The california style burrito from Una Mas has the soft fries and it’s been so long since I ate one of these that I don’t remember if I like that or not. I’ll need to compare and contrast with other CA ritos, for research. But this one also has a ranchero chipotle sauce that doesn’t quite come through. It makes it kinda bland and I gotsta have flavor.
A friend of mine challenged me to design a burrito-holding-assistant so that one can go hands-free mid-burrito if necessary without the burrito falling over and spilling its contents. So I printed a 30-minute prototype.
I stole the photo below from the Yelp page for Sanchez Taqueria in Tigard, OR. It’s a good example of the layout for the tables at Sanchez.
But let’s enhance.
They are all equipped with the same set of green salsa (mild), red salsa (hot and smoky), chili oil (haven’t tried it), and napkins.
Those salsa bottles are designed to last. It is the perfect size for my style of burrito enjoyment in which I take a bite, pour on a little salsa, take a bite, more salsa, etc. This enhances the burrito to far greater heights. I used to loathe hot salsas for reasons I cannot fathom but somehow I realized, yes, every bite of a burrito is far better with salsa in the mix. So I have to lament when I visit many taquerias and see that their salsa options come in limited quantities, often in those little two-inch high containers. I imagine cost is a factor, the fear that salsa jerks will use too much. But it’s a small feature that makes a big impact.
So please, restaurants, hook it up with the salsa. Invest in happiness.
Another well-established innovation that I think is sorely underutilized in the taqueria industry is the drive-through. I like the ambiance in a taqueria as much as anyone. ‘Bidibidi bombom’ is fine musical accompaniment for a meal. But sometimes it’s just necessary to pick up a quick bite via car window. To this day, the only taqueria I know with a drive-through is El Faro in South San Francisco.
I was just there yesterday, in fact. I ordered their breakfast burrito. Everyone wore masks and gloves, as one does during a pandemic, and then I ate a good lunch. The drive-through enabled that bit of happiness in troubled times.
The salsas from the restaurant were limited but one prepares for such eventualities.
Stay safe out there. Remember that burritos come wrapped in easily disinfected aluminum foil and your local spots could use the support. Many are available on delivery services such as DoorDash (tip your driver very, very well). A burrito is also a good meal to take on a walk to someplace where you can maintain 6 feet of distance from everyone else. We should live cautiously but not in fear.
