Hola! Bringing Mexico to Brighton
La Choza was born in 2012, a small but perfectly formed vibrant pink Mexican street food eatery on a tucked-away corner of Gloucester Road in Brighton’s North Laine. The lively creation of lifelong foodies and friends Aoife Sweeney and Annie Gelpey who shared a passion for all things Mexican from Frieda Kahlo to tequila. On a mission to bring the authentic taste of Mexico to their seaside hometown, they made frequent inspiring tasting tours to Mexico where the duo roamed markets, ate at street stalls, and shared meals with locals. They brought the best recipes home with them and created a menu of outstanding and, most importantly, authentic Mexican delights.
La Choza soon became an integral part of the outstanding Brighton food scene attracting locals of all ages and streams of tourists who formed an almost constant queue around the block. Banging reviews, top awards, and grateful testimonials soon followed. The venue is decorated with funky folk art, neon lights, graffiti, sugar skulls, and vivid flowers and is staffed by a friendly, dedicated team who keep the place buzzing but it’s the food and drink that makes La Choza Brighton’s tastiest restaurant.
VIVA LA VIDA!
Food & Drink
Fast Food, Slow Cooked
La Choza presents a gloriously delicious and affordable menu of authentic Mexican street food dishes all made with time and love.
We research, experiment and continually taste our dishes putting so much energy and skills into their creation that every mouthful is a delicious journey through flavour.
Mexican cuisine starts with the chillis and we love them – no surprises there as they are proven to kick everyone’s endorphins into touch. We import them from Mexico and use a huge variety throughout our menu including the earthy ancho, liquoricey pasilla, aubergine-coloured guajillo, classic Arbol, crinkly moritas, the triple-X hot habanero and many more.
Our house salsas, all homemade, range from mild to super fiery and include classics like Pico de Gallo and the more unusual Mexicana made with roasted tomatoes, two types of chilli and herbs, the almond-based Pipian from southern Mexico and the off-the-hook Naga for those who want a proper kick.
Our meats are slow-cooked, the Mexican way – that means marinating in chilli and spices and then cooking for up to 12 hours to bring out all the deep, delicious flavours.
Situated by the sea, we are lucky enough to have the freshest of fish – we marinate it in lime juice for the cerviche and fry it up to make it crispy for tacos and burritos.
There’s a cornucopia of other Mexican ingredients – blue corn, queso fresco, cactus, anchiote, tomatillos, escabeche – giving our menu the authenticity we strive for. We want dining at La Choza to transport you and your taste buds to the streets of Mexico.
Diners choose their base from crisp tostada to soft burrito, pick a traditionally prepared filling from homemade chorizo to roasted sweet potato and finally take their pick of the fresh salsas. The board of outstanding specials uses local and seasonal ingredients for more temptation.
Vegetarian, vegan, dairy intolerant or any other dietary requirements are expertly satisfied too and there’s a kids menu for the little ones.
La Choza’s variety of drinks is infamous from the sublime hibiscus Margheritas, top-shelf tequilas and Mezcals to cold Mexican beers or smooth hot chocolates with a chilli twist. Our wine list sports wines from Mexico (they took some finding) and Spain, all chosen to complement Mexican food. Plus there’s a unique cocktail menu where old favourites are given an inventive La Choza twist – Chilli Vanilli or Mocha Margarita anyone?
La Choza looks forward to feeding you soon.
‘Barriga llena, corazón content’ – full stomach, happy heart.
Live on BBC2!
Britain’s Top Takeaways
La Choza was on tv! We were part of the live show of BBC2’s “Britains Top Takeaways”, which aired on the 17th of May 2022. It was an exciting and fun-packed day!
Reviews
Whats the Media writing?
…a wonderful fusion of Mexican street cuisine with a side of British character, and people have come in droves to experience it. The support La Choza has received has propelled it to “fan favourite” status, and this exceeds far past the queues of customers or the surrounding bevy of bars, brasseries, and restaurants…
Hot Rum Cow
The clientele in La Choza were equal to the decor: ‘colourful, young, happy and noisy.
restaurantsbrighton.com
Here, in this tiny Brighton backstreet, there’s true Mexican magic. No fuss or hoo-ha or expensive PR. Just the taste of a food I worship and adore. Viva La Choza. Viva Brighton.
Tom Parker Bowles
I can’t recommend this place enough, its great quality authentic Mexican street food which is amazing value for money. Service is great and fast, and you can take-away too, perfect if your office is around the corner! Oh, I do love Brighton.
Hana Terri
customer reviews
I love this place and returned yesterday after quite a few years, a highly anticipated return. Sadly, it wasn't quite what I remembered.. it's just another mexican now, the food was ok but not great, it lacked love. I had goat tacos and despite a shared nacho starter, I was still hungry afterwards. Didn't get our sides, told after an hour that something was out and the last person got their food when everyone was finished. Think there was only one person working in service so she had a lot to deal with. Just felt like I needed to share my slight disappointment somewhere. The margharitas were great.
It was ok. I was disappointed with the tortilla chips on the nachos. They were generic salted packet ones, not the proper homemade ones. I could've gone to a pub! Service was not exactly unfriendly, but we were left for a while, and the 2 team members who served us seemed over it. Much better food at Casa Azul (but only open during the daytime) or go to Carlito Burrito as the vibe AND tortilla chips are way better.
Bustling place, great food and service. Got the ceviche, burrito bowl and quesadilla and liked all of them. Added a guacamole as well to the mix. Calamari was standout for us, better than the usual pale yellow batter-heavy stuff elsewhere. Worth trying !
Very tasty chorizo mince tacos and coleslaw and fantastic service from our server Luis who took care of us with some menu questions 🙂 food quality a bit nicer from previous times
La Choza. Arguably a Brighton institution. Staff are really friendly and accommodating, service is fast and the vibes are good. In general the food is pretty good. As usual, for such cuisines outside certain geographical areas, a diagnosis of outstanding is hard to come by. Therefore, such a deduction would depend on what your opinion of good Mexican food is and what you’re used to.We enjoyed a cheesy nacho dip and the birria tacos. Regarding the cheese dip, I thought it was a bit pricey for what is was and I would have liked the onions to be chopped up. Flavour was good though. My thoughts are similar when it comes to the birria - the onions should have been chopped up though I did find it rather flavourful and I did drink the remaining broth. Though I would have liked an additional quesadilla as it comes with only two. I think it would also be nice to have a bit more cheese in the quesadillas.Overall good and I would go back.
Could not recommend enough. Even though the restaurant was full to the brim the staff were really attentive and made us feel at home.We ordered three margaritas - one classic, one hibiscus and one passion fruit . They were on the table in a matter of minutes and all were delicious.My partner and I decided to get fish tacos and her sister got a chicken and chorizo burrito. All of them were great and left my partner doing her “food dance” while eating - which only happens with the best of scran.We weren’t sure which salsa to go with so we got extra dips for the table. My favourite was the habanero, which was really spicy and hot but not in a gimmicky “blow your head off” kind of way - full of flavour and well balanced. The others had the pipian and if I remember rightly a green tomatillo type salsa - both very tasty.The atmosphere was great. We’ll deffo be back.
Casual, fast food venue that is very small and you are expected to share tables. No actual restaurant service, even though you are served, as staff are disinterested, do not smile and have no knowledge of the menu.Food was nice, cocktails were in a children’s size cup and overpriced-£10 for a standard margarita. Very angry at the 10% service charge for no service.Internal of the restaurant is beautiful and has a really nice atmosphere
Awards
Recognition for our amazing food
