Hot sauce and tasty tacos – date night at Chilliwow

On Sunday night Tom and I found ourselves escaping the first flush of winter, in a booth at one of Brisbane’s newest fiesta joints – Chilliwow. Residing in what was once Barsoma, Chilliwow has brought its A-game to the themed bar scene in Brisbane with festive splashes of paint and more mexican décor than you can poke at a piñata.

It also offers a cheap and tasty menu consisting pretty much of chilidogs and tacos.

We only stayed a while but while we were there we indulged in two tacos (one beef, one pork) a chilidog, a Mexican beer and a red Mexican sangria.

Look at these babies - yummo!

The food was quick to come out and the tacos were simple, but fresh and tasty – not amazing – really the kind of food you’d throw together at home, but for $5 each you can’t complain.  The chilidog was a lot smaller than we expected but Tom seemed to enjoy it along with his beer.

I will say I was a bit disappointed with the sangria. It tasted good but the already small cup was crammed to the top with ice so I got around 4 small sips and it was over. Not really worth it in my book and next time I will most likely order a beer so I have a drink that lasts a little/a lot longer (when hot sauce is involved, this is important to me).

For a newly opened bar on a Sunday night Chilliwow wasn’t doing too badly. There were plenty of seats available and a steady stream of people kept coming through the door so I’m sure it would have picked up later on in the evening.

Chilliwow is a visual treat with its kitschy Mexican styling and this transpires to a super fun atmosphere – perfect for a laidback get together or a fun night out. I think it will become a firm and reliable favourite of ours and we’ll definitely stop in again for an inexpensive and relaxing evening...only next time I might read the labels on the hot sauce more carefully before sloshing it all over my tacos (beware the XXX hot!)…

Must try this drink next time

Images courtesy of The Thousands, The Urban List and The Weekend Edition.