Who has the best burritos in DC DelMarVa?

[jmc8y]

I'm talking places like Chipotle, bajafresh, and California Tortilla.

My favorite is california tortilla. The people who run it seem really nice and send out a great newsletter every month. They also have frequent specials, like a roulette wheel on monday night that determines if your burrito is free, or cheaper, or if you get free chips or something. Also they have like 50 different hot sauces to try.

second would be baja fresh because they have that pepper and salsa bar.

chipotle, to me, sucks ventworm nut.

[DonRocks]

I'm a sucker for the sunken California burrito at Tippy's Taco House in Merrifield or Toucan Taco in Laurel (formerly a Tippy's). The problem is trying to eat it while driving a stickshift, as it's covered in gravy and sometimes spills over the top of the hot tin plate while going around a turn, and then you also have a half-pint of piping hot chili con queso bravely clamped between your legs, but it's safest to just pour that on top of the burrito and break some chips on top of it.

See also the thread on Chipotle Grill, the best tacos and the burrito stand at 17th and K.

Cheers,

Rocks.

[Chef Shogun]

I don't have a wide enough burrito experiance to really call it, but I'd like to see at least an honorable mention conferred upon The Burro in the 2000 Penn building. They do good work, in my opinion (They get very mixed reviews from people...either love them or hate them)! Everything is always fresh, and they're doing a great job holding their own against the three+ (!) other burrito locations within a block or two/three*, plus the Chipotle on M that GW students will happily trek to. That's what always gets me...Chipotle is alright, but is it really worth the half hour round trip? No. No, it's not. Guess it's good they're walking some of it off, anyway. Baja Fresh wins out over Chipotle for the corperate burrito prize. I wouldn't accuse Chipotle of ventworm nut-suckery nessesarily, it's just not as amazing as 'everybody' seems to think.

* Baja Fresh, the new GW burrito place, and the campus burrito cart lady, plus one more I can never remember (Might be out of range, anyway). We in foggy bottom like our quasi-Mexican cuisine!

[bilrus]

I'm chomping down on a Chipotle Barbacoa at my desk right now. It works for not having to go out of my way to get it.

One thing that I was just thinking before I opened this thread that annoys me about Chipotle though is the way they are assembled. Why is it that I have one bite that is all guac, another that is all rice and one that is all beef? Why can't I get a bite with everything all in the same bite?

[Al_Dente]

One thing that I was just thinking before I opened this thread that annoys me about Chipotle though is the way they are assembled.  Why is it that I have one bite that is all guac, another that is all rice and one that is all beef?  Why can't I get a bite with everything all in the same bite?

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Ask them to give it a toss. They slop everything on the tortilla as usual, but before rolling it they'll mix it up if you ask.

[sdelgato]

e-Cow makes a mean ass burrito. For those of you who drive to the country... Several flavors and fillings. They make me sleepy though.

[hillvalley]

I end up eating at CT in Potomac more than I would like because it is right near school and I can make it there and back in exactly 7 minutes. Their burrito is fine. The rice is a little under cooked and over seasoned for my taste. But when you add on guacamole they put in a good amount.

I'd go to Baja more because I like their burritos a bit more than CT plus there is the added bonus of the salsa bar. But I can't do it in less than 15 min. so I can't get there very often.

The place across the street from Eastern Market whose name I can never remember (Al_Dente. help!) makes an excellent burrito.

[Malawry]

Not Chipotle. Not Baja. Not Burro.

Well-Dressed Burrito.

[eunny jang]

Ask them to give it a toss. They slop everything on the tortilla as usual, but before rolling it they'll mix it up if you ask.

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Whoa. I didn't know this. This might change my life, seriously.

Edited October 2, 2004 by eunny jang (log)

[MCJB2]

Surprised no one has mentioned Taqueria El Charrito Caminante in Arlington...Their burritos easily blow away all the chains mentioned.

Edited October 2, 2004 by MCJB2 (log)

[eunny jang]

I always really want to like California Tortilla - friendly, small local chain with nice people running things - but nothing there tastes good to me. Sloppy novelty burritos - ceaser salad roll-up with Mexican rice and mango salsa anyone? - that aren't particularly coherent OR tasty; chips that, sadly, suck like my boss' secretary, and the pico de gallo in the little plastic ramekins is always oddly frothy and tangy-verging-on-sour in a weird way. I have probably eaten thirty of their burritos (29 of them against my will) and not liked a single one

edit: punctuation is a good thing

Edited October 2, 2004 by eunny jang (log)

[bilrus]

chips that, sadly, suck like my boss' secretary

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Interesting turn of a phrase...

[jmc8y]

Surprised no one has mentioned Taqueria El Charrito Caminante in Arlington...Their burritos easily blow away all the chains mentioned.

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oh yeah forgot about this place. i was a little more focused on the chainy type ones. ell charrito definitely rocks though! icould eat nothing but their tacos!

[jmc8y]

I always really want to like California Tortilla - friendly, small local chain with nice people running things - but nothing there tastes good to me.  Sloppy novelty burritos - ceaser salad roll-up with Mexican rice and mango salsa anyone? - that aren't particularly coherent OR tasty; chips that, sadly, suck like my boss' secretary, and the pico de gallo in the little plastic ramekins is always oddly frothy and tangy-verging-on-sour in a weird way.  I have probably eaten thirty of their burritos (29 of them against my will) and not liked a single one

edit: punctuation is a good thing

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you know what, having grown up on good tex mex, i know what you are talking about. the first few times i went here i was very underwhelmed. I'm still not crazy about the novelty burritos. and their rice sucks. what got me was the "wall of flame." i'm a huge hot sauce freak - i have a minifridge full of them - and this placee gives the chance to try them before i buy them. i only really order the honey lime burrito now, which is a good canvas for hot sauce.

[littlechinagirl]

I'm a sucker for the sunken California burrito at Tippy's Taco House in Merrifield or Toucan Taco in Laurel (formerly a Tippy's). 

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Tippy's!! (sorry- Toucan!) I've been going there with my parents since I was a toddler. Always crowded with (not so) secret (anymore) agency-types. Is that blond waitress still there? The one that's been there 20+ years?

What a dive. Love the queso. And burritos. And little red plastic baskets. And burly tattooed guy behind the counter.

[mnebergall]

I always kind of liked the barbequed pork burritos at Anita's.

[bbq4meanytime]

I'm partial to the shredded beef burrito at Teocali Tamale in Herndon, nothing else like it. What we need here in DC are California style carne asada burritos.

[Nadya]

There is also a little hole-in-the-wall-of-an-alleyway place called A Well-Dressed Burrito that's literally in the alleyway off of I Ricchi. You kind of have to know where it is to find it. I recall the burritos were quite serviceable.

[Tweaked]

The place across the street from Eastern Market whose name I can never remember (Al_Dente. help!) makes an excellent burrito.

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Tortilla Grill/Cafe...an excellent place. Ask for the green hot sauce that they make, really, really, really good!

[Miguelito]

Well Dressed Burrito rocks. (Alley off of 1200 block of 19th Street.)

And there is at least one guy in a cart (profiled a year or two ago in the Post) who makes a surprisingly good one.

[eunny jang]

does it count if you go to the peruvian chicken joint around the corner and stuff a bunch of skin and meat and green sauce and beans inside the biggest yucca fry in the box?

no?

you guys are no fun

[bilrus]

Well Dressed Burrito rocks.  (Alley off of 1200 block of 19th Street.)

And there is at least one guy in a cart (profiled a year or two ago in the Post) who makes a surprisingly good one.

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My recollection from the last time this topic came up is that this guy (a former attorney who dropped it all to open a vegetarian burrito cart) is no longer operating, but someone else may be running it now.

Edited October 4, 2004 by bilrus (log)

[hillvalley]

does it count if you go to the peruvian chicken joint around the corner and stuff a bunch of skin and meat and green sauce and beans inside the biggest yucca fry in the box? 

no?

you guys are no fun

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Of course it does!

We grabbed some CT today and I got an order of guacamole. At the bottom there was a huge chunk of unripe avocado. The guacamole gods must have been punishing me.

[Miguelito]

My recollection from the last time this topic came up is that this guy (a former attorney who dropped it all to open a vegetarian burrito cart) is no longer operating, but someone else may be running it now.

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Could be he has gone to the winds; I don't work get up that way too often any more so it's been a while...

Edited October 4, 2004 by Miguelito (log)

[tailfins]

I'm sad that no one's mentioned Burrito Brothers. To me, the decline of BB is a local tragedy. I'm shocked that they stumbled so badly.

That said, I still love their salsa verde, tho. Their steamed spinach burrito with that hot green sauce...yum. I used to make the trip down from NYC (during my six year hiatus from the DC region) just to get a fix. In fact, I'm jonesing for some of that sweet nectar now!

To me, that BB makes their own hot sauces is a HUGE plus. I think I'm in the minority, but I feel that I can get bottled sauces at a lot of different places. The argument about trying different sauces is a good one, but I think the bottled sauces take away from the individuality of the places.

Edited October 5, 2004 by tailfins (log)