Loca Bar & Kitchen in South Tyneside

Great Latin resteraunt, the fajitas were mouthwatering with great presentation. Pictured also was the steak which had no complaints. The cocktails were definitely not shy on alcohol! Well impressed something different in sheilds.

Came here for the first time during a holiday to South Shields in August 2020. Food was fantastic, the staff were all lovely and incredibly helpful. The place was busy so there was a bit of a wait on food, but it was definitely worth it. The staff there should be proud it was a busy night when we visited but from the moment we sat down they were constantly attentive to us. Would strongly recommend a visit and the great food and and great selection of drinks. Atmosphere and internal decor is lovely also.

8 of us (socially distanced on 2 tables) went to celebrate a Double Wedding Anniversary and Double Birthday. A lot of the draught beer had run out so bottles were purchased instead which were quite expensive. 3 were drinking soft drinks. The starters were quite poor either not enough, not very hot and one under cooked. Waited quite a while for the main course which sometimes doesn't bother me but once food came it was very poor overall. Not well presented and definitely not worth the price. We had booked not realising they were extending the 'eat out to help out' in September. We paid £173.80 that was with £80.00 off which was very disappointing. Would have been more gutted to go on the Thursday instead. The service was fine and the staff pleasant. The skulls offer was not available which I had had before and was looking forward to. We still enjoyed the night - company wise but would have been good to have enjoyed the food too. Needless to say will not be returning.

Went last night for the first time personally but the wife’s been before so reccomended. StarterS Belly pork (1slice cut into 5 squares) Hallumi (4 pieces bit pepper on sticks) Lovely tastes but at nearly £14 for them both was no where near enough Mains Butterfly chicken (nice taste but needed summit else on the plate rather than the chips) Loco burger ( beautiful great size but would suggest that bit more on the plate even melted nachos to go with the chips) With the discount it came too 27 pound included was 3 orange and waters. Without it your looking at £47 which is a hell of a lot for minimal amounts. Beautifully cooked and service was spot on but expecteded more.

The food was terrible and tasteless, even for 50% off. The service was bad and the drinks awful. A memorable experience for all the wrong reasons. This was our first trip out as a family since lockdown and we definitely will not be returning.

Took advantage of the eat out scheme and booked well ahead online. When we arrived only around 6 tables had people at which we thought odd as everywhere on Ocean Road and the vicinity were busting at the seams! We ordered 2 of the cocktails for £9.95 which were ok, nothing special. Our starters were king prawn and halloumi skewer. These were nice but couldnt taste the garlic or chilli on the prawns. The chilli jam that came with the halloumi skewers sorted that out and was gorgeous. Mains we ordered the Loca burger and Beef Taco. These both came with chips. The food was nice but no way worth a £15 tag per dish. Maybe in the region of £10. What I still cant get over is being asked by the waitress did I want to change cutlery or use the same as my starter. In all the years in all the restaurants I have ate in all over the world I have NEVER ever been asked this and would never use the same cutlery! Bizarre! We opted for dessert of creme catalan and cheesecake, again nice and a nice end to a decent meal. We did ask if we could book for next week but they said they were fully booked which is fair enough but even when we left at 8pm around 10 tables had no one sat at them and it closes at 9pm. During our stay several walk ins came and were turned away despite lots and lots of empty tables. Odd. Service could be better and I did notice a table opposite had made a mess on the floor, this was left and was still there when we got up to leave. A three second wipe would have sorted it out. We paid with cash and there was no change in the till to give us our change so had to wait for that. All in all a pleasant meal but without the government discount in my opinion overpriced food.

This was our 1st visit to loca bar & kitchen today for a late lunch. Food & service was excellent we will definitely be returning.

Date night. Fancied a Mexican so booked a table for two, great food delicious, cocktails plus a warm friendly welcome from Kelly and Kryston with a K. Highly recommend a visit next time your hungry and in South Shields 👍

Arrived on a Tuesday night, standards were set very high for the COVID system which put us at ease, the two girls working, Kelly and kristan were exceptionally busy, but were still very attentive. Food was beautifully presented, very tasty, and cocktails were fantastic, your staff are what makes your business a little gem and will definitely return.

We absolutely loved our visit to Loca, a gem, something different in South Shields and in a prime location. Staff could not have been more helpful and polite, food was delicious and drinks great, especially loved the corona pint glasses, the tequila and the music was great. We will be back, a big thanks to the staff on this day for being so great!

we visited Loca for the first time last night, cant fault the food or drinks. the service on the other hand very poor, not the staff fault should have had more on. but waiting 20 minute for a drink then having to go to the bar to get them. The staff were very apologetic but it was a let down.

We visited on the Friday the 7th February. We had the place to ourselves for a while and were surprised as it was Friday tea time . Got served by a most helpful guy who explained the scull menu to us and then left us to choose what we wanted to order , The food came out. all in good time and was piping hot . We had the fajitas , they were lovely but more tortillas needed as we had filling left over and nothing to put it into . We then proceeded to try and work our way through the cocktail list ;-) Cocktails are freshley made , none of the pre made stuff . We looked at the puddings but decided on another cocktail instead . Over all everything was very good and we will definitely be back .

We ordered 13 of the tapas plates and all of them bar the potato bravas came freezing cold we were the only the chips were cold and pork looked anemic the cocktails were awful. The young blonde waitress was attentive though. Since we were still hungry and i was actually taking a friend for food to cheer her up ( not that it worked given we left hungry ). We got dessert the ice cream was cheap and powdery and the churros were empty inside I’m not sure if they’d just been over cooked but also weren’t very nice although I have only ever had them in las iguanas so not sure which place got it right or wrong. They took £10 off bill so we split a £74 bill leaving hungry and slightly annoyed at the rude waiter who gave us the bill. I wouldn’t go back or recommend. I was put off with it being attached to a hotel as hotel restaurant food is almost always bad and I wasn’t wrong.

As a party of three we came to Loca South Shields for dinner on Xmas Eve. Unfortunately our experience was very disappointing. I hoped this was a Xmas Eve anomaly as my two previous visits were very good. On this occasion my wife had the smoked brisket enchiladas which were inedible due to the burnt and dry brisket which should never have left the kitchen. The dirty rice was flavourless with a couple of kidney beans thrown in. This was sent back and removed from our bill. I had the Xim Xim. I have previously had this dish which had been as a Xim Xim should be and really good, however this time it was like an Indian chicken curry made with a jar of Pataks sauce. Nothing like a Xim Xim or any other Latin American dish. My daughter had the chicken Fajitas, the chicken appeared like left over scraps, the cheese was missing and the sour cream had the consistency of milk. In addition even though the restaurant was only at half capacity drink service was incredibly slow. Waiter who attended to our table fairly knocked off 20% of our bill and appeared genuinely embarrassed about the food. He handled the situation very well in the circumstances. I contacted the restaurant privately both by email and through their own booking site to highlight these issues, however, as three weeks later no management response was forthcoming I have made the review public. It is a pity that after such an investment the management appear to have no interest in staying in business.

We went for tapas Tuesday all tapas £3 it was amazing we had 9 between us and they were all delicious. Couldn’t fault the food or service is was quiet but we did go at 5pm so wasn’t expecting it to be busy. Definitely be...

Been quite often and food is always amazing, never had a bad experience. Staff are all really nice and service is really good! Tapas.. 2 nachos (1 everything on, 1 just cheese, sour cream and jalapeños), lamb meatballs, garlic and chilli prawns and 2 drinks only £20!!

Lovely food! Fast and fun, the cocktails on tap are a fantastic idea and very tasty. Definitely be back soon!

Visited Loca for the first time last night after hearing people at work say the food was lovely, I also checked up on all social media’s looking at the pictures of food etc. Mexican is my absolute favourite food so I couldn’t wait to try...

Great Staff and amazing food :) i visited loca with a large party and nothing was to much trouble for the staff. Nikta and her team made us feel very welcome and to top it all of the food was so good. I had the...

From start to finish me and family felt like we were being well looked after, firstly our server stood and talked us through the menu, giving us a few recommendations, I chose the house curry (xim xim curry) which was absolutely BEAUTIFUL! Very helpful staff,...

Excellent food, Excellent staff and an excellent band! What more could you ask for? We look forward to our return.

Thank you so much for accommodating us the other night! We had such a fantastic time, and definitely can’t wait to come back.

I'd been meaning to try this for a while, as I love Mexican food. I ordered a burrito, my wife tacos. Whoever prepared them had clearly no idea what they were supposed to taste like. The taco shells were cold and loaded with some sort...

Mixed bean burrito just had red kidney beans, that was it!! The pulled brisket tacos came and the taco shells which are meant to be soft were hard and seemed as though they'd been sat under a heat lamp for ages. The pulled brisket was...

Wow Wow Wow the menu is unreal so much to choose from absolutely outstanding tapas heaven great atmosphere live music and really friendly staff will definitely return 10 out of 10

Went as a family having heard they did great veggy burgers. There were two choices on the menu, neither of which was available. I accepted the only option which was a haloumi burger which was thick and tasteless.

Visited with my wife I got prawns to start followed by sirloin steak from the £22.50 sat menu. Portions were more than reasonable and the food was spot on you get a wine or beer included. Cocktails were cheap after 9 again they were spot...

Visited here last week for a friends birthday. Good was great and staff amazing. Loved it that much going again soon. Tapas great.

Not been open long. New young, enthusiastic staff with a great knowledge of products available. Well worth a visit.

We gave Loca a try one Friday evening and we weren’t disappointed. We ordered from the skull menu which included 4 tapas dishes plus a glass of wine for £20. Well worth the money and food very tasty 😋. Service was very good and both...

Went on Tuesday had great value deal on. Had amazing starter and main meal with two drinks for twenty pounds. Food was of outstanding quality will definetly return. Highly recommend. Would like to return on weekend when have live music on.

Friday night vibes were a treat at Loca, my friend and I shared 5 tapas, 6 drinks an a pudding whilst enjoying some live music and it only cost us £25 each. Food was all too notch and served prompt. Service with a smile from...

If the chairs had been comfortable then I would have given 5 stars. Losing 1 star for chairs alone may seem harsh but they were that uncomfortable it became painful. Some of the chairs did seem to be missing seat pads. It has a very...

We've been here 3 times over the last month or so, with mixed party sizes (4, 7 then 13). Firstly, the sugar skill deal is excellent value for money. Each time we have been absolutely stuffed and for £63 for a table of 4 having...

Lovely decor, great service, fantastic food and the £20 skull deal is well worth it. Will definitely be returning!

This place is great, gorgeous food, relaxed atmosphere helpful staff and excellent value. Can’t go wrong here

second visit to loca bar & kitchen & as good as the 1st. staff very good & professional. this visit we had the burgers, my loca burger was very nice but my partners lamb burger with goats cheese was amazing, highly recommended we did wait...

First visit to South Shields and thought we'd try some Tex Mex, food was really good and portions were massive! plus because our food orders each accumulated had 4 skulls which meant we had 2 free drinks each! cocktails were also good and my husband...

Called in to get something to eat and was pleasantly surprised by the great staff and quality food. Best hot dog I’ve ever had and my wife and son had grilled chicken breast burgers . Plenty of fries salad and plenty of jalapeños and topping...

First visit here and wont be the last. Had a table booked and we were the only ones in so was a bit worried. Shouldnt have been. Quite a few were coming in. Ordered 5 dishes and a couple of pints. Food was really nice...

First time here tonight and could not fault a thing. Food was fabulous, hot, well presented and gorgeous. Cocktails were lush, staff were friendly and very helpful. Atmosphere was lovely, can’t wait to go back.

First time here and the staff were so friendly. Food was lovely and the cocktails very delicious. Will definitely return

Went to visit the restaurant and managed to incur a £100 fine. Nice new system the Sea Hotel have adopted.

Food was great, good portions, prices good as well. Service was a bit lacking however, the staff weren’t overly attentive once we had finished and we waited probably 15+ minutes until the table was cleared and had to ask for the bill several times. Wasn’t...

I have visited here 5 times now and tried something different every time, and every time the food just gets better and better. This is my favourite place !!. On a weekend it's just perfect for having some beautiful food, a few drinks and live...

Amazing food! Amazing atmosphere! Had an fab night there and would highly recommend (especially the chicken nachos)!!!!

A great addition to South Shields! Lovely meal! Food all great and lots of choice. Reasonably priced. Kids eat free at certain times too! Staff were all really friendly, helpful and attentive Thanks

We went for food on sunday afternoon and ordered tapas to share. For £20 and included a drink each. Food was lovely will deffo be coming back

Great staff and great restaurant. We loved every minute of our experience at Loca! We will definitely be back

This was a family get together on a Sunday tea time the place was almost empty with one staff member in attendance joined soon by a second. It took 20 min's to get our first drink, attracting the attention of staff was a significant challenge....

Went here with friend for birthday the food was excellent we each ordered four skulls which ment we had five starters between us which we just shared had meat balls pork cheeks belly pork seafood lamb chops they were all delicious then two of us...

Had a night out with my friends here a couple days ago and it was lovely. Food was amazing as well as the drinks. Staff were lovely and friendly and very helpful. Kelly especially was friendly and made us all feel welcome. She explained the...

We popped in a few weeks ago, I've just got round to reviewing now. I live in Whitley Bay so we've tried the Loca restaurant there a while back. I find the overall menu skull idea a bit weird and the bill in Whitley Bay...

4 of us had fab meal tapas were all impressed definitely go back and would recommend Tuesday night have tapas offers one

Been twice in two weeks and looking to be there again very shortly, the food is great and the Dutch bonnet mango sauce is a delight. Staff were attentive and friendly and good value for money. Keep it up Loca

Been here a few times now and have loved each visit. Tonight we had an assortment of tapas which was very nice indeed. The staff tonight, Chris & James, were friendly and attentive without being overpowering. Looking forward to the next visit.

Visited here on Easter Saturday evening and wad pleasantly surprised. The food selection is a little different in terms of how you select, by the number of skulls, which made things fun and interesting and included drinks. The food was tasty and plenty to choose...

Our first time at this restaurant and it certainly won’t be the last. Food delicious and great value as it was on offer the night we visited ‘Tapas Tuesday’. James in particular was very helpful in explaining the menu, as was all the staff who...

Great menu will certainly be returning soon, food was good value and plentiful, nice setting with a good location

Tried here tonight on a Itison voucher and impressed. Margharitta cocktail was punchy,salty and fun haven't had one in years. We had apple braised pork belly with onion salsa, ribs in scotch bonnet & mango sauce, street tacos, leaf tacos and patatas bravas. All were...

Absolutely loved our first visit here. My hubby had to have his fish n chips and I had a pulled chipotle chicken burrito with seasoned fries. The food and service was outstanding. We rated our experiences a 10 out of 10.We will definitely be back, especially as I can get 2 Margaritas for £8.95...Bloody Marvellous

Tried it for the 1st time early saturday, really friendy helpful staff and happy to chat about their new business and their menu whilst reccomending what we may like to eat. Good service and good food so happy to reccomend it. We will definitely go back. Thinking of trying their salsa class on sunday mornings at 11:30am.

I visited this restaurant with my sister and her children. The decorations are fantastic: very vibrant and quirky. There is a lot of choice on the menu. I am vegetarian, and I was happy with the options available. The staff were very friendly and helpful. I will be returning.

We visited Loca on a sat night for a kid free evening. The server was very friendly and he talked through the menu with us offering his recommendations. I chose the pork cheek in a Sherry sauce with patatas bravas as a starter and the steak fajita as my main. The meat in both dishes was beautifully cooked and full of flavour. My wife had the same starter but chose a coconut and prawn curry which she raved about. There was a singer performing which didn’t intrude on the night but added to the happy atmosphere in the restaurant. It’s also worth adding that the server brought free Strawberry Daquiri’s for us as an apology for the wait (which wasn’t an out of the ordinary wait!). Great service, great atmosphere and great food

Myself and my partner ate here and cannot fault it. The quirky skull offer makes it a reasonably priced meal. For £22.50 we had 2 nacho burgers with trimmings and 2 pints of mahou. The food was cooked well and the atmosphere great. The staff were great. We will be back.

Lovely decor and lovely staff, however the food wasn’t great. The classic dog was good and the chips are very nice. The chilli was completely minus the chilli it was brisket, kidney beans and a kind of gravy. Nothing like chilli at all. My partners lamb burger wasnt great either, the goats cheese tasted nothing like goats cheese more like blue cheese which he hates. Such a shame as I really wanted it to be great. Not sure if I would return

I’ve been to the Whitley Bay Loca twice so had high expectations, food, atmosphere, decor and staff we’re 10/10The waiter and waitress were very polite, attentive and friendly - I was even given a cocktail to celebrate my birthday, looking forward to our next visit

We visited Loca at around 5.30pm so it was pretty quiet. The waitress was very nice and helpful and seated us straight away. She was very knowledgeable about the menu, which had an excellent choice of food. The restaurant is decorated really well and has a very nice astmosphere.We opted for a lamb empanada, smoked chicken wings for starters and then chicken fajitas for main. The chicken wings were fine, but the empanada was hot on the outside and stone cold in the middle. When the fajitas arrived we couldn't believe the amount of oil that the chicken and peppers etc were floating in on the sizzle plate. All we could taste was the oil, the chicken had no flavour and the tortilla wraps were cold and hard. We have never had to drain a fajita sizzle plate of so much oil before.We couldn't eat the main course so just paid and left. I don't know if the chef was having an 'off' day, the food was a real disappointment.

Food tasted really good, really good value meal and drinks options. Lamb chops were really tasty. One criticism, but a very important issue for me the food was not hot enough. It was only luke warm which spoilt it.

This place is currently being used by guests of the neighbouring Best Western hotel for breakfast.It's quite large. Nicely decorated in a unique 'mexican/day of the dead' style.Bar area looked nice and toilets looked clean. Breakfast was a bit bland to be honest. Not much gluten free options. Had an omlette which was ok. My mate had scrambled egg which appeared to have been done in the microwave so came served with lots of water........Staff were nice but did try and make us pay for the breakfast even though we had booked the hotel with breakfast included.

Just returned from a lovely night at this place. There's plenty to choose from on the menu and all four of us thoroughly enjoyed our food. The staff were friendly and attentive without being intrusive. Well worth a visit. Looking forward to returning soon.

Visited with a friend yesterday and the food was excellent. We arrived early for our booking but that was no problem. We visited as we had purchased an itison offer, however when we arrived after looking at the menu we were spoiled for choice so got extra tapas and shared a bottle of wine and then had cocktails after. Everything was gorgeous, the food was hot - service was great and really friendly the restaurant is really nice inside.A brilliant addition to South Shields seafront. Looking forward to coming back! Thank you

Visited today for Sunday Lunch due to the Sea Hotel being renovated. We thoroughly enjoyed our lunch. Excellent service all staff work so hard, would like to say a special thank you to waitress Kelly who attended to all of our needs in a very professional & friendly manner. Thank you. We were so pleased we have booked for next Sunday

Well kept beers, friendly staff, very clean and freshly prepared tasty food all supported by a positive vibe and ambiance