Amigos

Ah, Amigos. To say that this little establishment played as big a part in my first years of drinking as the only local pub that would serve us before we were 18 would in no way be an exaggeration.
Every week, without fail, we would visit Amigos after jumping off the last train from Southport and would all eagerly order whatever we could afford with the change we had left after drinking whatever cheap piss was on offer in the pub. Such good customers were we (one friend in particular would regularly spend nearly a tenner in there during each visit) that they would even stay open and wait for us to arrive, and I was on first name terms with a couple of them (George and Mehmet, I salute you).
Amigos has since changed hands and whilst I may not know the staff’s names any more, they remain friendly and chatty, as well as being damn good at making kebabs and pizzas. The prices have risen in recent years but they’re generally cheaper than every other kebab/​pizza place in Formby and they also do a great chip and cheese wrap which I would highly recommend if you can’t stretch to anything more expensive.

Saturday was not Saturday unless you stopped at Amigos at the end of the night. We would come home from Southport, our barely legal kidneys swimming in alcopops and lager-​tops and head in here to secure a chip wrap, a pizza — or in the case of one of my more inebriated friends a calzone and an order of garlic mushrooms. I don’t think they really knew how to make them (they were probably just on the menu to fill up space) but they did make them, and they did it with a smile and some friendly banter about Galatasaray Vs Liverpool.
It’s all fairly standard kebab shop stuff (well, except the ‘Special Burger’ which features a fried egg) and you’re paying a premium for being able to buy it in Formby, after eleven o’clock but this is service with a smile, free chicken nuggets on your birthday and if you’re lucky, cheese on your chips at no extra cost.