Mi Burrito

What's better than eating burritos alone? Well, maybe nothing. However, eating burritos with people can be enjoyable too. So when a fellow burrito junkie friend invited me to try one of his favorite spots, I happily obliged.

This brings us to Mi Burrito, located at 819 N Lombard St. There's always a certain pressure when someone I know recommends a burrito... I mean, what if I hate it? How awkward would that be? I can't lie, I can't write a fake review just to appease someone. I have to critique my burritos truthfully, even if it means cutting that person out of my life- forever. Burritos are just worth so much more than civility. So, what happened here? Did I have to excommunicate Mr. Folts?

The Mi Burrito

Price: $5.25

Ingredients: Steak picado, chile relleno, refried beans, avocado sauce

Size: Gut Stuffer

Sides: Full salsa bar with 5 different sauces, fresh salsa, pickled carrots and jalapenos, grilled jalapenos...

Burrito Boys

While eating, we chatted about this latest trend among taquerias- the steak and relleno combination burrito. So many places are doing this nowadays, and most of the time it's their namesake burrito. It can oftentimes be too much for one burrito to handle, but not in this case.

The burrito came out nice and steamy hot, just how I like it! Though the tortilla was lacking that crispy grilled perfection, the wrap job was splendid. Upon first taste, I noted the saucy steak, with just the right amount of chew. It took a few rows of chomping to make my way down to the relleno, which was disappointing. But, when the tried and true egged up greasy pepper finally made it's debut, it didn't disappoint. I enjoyed tasting all the different sauces, but none of them really tugged at my heart strings. If Bob Ross was painting a picture of this burrito, he would call the refried beans "happy little mushed up beany friends." Although this was a saucy burrito, the tortilla held together perfectly and I barely had any juice on my hands at the end.

The Rating

My Rating: 3.8 out of 5

Mr. Folts' Rating: 4.2 out of 5

So, I think Mr. Folts and I can still get along. Thanks for the burrito adventure, sir!

King Burrito (update)

Well, I've been burrito blogging for so long now that I think it's appropriate to revisit some places that I haven't been to for years. Just to check in, check on the quality, ya know. My original post was from way back in 2012, and involved a lovely canoe jaunt at Smith and Bybee Lakes. Ahhh, summer time. This visit was a burrito date with some friends of mine to check out their new hood and local taqueria.

King Burrito still appears to be a neighborhood institution. I am also happy to report that prices have not changed. You can still get a burrito for $4.50! Quite a deal in today's Portland. I opted for their slightly more expensive ($5) namesake burrito this time.

The King Burrito

Price: $5.00

Ingredients: Steak picado, chile relleno, beans, guacamole

Size: Big

Sides: Red and green sauce

Again, I was impressed with the guacamole. Some places charge upwards of 2 dollars for a tiny tiny tiny addition of guac, but it came standard on this guy. Unfortunately, the ingredient dispersion was a bit sloppy, and most of the guac was gone after a couple of bites. The steak had good flavor, but I had a couple of tough bites and it started dripping grease through the bottom of the tortilla fairly quickly. The relleno had a lovely texture, with just the right amount of cheese and a subtle hint of spice. The red sauce was quite yummy! By the end, this guy was drooping and falling apart from all the grease.

The Rating

Lowering the rating slightly for this one- 3.6 out of 5 stars.  

Rosita's Place

I found myself trapped on 82nd Avenue, again. In need of some major burrito therapy, I figured if I saw a taqueria, I'd go for it.  As fate would have it, wedged between Papa Murphy's and KFC there's a parking lot with a few food carts, one being Rosita's. This was just North of Powell Blvd. I couldn't figure out where to park, so I circled around and got stuck in a huge strip mall parking maze... but I was eventually able to dig my way out. I'm pretty sure you can just turn right in and park next to the carts if you want, I was just being awkward.

The owners were super friendly and welcoming, and the pictures on the menu were tasty looking. I noticed carnitas was MIA though.

Asada Burrito

Price: $5.50

Ingredients: Steak, rice, beans, fresh salsa, cheese, sour cream

Sides: Green and Habanero salsa

Size: Filling

I opted to take this puppy home, as the weather wasn't the best and I just wanted to eat in peace. 

Upon initial unwrapping, this burrito looked quite appealing. It had that grilled and sealed tortilla wrapping that always adds such a lovely texture and prevents soggy sadness. It's also an indication that whoever made it actually cares, and wasn't rushed into haphazardly throwing ingredients together.

I enjoyed chowing down on this guy. The tortilla had a saltiness that tickled my tongue, and ingredients were nicely dispersed. The steak was tasty, though a couple bites were a little sinewy. There was a bit too much rice- I would have loved more beans instead. It had the perfect amount of sour cream, but more cheese was in order! The fresh salsa was a nice touch. It did what it needed to do, but it didn't blow me away.

The Rating:

3.5 out of 5

Would I go here again? 

Yes, I'd like to try some other things, like the fish tacos (but that's not a burrito).

La Morenita

La Morenita is one of the many mexican food options along Hawthorne Blvd. It's a food cart at 32nd. Almost 4 years ago, my first burrito review was from Neza, which sits just a block up the street. Who knows if that review is still accurate. 4 years... where has my life gone?  My memories are shaped by whichever beans I happened to be eating at the time, my emotions tamed by that belly-full-o-love. Anxieties melt, like cheese atop a heaping pile of sizzling beef, or pork. Some people have God or animal spirit guides, some people pop pills or run marathons... I have burritos.

The Morenita Burrito

Price: $7.00

Ingredients: Steak, chile relleno, beans, cheese, lettuce, pico, guacamole

Sides: Red and green salsa, chips, lime wedge

Size: Large

What an elegant presentation, like a green checkered angel- fallen to earth. Or perhaps a bird on the wing, soaring high above that which the human brain can fathom.

 ...ok ok, it's just a burrito, sorry.

There were cheaper options on the menu, but I can never pass up steak and chile relleno together in one being, as you may well know.

My cheeks warm as I gently inhale, chewing each bite contemplatively and wholly. I let the flavors marinate on my tongue, as steam radiates up and out into the cool January air. Seesawing between splashes of spicy red sauce and soothing green, I tease my brain with simple pleasures. The pepper is stuffed with soft creamy cheese and has a nice crisp casing. The cooling pico and lettuce add a fresh crunch. Morsels of steak are finely chopped and offer the perfect amount of meaty chewy goodness. While the textures balanced precisely midway through, I felt ingredient dispersion was a bit off- too much lettuce at first, then all meat at the end. I didn't pick up on much guacamole, and it could use a bit more beany cheesiness. Something about it felt delicate, as though a lot of thought and love went into its creation.

The Rating:

3.8 out of 5

A great option if you're walking down Hawthorne. I would choose this a million times over cha cha blah.

A look back at 2015

It looks like I reviewed 10 new burritos in 2015. Not bad, but not great! How many burritos did I actually consume all together though? Only the lord knows... and honey, that's my personal business with him. J/k, let's think about this... I usually go out for a burrito once a week, maybe twice! Plus there's the breakfast burritos that I make on weekends sometimes. Here's another dirty little secret folks: sometimes for a snack I will eat one of those little frozen "El Monterey" bean and cheese burritos. Don't judge me! It's just you know, some people will eat an apple or some cashews for a snack... but I take one of those little frozen guys and cover him with cheese and hot sauce and dip him in sour cream. It's a perfectly fine, healthy snack.

So, let's see... a conservative estimate for number of burritos I ate this year would probably be- 100.

As far as new burrito reviews go, it was a rather average experience this year. I rated 7 of my burritos at or below 3 stars. My top rated burrito this year was the carnitas from Gonzalez Taqueria. I am also extremely happy about the Portland Mercado coming into existence, though they aren't just about burritos.

I am looking forward to another year of burrito hunting, and I will continue to branch out! I also want to return to some of my favorites to see if they are staying up to par. Thank you to everyone who reads this ridiculously delicious blog!

Taqueria Villanueva

This festive food cart is located on SW 3rd and Oak. We stopped by before going to see the symphony at the Schnitz. Classy, right? They were open on a Sunday, though according to yelp, they are usually closed Sundays. It looks like they are open 10-4pm M-Th and on Friday and Saturday they are open until 3am. Perfect for a post clubbing preemptive hangover cure? I apologize for the absolutely horrid cell phone pictures. I was not prepared for this!

The Chile Relleno Burrito

Price: $6.00

Ingredients: Chile Relleno, beans, rice, pico, lettuce, sour cream, guacamole, cheese

Sides: Red and Green Sauce

Size: Filling

Again, I apologize for the cell phone pictures. I enjoyed this burrito, even after standing in the cold and eating it in the car- it was pretty satisfying. Ingredient dispersion needs improvement. At first I had some really scrumptious bites of cheesy steamy relleno and beans, then towards the middle I got into a lettuce jungle. This burrito had a creamy quality, a smoothness about it- with little hints of spice interspersed. A textural aspect was absent- some nice morsels of meat would have done it, but that's my fault for picking the meatless burrito! Anyway, it was good while sober and would probably make a really nice after hours snack.

The review

3 out of 5 stars.

Would I go here again? Probably, I'd like to give a meatier option a try.

Fernando's Alegria

Click to view large

I returned to my most favorite food cart pod in Portland, my own special Disneyland- The Mercado. It's located on SE Foster and 72nd. As I parked across from this utopic wonderland of delight, the smell of peppers and spice and everything nice permeated into my brain, making me viciously salivate like a monster! I ravaged my way over to the burrito cart, Fernando's Alegria. Alegria means happiness or joy, so let's see if they brought me such feelings of contentment...

Fernando's Special Burrito

Price: $8

Ingredients: Steak, grilled onions, jalapenos, tomato, rice, beans, sour cream, cheese

Sides: Red and green sauce

Size: Monster!

I went on a rant a while ago about 8 dollar burritos. It's tough to rationalize what on earth makes a burrito worth 8 bucks. Some places in town use words like "made from scratch," or "artisanal" to make their burritos sound fancy and worthy of the 8 dollar price tag. Other spots have hip atmospheres with apathetic staff, and for some reason this automatically makes the price higher. Fernando's doesn't do any of these things. They just serve up an honest, hearty, gargantuan burrito. Nearly as wide as it is tall, it took at least 3 bites to make it across one row of this beast. 

The tortilla was kissed with a crispness, which I usually like, but this one cracked and crumbled a lot. The ingredients united playfully on my palate, with the morsels of smoky steak twirling around with the pops of perfectly cooked pinto beans. The grilled onion had an enticing sweet crunch, while the tomatoes added a refreshing splash of acidity. The flavors balanced well, but I would have liked more punch from the jalapenos. I may look like a gringa on the outside, but I can take heat with the best of them. The cheddar cheese was melted against one side of the tortilla, while it should have been more central. Though I usually complain about burritos being too dry, this guy was too juicy. The sour cream liquefied and became muddled with the other ingredients, loosing it's calming creamy coolness. The green salsa tasted like how I would imagine licking the back of an iguana would taste- green, grassy, herbaceous, psychedelic! This dude was dense, and if it did indeed contain rice, I didn't even notice. It could easily be made into 2 meals for the average person. I however, devoured it whole in about 5 seconds with my huge, fat, monstrous mouth.

The Rating:

3.5 out of 5

Would I go here again?

Oh, I'll be back at the Mercado. I have more carts to try!