La Costena
Mountain View, CA
| Overall Score based on 16 reviews |
7.8 recommended |
Editorial Reviews (2)
Chris's Score: 8 / 10 full review...
Finally, i found myself in the Mt. View area and took the opportunity to visit this famous taqueria. I was surprised at just how bare it is. It really is just some grills in the back of a grocery store. It looks so bland, so rustic, almost accidental. How could such a place possibly serve up good eats?
Dan's Score: 8 / 10 full review...
When I was in high school, we used to rack up tardies to fifth period history because we'd taken the extra ten minutes during lunch to drive to La Costena instead of the now-defunct Garcia's Taqueria. We got to the point where we were slavering addicts, desperate for our fix of carne asada, chunky guac, and fiery salsa.
User Reviews (14)
Login or register to write a review of La Costena
Showing 1-14 of 14 (most recent reviews shown first)
Score: 9.5 / 10 Reviewed by: Abombito (San Francisco, CA)
For me, La Costena is the watermark I hold all other burrito joints to. I have been coming here for damn near half of my 26 years on this crazy earth, and have been consistently impressed every time.
They have a great selection of different meats (at least prepared in various recipes). I tend to go with the pollo en mole, but I've tried most of them. Most of the meats get grilled (or at least re-grilled) on the spot which also makes the burrito warm and the cheese melted. All of the ingredients taste fresh and get placed in good proportion. The hot garden salsa is awesome, you don't even need tapatio (but I use it anyways, I'm a fiend).
The only thing I have been disappointed with is their carnitas. They're kind of salty and not very flavorful otherwise.
As many local burrito fans know there is the heated debate regarding the "burrito triangle" and I admit I have actually never strayed from La Costena. I keep meaning to try the others, but I just haven't been able to bring myself to avoid the motherland. Try this place, you won't be disappointed.
Note: they have Mexican Coke in the bottle.
Score: 9.5 / 10 Reviewed by: Fouse45
Best burrito I have had in Northern California.
So yes, you walk into the little grocery store and are like "WTF?" Go to the back, and there it is - a small little kitchen w/ hardly enough to room to fully take on the vast amounts of options you have. I was hesitant at first because the "make-your-own" burrito style seems a bit dubious (I mean, how do I do know what you do best?). Nonetheless, I went for a "super" not realizing that it would turn out to be the size of my arm, including two tortillas needed to create it. Having your choice of beans is clutch. Wrap it all up, and you have one big bundle of joy. I stayed fairly traditional that lunch day, going with grilled chicken, black beans, salsa, spanish rice, sour cream, guac, fresh veggies and some cheese. Could not finish during lunch - saved some for dinner though, and it was almost as good 5 hours later. No Cosmic Cantina, but the best NorCal has to offer. Thank you Father Time.
Score: 8.5 / 10 Reviewed by: lwoydziak (Sunnyvale, CA)
First let me say this place made the best burrito I have ever had. The problem with them is that they are inconsistent. On a day when they get it right they can beat anyone, but it only happens once out of every five times. Typically, you have to zap the burrito for about 45s in the microwave to get it warm enough.
Ingredients are fresh (although the refried beans can get crusty and I usually stay away) and not dry, but many times it was so wet as they drip out of the foil. Bummer when it gets all over your pants. The blend depends on who makes it for you, when it's good the mix can be dead on. The Hot pico is just about right for me...I would call it a medium-hot. The place is a dive and although on close inspection it looks clean your first impression is otherwise. My typical recipe is:
Con todo meat:
Grilled chicken with onions
Pinto beans
Half rice
White cheese
Two scoops guacamole
Two scoops sour cream
Hot pico
Their guacamole is my favorite. The flavors when mixed are wonderful.
Overall they have made the best burrito, but it's a crap shoot.
Score: 6.5 / 10 Reviewed by: tulrich
I went today for lunch, and was pretty sorely disappointed. The place is encouragingly grubby but the flavor of my burrito did not match the flavor of the ambiance.
I ordered a regular carnitas with cheese, guac, jalapenos, cilantro, tomatoes and "medium" salsa, with pinto beans and spanish rice.
The quantity was definitely there, and the meat was not bad, but in other respects it didn't pass muster. The rice and beans were not very warm (unforgivable during the lunch rush) so the whole thing was kind of lukewarm. It was somewhat overstuffed and not tightly wrapped, ergo very poor integration. I think my assembler was either inexperienced or just not trying too hard.
If there's a next time,I will skip the tomatoes and maybe get the sour cream, that might help.
I'm giving it a 6.5 since the carnitas was definitely superior to Chipotle and supposedly Chipotle is a 6. (Though IMO Chipotle is more like a 4.5).
Score: 9 / 10 Reviewed by: M_R
Very good burrito place, been going here all my life and then went to Burrito Real when that opened (same place almost). Its definitely a hole in the wall but its worth it to grab a burrito to-go. Its customizable so you put what you want in it and they have great selections of meats and extras.
Score: 10 / 10 Reviewed by: bcrosson
This place is the epitome of the hole-in-the-wall hidden gem. I've been going here for about 15 years, and this burrito place is one of the best I have ever found, anywhere in the country, and I've lived for several years in Boston, New York, San Francisco, and the South Bay... The secret key is their rice, which is real authentic Spanish rice, which is moist, fluffy and flavorful. I noticed one other review which commented on the amount of rice versus meat -- while I think their proportions are usually perfect, I often wish there was more of the delicious golden rice in there. My favorites are either the Chile Colorado or Carne Asada, although recently I've taken a liking to their Carnitas... The burritos are cheap, the portions are huge, the extras are fresh, and free chips to boot. This place was won best burrito awards for like 10 years, deservedly so.
Score: 5 / 10 Reviewed by: br10ta10
I just discovered burritophile.com the other day and thought I'd try out a few burrito places that I haven't been to in a long time.
The first on my list was La Costena. I went around 5pm and ordered the a "chico" sized barbeque chicken burrito. My first complaint is that the burrito seemed like it was 75% rice and only 10% chicken. What's up with that? My second complaint is the two-layer wrap of paper and then foil. It is so frustrating trying to open up just one end to get at the burrito inside.
The flavor of the chicken wasn't bad. I'll have to go back and ask them to better balance their ingredients and not wrap the darn thing in hard-to-tear paper and update this review. Until then, I give them a paultry 5.
Score: 8.5 / 10 Reviewed by: robertb (San Jose, CA)
Noelle returned from her trip to Minnesota, home of bratwurst and beer(where she did see 360 gourmet burrito joint at the airport--she went for the brat instead)and it was time to try La Costena. She is still on her El Pastor kick and so she ordered the medium sized one with crema, guac, 2 cheeses, brown rice, refried bean and salsa.Very satisfying. She even took photos.Especially of my super veggie....
My Super burrito was a customized one. I asked for whole pintos (the burrito builder didn't understand what "vegetarian" meant), brown rice, grilled veggies, guacamole, tomatoes, and spicy salsa. This thing was huge -- it was literally 15" long. Integration was remarkable considering its size. It was all tasty, but not particularly exciting (hence the 8.5 score). I did manage to work my way most of the way through this monster, but finally gave up and took the rest home.
Score: 6.5 / 10 Reviewed by: Burritodor
I just had La Costena yesterday (because I didn't have enough time to go Mucho's) for the first time in many years. I don't remember much from my previous trip there other than the burrito wasn't impressive for winning "Mountain View's Finest (or Best) Award". My last experience there was with a burrito regular al pastor and I remembered that the pork had nice flavor but that the burrito had more rice and beans than anything else. Lo and behold, I ordered the same burrito yesterday and frowned as I watched the nice lady shovel lots of rice and beans onto the tortilla followed by a "sprinkling" of al pastor on top.
The burrito had a nice flavor to it (only in the bites that had al pastor in it), but generally, there weren't enough of those "bites", so I won't be going back to La Costena again until I forget about yesterday's burrito. I guess that's what I get for not making time to go to Mucho's.
Burritodor
Score: 1 / 10 Reviewed by: firsttraxx
For a burrito place that gets 10 of 10 stars consistently in reader's polls across the bay area, this place is a supreme disappointment.
Let's set aside, for a moment, the fact that the meat is gray and nondescript. Let's also ignore tha fact that the tortillas, while homemade looking, have the distinct texture of cardboard. I'll also ignore the fact that the "tomatoes" were, in fact, the ass ends of tomatoes.
What's truly disgusting about La Costena is the filth. I seriously doubt that this dump has been cleaned in the past 15 years, and am totally mystified as to how the average lunch seeker could swallow the smallest bite of this overcooked, tasteless economy garbage after experiencing the outright disgusting "restaurant."
The grease slicks on the wall rival the worst oceanic oil spills. The staff is just as filthy. Old tortilla chips litter the floor, and mingle with the dustbunnies of many past years.
Is Fiesta Del Mar (very close by) expensive? Sure. That's likely a "no-roaches-in-the-beans" surcharge. La Costena is cheap, and looks, smells, tastes every inch of the cheap burrito joint. Save your health and spend a buck on a decent burrito. When authenic translates to "dirtier than an homeless man's inner ear," go gringo.
What this place needs is a good grease fire, and a cave in.
Score: 10 / 10 Reviewed by: Travelnjones
My cousins are related to the former owners of La Costena/ current owners of burrito real. My aunt has the recipe so this is basically what i grew up on. The tortillas are very good nicely hand toasted things that stand up and dont often fall apart. The beans are perfect. I am a plain bean and cheese burrito guy so I dont get any mean. Quality cheese is used and is certainly authentic. This is normally where i stop, as a bean and cheese fan. One odd thing with both La Costena and Burrito Real is you pay per topping, which can get a bit expensive, though la costena is cheaper. Really cost is the only reason i give Burrito Real 9 instead of 10.
Score: 8 / 10 Reviewed by: dklein
Good veggie burrito that included more veggies than just beans. It included peppers sauted before my very eyes. Very tasty, and a good amount of spice. The customers are given a fair amount of say into the burrito assembly process, which is nice but slows down the queue. And it is quite a long queue at lunch time, with everybody jammed into a small space. The price was fair ($5). Overall I give it higher marks than other veggie burritos in the area such as next door at La Bamba. This is worth getting into the car for, but it leaves room for improvement, such as an even greater variety of vegetables and more flavor.
Score: 8 / 10 Reviewed by: Marko
La Costena is a living burrito legend. However, the legend has two good alternatives now, so it is no longer #1. Identical quality burritos can be had at Burrito Real, 1 block away, owned by the same owners and offering the same food, but in a clean, well lit place with a nice atmosphere. La Costena is literally a hole-in-the-wall squalid backroom taqueria (back of the mercado). The advantage goes to Burrito Real, but sometimes the worn/dirty nature of La Costena makes it seem more authentic. The one advantage is that you can shop at the mercado and get latin american food to go with your burrito, like the dry tasteless panaderia baked goods, or the sickly sweet imitation Inka Kola (made by Coca Cola, not made in Peru).
That all said the burritos are really good. You have full control of all the ingredients, and if you aren't careful, your $4 burrito could top $10 if you add all the toppings (i think the toppings are overpriced).
The mole chicken is probably the best special flavor. The drunken chicken is also good, as is the steak/carna asada. The mexican sour cream is really good -- that really makes the burrito.
The salsa is tasty BUT it is way too watery, so if you have them give you a bag of free chips with the salsa - EAT THEM QUICKLY, otherwise the salsa will make the chips very soggy in about 60 seconds.
I'm giving them an 8 because Burrito Real deserves the 9.
Score: 9 / 10 Reviewed by: pspinrad
I was fortunate enough to work near La Costena during the time that Dan's excellent review refers to as La Costena's heyday. This place is indeed a landmark, and it nourished me physically and spiritually for many years.
I've returned more recently, and I do have to agree that it's dropped off a bit, which is troubling. My biggest complaint is the carnitas. These used to be generous chunks of flavorsome, chewy, orange-kissed goodness that they scooped up and chopped for you. But now, La Costena's carnitas is a pre-chopped grey mass soaking in a murky liquid. Why, La Costena, why?
La Costena still rules, though, and the other fillings I've tried recently are as good as ever. I know that neighboring La Bamba is popular, and some people I respect actually prefer it, but I avoid it on principle. If Chipotle did indeed steal from La Costena, then maybe they stole the idea of stealing from La Costena from La Bamba!
Showing 1-14 of 14
