Burritos are not photogenic creatures. Fashion magazines usually feature pictures of the front (or, for particularly salacious publications, the rear) of people. It’s impossible to treat a burrito that way. The only way to capture the content of a burrito is from above, akin to the magazine wrapping a model in a drab blanket and focusing on the top of their head. Despite their shyness, burritos are admirable creatures. They’re a convenient, utilitarian way to move a mélange of beans, rice, vegetables, and sauces into a mouth (I’m vegetarian, so I omitted meat from this list). But they’re also an art form: the tortilla is the canvas of the food world (you could make an argument that bread is actually the canvas, but tortillas more closely resemble something you’d buy from an art supply store). And the composition of the burrito’s interior reflects the creativity and execution of the chef.
I ate ten burritos during the summer of 2022. Could I have eaten more? Absolutely, if I didn’t care about looking fat and having a balanced diet. Ten felt like a sufficient sample size for me to consume, evaluate, and (most importantly) savor. I graded each burrito on a scale of 0 to 100 points: 20 points for integrity, 15 points for value, 10 points for creativity, and 55 points for taste. There was no “grade inflation”: for example, a 28/55 taste score was average, and anything above a 34 or below a 22 was very good or very bad (respectively). A burrito possessed good integrity if it didn’t fall apart while I held it up to my mouth and it didn’t drip sauces or miscellaneous liquid onto a plate (or worse, my lap). A burrito was a good value if it didn’t cost too much relative to its size. A burrito was creative if it featured textures and flavors beyond the traditional rice and beans. I divided the taste component of a burrito into four parts. The tortilla was worth 10 points since I already allocated 20 points for integrity. The beans and rice were worth 15 points. Beans and rice are essential for a burrito, but they can’t elevate one by themselves (hence the low weight). The vegetables were worth 15 points, and the cheese and sauce (including guacamole, sour cream, and salsa) were also worth 15 points. A burrito’s quality often depends on the quality and preparation of these ingredients.
I admit that this scale is entirely arbitrary. But who doesn’t like a nerdy and harsh (yet whimsical) rating system? Let’s get started.
10. Rutabegorz (Tustin, CA)
Integrity: 8/20
Value: 4/15
Creativity: 8/10
Taste: 17/55 (tortilla: 4/10, beans/rice: 5/15, vegetables: 5/15, cheese/sauce: 3/15)
Total: 37/100
I’m biased against wet burritos. I strongly feel that burritos are meant to be picked up and eaten without the use of utensils. Even taking this bias into account, this was the worst burrito I’ve eaten. Rutabegorz is a health-conscious Orange County café. My friend Jacob Glasky and I visited the location in Tustin during a sweltering midsummer heat wave. While guzzling my hibiscus cooler, I found an intriguing mu-shu burrito on their menu. I thought a fusion of northern Chinese flavors into a burrito would taste fantastic…if executed properly. I received a lump of tortilla and Asian vegetables drowning in an oily brown sauce, topped with pallid carrots and out-of-place almonds. The sauce was saltier than a bead of sweat dripping into my mouth after a cross-country race. It diffused into the tortilla and rice, making both of those unbearably salty too. The cabbage and seaweed were hopelessly overcooked. The mushrooms were decent and I picked them out; the remainder of the dish was inedible. This was a terrible use of $12, but I got a blog post out of it!
9. Taqueria los Pericos (Dublin, CA)
Integrity: 11/20
Value: 6/15
Creativity: 3/10
Taste: 22/55 (tortilla: 6/10, beans/rice: 7/15, vegetables: 5/15, cheese/sauce: 4/15)
Total: 42/100
Taqueria los Pericos is a small, unassuming restaurant in a dated suburban shopping plaza. Oftentimes places like these are hidden gems. My sister and I were driving down from our house to my cousins’ house in Fremont, and Dublin was about halfway in between. I decided to stop here to pick up food for my cousins, my sister, and myself. The building was packed, even on a Monday at 11 am, but we received our food quickly. Unfortunately, Taqueria los Pericos was a bust. The burrito didn’t fall apart, but the beans and rice were about average, and the vegetables were overcooked and lacked creativity. Worst of all, the guacamole resembled alien goo and had no texture or flavor. My cousins, my sister, and I were all underwhelmed, especially since each burrito cost $9.50.
8. Casa Rubio’s (Rancho Cucamonga, CA)
Integrity: 6/20
Value: 7/15
Creativity: 4/10
Taste: 28/55 (tortilla: 3/10, beans/rice: 8/15, vegetables: 8/15, cheese/sauce: 9/15)
Total: 45/100
On a hot July weekend in Claremont, my friend Haakon Pihlaja and I decided to hike Mt. Baden-Powell, the second-tallest mountain in the San Gabriel Mountains. Both of us were hungry on our drive back, so I had Haakon find a taqueria to stop at. I don’t blame Haakon at all for the result; taquerias are unpredictable! We picked up our burritos (for the reasonable but not extraordinary price of $8.75), drove back to campus, and ate them under the stately sycamores at Marston Quad. The tortilla was a disaster: it tasted as stale and soggy as an Amazon box drenched in the rain. It fell apart as soon as I held it to my mouth. Thankfully, I recovered most of the fallen contents onto a piece of aluminum foil. The beans and rice tasted buttery and were well-seasoned. The grilled bell peppers and caramelized onions complemented the beans well. The pico de gallo and guacamole were both on point. Still, I had to eat most of the vegetables and sauce with a fork off some foil. A house can have excellent interior decor and state-of-the-art appliances, but it isn’t worth much if its walls crumble when they’re leaned on.
7. Chipotle (Irvine, CA…but it could’ve been pretty much anywhere)
Integrity: 12/20
Value: 8/15
Creativity: 3/10
Taste: 23/55 (tortilla: 6/10, beans/rice: 6/15, vegetables: 5/15, cheese/sauce: 6/15)
Total: 46/100
How can I grade burritos without including one from the nation’s largest fast-casual Mexican chain? I was hungry after attending an overcrowded and underwhelming day of the Los Angeles Rams’ training camp, and my friend Kabir Bhansali lunged towards a Chipotle. Jacob Glasky and I had no choice but to accommodate Kabir’s demand. I asked for all of the vegetables they had available, rice and black beans, sour cream, guacamole, and cheese. Their assembly-line burrito-making process ensures that their burritos never fall apart, but also limits the originality of their ingredients. Chipotle’s burrito cost $8.50, which was reasonable for Irvine. The taste left a lot to be desired: the homogeneous tortilla was fine, but the vegetables were a little dated and the beans felt excessively processed. Kabir left satisfied, but I hold my burritos to a higher standard.
6. Frary Dining Hall (Claremont, CA)
Integrity: 10/20
Value: 6/15
Creativity: 4/10
Taste: 27/55 (tortilla: 5/10, beans/rice: 8/15, vegetables: 6/15, cheese/sauce: 8/15)
Total: 47/100
I decided to include a burrito from one of Pomona’s dining halls to compare it with food outside the “campus bubble”. Students tend to despise dining hall food, but I like to think the Claremont Colleges are a bit better than average. Like Chipotle, Frary had to serve a lot of people in a short period, so they adopted an assembly-line structure, with standardized ingredients like refried beans, ranchero corn, Mexican rice, and shredded lettuce. The burrito stayed intact until falling apart during the last few bites (which is sometimes unavoidable). I gave Frary a low creativity score, but somehow, its choices were more exciting than Chipotle’s. The low value score reflects my anger with Pomona’s meal plan. Pomona charges all students for the “unlimited meal plan”, which allows us to have as many meal swipes as we’d like each week, but costs a fortune. It was introduced under the pretense of “reducing food insecurity”, but it forces students to pay for meal swipes they wouldn’t typically use. The taste was close to average: the tortilla was boring, the beans and rice were good but not excellent, and the guacamole and cheese were both solid. Pomona’s vegetables always leave a bit to be desired (a little more seasoning and less oil would help); this burrito was no exception. In the end, I cannot think of a more apt grade for a dining hall at Pomona than 47 (if you know, you know).
5. Taqueria los Chuchys (San Diego, CA)
Integrity: 11/20
Value: 5/15
Creativity: 6/10
Taste: 28/55 (tortilla: 6/10, beans/rice: 6/15, vegetables: 7/15, cheese/sauce: 9/15)
Total: 50/100
Jacob Glasky and I were in San Diego for the annual ESRI User Conference, a gathering of geographic information systems (GIS) professionals. Did we have any business being there? Maybe not. Was it fun to be around so many fellow geography nerds? Yes…until I got hungry. There were multiple taquerias nearby in downtown San Diego, but all of them had long wait times. We deliberated between a few taquerias but committed to the line at Taqueria los Chuchys. Their specialty was al pastor, but a rotating column of grilled pork shoulder could not be less appetizing to a vegetarian. Their veggie burrito was decent, however. It stayed intact until the last few bites and featured nopal cactus, a creative (and delicious) ingredient. The burrito featured a generous serving of guacamole, but the beans, rice, and vegetables (aside from the nopal) were a bit lacking. Overall, this burrito was flashy and creative, but the taqueria could’ve paid more attention to the fundamentals (beans and rice).
4. Sushirrito (Lafayette, CA)
Integrity: 13/20
Value: 3/15
Creativity: 7/10
Taste: 28/55 (seaweed: 5/10, rice: 8/15, vegetables: 8/15, condiments/sauce: 7/15)
Total: 51/100
Sushirrito is a Asian-Mexican fusion chain whose eponymous food consists of a long roll of sushi shaped like a burrito. The tortilla is replaced with seaweed, and Asian-inspired sauces, like wasabi and ginger, take the place of cheese and guacamole. I enjoyed being able to eat sushi (also one of my favorite foods) like a burrito; the seaweed and sticky rice held the concoction surprisingly well. The seaweed tasted fine, but not quite as fresh or umami as homemade sushi or sushi from a Japanese restaurant. The sticky rice held the dish together and complemented the seaweed and the vegetables. The vegetables, which included cucumber, avocado, lettuce, and pickled carrot, enhanced the flavor of the sushirrito and felt about halfway between a vegetarian piece sushi and a burrito. The ginger sauce (wasabi is too spicy for me) was a little underwhelming, but it complemented the roll. The sushirrito deserves praise for its creativity, combining the convenience of burritos with the flavors of sushi. But by far my biggest qualm was the price: the burrito is a humble, accessible food, but the $16 sushirrito felt aristocratic and antithetical to the values of a burrito.
3. Comal Next Door (Berkeley, CA)
Integrity: 9/20
Value: 6/15
Creativity: 6/10
Taste: 32/55 (tortilla: 7/10, beans/rice: 8/15, vegetables: 11/15, cheese/sauce: 6/15)
Total: 53/100
In the summer of 2018, I participated in a summer program at UC Berkeley. Despite this program not being very fulfilling or enjoyable, I had the chance to explore a few eateries in downtown Berkeley. I’d been to Comal, a more fancy sit-down Mexican restaurant, but I lunged at the chance to visit their new fast-casual taqueria, Comal Next Door. The burritos I had there that summer were flavorful (even a bit too spicy) and creative, but I didn’t go back until the summer of 2022 (in part due to the pandemic). I asked my friend Adin Ilfeld if he wanted to visit Comal Next Door with me. He agreed; college students are easily wooed by burritos. I was impressed by a mushroom burrito on the menu, while Adin naturally took the option with the most meat. The mushrooms were creamy and chewy, and the caramelized onions and cilantro complemented the mushrooms. The rice and beans were both above average. On the other hand, the sauce was too rich and buttery: it almost turned the rice and mushrooms into a risotto. Risotto is delicious on its own, but the thought of gobs of butter and cream inside a reasonably-sized burrito was frightening. The burrito started to fall apart at the end, and it wasn’t cheap ($9.50), but its creativity and quality vegetables propel it to third place.
2. Tacos el Pecas (Boyle Heights, Los Angeles, CA)
Integrity: 11/20
Value: 10/15
Creativity: 5/10
Taste: 32/55 (tortilla: 5/10, beans/rice: 8/15, vegetables: 11/15, cheese/sauce: 8/15)
Total: 58/100
I was in Boyle Heights, a neighborhood east of downtown Los Angeles (yes, LA does have a downtown), sampling soil for my summer project. At the end of the day, I felt hungry, and since I was in a community where Latinos comprise more than 95% of the population, I searched for a local taqueria. I found a top-rated taco truck just two blocks away. I spotted a growing line, so I quickly parked in a residential no-parking zone and jogged toward the truck. As I progressed to the front of the line, I panicked. Everyone placed their orders in Spanish. I took French in middle school, high school, and college. Regret built up in me like bubbles in a vigorously-shaken bottle of sparkling water. For a moment, I thought I’d pretend to speak Spanish, but I reached the front of the line and words flowed out of my mouth in English. The man taking orders didn’t seem to mind, though he seemed somewhat in disbelief that I would order a burrito without meat. A few minutes later, I heard my order number “veintiseis” called (I know my numbers in Spanish!) and I picked up my burrito. I wish I’d stopped to ask if it had lard in it, but I rushed back to my car to avoid getting a parking ticket instead. I drove back to campus and enjoyed the burrito as the sun set. Though the burrito wasn’t warm when I ate it, it was still enjoyable. It held together nicely, and at about $6, it was an excellent value. The tortilla was nothing special, but the vegetables and sauces both stood out: they were rich, flavorful, and cooked to perfection. The beans complemented the vegetables well. The burrito was a little generic, but the value and authenticity more than made up for it.
1. Tacos la Potranca de Jalisco (King City, CA)
Integrity: 12/20
Value: 13/15
Creativity: 5/10
Taste: 35/55 (tortilla: 7/10, beans/rice: 9/15, vegetables: 10/15, cheese/sauce: 9/15)
Total: 65/100
Tacos la Potranca de Jalisco is my favorite taqueria in the state of California (where the vast majority of my burrito consumption has occurred). I first ate a burrito here in February 2019, when my AP Chemistry teacher and cross country coach Jack Coakley made it a point to visit on a drive back to the Bay Area from Morro Bay. I remembered the perfect balance of gooey beans and crunchy vegetables enough to keep the location in the back of my mind. Four years (and a pandemic) later, I found an opportunity to visit while driving to Claremont to move back to campus for summer research. Instead of taking the boring (but more direct) Interstate 5, we took US Highway 101 so we could pass through Pismo Beach and Santa Barbara. I drove the section from the Bay to San Luis Obispo, so my family had no choice but to agree to visit this taqueria. I pulled off at the correct exit and drove to the center of soporific downtown King City. The façade of the taqueria looked exactly as I’d remembered, and the price of a burrito, $4.25, astonished me. How could they keep prices that low post-pandemic, drought, and inflation? And at that price, you’d think that their burritos would be bite-sized, low-quality, or some combination thereof. No! My burrito was properly-sized and held together beautifully, even as I ate it in the passenger seat of the family SUV. The tortilla was excellent, and the beans were flavorful and rich but not overpowering. As I’d remembered, the vegetables were the star, lightly sauteed but still crunchy. The cheese, sour cream, and guacamole complemented the vegetables almost as well as caramel complements chocolate. Because of the extraordinary value and top-notch taste, this burrito is the best I ate during the summer of 2022 (and perhaps ever). I’d highly recommend a visit if you’re driving on Highway 101 between the Bay Area and Southern California.
If you have any taquerias you’d recommend, send me an email at [email protected]. I might post a sequel if I find a gem or an abomination!