Burritoville

2009-01-09T20:39:00.000-08:00

A compendium of road food:Went skiing on New Year's Day; El Pastor in Escalon was closed, so we ate lunch next door at the Cantina (Highway 120 just east of the railroad tracks). I would call the food authentic, but timid. I had a beef tamal plate, and the tamale appeared to be homemade, but the sauce had that Dinty Moore taste and there was no heat to speak of.Wound up eating Mexican again that

2008-12-26T11:22:00.000-08:00

Is the $4 burrito extinct?On Christmas Eve, I stopped at Taqueria El Sombrero in downtown Healdsburg. This taqueris has survived the relentless gentrification that plopped an Oakville Grocery across the street. And if you have to ask what Oakville Grocery is, you don't make enough money to shop there.So instead of light oak and local chardonnay, El Sombrero offers Formica and Tecate. But you'll

2008-10-04T08:30:00.000-07:00

"Carne asada is not a crime" By DENISE PETSKI, Associated Press Writer Sat Oct 4, 3:18 AM ET LOS ANGELES - The great Taco Truck Wars of 2008 appear to have come to a close. The Los Angeles County district attorney's office said Friday

2008-07-17T09:56:00.000-07:00

Had a burrito manchamanteles at Picante in Berkeley. This mole sauce is not supposed to be knock-your-socks-off spicy, but the Picante version was a little too timid. The sweet, red sauce drenching the chicken would have been helped by a contrast with a little peppery relish: radish slices, shredded cabbage or salsa cruda. As it is, it's a kid's burrito, not bad, but not offering much complexity.

2008-06-24T17:00:00.000-07:00

El Jaliscience: Second Visit.Uh-oh, they're open on Sundays. Had a burrito al pastor that still lacked structural integrity -- don't try to eat this thing in a car, for goodness sakes. The pork was crispy bits swimming in a flame-orange oily sauce. For some people, the greasiness of this burrito would probably be a feature, not a bug. However, I'd have to mark it down. One of my dining companions

2008-04-19T13:12:00.000-07:00

The burrito war is onI visited El Jalisciense today for lunch: Man, it's weird stepping into a brand-new taqueria! Everything looks too... clean, and there was only one other customer in the joint. That having been said, I got a regular chile verde burrito, hold the sour cream (that's right, the regular comes with sour cream and cheese). It came with a tin foil twist of chopped jalapenos, radish

2008-04-17T13:39:00.000-07:00

The Internet has discovered pupusas!And I have proof:A simple google of the term now yields 63,000 results.La Prensa has a slideshow of the largest pupusa in the world.Pupusas are on YouTube.And The Vegan Lunch Box even has a pupusa in it.

2008-04-06T00:03:00.000-07:00

Had a great burrito pastor at Antojitos in Westly, a truck stop on Interstate 5. You have to kind of look around for the place, as it's next to a Subway that has much bigger signage. It doesn't look like much, but there was a pretty good line to buy lunch. The flavor was similar to Alejandro's in Fairfield, but the spiciness was definitely turned up. One of my dining companions had a bisteak

2008-03-01T13:22:00.000-08:00

So, what the heck: I visit it in personLa Cascada brags that it has been voted "Best Burrito in the East Bay." And at $4.20 (tax included) for a taco, it sets expectations high. I have to report, however, that the carnitas version really delivered: the pork was not just tender, but actually juicy, full of a delicious meaty flavor of its own and not just a vehicle for delivering spice. I'd go back!

2008-01-15T13:28:00.001-08:00

Two tortillas up!I finally got to try some food from La Cascada in Berkeley. Good stuff. The chile verde was a little more lemony/vinegary than at Cactus, but I give that more as a description than a complaint. The pork was perfect.

2007-11-08T13:53:00.000-08:00

Burrito Wars!The Vietnamese/boba tea place down the street from my house has closed, and a large banner hung across the front: "NEW TAQUERIA COMING SOON!Yesterday, the signage went up: El Jalisciense. Uh oh! What does this mean for my old standby, just a block away? Can my neighborhood support two taquerias?

2007-07-26T08:54:00.000-07:00

More out-of-town burritosLa Morenita in Cold Springs continues to serve some of the best Mexican food in Tuolumne County. But after we got a flier from the new Mountain House Cafe in Twain Harte that boasted of having the best Chile Colorado north of the border, I had to test their claim.One of my mom's friends says that, whatever claim an ad makes, you should figure the product will display the

2007-01-16T08:45:00.000-08:00

Back in business.Having beaten the mighty cancer, we decided to take a holiday on the Santa Cruz Boardwalk. On one of the coldest days of the winter; why not?We arrived just before noon and spotted La Hacienda, 303 Beach St., as one of the few spots open at that hour. (Across the street from Cocoanut Grove.) It was just as cold inside as out -- we ordered and waited for our food in our jackets

2006-09-14T10:05:00.000-07:00

85 taquerias in 10 weeks. (Pause.) Unbelieveable!We bow before San Francisco Chronicle writer Bill Addison, who completed this incredible personal odyssey in search of the Bay Area's best burrito.His description of dining at El Farolito, La Taqueria and La Cumbre in the Mission District brings back fond memories for me (I had my first super burrito at La Cumbre in 1985.) I also note that Cactus

2006-05-09T19:53:00.000-07:00

Pinche AIDSJonah Feld of the Burrito Blog e-mailed me this week to let me know that his San Francisco burrito correspondent, Phil Jonas, will be doing the AIDS/Lifecycle bike-a-thon, a 585-mile ride from San Francisco to Los Angeles, starting June 4, to raise money for the San Francisco AIDS Foundation. This is an EXTREMELY worthy cause, and I urge you to donate generously.Jonah also asks, "What’

2006-01-26T17:00:00.000-08:00

The San Francisco Chronicle took a culinary walk down International Boulevard in Oakland this week, and in the course of cataloging where you can find the best caldo de pollo and chicken pipian, disses "Mission-style super burritos" as food for Americans.That may be true, but so what? Pizza isn't "authentic" Italian food. Does that mean we should scorn Zachary's spinach and mushroom stuffed pizza?

2006-01-17T21:13:00.000-08:00

So good, I might have to shoot the cookI finally caught "Once Upon A Time in Mexico" on DVD. The movie was a little over the top, but among the extra features was a 10-minute cooking lesson from director Robert Rodriguez. He shows you how to make puerco pibil, a slow-roasted pork marinated in a sauce that includes cinnamon, cloves, orange juice and habanero peppers. I think this may be a relative

2005-12-18T10:08:00.000-08:00

Statistics that college students can relate to:.The following are sample questions to help you prepare for the final. These questions are NOT comprehensive. In other words, do NOT rely solely on these questions to prepare you for the exam! 1. You go to Yo Burrito for dinner one night. The probability that you order a beer is 0.85 and the probability that you order a burrito is 0.90. The

2005-12-12T09:44:00.000-08:00

Remember how I was saying that moo shu is Cantonese for burrito? I was realizing this weekend that I know the Hindi for burrito, too:Chole bhature.It's chickpeas in a spicy red curry served with tortil... I mean, bhature, which are puffy fried round discs of bread. Yeah, kind of like tortillas. And you wrap the chole in the bhature and you eat it, and lord, is it good.

2005-11-17T13:34:00.000-08:00

The bare minimum. I had a cafeteria burrito today for the first time in about two years. First thing I noticed is that the lady in the plastic gloves did not use the Approved Burrito Folding method -- and, in fact, the burrito was somewhat prone to unrolling itself. The second thing is, you know, a little crema is not a bad thing, especially if the rest of the burrito is not terribly

2005-11-13T10:47:00.000-08:00

I went back to Alejandro's last week and had the carnitas burrito (which was quite tasty, by the way) but it made me realize that the super hot-sweet flavor of their barbecued pork burrito is all in the barbecue sauce, not in the pico de gallo. Nice going, guys!Also went to Picante in Berkeley on Friday night. The family and I got stuck in traffic on I-80 westbound -- is there any time of day or

2005-10-20T13:36:00.000-07:00

Looks like we've got some serious competition:The Burrito Blog has only been up online since March, but is obviously the work of a serious burrito fanatic who also has some mad web design skills. The Burritobot is attempting to assign numerical rankings to every taqueria in the Bay Area. It's cool, and I have to give a tip to anyone who tells people to see "Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle" (

2005-10-20T13:04:00.000-07:00

Fairfield, Calif., besides being unusually blessed with a big honking Air Force base (Travis), is also unusually blessed when it comes to taquerias. I mentioned to some locals that I had dinner at Alejandro's last night, and there was an instant babel: Was Alejandro's on West Texas Street the best burrito in town? Or did that distinction belong to Adalberto's, a few blocks away? The answer to the

2005-10-14T11:42:00.000-07:00

How to make vegetarian pinto beans if you're desperate. Put 2 pounds of pinto beans in the largest pot you have (at least 3 quarts) and cover them with water, about 2-3 inches over the top of the beans. Soak overnight. Discard soaking water, replace with fresh and put beans on a medium flame to boil. (You might want to put a lid on the pot to speed this up, but leave it slightly ajar or your

2005-10-07T11:23:00.000-07:00

How to make a vegetarian burrito when you're desperate:Open can of pinto beans and cook them over low heat on the stove for about five minutes. I prefer Eden Organic, but then, I'm a freak. Rosarita brand is fine if you aren't terrified of Genetically Modified Organisms or self-righteously angry about the petrochemicals required to make fertilizer and pesticides. I would stick to the traditional

2005-09-27T20:14:00.000-07:00

"I stood in line for an hour to see Serenity and all I got was this lousy poster."First off, let me say that Joss Whedon is a creative genius. I loved the TV show Firefly. I hope Serenity lands on the top of the box office heap this weekend, wins eleven Oscars, and that Elijah Wood begs to play one of Inara's clients in the sequel.I can't tell you whether the movie was any good, though, because

2005-09-27T10:58:00.000-07:00

Hey, Universal Pictures: If you're going to treat me like a space hooker, at least have the courtesy to pay up when you're finished.

2005-09-06T21:33:00.000-07:00

First the bad news about Taqueria La Tapatia in Guerneville: All those Negra Modelo and Tecate signs in the windows? Ignore them. La Tapatia had its liquor license yanked and it won't be serving beer till December 2005.I found this out after a Friday-before-a-holiday drive that left me in serious need of some mood-altering beverage. But we were already standing in line, and my blood sugar was on

2005-08-28T17:34:00.000-07:00

Yes, it's another new template: The old one wasn't working for me any more, although I kind of miss the greenness of it all, the greenness of cilantro, the greenness of salsa verde...Which leads me to my most recent burrito experience. I have kidded around about Cactus Taqueria in the past. They're in Rockridge, fercryinoutloud, next to a store named "Maison D'Etre." If that weren't enough, their

2005-07-30T08:49:00.000-07:00

Much, much better: I've got to give my mother props, she's always up for trying a new burrito place. In this case, we returned to one of the favorite taquerias of my distant past: El Faro on Monument Boulevard in Concord.I hadn't been to El Faro in about 10 years, but nothing much had changed. Well, they were resurfacing the parking lot, which made getting to the front door a bitch. I had

2005-07-24T13:58:00.000-07:00

Worst. Burrito. Evah: Curry Village in the Yosemite Valley is the original family camp, I guess: 107 years old. You spend what would buy you a fabulous four-star hotel room in Bakersfield for a tent cabin with camp beds that's about six inches away from your neighbors. Not only did I get to learn exactly what teen-aged girls giggle about, I got to hear when the baby woke up with nightmares. On

2005-06-13T10:08:00.000-07:00

It can be hard to find a burrito on a Sunday. Sometimes the upscale gringofied places stay open (Cactus Taqueria, for example), or those in places with significant tourist traffic (Tacos de Mexico in Morro Bay). But a lot of the neighborhood places tend to take it as their day of rest.So it was, when we headed out for our local taqueria yesterday, that we were doomed to disappointment. I should

2005-05-26T10:24:00.000-07:00

Apple Burrito RecipeFirst things first: Proofreading is your friend. I think the author of this recipe meant "burrito wrap" where he or she wrote "burrito," although, what the hell, stick a slice of apple in the middle of your burrito de tripas and serve it a la mode. Why not? Pass another cerveza.Second thing is, this is just wrong. A burrito is not an apple cobbler. Both things are wonderful in

2005-05-03T13:01:00.000-07:00

"Trouble ahead, trouble behind, just have my taco ready in time." I don't know how I missed this: In January, Jerry Garcia's heirs filed suit against Moe's Southwest Grill for using Jerry's likeness and the above-quoted version of "Casey Jones" to market their "Alfredo Garcia" fajita."It's not the sort of product the heirs are interested in associating Jerry Garcia's likeness with," says the

2005-04-29T14:54:00.000-07:00

I don't know whether to laugh or cry about this story, "School Mistakes Huge Burrito for a Weapon.""CLOVIS, N.M. - A call about a possible weapon at a middle school prompted police to put armed officers on rooftops, close nearby streets and lock down the school. All over a giant burrito. Someone called authorities Thursday after seeing a boy carrying something long and wrapped into Marshall

2005-04-15T14:14:00.000-07:00

Pelayo's is in a huge new shopping center in Fairfield (5055 Business Center Drive), which gives it a huge demerit in the funky coolness department. But although the carne asada burrito is pretty average, the sauces on the do-it-yourself salsa bar are interesting and, in at least one case, tasty. The regular burrito comes with melted cheese on the outside, which means you can give up any idea of

2005-04-01T09:39:00.000-08:00

Several years ago there was a Mexican restaurant at the corner of 108 and 120 in Oakdale that was very, very, very good. Unfortunately, it went out of business. But one time while I was parking the car behind it, I noticed what appeared to be a taqueria across the street.Last night, passing through Oakdale at dinner time, I thought I would check out the taqueria. Suzey Belen's is at 140 N. 3rd St

2005-03-18T12:46:00.000-08:00

8. "Hungry? Stay right here. I'll go make you a burrito." (Note: This statement cannot be made any less hot.)Matthew Baldwin deconstructs the Men's Health list of "The 30 Hottest Things You Can Say to a Naked Woman" over at Defective Yeti.

2005-03-07T14:05:00.000-08:00

I intended to complete another on-the-road burrito trifecta this weekend, but got derailed in Atascadero on Friday night.I stopped at El Taco de Mexico on Morro Road. (NOT to be confused with Tacos de Mexico on Main Street in Morro Bay.) I was hungry, it was pouring rain, and I had always meant to try them out. But the chile verde burrito was, frankly, a disappointment: pork that was dry and

2005-02-16T19:18:00.000-08:00

The San Francisco Chronicle, perhaps taking a hint from the New York Times, had a handful of its staff members attempt to eat according to the new U.S. Government dietary guidelines. To cut to the chase, all the reporters had a hard time sticking to the "healthy diet." They missed meat, fat, salt and white flour. They hated eating their fruits and vegetables. They didn't want to consume three

2005-01-31T15:54:00.000-08:00

Return visit to Taqueria El Pastor in the Escalon Plaza. Got the horchata this time and a chile verde burrito. The horchata was OK, but not FABulous: I like a little more kick from the cinnamon and nutmeg. The burrito was everything I remembered it to be, and they still had a football game on. Prices still cheap.

2004-11-08T13:32:00.000-08:00

Man, oh man: I would so love to have these in front of me right now: http://www.rinconlatinosf.com/normalpupusas.jpg">

2004-11-04T11:36:00.000-08:00

Would that this had been true: Burrito poll picks Kerry as winner By Donna De Marco THE WASHINGTON TIMES Political pollsters take note: California Tortilla's burrito ballot has named John Kerry the next president of the United States. The completely "scientific" and "accurate" poll, which began Oct. 1 and ended Oct. 28, pitted the presidential candidates against each other in the form of a

2004-10-29T11:48:00.001-07:00

The latest Googlewhack: burritorodomontade. (Break words between "to" and "ro.") Surprise, surprise: It's a football-related site. I didn't know the NFL knew words that big! Our old Googlewhack, burrito ultramontane, is now up to 27 sites, some of them definitely adult-only content. ("Porn the Internet? No kidding!") Obviously, somebody is mining the Whack Stack for commercial purposes. Finally

2004-10-26T11:45:00.000-07:00

Also, I suppose I should mention the new template. Notice the new template: It allows comments. The old template had the frijoles refritos/chile colorado colors, but it did not allow comments. The new template reminds me of one of those spinach tortilla burritos from 360 Gourmet (shudder). Or maybe guacamole. Whatever.

2004-10-24T18:36:00.000-07:00

About once a year I find myself attending a night meeting in Vacaville. Isn't that the greatest name in the world for a small town? Vacaville. It's about halfway between Oakland and Sacramento, and there is a Budweiser factory nearby. So I asked a group of 20-something Vacavillians where I should stop for a burrito beforehand. There was initial chaos -- there are a LOT of burrito places in

2004-07-10T16:29:00.000-07:00

OK, here's a cheaper option. The Roosevelt Tamale Parlor in San Francisco has been at the same location since before I was born. You want to talk urban food log: The single tamale (with rice and beans, $7) was about the size and shape of a nerf football. Nothing fancy here, but everything homemade and good, from the strawberry agua fresca to the green sauce on My Dining Companion's enchilada,

2004-06-29T10:12:00.000-07:00

The following links are really too embarrassing to explain. Let's just say that, in the not-too-distant future, I hope you'll be able to buy burritos in outer space. Serenity: The Official Movie Website FireFlyFans.net http://forums.prospero.com/foxfirefly/start

2004-06-16T09:03:00.000-07:00

Calvin Trillin owns two t-shirts from La Cumbre in San Francisco.

2004-06-06T21:09:00.000-07:00

Should you google the web for the phrase "negritude burrito," you will be led to some extremely strange places. Like, white power kinds of web sites that I will not even dignify with a link. I do not like to think of the Aryan Nation sending out for a carnitas super, refritos y salsa, por favor. I assume that if these web sites take a position on burritos, it is anti. "Nigritude burrito" however

2004-06-01T13:54:00.000-07:00

Here's the difference between Taquerias and whatever the heck they call what they've got in Florida: La Granja in Orlando (Aloma and Semoran, pescados y carnes de la brasa) DOES NOT SELL burritos. It does not sell tacos or pupusas, either, and when I asked about horchata or tamarindo, the counter girl shook her head regretfully, but offered me a passionfruit soda as a consolation prize. Duh!

2004-05-27T12:45:00.000-07:00

Wilson Tai, the creator of racingmix has apparently also suffered the sticker shock of buying a burrito in Lafayette. I myself haven't eaten at the Taco Sinaloa truck but I've driven past it a number of times (NOT in my mac daddy Escalade) and have been tempted.

2004-05-19T11:15:00.000-07:00

Thank you, Blogger, for adding comments to your many handy services!

2004-05-11T14:13:00.000-07:00

More disturbing evidence of the web's growth: "ultramontane burrito" is no longer a googlewhack, and now brings up three sites. Once this gets posted, it'll be four. Suburban burrito adventure: El Balazo in Lafayette, California. You will pay to eat here, brudda: $6 for a burrito. If you needed more evidence that Lafayette is upscale, there it is. All I needed to see was the perfectly tanned,

2004-04-17T17:49:00.000-07:00

Yet another burrito report from the road, this time New York City. What is not to like about a city where you can have any type of foodstuff brought to your door until the wee hours of the morning? We had burritos delivered from La Taqueria at 7th and Berkeley Place in Brooklyn's Park Slope neighborhood. Interesting menu, sociologically and gustatorially. I ordered the Baja Burrito ("a smaller

2004-01-19T08:05:00.000-08:00

I’m back home from a holiday ski weekend with a long-distance burrito trifecta to report. First, Miguel’s Cantina in Bear Valley – it’s in the same shopping center as the snowmobile rental center, and a faint odor of gasoline hangs in the hallway outside the taqueria. The décor of the cantina itself is a little too Burger King for my tastes – preformed booths, “wood” topped tables – but someone

2004-01-04T14:36:00.000-08:00

Oh, and I forgot to say, I found another burrito googlewhack: "ultramontaneburrito." (If you type that as two words, that is a googlewhack.)

2004-01-04T14:33:00.000-08:00

When, oh when, will I learn. The Mothership was in town, so we checked out a different taqueria -- La Mejor Taqueria, on High Street near 580. (Could be El Peligroso, because getting across High Street requires nerves of steel). TMshp got a chile verde burrito, with the works, plus a vegetariano to take home to the mister. I got a bite of the chile verde, and it wasn't bad, but the mister had

2003-11-10T13:38:00.000-08:00

Burrogami is proposed as the next step in burrito architecture: "Instead of just rolling the burrito up into a frigging tube shape, why not fold the tortilla into something interesting and beautiful, like a swan, or a frog, or a bloodied scimitar?" (There are other interesting burrito-related suggestions on the halfbakery web site if you poke around -- including a proposal to make egg rolls

2003-09-16T13:12:00.000-07:00

Not only is "burrito phreatic" no longer a Googlewhack, it actually brings up three web sites, one of which appears to be a community blog. This says something disturbing about the growth of the web, but I'm not sure exactly what.

2003-09-09T12:44:00.000-07:00

Now that my blog is SORT OF working again, I can send you to the Homies web site. These figures have taken over the gumball machines in the Fruitvale district. I believe Dave Gonzales when he says he means the Homies to be a loving caricature of life in his neighborhood, but I have to say that I find his Palermo family to be stereotypical and offensive. Hey Dave! Stay outta my turf, gavrone!

2003-09-03T09:50:00.000-07:00

I was having technical difficulty with my blog. I'd write a post and publish it, but it wouldn't show up on my web site. Being a cheap-a**, I have avoided paying for blogging services, so I would just have to poke around the Blogger web-site, looking for clues as to what was wrong. Hmmm, now we've got this coool GUI set-up. Maybe it will work this time.

2003-05-07T09:00:00.000-07:00

Oh. My. God! I just visted Taqueria Zamorano, at the corner of International Boulevard and High Street in Oakland. The neighborhood is a little intimidating, but if you are looking for the Serious Burrito Experience, it is worth checking out. I made the mistake of ordering the $7.50 super, because the regular burrito was only $2.50 and I assumed it would not be enough food. HAH! When I got home

2002-12-05T11:01:00.000-08:00

It's been a while since I visited, but it's been a busy semester. I've only eaten about two burritos the whole time!

2002-05-07T14:48:00.000-07:00

I'm not sure why this member of the allium family is called "Bean Burrito," but it is. And these lovely photos do not solve the mystery. However, I should note that this is an ornamental, not an edible, variety and that the burnt orange color of the flowers (the "beans"?) is unusual -- most tend to be in the pink to pinky beige range.

2002-04-29T11:41:00.000-07:00

The April 29th "Sherman's Lagoon" is burrito-related. (I believe that, in fact, the world's largest burrito WAS a vegetarian one.)

2002-04-10T12:11:00.000-07:00

How low would you go to eat a burrito? I just learned that the Chipotle chain is owned by (shudder) McDonald's. In all fairness, there are substantial differences in the corporate philosophies: At Chipotle, they pride themselves on starting with fresh ingredients. Still, I have to agree with the Cleveland Citysearch site that called it "...the Earthlink equivalent of Mexican food." The rice is

2002-03-27T14:12:00.000-08:00

Yes! Finally, a googlewhack with burrito phrea tic. (Of course, if this page is still listed in Google, I've just screwed it up.) NOTE: This page did get indexed by google, so I've edited this to fix it. Now I'm off to list my triumph in the Whack Stack.

2002-03-27T13:26:00.000-08:00

I hope this template change will make Burritoville more Netscape-friendly. I'm testing it out. I've also been able to add a list of best burrito-related sites.

2002-03-26T12:10:00.000-08:00

Damn. I got SO close to a whack: burrito meistersinger yields two sites. One is a school board report, one is a music catalog. Interesting facts: burrito fascism yields fewer sites than either burrito communism or burrito anarchy. Burrito weltunschauung yields a startling eight sites. Burrito pupusa is a pretty good whack -- only eight sites. As I've said before, I think pupusas have yet to be

2002-03-26T11:53:00.000-08:00

I was googlewhacking today -- tried "burrito apotheosis" -- and not only was it NOT a winner, but it led me to this review in the Orange County Weekly of the diner in Seal Beach that claims to be the original home of the breakfast burrito.

2002-03-21T11:52:00.000-08:00

The History of the California Burrito is the start of a three-part personal history and essay that makes the case for brown rice, tofu and carrots in a burrito as the culinary equivalent of embracing diversity. Ummm.... I'm going to have to think about it, OK?

2002-03-21T11:46:00.000-08:00

This web site deals exclusively with taquerias in Berkeley. I recommend it with some reservations -- the author thinks High Tech burritos are decent -- but he/she seems sound in respects to the other possibilities available in that city and I fully agree with him/her that no burrito should cost more than $5 (although I have willingly paid close to $7 for the shrimp burrito from El Faro in Concord

2002-03-13T14:26:00.000-08:00

Energetic Disassembly of a Burrito is soo cool. And you can run it in slow motion, if you want to see the burrito explode frame by frame. (Still photos or Quicktime display).

2002-03-13T14:23:00.000-08:00

Smelly Monkey's Burrito Journal is kind of a work in progress, but it does have a cool assortment of burrito shop reviews from all over. There are some glaring omissions -- the SF Bay Area seems hardly covered at all -- but depending on where you live, it might be useful. Smelly Monkey is very polite in e-mail, and is advertising this site on Google, so maybe some of the blank spots will get

2002-03-04T14:03:00.000-08:00

Tacos de Mexico, on Main Street in Morro Bay, was as good as I remembered. Couple things they do nicely: The tortillas aren't warmed in a steamer, but on the grill, which gives them a nice flavor and just a hint of chewiness. I had the chile verde on Friday night and the chicken on Sunday (YES! They are open on Sundays, when it is almost impossible to find a taqueria abierta in the East Bay.

2002-02-26T15:09:00.000-08:00

I really enjoy Google's automatic translation function. I hope they never fix it. Here's the way it translated a recipe for birria: Ingredients: 750 grs. of chuletas of pig 500 grs. of tomato 2 lemons 1 onion Pepper, nail, salt of garlic, cinnamon, mejorana, pepper and salt. Way to prepare itself: They gild chuletas without fat, in the frying pan with low flame, previously greased lemon, you

2002-02-26T11:43:00.000-08:00

I have been sick, sick, sick for the past week. Dragged myself out of bed and down to Los Comales for a chile verde burrito Saturday night. It was just OK, though. (Chile verde is really not their strong suit, but it's what I like best when I'm feeling under the weather.) A member of the Asada family who recently returned from NYC tells me that Burritoville is actually the name of a chain of

2002-02-14T12:12:00.000-08:00

I know you've been asking yourself: "Have burritos ever been mentioned in Buffy the Vampire Slayer?

2002-02-12T12:05:00.000-08:00

¡Burritos! Hot on the Trail of the Little Burro may truly be, as it claims, "the premier source for online burrito fun." Designed as an adjunct for the book of the same name, the site offers recipes, lists of top taquerias (No. 1 in the SF Bay Area: Cancun on Mission Street in SF) and the Burrito Game, in which you fire tortillas at advancing ranks of fierce-looking chili peppers. If you've got

2002-02-11T09:35:00.000-08:00

OK, here's the thing about toppings: When I was younger, I used to load my burritos up. The goal was to get as much food as possible for the money, and the per-calorie cost of guacamole and crema is fairly low. Now that I eat burritos for enjoyment, rather than out of economic necessity, I find I prefer them plain. If the filling is really tasty, why bury the flavor? I guess it's similar to

2002-02-08T14:22:00.000-08:00

Oh, yes: here's more romantic burrito inspiration. This time, a poem by Salem S. Alnauimi.

2002-02-08T14:20:00.000-08:00

Eightball is an online magazine that apparently caters to an audience of young, male moisture-seekers (if that's not redundant). Tip-offs: frequent use of terms like "rack" and "G-spot." What's surprising is this part of the site, where the guys discuss their experiments in lucid and controlled dreaming. Included is johnnycrackahead's burrito nightmare: "So last night I'm walking through the

2002-02-07T11:16:00.000-08:00

This is just too damn cute. The eigth-graders at Dakota Meadows Middle School in Mankato, Minn., write "2-minute mysteries" and post them online. They've been doing it for about five years! Here's one from this year called "The Nasty Burrito" by Dan and Eric.

2002-02-06T15:14:00.000-08:00

I know you've all been wanting the translation for the Cheech Marin song "Taco Grande." Now you can order "el ardiente pollo del infierno" with confidence ("con confianza").

2002-02-06T15:00:00.000-08:00

What has this guy been smoking? I wouldn't eat this one.

2002-02-06T09:35:00.000-08:00

Now, why is it that all these fiction writers seem to associate burritos with sex? (Or at least, romance.)

2002-02-06T09:23:00.000-08:00

The boys at sfburrito.com are clearly not amateurs! Check out this excerpt from their review of Taqueria Baja California: "It had a different kind of taste – a strong seasoned rice and enchilada sauce flavor, somewhat like a traditional Mexican combo plate. The guac had no chunks of avo, and the tortilla was not grilled. And it certainly did not have a 'fresh' taste. But the carne asada had a

2002-02-06T09:13:00.000-08:00

Apparently Calvin Trillin is a fan of La Cumbre Taqueria in San Francisco. He tells columnist Leah Garchick about searching for a parking place in the Mission District in order to indulge. (It's been years since I ate at La Cumbre, but I remember it as a satisfying burrito, but not a life-changing experience. Possibly I ordered chile verde when I should have had carnitas, or vice versa.)

2002-02-05T15:36:00.000-08:00

Last one for today. "Lust Perks Up the Taco Gnome" is a short story about sex and tostadas on the Zoetrope web site. It's PG-13, not X-rated, and owes a debt to "Like Water for Chocolate."

2002-02-05T15:11:00.000-08:00

On the other hand, here's a guy I could chow down with: Steve Sutter, author of Steve's Field Guide to Berkeley Burritos. Although I would quibble with his description of "meat adjuncts" as "superfluous and distracting," I can only agree with his methodology ("In some dingy corner of the burrito shop you may see some utensils -- AVOID THIS AREA! You must eat the entire burrito by slowly peeling

2002-02-05T15:01:00.000-08:00

Now, this is just SO WRONG. Dilbert creator Scott Adams has put $1 million into a company to create and market vegetarian frozen burritos, or "Dilberitos." Ingredients include broccoli florets, textured wheat gluten and Almond Rella. If you want a vegetarian burrito, go for it, dude, but wheat gluten and almond milk caseinate do not belong there. Stick with vegetales asados and frijoles de olla!

2002-02-05T12:07:00.000-08:00

I found a kind of a cool page, devoted to The Flying Burrito Brothers. In the '70s, I was a little skeptical of the whole Gram-Parsons-is-God thing -- his kind of country rock seemed too emotional, too overdone with the pedal steel. As I've gotten older, I guess I've become more tolerant of the hokey. The guy maintaining this web site is obviously a long-time fanatic. Still no luck in finding a

2002-02-04T14:52:00.000-08:00

I've been thinking recently about the Platonic Burrito Ideal -- once glimpsed when eating a chile verde burrito off a truck from Taco Joe's in Riverbank. The near-Platonic Burrito was sloppy, full of garlic and meat, and contained a surprise ingredient, shredded raw cabbage, which added both coolness and bite. They definitely have that elusive fifth flavor, umami. Some good regional burritos