Reviews in Manchester City Centre

We reserved a table at Boogalu having seen the menu online and being particularly excited for fish tacos and the lamb birria tacos. When we arrived the waitress informed us that there was no seafood, no lamb and no tofu, which took out a good chunk of the menu (around half of the mains). I think that the staff should have rung us on the day of our booking to tell us this, as we could have decided to go elsewhere. Instead we arrived and were instantly disappointed and debated whether to leave, but due to the rain and having no other plan, we stayed. The restaurant was very, very cold and the atmosphere was pretty depressing as the music was all really slow and sad. We expected more of a lively soundtrack given the instagram posts and the theme of the bar/restaurant. The food we did have was pretty nice, and I did order a second portion of the pork tacos. The cocktails were good too, with a nice selection. At 50% off the food was decent value, but might have felt less so at full price. Not ridiculous though. Our waitress was really nice and did well to try and save our visit from being terrible. She was incredibly friendly and fed back our comments to her manager. She did a really good job. I hope in a few weeks the teething problems are sorted and everything is running smoothly. There is definitely potential for this to be a nice restaurant and Manchester really needs another Mexican restaurant :) I would say having a slightly bigger menu in general would be good, as then if things run out there are more options.

Food was GREAT however wasn't worth the money, service was terrible, it was like being sat in an ice cube, our orders came wrong, some items weren't available, our bill was also wrong and we were served 2 cocktails in the 2 and half hours we were there...

Loved the food, decent veggie selection. Felt like good value but we did get 50% off the food, I think at full price may have been pushing it a little! Highly recommend the melon salad as an underrated star, Cocktails were excellent but they didn’t have all the ingredients for one we tried to order. We weren’t bothered by other menu items lacking (no seafood) but seemed a little odd that several things offered weren’t available when they’ve just opened. Service was very friendly but a bit slow.

Food was nice but service was quite slow. Also ordered a glass of the house white which was £6.50, then asked for a second glass later on, bill came and they had upgraded the wine for no reason what so ever, second glass was £14.40. Ridiculous. Probably won't return.

Service was very slow and food is over priced. £9 region for 2 tacos... tacos are between £1 and £3 at neighbouring Mexican places. Asked for a glass of white wine which was £6.50, I was told they didn't have that in stock and offered an alternative. Bill came and they'd charged me £14.50 for the 1 glass of wine. Ridiculous. Cold in there too and everyone was miserable as the service was so slow. Can't recommend and won't be going back sadly. Food was ok but can get better at a more reasonable cost elsewhere.

Firstly, it’s very cold in the building and the door constantly opening isn’t ideal but hard to avoid I guess. Secondly, in regards to food for a place that only has a small menu the nachos were very very poor, very surprising to not have jalapeños or sour cream? And when it arrived the meat was cold and poor. The tacos tasted like soap and quite frankly couldn’t eat them which we told our waitress who did help and offer us to change or give us a free drink which was nice but left feeling hungry. I think food could really be improved on and to be honest if it wasn’t 50% off I would refuse to pay as it was very very poor. Our service was hit and miss, the finished plates were left on our table for a very very long time and with the fact we didn’t like the tacos the smell of them rotting on the table just made us feel sick. Drinks however were very tasty and well priced. Atmosphere is very nice so hopefully food will improve as I would like to give this another chance in the future.

If we were judging the place just on the cocktails then it would have a lot of promise, unfortunately everything else lets it down. Food was very underwhelming. Tacos just felt like small wraps that you get from the supermarket and they just crumbled when trying to pick them up. Ended up just eating the filling of the plate. Nachos were decent and worth the price but it’s hard to get them wrong. We went when it was 50% off the food and even then it felt overpriced. The most baffling thing is that an extra plate arrived that we didn’t order. We assumed it may have been free with it being opening week but when we received the bill we were charged for it. Ironically it was the best thing we ate Service wise it wasn’t great. We waited 20 minutes for the our first round of drinks. Appreciate that it was busy (top floor was full when we went in, no one on bottom) but it feels like far too long to wait. We ordered second round of drinks as that took even longer: half an hour. It was frustrating and unprofessional to see staff members come down and have shots with a table nearby who came after we ordered our drinks. We may return for the cocktails if it is quiet so will be served quickly but will recommend to avoid for the food and if the place is busy. Massive shame

The food was pretty good but they had ran out of fish.. the menu is limited. Very understaffed also paid our bill and left with our plates still on the table.

Food was nice and had a great time. One of the waitresses was great but it felt like she was doing everything herself. There was a few members of staff chilling at the bar with guests while the waitress was rushed off her feet. Food came out way before we got our drinks and we had to ask for cutlery. Best food was the Thai chicken tacos the lamb birria quesadillas, also the pork nachos were lovely. Think just teething issues but great food and would come back.

We visited a week after opening and the atmosphere was great. We were seated fairly promptly and shown to our table. The tables upstairs are positioned very close together although we didn’t mind too much. Our drinks order was taken almost immediately however these didn’t arrive until after our food which was a shame. The food was delicious and really flavoursome. We had to order more as we were still hungry and we did comment about the portion sizes being a little on the small side, especially for the price. A number of tables, including us, had to ask for cutlery. I think these should be on the table as standard - it saves the waiting staff a job if nothing else. The restaurant was very busy which was great but it was a bit odd seeing the chefs deliver food to the table, especially when the waiting staff were hanging around at times. Apart from the feedback above, I couldn’t really criticise the service we received, although the table next to us hadn’t received any food or their drinks the entire time we were there (almost 2 hours) and they were clearly v unhappy. We only noticed this because of how close the tables were. The main let down for us was the price. Even with 50% off the food, we felt it was very expensive for what we had, although that seems to be fairly standard for Manchester now. We were expecting larger portions and we left feeling as though we could eat more. For that reason, we probably wouldn’t return as it didn’t feel like it was value for money. This is a real shame because the food was lovely.

The food was great, would have been nice if there was more. Went twice with different groups and we got three tacos one night and then when I went next we got two? I think for the price, three would be a good point to go for. The upstairs atmosphere was great, enjoyed the live dj and the place in general. Would have preferred not to be on high chairs to eat as I feel they're more bar like, but doesn't matter all that much and I did notice a dog on the sofas that someone had brought in so I'm glad I wasn't eating by them. Food would be higher because it tasted great but a lot of things had run out and the portions were small too. Overall think it was good and would probably try it again after it's been open a while to give chance for teething issues in supply an portions to sort out.

Great food as usual. Owner even offered to make a dish that wasn't on the menu if we wished. Top class

Big fat won’t come again

My friends and I booked a late meal, so the atmosphere was slightly quieter than usual but this was preferred. Service was good with the only hiccup being one of the table was recommended cider. As avid beer drinkers we like to try new things and it came under the ‘bottles’ section. This was through our own fault for not checking but perhaps the menu could be clearer reflecting what is and isn’t beer. First choice beer was not available however the food was amazing, all those at the table were very happy with the timely manner it was presented and how it tasted.

Excellent service great atmosphere and fantastic food will be back thank you

Very disappointed with the quality of the food - just back from South Africa and wanted to remind ourselves of the lovely food out there but food was dry and very hot and not that tasty and definitely not like that we experienced out there

Gave up waiting an hour after our booking as we had no drinks and food order had only just been taken. Ordered bottles of wine to make it easier but that didn’t help!

We waited a long time to be offered drinks or to order food. It was busy and the atmosphere was good. We had the beef and the thai chicken tacos and nachos and the food was all very good. The service was what let it down. We asked for cutlery as our food arrived and were given the bill and a card machine and when we did go up to the bar to pay, our bill had items on it we did not have and once rectified, the person charged us too much (by 50p so no biggie but we would have liked at least an apology for the over charging). Hopefully these are just teething issues with the venue only recently opening.