Burrito Wednesday #9: Food Chain

Food Chain is a collaboration between some clever guy and a bunch of existing vendors to provide better food out of the carts. He preps it, and they sell it ala franchises. This is a cart down near 17th and Connecticut. They technically call it a wrap, and I don’t recall being especially impressed by it. The sauce was pretty good, but the rest was pretty meh. Not much too it, rice, beans and not a whole lot else. Overall maybe 2 stars?

The Food Chain cart I went to on M St

Food Chain Burrito

Burrito Wednesday #10: California Tortilla

Cal Tort is one of my favorites, especially after I won 52 free burritos. Unfortunately I didn’t give them a fair shake for Burrito Wednesday – going to an out of the way spot (College Park) at an off time (early on a quiet summer weekday). They weren’t there best, but still pretty tasty. I really dig the new No Meato Burrito with cheese. It has a nice sauce. One of the real highlights of CalTort is the impressive hot sauce selection – including Brian’s favorite Dave’s Insanity – which will burn you. Burn you good. Overall still one of the best ones – 3.5 stars? 4? I don’t even remember my scale anymore.

Delicious California Tortilla burrito. Huge and tasty.

I missed the next Burrito Wednesday because I was on vacation, and the best/only burrito place I could find was closed on Wednesdays. D’oh!

Burrito Wednesday #11: Sancho’s Taqueria

I was in Palo Alto that week, so I went out with a huge cohort of coworkers to Sancho’s Taqueria. Unfortunately I didn’t take any pics. However the burrito was delicious. Chris is a fan of of the no veggie, no meat one, but I found the veggies to be delectable. They also had some tasty sauces you could take away. Bravo! 4 stars?

Burrito Wednesday #12: Taco Bell

Why I did this, I don’t really know. It was close, and I didn’t have many other close options left. Still…. I got a single bean burrito. It was shockingly cheap ($0.99 maybe?), and shockingly bad. It tasted overwhelming of salt. It wasn’t very large, and was pretty pathetically bad. Ugh. 1 star, at best. I’m glad to confirm there’s a reason I avoid this place.

Being a combination Taco Bell/KFC is really not appealing to me at all. Ugh.

Burrito Wednesday #13: Qdoba

I wanted to like this place, since a few friends rave about it. However I was quite disappointed. One point in there favor was that I had been to the dentist that morning – so perhaps my mouth was extra sensitive? I didn’t notice anything at breakfast, but maybe this was different?

The staff was pretty rude. After I agreed to pay extra for veggies they only put a small scooping on. I asked for more, and they were annoyed. I think a manager saw I was peeved and stepped in, which definitely improved the situation.  The burrito was large and moderately priced. Unfortunately I found the texture to be incredibly off putting. The peppers were slightly bitter and had a very odd and inconsistent crunch to them. The rice was occasionally pretty hard. In the end I couldn’t finish it, and left feeling pretty disappointed. Still much better than taco bell, and again perhaps another location/time would be better. Overall no more than 2 stars.

Qdoba looks tasty, don't it?

I missed the next 2 weeks due to being in Europe. I’m sure I could have gotten tasty burritos in Amsterdam at least, but I was more interested in trying the local cuisines.

Burrito Wednesday #14: Mixtec

Back in the US it was time for another Burrito Wednesday. I grabbed a bike and headed up to Adam’s Morgan for Mixtec. Somewhat unusually I ate it there. The burrito was quite large and pretty good. It had 2 sauces, plus some hot sauces they put on the side. The guac and pico de gallo on the plate were a nice compliment. My biggest complaint was that it was a ton of tortilla, especially toward the end. I ended up leaving a lot of tortilla on the plate, after removing the inners. Overall it was better than I expected – 3 stars?

As an aside, the bike rental worked really well. I think I’ll sign up for a $50 yearly membership and try it out.

Mixtec burrito and inside.

El Tamarindo in "Adams Morgan"

Burrito Wednesday #8 – El Tamarindo

This is more like Casa Blanco in that it’s a sit down place with the carryout containers, rather than a wrapped lunch spot. I was expecting a pretty traditional burrito, but in some ways I think it was the most off the wall one I’ve had so far. I ordered the veggie, and it was pretty expensive at ~$12.

Stylish takeout bags

It was too large, with too much tortilla (it seriously seemed like an 18″ tortilla!) and not enough tomatillo sauce. Ended up being pretty dry. The contents were crazy and included cucumber, carrots, corn and more. They gave a giant mound of sour cream on the side, along with an orange wedge. Ok…. I like vegetables, even weird ones (I like Well Dressed and Cal Tort’s new burrito for example) but this one wasn’t doing it for me. I’ll say a 1 on the meaningless scale.

El Tamarindo Burrito, mid consumption

Shady entrance to the Well Dressed Burrito. Coming out you need to carefully look both ways, reinforcing the speakeasy motif

Burrito Wednesday #7 – The Well Dressed Burrito

Here’s a good one. In the middle of an alley there’s a door for The Well Dressed Burrito. The whole thing is very shady and industrial looking, like you’re going into a speakeasy or murder den. But no! What awaits is a tasty, delicious burrito!

I came by here at the end of 5k lunch time run. Welcome relief, until I had to walk home half a mile holding my burrito with no bag (the great DC bag tax bit me here, only had a credit card so I couldn’t give them 5¢ for a bag).

The counter and kitchen. Looks clean enough, anyway.

They have a few options – I went for the veggie burrito with both black and pinto beans and spinach. I like to have it all, I guess. It comes out pretty large, with some nice salsa on the side.  It had cooled off a fair bit by the time I got it home, but it was still good. If I wasn’t sweaty I would have eaten in the little dining room/office they have in the back there. Funky, but kinda lovable in its own way.

That burrito looks pretty well dressed to me, but a tux would really polish it off

It was large, and pretty good. The vegetable variety was spot on. I think the ingredients could have been distributed a bit better. Occasionally I’d run into a larger chunk of spinach or something. I’d rate it a 3 on the meaningless scale, and definitely go back.

Nom nom nom

Baja Fresh at 20th and I

Burrito Wednesday #6 – Baja Fresh

Hit and run since this is a couple weeks late now, oops! My coworker Jaraco was headed here for the green salsa (being a New Mexico boy, that’s important for him I suppose) so I bumped it up the list and joined him.

I have  mixed feelings about Baja Fresh. The ingredients are all fairly high quality, they build them well enough, but it doesn’t gel into a great experience for me. I think the biggest issue I have is that the cold ingredients like pico de gallo and sour cream really cool the whole thing down, so you don’t have the enjoyment of nice hot beans, rice and veggies. The variety of hot sauces and salsas definitely give bonus points, and it’s not too expensive.

Here's the tasty burrito

Overall I’d probably say it’s a 2 on my scale, good, but with some drawbacks.

That's no moon bar, it's a space burrito station!

Burrito Wednesday #5 — Tomatillo Taqueria at The Big Hunt.

This was a suggestion from Marian and her coworker, and I’m very glad I listened. Thanks, ladies! It’s a bit of hike from the office, but I think it ended up being worth the trip.

During the day the big hunt rents the window of their bar out to these guys to sell burritos and taco. There’s no seating or anything, just a big open window at counter height. Two guys in there pumping out tasty, comparatively authentic seeming dishes. They branded it pretty well, with signs and menus and such. It didn’t seem nearly as odd as I expected, which was nice. They get bonus points for simple pricing, and it looked like the tacos came in more traditional corn tortillas – awesome.

The veggie burrito was solid – rice, black beans, some sort of stewed green peppers & onions, and guacamole. I added salsa fresca, tomatillo salsa, lettuce and cheese. The cheese was nice, perhaps Panela but maybe something else. They turned them out pretty quickly, and it came to $6.

Building my delicious, tasty burrito.

The burrito looked tasty, but wasn’t especially hot. There was no seating there, and I incorrectly decided to walk back to the office instead of going to the park. By the time I got back to the office with my burrito it was merely lukewarm. I dug in and it was tasty, but overall the luke-warmness was a big let down. All my fault, but sad none the less. I’ll have to go back and eat one straight away.

Here we go, nom nom nom.

I was digging in and enjoying it so much I nearly forgot to take a picture, that’s the only one I got. Mmmm. The ingredients were well distributed and nothing especially stood out for good or bad. It was well made and consistent. It was definitely on the smaller side, and probably much healthier than the others I’ve reviewed. However it made me wish I had a few chips and some salsa to go along with it.

I’d rate it a 3 on the arbitrary scale.

Casa Blanca. It's... unassuming

Burrito Wednesday Week #4: June 23, 2010 — Casa Blanca.

This wasn’t my prime option today, but unfortunately it was 2:30 and choices #1 and #2 were already closed. The weather was hot, and this has the advantage of being in the same building as me. I know a few people who love it, but the few times I’ve been it’s not been exceptional. It has a very… authentic kind of feel. They clearly aren’t interested in being a fancy restaurant – they just want to make food cheaply.

Unassuming? Slightly grody?

Swinging in at 2:30, it was fairly empty. There was a world cup game on the TV, and most of the folks were watching it. They were slow to take my order because they were counting money or something. Eventually they got my veggie burrito. I’m fairly sure I got a dinner entree, but not 100%. I don’t recall the exact price, but it was a bit more expensive. The standard veggie came in a styrofoam tray with fresh salsa, rice & beans on the side, and a nice green hot sauce. Inside the burrito we had more beans, some onions, cheese, some lettuce. Nothing too exciting. To make this sing you really had to mix the rice, salsa hot sauce and burrito all together. As a result the extra beans on the side were pretty unnecessary.

Tasty, messy burrito

It was huge, which is nice. The salsa was good, beans pretty good. It remained pretty interesting for most of the eating, which was an accomplishment considering the size. I had very, very low expectations based on some past experiences, but this definitely exceeded it. Might be worth coming back for a happy hour negra modelo on a pleasant afternoon.

I’d rate it a 2 on my arbitrary scale. Pretty good, but not mind blowing. The salsa and hot sauce really saved the day.

The Burrito & Coffee Cart at 17th and K

Burrito Wednesday Week #3: June 16, 2010 — The Burrito and Coffee Cart.

A mere two blocks away from from Pedro & Vinny’s cart is another burrito cart. Back in 2004 I’d occasionally grab a latte here on the way into the office. I got a burrito once or twice, and was pretty disappointed. Since then I’ve stuck with Pedro & Vinny. However, for the cause of Burrito Wednesdays we must push outside of our comfort zones.

Carlos isn’t as personable or friendly as John. The ordering was much more difficult – he made assumptions and didn’t really ask what exactly I wanted. I ended up with, basically – spinach tortilla, rice, black beans, cheese, a bit of boring salsa, guac and some Cholula. It was something around $6.

Burrito under construction

Unfortunately it wasn’t very good. The tortilla was fine. The cheese was very nicely melted and it was well distributed throughout. The guacamole was definitely the highlight, but it was just from a cosco tub. Frankly, I was hoping from something a bit more unique. The beans and rice were just terribly bland and boring. I didn’t particularly want to finish it, not because of volume but because it was boring. I really can’t see coming back when the fundamental ingredients don’t hold any interest. I give some credit that it was very tidy – unfortunately it was too tidy. Too buttoned up. Too blah.

Sadly it doesn’t score better than 1 on the arbitrary & meaningless scale.

Burrito under consumption

Pedro and Vinny's burrito cart on K St

Burrito Wednesday Week #2: June 9, 2010 — Pedro and Vinny’s Burrito Cart. (Warning, that’s one of the most obnoxious websites ever).

This is one of my more frequent burrito sources. It’s a block from my office, vegetarian and delicious. Styling little cart at 15th and K Sts with a generally long line. Plus, check out the awesome new sticker on the side. The key here is the fantastic selection of hot sauces. He has 3 homemade ones – the infamous classic mango habanero, a tasty cilantro and a new spicy brown sauce I believe he’s calling “K Street Habanero.”

John Rider at work making a burrito, surrounded by the sauces.

There’s a whole system here. While in the (usually long) line you’ll give John your tortilla choice and yes/no to cheese – I go for tomato chili cheese. While you wait in line the tortilla steams and the cheese melts.

When you get up to the cart there’s a flurry of options to determine your burrito. My choice is usually medium (warning: small has no rice), black & tan (meaning both black beans and refried pinto beans), fresh salsa, guac, and various hot sauces. Usually the mango plus something else to make it hotter. Lately that’s been the “triple delight,” all three of his homemade sauces.

Burrito construction near completion

The total winds up at $6.50 for mine. Cash only and you make your own change. How’s it taste? Fantastic. The rice can be a little dry on occasion, and the beans can be a little bland. However when it’s loaded with good sauces, guac, etc it’s really quite flavorful and satisfying. My biggest complaint consumption side would be that it’s very messy to start and end. Take a look at when I pealed off the first part of foil.

Peeling back that first foil, it's mess as all get out. But it's going to be delicious!

However once the main burrito section is average messiness for a burrito. I feel like in the past (particularly pre-hiatus, he spent almost a year down in the Carolinas or Georgia possibly setting up a storefront down there, but came back) they were a bit more controlled and less messy. Regardless, it was tasty. You even get a free York peppermint patty at the end! I think these get a solid 4 on the arbitrary & meaningless scale.

Burrito consumed. Foil and paper towel carnage everywhere, and the peppermint patty steps up to bat.

What, wait, why? The concept is delightful in its simplicity. Every Wednesday you should go out in search of a new burrito to try. Ideally these would be entirely new locations, but for my purpose I’m going with a “no repeats” model, where places I’ve been too before are fine, as long as it hasn’t been the featured Burrito Wednesday candidate. Why Wednesday? For one, it’s a shitty day of the week and a nice burrito institution would liven it up. For another, I don’t have any standing meetings around lunch time on Wednesday, like I do on most of the other days of the week.

Please join me (either in a literal, have a burrito at the same table sense or metaphorically) in this new tradition. If Wednesday is bad for you, heck, make it Burrito Monday. Why not? I’ll be maybe posting here about the burritos I consume

Week #1: June 2nd, 2010 Chipotle Dupont Circle

I started off with a close, convenient location – Chipotle Dupont Circle. Yes, you might assume you’ve been to Chipotle and know all there is to know. However this branch has a surprise in store – it features the delicious vegan Garden Blend. A fake meat product, it’s quite tasty and rare. This is the pilot location for the stuff, so it’s not quite your regular Chipotle fare. Today I got a burrito with rice, peppers & onions, black beans, garden blend, salsa fresca, tomatilla hot sauce and cheese. I intended to toss corn & lettuce on there, but screwed up. The total came to $6.71 with tax.

The burrito itself was rather tasty. The lack of veggies was a bit of a disappointment, and the hot sauce wasn’t too exciting. The second half sorta dragged on, without much to keep me engaged. Overall it was big, and tasty. Without the garden blend I’m not sure I would have cared much, but the garden blend is unique and interesting. I highly recommend it. I’d rate it about 3 stars on my meaningless and uncalibrated scale.

In upcoming weeks I hope to feature all my regular burrito spots, and expand to some new ones. Pedro & Vinny’s, CalTort, The Well Dressed Burrito, Baja Fresh, Qdoba, Pica Taco, the 17th st cart and a bunch of others. However I’d love suggestions of places to try out that are within reasonable transit distance of Dupont Circle/Downtown DC. Happy burritoing.