Repair-It

Back story: I have been to Cilantro many years ago and at lunch some folks were discussing Cilantro vs Chipotle. Having only tried Cilantro I weighed in that I never really thought it was that great. Big burritos but despite the many hot sauces, I never ended up with anything I thought was that great. I think Taco Bell tastes better and that's not a slam on Taco Bell. Probably for 2 years I vowed to try Chipotle.

Finally, today, I did.

I got the barbacoa burrito. Stuffed with most fixin's, hot salsa, and guac. It was like $15 for that, a bag of nacho chips and a fountain drink.

Results?

I like this hands down better than Cilantro. I like the flavors, the texture, even the temperature, better. The only thing I missed was fresh jalapenos - not sure if they had them. That would have really put this over the top. Didn't even feel the need to douse it in hot sauce - I ate it as it was made. This is the burrito I wanted at Cilantro but never got despite trying a bunch of the meats the handful of times I went there with others. I haven't been back in many years because I would rather eat somewhere else if I am going out for lunch. As rarely as I'd likely go to Chipotle I have no issue at all with the higher price. It was definitely worth it.

So that's my vote.

Funny/interesting. I probably hit up Chipotle about once a month or once every 6 weeks or so. Only issue can be is that every now and then, something has happened at a Chipotle somewhere (like the noro virus breaking out at a store in Virginia) or getting some bad ingredients at a store in the Washington (state) area. So you never know. As for Cilantro, from what I remember, I enjoyed it. But I usually tend to stick to something like the BBQ pork and keep it simple with like rice, corn, sour cream, cheese, lettuce. So, can't say I've had a complaint about either place.

I need to be clear that I don't think Cilantro tastes "bad." But it didn't have that flavorful quality that I expected and dousing my burritos in the various hot sauces also didn't seem to help, which annoyed me. I've been there quite a few times many years ago and that experience never changed based on what I got. I think their food to price ratio is good (and better than Chipotle) but that's not really a concern - it's not like I'm going out to lunch every single day.

I'm not even really sure why I would find Chipotle to be that much tastier. It should be about the same. But for me, it's not.

You guys should try Adalberto's Mexican Food in San Diego.

Yeah exactly. Or Tex Mex which Bryan assures me is the shit.

Is Adalberto's a chain though or a fast food type of place? Not really fair if it's just an actual restaurant. Plus locations counts, .

It's a chain of restaurants that operate like fast food (order at the counter, pick up by number, etc...)