I visited this restaurant a couple of weeks ago with my partner and a couple of our friends. We went on a Wednesday night so we didn't bother booking in advance. When we got there they had plenty of tables, but there were also quite a few full tables as it's quite a good sized restaurant. The atmosphere was lively, even though it wasn't full to capacity.

The restaurant is on the outskirts of Liverpool, it doesn't have a car park but there is plenty of parking on the streets nearby. They also have a branch in the city centre but as there was football on that night we decided to avoid it and go to the one on the outskirts instead.

Although this is a Mexican themed restaurant, I would describe it as traditional and atmospheric. When we walked in, the first thing you see is the bar which is based on a traditional pub with barrels on display and so on. We weren't drinking with it being midweek, so we opted for a lemonade. The lighting is quite dim which I think creates a lovely atmosphere. Even though it was quite light outside (we went early evening), and I was expecting to feel like we were going for an early tea rather than an evening meal, the atmosphere didn't make it feel like that.

The service we received was excellent, with the waitress attending to us straight away. We didn't have to wait long for our starters, and the gap in between starters and main course was long enough for it to not feel rushed. The waitress also noticed when our drinks were running low, which is a sign of a good waitress in my opinion.

The great thing about this restaurant is the variety of food on offer on the menu. Although they offer everything you would normally associate with a Mexican restaurant, they also have a few different things on offer. The starters were things like nachos, quesadillas, potato wedges, and a couple of chicken dishes (goujons etc) which I wouldn't normally associate with Mexican food but was a good choice if you don't like spicy food.

The mains varied from fajitas, burritos, enchiladas, to slightly more random things such as catfish. We all chose Mexican dishes, which came with lovely flavoured rice and refried beans. The prices were good value and you certainly get a lot of food for your money. Most dishes were suitable for meat eaters and vegetarians, as they offered a choice of fillings which was usually vegetables, chicken or chilli beef. This meant that if you were a vegetarian, you weren't stuck to the usual one or two choices.

The food itself was very tasty, we eat a lot of Mexican food at home with the Old El Paso kits, but this was completely different. Personally, I found the restaurant's version to be a bit too creamy rather than tomato based, but it was still nice and was a change to the usual homemade stuff we have. The side dishes that came with it were also very tasty, I loved the refried beans and rice which made it a full meal and there was no way we were fitting dessert in afterwards!

Overall, I would definitely return to this restaurant, they have their own website if anyone is interested in checking out the menu:

http://www.tavernco.co.uk/home.html