The Great Burrito Debate: La Pasadita
1 Comments Published by Keith on Tuesday, September 30, 2008 at 5:58 AM.
[Disclaimer: Yup, this is a music blog. But, as some of you know, burritos are a passion of mine (second to music, of course). So please excuse the brief lapse from music coverage as I discuss a burrito joint in my search for the best burritos in the land. I know, I'm silly.]
La Pasadita is a rather interesting establishment, so I had to make a few trips down to truly take it in. You see, they have three locations -- but they're all on the same block, right next to each other. Two of them are strictly joints, and the third is a restaurant. What's the difference between a joint and a restaurant, you ask? Well, there are no waiters at a joint, you order at a counter and simply pop a squat or take your food to go. I strictly review joints in my search, since they're generally quicker in service and cheaper (no tips, good for my poor-college-student self). Nevertheless, I ate at both the restaurant and taqueria version of La Pasadita, to get the whole picture. First was the restaurant, since it was the only place I could get a vegetarian burrito. It's worth noting that not only do the joints not offer a veggie burrito, they also do not offer guacamole. Anyway, my first burrito was nothing special. It featured all the usual ingredients, but just didn't go the extra mile. The guacamole was alright, but far from being a true contender. At first glance, La Pasadita wasn't too high in my book. My second experience brought it up quite a bit, when I visited one of the two lower-class joints. Here, I got a burrito more my style. This wasn't served on a plate, this was a well-wrapped burrito complete with the outer edge of tin-foil. Their choice of ingredients, however, were not exactly my style. You get cilantro and onions, cheese, hot sauce, and a lot of meat. No rice, no beans, no pico de gallo, no lettuce, no gauc. This was a bare-bones display, but damn if it wasn't tasty in its simplicity. Their cilantro and onion blend was impeccably delectable, the key to the tastiness. Unfortunately, my choice of meat, barbacoa, was not the best. While the meat itself was delicious, it was compounded by a constant companion of meat fat. The amount of fatty globs was a little overwhelming, so I couldn't enjoy the burrito entirely. Nevertheless, the taste was great, and I would go back to try their highly regarded carne asada. If you're a carnivore, I recommend trying out one of the taquerias.
La Pasadita is located in Chicago, IL. Full ratings and rankings below:
Overall Burrito Quality: +
Atmosphere: +
Sauces: +
Burrito Size: ++
Guac: -
Wrapping Job: +
Efficiency: -
Cost: $5.50
Guac Cost: N/A
Lemon/Lime: NO
Toothpicks: YES
Corporate/Home-style: Home-style
THE VERDICT:
1. Chipotle
2. Anna's Taqueria
3. El Pelon
4. Felipe's Taqueria
5. Boca Grande
6. Taqueria Los Comales
7. Boloco
8. La Pasadita
9. Fiesta Del Sol Express
10. Baja Betty's
11. Baja Fresh
12. Qdoba
13. Flash Taco
14. Taco Bell
15. Taco Burrito King
16. La Bamba
17. El Famous Burrito
La Pasadita is a rather interesting establishment, so I had to make a few trips down to truly take it in. You see, they have three locations -- but they're all on the same block, right next to each other. Two of them are strictly joints, and the third is a restaurant. What's the difference between a joint and a restaurant, you ask? Well, there are no waiters at a joint, you order at a counter and simply pop a squat or take your food to go. I strictly review joints in my search, since they're generally quicker in service and cheaper (no tips, good for my poor-college-student self). Nevertheless, I ate at both the restaurant and taqueria version of La Pasadita, to get the whole picture. First was the restaurant, since it was the only place I could get a vegetarian burrito. It's worth noting that not only do the joints not offer a veggie burrito, they also do not offer guacamole. Anyway, my first burrito was nothing special. It featured all the usual ingredients, but just didn't go the extra mile. The guacamole was alright, but far from being a true contender. At first glance, La Pasadita wasn't too high in my book. My second experience brought it up quite a bit, when I visited one of the two lower-class joints. Here, I got a burrito more my style. This wasn't served on a plate, this was a well-wrapped burrito complete with the outer edge of tin-foil. Their choice of ingredients, however, were not exactly my style. You get cilantro and onions, cheese, hot sauce, and a lot of meat. No rice, no beans, no pico de gallo, no lettuce, no gauc. This was a bare-bones display, but damn if it wasn't tasty in its simplicity. Their cilantro and onion blend was impeccably delectable, the key to the tastiness. Unfortunately, my choice of meat, barbacoa, was not the best. While the meat itself was delicious, it was compounded by a constant companion of meat fat. The amount of fatty globs was a little overwhelming, so I couldn't enjoy the burrito entirely. Nevertheless, the taste was great, and I would go back to try their highly regarded carne asada. If you're a carnivore, I recommend trying out one of the taquerias.La Pasadita is located in Chicago, IL. Full ratings and rankings below:
Overall Burrito Quality: +
Atmosphere: +
Sauces: +
Burrito Size: ++
Guac: -
Wrapping Job: +
Efficiency: -
Cost: $5.50
Guac Cost: N/A
Lemon/Lime: NO
Toothpicks: YES
Corporate/Home-style: Home-style
THE VERDICT:
1. Chipotle
2. Anna's Taqueria
3. El Pelon
4. Felipe's Taqueria
5. Boca Grande
6. Taqueria Los Comales
7. Boloco
8. La Pasadita
9. Fiesta Del Sol Express
10. Baja Betty's
11. Baja Fresh
12. Qdoba
13. Flash Taco
14. Taco Bell
15. Taco Burrito King
16. La Bamba
17. El Famous Burrito
Labels: Burrito
La Pasadita is also the parent company of the lesser known (but vastly superior) local chain Las Asadas.
The key to both Las Asadas & La Pasadita is that the skirt steaks are freshly char grilled right in front of you. They then chop up the meat right when it comes off the grill and it goes straight into the taco or burritos.
95% of places (like your basic Taqueria or chains like Chipotle) fail to take this critical step to give you the utmost fresh grilled meats. Many Taqueria's simply fry the meat on a flat griddle, or even worse, leave it steaming on the griddle until it gets used up or dry up and crunchy. Not to mention; who the hell knows what kind of meat that is??!
That being said, Las Asadas is by far, one of the best burritos, if not THE best burrito in the county.
Be sure to try the Super burrito, which comes loaded with rice, fresh avocado slices, cilantro & onion and a fresh grilled choice of meat, I strongly recommend the steak, but the chicken & veggie are available, but you miss out on their real strength if you go this route.
Another standout if you like chains is Freebirds World Burrito in Texas (Austin has several), who's concept is basically the fusion of Las Asadas meets Chipotle, in other words; it's Chipotle done right. If your ever around one give them a try, I think you'd love it.
One last note; foil. It doesn't add any flavor,so if its there fine, if its not, so what, its not s deal breaker or real criteria for a true burrito connoisseur, as to lettuce in a burrito... now that's a deal-breaker!