So I've been looking over past posts noting errors in my, erm, reporting. I decided to tweak a few numbers. Here they are:
Taqueria Las Palmas: What the hell? This place is WAY better than Taqueria Santa Cruz. Raise the 7.9 overall to an 8.6.
Celia's Mexican Restaurant: So I haven't been back to Celia's since it sucked but upon comparing with other scores, I've decided to drop this one overall to a 6.0. It was pretty bad. I can't believe people go there. Note this drops the score of Presidente in LA also.
Burrito cart on Bancroft and Telegraph: Has $1 tacos every day for a few hours that are supposedly legitimate.
Everything else is close enough, I guess. Here's a complete ranking of all the burritos I have reviewed thus far:
--------yess
Taqueria La Cabaña (9.2)
Taqueria Pancho Villa (9.1)
Tacos Moreno (9.0)
Taqueria Los Pericos (8.9)
Taqueria Las Palmas (8.6)
El Nopal (8.5)
Taqueria El Castillito (8.4)
Bronco Burrito (8.2)
Jalapeños (8.1)
Taqueria Santa Cruz (7.9)
Jilberto's (7.9)
Taqueria Monte Cristo (7.8)
--------good enough
Cancun Taqueria (7.6)
Sharky's (7.2)
Gordo's (7.2)
Arriba (7.1)
Santa Fe Cafe (7.1)
Lily's (6.5)
-------not so good
Casa Latina (6.0)
Presidente (6.0)
Celia's (6.0)
Andale (5.4)
Burrito cart on Bancroft and Telegraph (5.3)
-------avoid
La Burrita (4.1)
La Salsa (4.o)
Baja Fresh (3.5)
Taqueria Vallarta (3.3)
La Cascada (3.1)
El Sombrero Taqueria (2.6)
You won't be hearing about burritos from me for a while, since I'm going to Iowa for two months. If there are burritos of note I'll let you know.
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
El Nopal
Homecoming to LA. Gotta get a real burrito. It should be noted that El Nopal is "famous" for its "Pregnant Burrito," which replaces cow/pig/chicken meat with a human fetus. (It's just big and holds a lot of stuff.) I didn't get the pregnant burrito, but my regular burrito was still good enough to want to go back.
Quality of meat (1-10): 8.7
Hell yeah. Crispy and juicy and really flavorful. My only complaint is that the meat was really really salty. Also, carne asada costs 50 cents extra, which is unusual, but it's RAD asada.
Quality of house salsa (1-10): 5.4
I've probably tasted hundreds of different salsas in my life thus far. You have too. This one doesn't stand out. It's good enough. They only have one kind.
Quality of guacamole (1-10): 8.6
Oh man. So good. And they give you a LOT of guacamole. Maybe more than I've ever gotten in any burrito. Could have just been a mistake, but whatever amount they give you is worth the extra charge.
Quality of chips (1-10): 2.9
Just barely sub-par.
Size/diversity of menu (1-5): 2.8
http://pregnantburrito.com/id53.html
Size of burrito (1-5): 3.8
The burrito is fer sure big enough. El Nopal has a running competition to see who can eat the most Pregnant burritos in one sitting. One sitting means no bathroom breaks. If you win you get your picture on the wall and free burritos, or something.
Approximate price (for a standard burrito) : $9-10
Locally owned?: Yes
There's a chain in the midwest called El Nopal. Not related.
Overall taste (1-10): 8.5
El Nopal
10426 National Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90034
Quality of meat (1-10): 8.7
Hell yeah. Crispy and juicy and really flavorful. My only complaint is that the meat was really really salty. Also, carne asada costs 50 cents extra, which is unusual, but it's RAD asada.
Quality of house salsa (1-10): 5.4
I've probably tasted hundreds of different salsas in my life thus far. You have too. This one doesn't stand out. It's good enough. They only have one kind.
Quality of guacamole (1-10): 8.6
Oh man. So good. And they give you a LOT of guacamole. Maybe more than I've ever gotten in any burrito. Could have just been a mistake, but whatever amount they give you is worth the extra charge.
Quality of chips (1-10): 2.9
Just barely sub-par.
Size/diversity of menu (1-5): 2.8
http://pregnantburrito.com/id53.html
Size of burrito (1-5): 3.8
The burrito is fer sure big enough. El Nopal has a running competition to see who can eat the most Pregnant burritos in one sitting. One sitting means no bathroom breaks. If you win you get your picture on the wall and free burritos, or something.
Approximate price (for a standard burrito) : $9-10
Locally owned?: Yes
There's a chain in the midwest called El Nopal. Not related.
Overall taste (1-10): 8.5
El Nopal
10426 National Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90034
Casa Latina
So I have been really lagging on my burrito consumption. Living in Berkeley is fully not conducive to successful burrito reviewage as you may have read in the past. When finals ended I went and drank beer in the forest during the daytime and decided to embark on a mission to Casa Latina on San Pablo which came highly recommended.
Quality of meat (1-10): 5.5
So I didn't like the meat here but almost everyone who recommended Casa Latina to me is a vegetarian, so take that into account. The meat was very chewy and "fresh" tasting, but in a bad way, like sort of stringy and more like beef than asada. Another place with "fresh" tasting meat like this was that place Andalé in SFO. The problem I have with this faux-fresh tasting meat is that it's sort of tasteless. It is meat, but it might as well not be, since it doesn't add the necessary flavor to the burrito. Maybe I just like super greasy burritos, or something?
Quality of house salsa (1-10): 7.3
Okay, to be honest, I don't really remember how good the salsa was since it was a few weeks ago, but the score comes from exactly that. I'm pretty sure it was nothing special. 7.3 is an overapproximation, if anything.
Quality of guacamole (1-10): 8.2
Great job!
Quality of chips: (1-5): ?
We were so incredibly hungry when we arrived at Casa Latina that the chips we got right after ordering tasted like God's toenails. I have no idea how good they actually were. If I ever go back to Casa Latina I'll put a real number score. I guess it's not like chips will sway your decision to go there one way or the other, mm?
Size/diversity of menu: 4.4
Well, I am pretty sure the menu was really general and standard, but this is where it's worth mentioning that Casa Latina has supposedly great flan and all sorts of Mexican pastries. It's actually more of a bakery than it is a taqueria. If you find yourself down on San Pablo near Hearst you might just want to go in for some pastries because they are super good.
Size of burrito: 3.6
Coming back to blogging, this is maybe the hardest part, because I can't remember how big my previous burritos ACTUALLY were, and my stomach is smaller since I don't eat as many burritos. This is my best guess.
Approximate price (for a standard burrito) : ~$9
Locally owned?: Yes
Satisfaction factor (1-10) : 7.7
This is based on the circumstance, really. We were HUNGRY.
Overall taste (1-10) : 6.0
I wouldn't go back here. If you're veg it's worth checking out, I guess, but you might just want to trek up University and go to Monte Cristo. If anyone knows where in Berkeley or even Oakland where I can get a burrito better than a Taqueria Monte Cristo burrito, please let me know!!
Casa Latina
1805 San Pablo Ave
Berkeley, CA 94702
Quality of meat (1-10): 5.5
So I didn't like the meat here but almost everyone who recommended Casa Latina to me is a vegetarian, so take that into account. The meat was very chewy and "fresh" tasting, but in a bad way, like sort of stringy and more like beef than asada. Another place with "fresh" tasting meat like this was that place Andalé in SFO. The problem I have with this faux-fresh tasting meat is that it's sort of tasteless. It is meat, but it might as well not be, since it doesn't add the necessary flavor to the burrito. Maybe I just like super greasy burritos, or something?
Quality of house salsa (1-10): 7.3
Okay, to be honest, I don't really remember how good the salsa was since it was a few weeks ago, but the score comes from exactly that. I'm pretty sure it was nothing special. 7.3 is an overapproximation, if anything.
Quality of guacamole (1-10): 8.2
Great job!
Quality of chips: (1-5): ?
We were so incredibly hungry when we arrived at Casa Latina that the chips we got right after ordering tasted like God's toenails. I have no idea how good they actually were. If I ever go back to Casa Latina I'll put a real number score. I guess it's not like chips will sway your decision to go there one way or the other, mm?
Size/diversity of menu: 4.4
Well, I am pretty sure the menu was really general and standard, but this is where it's worth mentioning that Casa Latina has supposedly great flan and all sorts of Mexican pastries. It's actually more of a bakery than it is a taqueria. If you find yourself down on San Pablo near Hearst you might just want to go in for some pastries because they are super good.
Size of burrito: 3.6
Coming back to blogging, this is maybe the hardest part, because I can't remember how big my previous burritos ACTUALLY were, and my stomach is smaller since I don't eat as many burritos. This is my best guess.
Approximate price (for a standard burrito) : ~$9
Locally owned?: Yes
Satisfaction factor (1-10) : 7.7
This is based on the circumstance, really. We were HUNGRY.
Overall taste (1-10) : 6.0
I wouldn't go back here. If you're veg it's worth checking out, I guess, but you might just want to trek up University and go to Monte Cristo. If anyone knows where in Berkeley or even Oakland where I can get a burrito better than a Taqueria Monte Cristo burrito, please let me know!!
Casa Latina
1805 San Pablo Ave
Berkeley, CA 94702
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