Restaurants
Chino Locos
Chino Locos finally brings a burrito joint to Leslieville. But what they make at this tiny spot aren't your typical meat and chicken varieties. On the menu here are options like the Swweeet burrito filled with Asian slow roast pork and green onion ginger relish and The Finest - a burrito stuffed with fish and chipotle chino black bean sauce.
Discussion
24 Comments
Sort By Oldest First / Newest First
Subscribe
If was was awesome I could see going back but for cold tough pork and bland noodles rolled in a wrap? Better get the kinks out of the operation guys. Don't believe the hype on this page.
Friendly service. Interesting take on the fish burrito. Subtle flavours. Very fresh!
The second time was today and it was truly terrible. I ordered take out and went to a neighbouring store while they made my order. I came back and the young girl working handed me a bag and said my here you go and said my name. I walked home and discovered both burritos were totally wrong... again. I called and they said that I had taken someone elses order. I told them I would quickly drive back and make the switch. When I got back they not so subtly scolded me for taking the wrong bag. I explained that the girl handed it to me and said my name but they clearly thought I was lying and again repeated that this was basically my fault. Now I was pissed and told them that before I leave again I want to check to see if my order is correct as they had also made a mistake last time I was there. The guy behind the counter then got angry with me and said I should have told him that they had made a mistake last time so he could ensure they didn't make one again with the same customer. You would assume they always try to get orders correct, but I guess not. So it turns out one of my burritos was in fact wrong and I told them that. The guy who takes the orders showed me the order -- and he had actually written it down wrong (which is what I think happened last time too) and used this as evidence that I had "ordered wrong". So no apology for giving me the wrong order, no apology for making my order incorrectly and instead scolding me for causing all of these problems myself somehow.
Not a good sign for their future success. It's too bad because it was a good idea and they seemed like nice guys at first, but they just don't know what they're doing. I'll never be back and I'll be warning my friends in the neighbourhood to steer clear as well.
If they would have just said sorry and maybe offered me a discount for next time or even just been nice and friendly, I would have felt totally differently -- but instead they decided to blame their customer for their own stupid mistakes.
i have ordered from Chino Locos 5 or 6 times and have had a pleasant experience on all of these occasions. im not saying problems may not arise in the future, we all have bad days, right? i tend to go there at around 5-6 so ive yet to experience the lunch rush. with waiting times around 10 minutes i could see how some could find this a nuisance, but i have no problem waiting for something is made fresh to order. the food is abundant, flavourful, reasonably priced and the staff are friendly and sometimes chatty while you wait. my favourite has to be the pollo loco with rice but be sure to check out the weekly specials.
As a relatively young business progression takes time, and the fact that they have survived this long and managed to open a second location proves they have done some things right and many people love what they have to offer.
So readers, these negative comments are a result of impulse and overly high expectations because they live in a spoiled country (we need to stop expecting to be waited on hand and foot) and need look at things from a less self geared bias. People who run businesses are humans too and have their shortcomings. Chino Locos has proven they have created a business that has attracted many regulars and I hope they keep it up. It is a shame that customers with positive experiences do not express themselves as much as negative.
the food is fresh and packed with flavour...tough to pick a favourite between the pork and the fish...but the noodles are always a must!
keep it up guys...
btw, always get the chow mein noodles. So delish!
I feel for people that have problems with how long things take, but it is small and it seems like they can only make a certain number of burritos at a time.
The option would be to expand.... but to where?
I will keep going back and I expect continue to be happy with the food and the experience.