Burritophile: The Burrito Files

Save the Taco Trucks!

2008-05-03T19:19:00.000-07:00

I'm a bit late to piling on to this cause, but...this is important to those of you who live in L.A. and love your burritos and tacos to come in convenient, wheeled kitchens. Some curmudgeons down there are trying to essentially legislate taco trucks out of existence. Some locals have started a campaign against this patently ridiculous legislation, and they've come up with the best slogan in the history of mankind:

Carne Asada Is Not A Crime.

If they come for the taco trucks, will the taquerias be next? Click and sign the petition!

Burritos on Public Transportation

2008-05-03T16:46:00.001-07:00

It's pretty hard to take a burrito on most varieties of public transportation around here - food is banned on MUNI and BART, and you wouldn't want to eat much on either of those anyway, as your burrito would end up all over the place. Caltrain, however, allows food and drinks. I happened to be heading back up to the city this morning, I was hungry, and the new-ish La Bamba was right on the way to the train station.

I ordered my super al pastor, got it in three minutes, chucked it into my backpack, and made my train on time. The car was crowded - they were playing the Kentucky Derby at Bay Meadows, and Maker Faire is on - so I had to sit up top in a cramped seat. No matter - delicious pastor and liberal doses of guacamole make up for most problems. I'll be doing this again, oh yes.

Cure For A Rough Evening

2008-04-28T21:48:00.001-07:00

I had kind of a crummy afternoon, involving losing my favorite coffee mug, wanting to mail a letter only to find that the mailbox at San Francisco State has been removed (what? How does that happen?), and feelings of general self-loathing due to a bunch of scheduling mistakes I've made and overwork as I try to finish grad school in the next three weeks. I stalked into El Castillito to improve my mood. I was a little worried because their beans looked abnormally pale, but my worries were unfounded. Those geniuses behind the counter came through again, with a chock full o'pastor slab that had me singing hosannas in my kitchen. Thanks, guys. It's burritos like this that help a guy quell the bedtime demons.

Burritos on the coast

2008-04-14T15:23:00.000-07:00

We had a bit of a burritophilic hiking trip going on this past weekend - burritophile Aaron and I joined up with the Burritoeater to hike the Skyline-to-the-Sea trail, ending up down on Waddell Beach. On the way up to start the hike, we'd noticed a new addition to the scene in the tiny hamlet of Davenport: the friendly door of Taqueria El Jarro.

The girl behind the counter was duly impressed with the Burritophile shirt that Burritoeater was wearing (don't ask - we don't like to pimp our own sites), and I was duly impressed by the titanic super al pastor they put down on my plate. Fantastic burrito, guys. If you're beaching or hiking down the coast, don't miss it!

Darn it, you'd think I'd learn

2008-04-10T18:49:00.000-07:00

Once again, I went in with a spirit of optimism. I couldn't possibly be let down yet again, could I? The Universe would not, for the umpteenth time, dash the Clinton of my hopes against the crags and crevasses of Obama, would it? Surely not?

Well, it did. I went into a sit-down Mexican restaurant and ordered a burrito instead of tamales or enchiladas. I always think, "heck, they're charging eight bucks for it, so it must be pretty good, right? And I get tortilla soup!"

Wrong. The carnitas were bland, the tortilla was bland, the beans were bland... Not impressive, although the chips and salsa were kinda okay.

The next time I am of a mind to do this, somebody stop me. I obviously am not good with applying past experience to future performance.

Mountain View Blotter

2008-04-04T21:39:00.001-07:00

Happiness amidst the sadness

2008-04-02T21:57:00.000-07:00

I was in Modesto last weekend for work, attending a foreclosure counseling event put on by the local Assemblymember and the Modesto Bee. I arrived at 8:30, and the line of people waiting patiently to get in was around the block. White, Hispanic, Asian, Black, young, old. Families with their kids in strollers. Earnest couples with loan documents in the original Countrywide or WaMu folders. By 10:30, the auditorium was filled with maybe 200 folks waiting for their number to be called for a chance to talk to a loan servicer and maybe keep their home...and the line of people waiting patiently to get in was still around the block. Heartbreaking.

There were two high points in an overwhelmingly tough day:

1. A husband and wife high-fiving each other in the parking lot after talking to a loan officer. I asked them what had happened, and they told me, "We worked it out! We're going to keep our house!"

2. I had a burrito.

A question for the statistician

2008-03-27T20:11:00.000-07:00

Oh, great Burritophile.com administrator, hear my cry! Today we have a portentous landmark: 2,287 places and 2,287 reviews. Please tell us, with thy numerological wisdom, what percentage of places remain unreviewed? What place has been reviewed the most? What is the median number of reviews?

We yearn for your actuarial truth!

the great unwashed

Once again

2008-03-26T20:57:00.001-07:00

It being Easter, with the prospect of a large meal ahead of me (ham, scalloped potatoes, salad, bread, red cabbage, chocolate birdsnests, Peeps) I had no choice but to grab a burrito for lunch, much as I did over Thanksgiving.

This time, the place o' choice was La Favorita. Even if you never go there, you owe it to yourself to read eScooter's fantastic review, so click on through to the other side. Somehow, burrito fixin's are less expensive once you get out of the 95816, as my super was only $5.50 instead of the $6.10 charged at the sister joint. I guess guys with fauxhawks and snide screened t-shirts are at a different price point than construction workers and families.

Anyway, I got it to go and ate it on a front porch with a bottle of SLO IPA, ASAP. Somehow, they neglected to put in much guac, which is the same criticism I've always had. Gosh--do they not read the reviews here? Can they really pretend to not know about Burritophile, unstoppable redundant juggernaut among internet burrito sites?

Other than that, fantastic. And I still managed two helpings of everything at dinner.

Except the Peeps. Those things are nasty.

Peninsula burrito weekend

2008-03-22T14:46:00.000-07:00

I pulled off a rare dinner-followed-by-lunch burrito stunt this weekend, prompted by burritophile harknet's weekend return to the Bay Area and the under-the-radar opening of the first expansion branch of Taqueria La Bamba in downtown Mountain View. I went with a wet carnitas from Charros on Friday night, and was pleased to see that the newish staff (for the first time in forever, nobody recognized me when I walked in the door. Ah, change...) still knows their stuff cold.

The new La Bamba was a wonderful place to spend an hour on a warm spring day. An outdoor table, a local paper, a glass of cold water, and the best al pastor in the business. Burritophile welcomes the new location, and hopes that it survives the relatively brutal food competition on that end of Castro.

Well, Obviously

2008-03-19T20:38:00.000-07:00

Went to Los Charros the other day. I ordered a burrito with half pastor, half pollo asado, and my intrepid partner went with a tostada. Both came out, and she was obviously not thrilled with the iceberg lettuce and wan tomato. Nonetheless, she plowed through it, eating every last carnita. I offered her a bite of mine, and she accepted. A few chews, a brightening of the eyes, and the inevitable rueful realization:

"I should have had a burrito."

Bronco and Super Bronco

2008-03-13T18:16:00.000-07:00

Like most people, I am easily confused by the menu at El Burrito Express. Bronco? Super Bronco? Super? Expresso? Macho? The list is long and not particularly intuitive. So I thought I'd help clear things up with the photo below. The big one is the Super Bronco. The little one is the Bronco. Easy, right?

(OK, I cheated. I added rice to the super bronco. Sometimes, you have to go outside the menu)

Know thy Burrito

2008-03-06T21:21:00.001-08:00

I stopped in at Capitol Garage today, and they had a couple saran-wrapped burritos in the case. "Why not?" I figured. I asked the counter dude what was in the CHX burrito (Corn Chex?) According to him, chicken, beans, cheese and rice. "No way, dude," riposted the other guy. "Our burritos don't have rice."

Okay. Either way, I'll pull through. But not even knowing the ingredients of your own food? That's just kinda depressing.

Anyway, it contained rice, and wasn't half bad for a pre-made burrito. They fry it up a bit so the edges are brown, and top with a tomato slice and some chili powder. A very decent lunch when paired with a Newcastle.

Sancho's Finally Comes Through

2008-03-04T13:21:00.000-08:00

Like many people who hang around this website, I'd been waiting patiently for Sancho's in Redwood City to come up with a burrito that matched its sky-high reputation. Thankfully, they came through on Sunday. I went with a super al pastor, and the pastor was fantastic, the beans avoided soupiness, the tortilla was happily grilled, and I was a happy burritophile. Good on ya, guys!

That ingrown tortilla? Filled with melted cheese. Iconoclastic construction, but it worked out.

The Cost of a Free Burrito

2008-02-29T11:31:00.000-08:00

Via LAist comes this story, of Chipotle's latest "open a store and get free burritos" stunt:

One student reader phoned in from the line. "It is sooooo long. This is crazy and worse than Coachella. We're going to Whole Foods to get burritos." A scientific Google Map and how-many-footsteps-did-you-count study found that the line stretched a quarter mile.

Why put themselves through an hour wait for a sub-par burrito? We know there are better slabs in LA...perhaps it's an ultra-local problem? Our handy map shows a dearth of taquerias near Westwood. Any LA readers or UCLA students care to chime in?

Total mediocrity

2008-02-28T23:14:00.000-08:00

It's been kind of a blah burrito period for me (even El Castillito wasn't so hot the other day), so I decided to test things by heading to the Embarcadero Pancho Villa for an early dinner tonight. The best thing about the burrito was the blackbird that flew in the door and watched me while I ate. They must have used a flavor remover on the al pastor, and for some reason the salsa was all in one small place in the middle right of my slab. Ugh. I need a really good burrito soon, or I might start to get depressed.

A Picture of a Burrito

2008-02-18T22:02:00.000-08:00

I went to the older Guadalajara the other day. This was my al pastor burrito, and that's all I have to say about that.

Eat Right Away Or Sit Tight for a Few?

2008-02-12T15:42:00.000-08:00

Burritophile dobrenen wrote in with this conundrum for the community:

I'm not sure where to start this discussion. I have found that burritos are best when they are allowed to mellow for a short period of time. Usually 5 to 15 min. I was wondering if anyone else has considered this. I usually buy my burritos to go and eat them at home or the office, usually just a few minutes away. Whenever I eat the burrito right away it usually doesn't taste as good.

That's a really good question. I've found that the waiting factor (like so many things) depends on the place. If a burrito is almost too hot to eat, waiting a few minutes can be a good idea - especially since the heat can suffuse the slab during the downtime and melt any stray shreds of still-solid cheese (La Bamba comes to mind here). But if the burrito is served at optimum-eating temperature, a wait could conceivably hurt by banishing your burrito to the Land of the Lukewarm.

What does everyone else think? Do you chow down right away or let 'em breathe for a few?

Saturday Burrito Fun

2008-02-09T20:03:00.000-08:00

We stopped by La Morena today after a night down on the Peninsula with some friends. Solid burrito work that suffered from some cold spots and some very tough-to-find guac. However, their al pastor is pretty darned awesome, and I always appreciate taquerias that put out little bins of cilantro and onions.

Why aren't there little bins of cilantro and onions on every street corner? That would certainly improve my life quite a bit...

I Get Press Releases

2008-02-07T11:05:00.000-08:00

The people at Qdoba apparently have enough time and money on their hands to fund weird studies and then send out the results as press releases. This one is called " Do You Prefer a Taco or a Burrito? The Mexican Food You Choose Can Help You Find Love and Predict Your Personality."

Um, right. This is what the study says about us burrito-eatin' folk:

Burrito lovers are dramatic and love being the center of attention. They crave novelty, excitement and stimulation, and are seductive and flirtatious in romance and gregarious, witty, and charming in social situations. Neither shy nor subdued, they readily display their emotions. At work they are easily bored with usual routines and have a keen sense of new and up-and-coming trends. Some examples of burrito-loving personalities include: Owen Wilson as Dupree in You, Me and Dupree, Tony Sirico as Tony Soprano in The Sopranos, Annette Benning as Carolyn Burnham in American Beauty, and Michel Serrault as ZaZa Napoli in La Cage aux Folles. Burrito lovers are romantically compatible with everyone.

I think they forgot one important thing. Burrito lovers are Gods who will eventually rule the world. Why'd they forget that?

Read the whole release here, if you so desire.

Inflation

2008-02-04T21:45:00.000-08:00

Quiet in these parts lately.

I went to El Balazo this evening for a quick takeout carne asada, consumed over a Black Butte Porter at Hobson's Choice. Ordinarily I wouldn't be caught dead at Hobson's, given the number of recently-graduated Stanford Sigma Chis who hang out there six days per week. Happily, the Monday after Super Bowl Sunday seems to be a slow night for the white-hat brigade.

My burrito was just ok, even after I'd asked the happy burritomaker to add extra onions and cilantro. Steam-tray asada, not-much-there guac, and unremarkable beans, all for over eight bucks. Eight bucks? When I started in this burrito game, we'd get paper change from a Lincoln for lunch. If this keeps up, it'll only be ten years 'til I start screaming at those kids to get the heck off my lawn.

Baby, It's Cold Outside

2008-01-22T21:01:00.000-08:00

It's also cold inside. Stupid 1940's house.

I had a burrito today that was the epitome of average. Hmm...It was really maybe closer to the median. I'd be willing to bet that half of all burritos are better than Taco Del Mar, and half are worse.

I suppose that would make Chipotle the mode.

Burritos in the snow

2008-01-18T14:56:00.000-08:00

I went up to the mountains for my one snowboarding trip of the year this past weekend, and somewhere in the middle the hard-packed covering of ice, th blinding snow, and the sheer David-Lynch-on-crystal-meth quality of a night out at an Ultralounge in Reno one of my friends noshed on a chicken fajita burrito at Alpine Meadows.

Kinda sad looking, isn't it? At least it was a bargain at $10...

Some things I learned today

2008-01-16T13:39:00.000-08:00

1) The al pastor at Taqueria San Jose is pretty good.

2)They're quite seasonal with their salsa; my pico de gallo was heavy on the onions and peppers, very stingy with the tomatoes.

3) Taq. San Jose seems to be popular with painters (or with paint-spattered pants fetishists).

4) It's nicer to take your burrito to go and eat it down by the wharf.

5) There's another taqueria there. Who knew? I've never been. That guy has, but that sure doesn't make me want to go there.

6) I should eat lunch outside more often.

Paragraph Of The Day

2008-01-14T15:03:00.001-08:00

From the Asheville Citizen - Times:

A burrito brouhaha has surfaced in this generally placid community, and it all centers around who is energy and who is river.

Read the article. I've only been once ten years ago, but Asheville sounds like a neat place these days.