memorably. Let’s all shun those chain money-makers for a while and try more independent restaurants and maybe you’ll find your new favourite restaurant.

8/10