Chido Cantina Restaurant, Lennox Head

Food 4/5

Staff 5/5

Value 4/5

Overall 4/5

It’s Tuesday night in Lennox Head and Chido Cantina is packed to the rafters. Many locals will remember Pancho Villa at the same location. In 2020, after 31 years, Richard and Judy Edwards retired - along came new owners and now this place pops.

New owner, Blake Rogers, has taken the best of the classic Pancho Villa favourites, reworked them and upped the ante to create a great Mexican dining experience. Now, under new Head Chef Nemo Baker (ex-Quattro), Chido Cantina is taking things to a new level with their new More Than Mexican menu enhancement. Each month they will feature new specials, with the most liked then being added to the regular menu.

During our visit, we got to enjoy some excellent delights including prawn tostadas featuring fresh Ballina king prawns, served on a corn tostada with avocado, lettuce, capers, lemon and chili - everything combining perfectly to give great flavour.

Next up were the sizzling fajitas. I had the prawns and the boss had the beef. After the sizzle plate arrives piping hot, you have the opportunity to get hands on by transferring what you like to the soft flour tortillas and then adding vegetables and cucumber salsa. Delicious.

As well as the new ever-changing specials there is Chido’s massive standard menu with everything from salt and pepper squid, to pork ribs, cauliflower popcorn, corn tentacles, slow-cooked beef brisket, slow-cooked pulled pork and of course good old Mexican staples of nachos, enchiladas, burritos, chimichangas, quesadillas and everything in between. My wife, who is gluten-free, particularly enjoyed the menu because there was such a wide range of suitable options. 

Blake, told me they pride themselves on sourcing locally wherever possible: seafood fresh off the local boats, meat and chicken from the excellent Lennox Head Butchers down the road, and fresh local farm produce.

Now desserts here are not their strong suit with only churros on offer. I made up for this with one of the best classic margaritas I’ve had in a long time. I nearly went for the second one, but refrained as I was driving.

With excellent, friendly staff and great décor (including Mexican sombreros on display which no doubt end up on patron’s heads as more margaritas are consumed), this is a great place to hang. And it’s nice to see reasonable prices with most dishes being large servings.

Chido Cantina is not five-star dining, nor is it intended to be. It’s just a fun place to hang out and enjoy good Mexican comfort food with an ever changing menu of new dishes to support the classics. Enjoy.

For more information, visit: chidocantina.com

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