The start of 2025 is proving to be a bumper time for Sussex food lovers, writes Nick Mosley.
There are a plethora of amazing offers out there ranging from discounts on home delivery though to impressive and heavily discounted set menus at fine dining restaurants. If your budget stretches to it then right now is a fantastic opportunity to sample the offering of some of the best and most creative kitchens and chefs in the county.
Although every hospitality business is eagerly chasing a slice of the pie, some restaurants having a track record of serving amazing value food and drink all year round and one of my all-time favourites is La Choza Mexican restaurant on Gloucester Road, co-owned by friends and business partners Annie Gelpey and Aoife Sweeney.
Popping with unmissable colour both inside and out, the doors swung open back in 2012 and team La Choza haven’t looked back. They hit on a uniquely fun and affordable ‘build your own’ dish menu that even today offers a tasty – and fun – meal for just £12.50.
“It continues to be a tough time for hospitality”, said Aoife. “We’re not immune to the challenges but we’re weathering the winter well with a regular clientele of Brightonians alongside weekend visitors to the city”.
To put bums on seats at the start of the week, La Choza serves up ‘Margarita Mondays’ with 2-for-1 on selected tequila and mezcal cocktails and ‘Taco Tuesdays’ with all their soft tacos at £3 each.
“We’ve always strived to be as affordable and accessible as possible”, said Aoife. “We pride ourselves on being all things to all people – we have a truly cross-generational appeal. Our customers range from students through to grandparents taking their grandchildren out for a treat”.
“We also seem to be rather popular with the ‘first dates’ crowd, which I put down to our busy atmosphere and the fortifying qualities of tequila”.
Affordable dining doesn’t mean scrimping on quality. La Choza proudly sources south coast fish and offers weekly specials featuring seasonal meat and vegetables.
“We use local seasonal ingredients to create Mexican dishes and to let the taste of our great local produce sing with the help of Mexican produce such as out tortillas that are produced in South London in a tortilleria”, said Aoife.
The Mexican kitchen is very flexible so dietaries are easily accommodated.
“We’ve always got lots of vegetarian and vegan options”, said Aoife. “And most of our dishes contain non-gluten ingredients. After all, tacos are made from corn flour so are naturally gluten free”.
Unlike many Brighton restaurants, pre-booking is only required for larger groups.
“We’ve always championed that idea that our diners can turn up on the day without the fuss of booking ahead”, said Aoife. “On our busy nights, just pop your head in and leave your mobile number then head to a local pub for a beer. We’ll WhatsApp you as soon as your table is available”.
After a hearty plate of tacos and a mezcal ginger mule, I asked Aoife what three words she’d use to summarise La Choza: “Vibrant, fiesta, flavourful.”
La Choza, 36 Gloucester Road, Brighton BN1 4AQ
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