The Burrito Files

Most unprecedented

2010-04-07T22:28:00.001-07:00

Down in LA last week for various reasons, including a trip up to the vicinity of the Hollywood sign. Post-hike, which includes about 540 feet of elevation gain over 1.3 miles, seemed like the best thing to do would be to mosey down to the Walk o' Fame and see some stars. First, however, sustenance.

We raveled through some random mall next to Grauman's, with the usual suspects of Food Court status: Johnny Rockets! (line out the door--who are these people?) Panda Express! (no panda on the menu. Boo.) We decided on Sun Tacos, which is a demented mix of Mexican and Korean. I had a Spicy Pork burrito, which includes spicy pork and...kimchi.

It was not horrible, and it was spicy. It was also small, with grill marks on the tortilla. Not worth the time to post a review, since it looks suspiciously chain-like.

All in all, better than Hot Dog on a Stick.

Throwdown!

2010-02-18T08:10:00.000-08:00

Nice to see that local heroes Papalote gave a good whuppin' to Bobby Flay on last night's Food Network throwdown. Good on ya, guys!

A great start

2010-02-02T08:41:00.001-08:00

It's 8:41 on a Tuesday morning. I'm cooking three pounds of al pastor from Mercado Loco. Could the day begin any better?

Hope for State workers

2010-01-30T21:09:00.000-08:00

Instead of a breakfast shindig for my coworker's 40th, we're having a burrito bar. This combines two of my favorite things: "Burrito" and "Bar." Assuming I don't get screwed on Tuesday by my civic duty a.k.a. jury duty, I'll be bringing a large quantity of al pastor from Mercado Loco as my contribution to the festivities.

This is the kinda shizzle that almost makes Furlough Fridays worthwhile.

The tiny dog

2009-10-19T22:01:00.000-07:00

Went over to the Little Chihuahua today, and was pleased to note that

1) The place was packed on a Monday night
2) There were little notices on the walls that asked for our patience while they remodeled - they're putting in more seats.

It's nice to see a place with good food keep it going. Super carne asada tonight; a wonderful meal.

Deluxe transportation

2009-08-22T09:30:00.000-07:00

El Castillito is about a seven-minute walk from my house. Not that far, but just far enough to occasionally result in temperature problems when getting a slab to-go. No longer:

Insulated bags rule.

75 hours... 7 burritos...

2009-07-24T19:13:00.000-07:00

OK, that pace is really high, more than even i should really be trying. But my new home exists in a burrito desert, and i was on a business trip to the Bay Area, so i had to load up as best i could.

Shortly after arriving on monday, i tried a new place, Ceviche. Over the next couple days, i hit some of my faves, Los Pericos, Charlie's, Pancho Villa and De Amigos.

Wednesday eve i met up with Dan and Aaron at El Faro, a new experience for all of us. Finally, while on the way to a company event in Half Moon Bay, i had to stop by Tres Amigos.

Overall, a good trip and some darn fine slabs. But it's a lot to scarf down in a short period of time. I may need to come out more often than every 6 months to pace myself better.

Where it all began

2009-07-23T23:02:00.000-07:00

You know those movies or books or records that everyone says were groundbreaking? Your high school English teacher would go completely nuts over, say The Catcher in the Rye, or you'd read a breathy review of Rebel Without a Cause, or listen to the first Doors record, and you would think something like geez, what's the big deal? You've seen better films, read more relevant books, and...well, pretty much anything every recorded is better than Jim Morrison's pedantic dreck. But I digress. The point is that some art is best enjoyed when it is contemporary and only then, because after breaking new ground, you open up new places and things for other folks to surpass the original innovator.

That was kind of how I felt my visit to El Faro last night went. It's the oldest burrito joint in town, the place that has the best argument to have invented the NorCal style slab, and, were I to write a review, it would echo what Chris has so ably written, albeit with just-OK pastor instead of made-on-the-fly chile verde. Not so bad, but certainly nothing special. It was like seeing a reunion tour with a new lead guitarist, fourth drummer, and an aging lead singer who still wears leather and has sings the high parts an octave down. Still enjoyable in its own way, but other, hungrier places have long-since passed it by.

Burritos in the far East

2009-07-14T07:34:00.000-07:00

We know, we know - at some point we really have to get the international review functionality up and running...until then, we've got this missive from my pal Angela in China:

I swore I wouldn't taint the hallowed pages of Burritophile with subpar burritos, even if they are the only burritos within a 5000 mile radius on the wrong side of the Pacific Ocean. I never thought to write about Desperado's in Surabaya, or Cafe Iguana in Singapore, or the Saddle Cantina in Beijing. I don't care how desperate you are for Mexican food -- the only barely passable Tex-Mex I've found in Asia does NOT satisfy a deep al-pastor-with-five-alarm-salsa-at-three-a.m.-in-the-Mission craving.

But, after hearing a college friend (who came of age with eating Chano's on Figuroa at 3 a.m.) who now lives in Shanghai rave about Agave Cantina, I was willing to be open-minded and give it a try.

I tested out the chicken mole, while my dining companion went with an al pastor. I think the fact that I was amazed the menu differentiated beyond "beef, chicken, or pork" is testament to how starved we are for any kind of sophistication with respect to our slabs.

The meat was juicy and tender, the rice was flavorful, the beans moist and didn't overwhelm. I skipped the guac and sour cream, but layered on the "medium" and "hot" salsas, which did not disappoint. Integration was a little bit of a problem, and my burrito didn't come snugly wrapped in foil, but at least the tortilla was soft, fluffy, and grilled warm. Burrito itch, scratched.

On the pricey side, at RMB 60 (about USD 9) each, but well worth it for the rare treat of a decent burrito in the Far East.

Small changes, still awesome

2009-07-12T20:03:00.000-07:00

We went to the original (and still the best) La Bamba on Sunday to eat a couple of super al pastors:

As good as ever, although they've changed the style of their al pastor. It used to be in big chunks, with the occasional bit of onion. Today they chopped it fine, almost like ground beef. Still - great flavor, piping hot, well-mixed, grilled up right nice. Seventeen years I've been going there, and they've still got it.

Perfect Grill Marks

2009-07-12T20:01:00.000-07:00

As done by the Little Chihuahua:

The Cross Section is Back!

2009-06-25T21:40:00.000-07:00

Since I've had a string of just-ok burritos recently, it seemed appropriate to break the chain by heading down to Taqueria San Francisco on this foggy Thursday. I met up with fellow burritophile Aaron and ordered a super carne asada. Bliss.

Big chunks of avocado, melted cheese, smoky meat, piping hot, washed down with a bottled real-sugar Mexican Coke. Yum.

A mis-step, and a renewal

2009-06-24T20:13:00.000-07:00

It's not that I haven't been eating burritos, it's that I haven't been writing much about the burritos I'm eating. Well, that, and that I'm reluctant to push the baby off the top of the page. The short of it - Gordo took a dive last week by giving me some other guy's burrito (mild salsa, sour cream, no guac, black beans) instead of what I'd ordered (hot, guac, no crema, refried). I was bummed, so I went to La Fonda last night instead. Who knew that they had al pastor? Who knew that it was decent?

Well, I know that now.

Baby burrito!

2009-06-15T14:02:00.000-07:00

Those of you who follow our flickr feed on the left have probably noticed that every now and then shots of babies show up. Why? Well, there's a type of swaddling called the burrito roll, which involves wrapping your baby in blankets as if the tyke were our favorite food item! A friend of mine just had a baby, and decided to take this roll to its logical conclusion and...you can see the awesomeness for yourself. We're proud to present Charlotte - our first truly burrito-wrapped baby!

A spring day

2009-05-15T18:37:00.001-07:00

I happened to be up in Novato this morning, and decided to see what the North Bay burrito scene was like. As happy chance would have it, my meetings ended around lunch time, and I was able to make my way to Taqueria Real on a sunny spring day.

Check the review for the skinny - I'd just like to note that the staff was friendly, the people (Novatites) tanned and relaxed, and my burrito, though unwrapped, was hot all the way through. Have a good weekend, all.

Big (alt) Media Us

2009-05-12T23:07:00.000-07:00

Hey, I made the SF Weekly. Talking about burritos, natch. Really, I'm trying to throw some cold water on yet another NorCal vs. SoCal Internet argument. I like this quote:

More troubling than the north-south rift, Johnson told SFoodie, is the fact that a good burrito of any style is unknown to much of the nation. "You can't get a decent burrito in Oklahoma, in Maine, or in the entire city of New York," Johnson said. "Until that happens, we've got better things to do than fight over which is better."

Hey, I even sound smart. Seriously, though. There are poor Oklahomans who've never experience the true joy of a good burrito. We need to coexist, so as to best help those in need.

A Serendipitous Meeting

2009-04-27T20:41:00.000-07:00

I went down to Cuco's this evening to pick up a couple of burritos and bring them home. When I walked in, my old friend Jeff was standing there, and he broke into a wide smile. We exchanged handshakes and pleasantries, then caught up a bit. It turns out he's moving out of the city (sad), and tonight was a clean-out-the-apartment night, which they were going to do while fortified with plantain burritos and cerveza.

On the bright side of things, they're moving down to the other axis of Bay Area burritodom, Mountain View, to a house that's only a short hop from La Bamba, La Costena, and Los Altos Taqueria. So while they're going suburban, their burrito lifestyle may get even better. I left a little happier upon seeing an old friend. A few minutes later, I was full and my mouth was on fire. A good night, this.

Salmon from a Stranger

2009-04-16T22:29:00.001-07:00

We went to El Castillito tonight to take advantage of a two-for-one coupon I had lying around. As we waited for the woman and child ahead of us to finish ordering their taco plates, a disheveled-looking guy walked up to the doorway between the eating area and the kitchen. He proceeded to take a package of salmon out of a ripped grocery bag and tried to sell it to one of the kitchen staff, who was busy cutting up a tub of fresh cilantro.

Nothing really to say about this, other than...where did this guy get the salmon? Why was he trying to sell it to a taqueria? And why did his other, plastic bag contain what appeared to be cheap champagne?

It was all very confusing. Luckily, our al pastor burritos were not as confusing. They ruled, as usual.

The Next Generation

2009-04-07T20:27:00.000-07:00

The first non-mom-made thing we gave to our son was Gerber rice cereal. His enthusiasm for this was, shall we say, unenthusiastic. It struck us that we were not being true to our Burritophile roots, and we went with the best fruit Mother Nature produces. You can see the results below.

The True Cost of Recession

2009-04-02T21:10:00.000-07:00

I went by Cuco's tonight for the first time in a while. It was twenty minutes to closing, and the placer was empty except for one glasses-wearing guy finishing a rellenos plate and a beer. Carmen was there with her daughter, keeping watch on a quiet night. She greeted me with a smile and a "where have you been?"

I explained that I've been busy - working long days, doing some household things, being both in and out of town. After I asked how things were going, she shrugged.

"Slow, very slow," she said. "I've been here eighteen years, and...never like this. I don't know. My husband is usuall here, but now he's only two nights per week, the busy nights. I might have to open on weekends, you know. My [blood] pressure, it's high, and the medicine it's not cheap."

I had the super carnitas that you see in the photo below, but...open on weekends? Cuco's has never had to be open on weekends in the five years I've lived in this neighborhood. I've always admired them for that, and...well, I don't want to see that end.

So, San Francisco readers: I know you're out there. If you haven't had a platano or a carnitas burrito at Cuco's recently, get over there. You'll have one of the best burritos in the city, and you'll be helping a good family get some more time together.

Meat three ways

2009-03-31T08:29:00.001-07:00

On Sunday, I had spicy sausage patties and grits for breakfast.
I had a Polker Burger for lunch.
What better way to finish a long day of walking around hilly San Francisco than with an al pastor/pollo asado burrito from La Favorita? You gotta love the drive-thru.

Man, was it good. And I got in all the major meat groups in one day: red, white and pork.

Grilling

2009-03-28T10:51:00.000-07:00

One of the things that people often ask me is "Dan, why are you such a grilled tortilla snob? What's wrong with steaming?"

Steaming isn't the worst thing that can happen to a burrito (that would be lettuce), but...well, it just doesn't add anything to the burrito-eating experience. Grilling, on the other hand, gives the tortilla that toasted, naan-bread-like consistency. Think about it - isn't buttered toast almost always better than buttered bread? Same deal here. A well-made tortilla can survive the grilling process and still forego any bursting problems, like this one here from the Little Chihuahua.

Those brown spots are what makes a heavenly burrito.

Best of the Bay?

2009-03-24T13:07:00.000-07:00

Dan had mentioned this contest a while ago, but at the time voting was still in progress. Today however, a coworker urged me to have a look at the results. Not all of the top 5 are places i'd have picked (that 2nd place pick in particular), but one of my faves was voted tops. What do you think- worthy picks?

A note

2009-03-11T12:32:00.000-07:00

To Tacos San Buena: When I ask for no sour cream, that does not mean "put sour cream on it." And when I ask for "hot and mild salsa together" that does not mean "skip the salsa.

What a mess.

A 10th anniversary worth attending

2009-03-10T23:14:00.000-07:00

I was over at Papalote the other night, and picked up a burrito with transcendent carne asada.

See, that's what they do there. Carne asada that transcends. It was, as usual, great. I was perhaps even more excited by the news that they're throwing a 10th anniversary party this Tuesday the 17th at 330 Rich in San Francisco. Happy Birthday, Papalote! We'll see you there.