los chilitos taco and tequila house

the service was great and we loved the patio. the fishtacosare quite good. it was not amazing, but a pretty solid bet we’ll go back again when we are in the neighbourhood.

mexican fare, the mexican way. authentic mexican fare is hard to find in this city, but los chilitos can do it right.

this place can be very busy - so i would recommend reservations well ahead.

the saturday night we were there, we had reservations, but the table of people that were expected to leave in a reasonable amount of time to free up a table for us kept ordering rounds of drinks. so we waited about 35-40 minutes and there isn't much room to wait...just a few chairs in a narrow hallway outside of the kitchen doors. we felt that we were constantly in the way of the waitstaff that had to pick their way around our feet that we had nowhere else to place.

we were compensated for our unexpected long wait by a small discount on our overall bill, which was appreciated.

it was obviously party night - the place was incredibly loud with 2 or more large groups commandeering most of the small restaurant's seating space. there is a patio - which will be great in warmer weather, but this wasn't one of those nights.

while we waited, we ordered drinks and i for one was amused to see the large size margaritas arrive in goldfish bowls. the rim was nicely salted - i didn't, but was sorely tempted to forgo the straw and drink directly from the bowl. maybe if i had ordered a second one this would have happened.

the menu is nice and simple, predominatelytacos(their specialty), burritos and the various sides.

i was a little disappointed to learn that they weren't preparing their own tortillas in house, but was told that they were considering doing so in the near future. as it was, the tortillas that came with the meal seemed to be fresh and of a reasonable quality for commercially prepared ones.

it was nice to see a couple of speciality soups - birria and pozole on the menu. i tried the birria and it may have been my favorite dish of the evening.

thetacoswere good but not among the greatest that i have had. this was a very good "for calgary" taco. again, the tortillas should have been warm and i found the carnitas to be too dry. sure, i could (and did) douse it with salsa and guacamole ...but i shouldn't have to.

i also felt the portions of salsa were on the small side. we ran out of salsa before we ran out of the main dish. i didn't ask for more - so maybe that would have been an option. i note that a portion of salsa can be had for $1.95 each. that would have certainly been an option. i think enough salsa to eat with the main dish, should come with the main and not be an extra charge.

the service was friendly but not easy to access because of the extremely busy restaurant.

i was also happy to see a flan on the dessert menu. as full as i was, i had to try it. it had the right flavor, but the bottom was a little too leathery (meaning it wasn't as fresh as it could have been) . i didn't finish it.

i liked los chilitos enough to come back for another visit and to try their other dishes. it's nice to see these dishes so authentically prepared.

i hope they have fresh made tortillas next time i visit!

muy delicioso. tried this place recently because of a groupon. at first, pumped about going but then dreading it as we read more and more negative reviews.

we were shocked in a good way; authentic mexican food and much better than tu tierra which was a huge disappointment for us. we spend a lot of time in a lot of off-the-beaten-path parts of mexico and so we know mexican food.

our faves were the yummy green rice and the chorizo quesidillas, plus thetacospastor were sublime. the only thing that would make it perfect would be mexican coke to drink! they do have plenty of flavours of mexican sodas though. service was knowledgeable, efficient, and pleasant.

i am thinking they have a new chef or owners now and that's why previous reviews have been so negative. great food and we'll be back!

we went there on monday for their all day happy hour! nachos were half off andtacoswere $3. not bad at all. we also got some margaritas! food tasted good but the cheese on their nachos wasn't meant for nachos. it was pretty hard and had no pull.

lovely locally owned resturant. warm friendly staff. fishtacoscrispy & tasty.
salsa verde a must with huarache brunch item. yum. decent selection of tequila.

my best friend married a mexican girl and she's always unimpressed when we come to a place like this -- trendy and expensive -- because she makes better at home. mexican food is comfort food, street food basically. my mom lives in mexico and i'm used to 10 amazingtacosfor 50 pesos (about $3) and the whole bottle of tequila for about $8. granted, i'm a bit jaded and we're not in mexico so it's not so much a reflection on this place in particular, but i get down there enough that i refuse to pay $10 for a taco. i can wait until christmas.

great place to casually pop in for some good mexican food.  the environment is authentic enough to make you want forget you are in calgary with great ambient music that believe it or not other places overlook or don't pay attention to.

i don't normally drink beer at lunch, but heck, they got me feeling weird if i didn't.

we had all the casualtacoson special as tuesdays they have them at half price.  we tried the pork, beef, fish, there was even one with cactus in it.  in the end, they all tasted pretty similar and adding our own hot sauce makes you just eat for texture if everything is spicy or saucy.  

i'd come back to try other things on the menu as our server was great, and i feel like i didn't dive in deep enough on this visit.

worst customer service ever!!!!! not only are they rude and call their customers liars they can't admit to their faults! i ordered 6 chickentacosthrough skip the dishes and once i got them they were pork! i phoned the restaurant and they told me i was lieing and that it was chicken. i informed them i eat here very often and know the difference between the pork and chicken. they proceeded to tell me they didn't care and they wouldn't do anything about it. i don't mind mistakes but own up to them! something los chilitos can't seem to do.

ate here for some appies and tacos. i wasn't happy with the tacos, but the shrimp cocktail starter was so great. just like in mexico. i'll be back to try something other thantacosand update once i do!

this is our new favourite mexican place in calgary. it's set in an old house, so we would recommend making a reservation, as there is limited seating. it's pretty cool inside, but a little bit loud and squishy. however, the food tastes amazing and authentic. there was so much flavour in our burrito and shrimp tacos. if you're looking for somewhere that makes good mexican food, this is the place to go. the patio looks like it would unreal in summer, we can't wait to have sometacosand tequila here out there soon!

wow.. wow, this is perhaps some of the best mexican i've ever had.tacoswere overflowing with meat, great prices for margaritas, and the best nachos i've ever eaten. the nacho chips were homemade, and it was piled high with cheese, steak, guacamole and fresh pico de gallo. yum!

worst mexican... i can't even call it "food". this is a bar... not a restaurant!!! this place is a joke!!! avoid it at all costs!!! the wendy's across the street has a patio and much more edible food and i hate fast food. if you want to drink overpriced tequila and eat sub par food this is the place to be! seems to be busy all the time but the food here is the worst food i have ever eaten period. not just mexican, but all food, ever! (technically never really eaten but it was tasted and left to rot) i have never made a food review before but the utter disgust in this meal compelled me to write this. after paying over $70 for 19tacosmy friends and i were disgusted by the meal we received. not only was our order wrong but the chicken was dry the pork was mushy and the beef was chewy and the flavour was lacking! after calling the management to inform them of their failure in producing edible food i i would have been happy to just let things be but the owner of the "restaurant" decided to call me back only the patronize me buy offering to buy me a round and a discount on some food the next time i wanna go back there and dine in only. thanks bro but why do i wanna go back there when this with the worst most inedible food i've ever tasted in my life!!! please do not go here! it is the worst! that is all :)

user reviews. awesome margurita (traditional one)! empanadas argentinas delicious flavour and the right heat, not heat for heats sake. fishtacoshave huge flavour; fresh, fresh, fresh. will be back!

decent mexican. our service was good - the place was packed but our food still arrived promptly. the veggietacoswere not overly flavourful but were still good. the deep fried ice cream was good but definitely not the best i have ever had. overall, it was a decent dining experience.

great tacos. my husband and i were visiting calgary and found lots of places we were wanting to try closed on easter monday so we were heading to moxies on 17th. as we crossed the street, we saw that los chilitos was open. doesn't look like much from the outside, but we were wanting mexican so i checked out the menu online. looked good so we went in. was surprised at how busy it was and what a warm, nice little restaurant. we shared the empanada argentina for an appetizer. they were delicious and we both loved the chimchurri sauce to go with it. then we both hadtacoswhich were fantastic (fish for dh and shrimp for me). they took a little while to come, but not a big deal for us as we were out just the two of us and on holidays. will definitely be going back next time we are in calgary.