Santo Coyote

Details:

• Rating: 6.35
• Order: Burrito - $8.95
• Meat: Carne Asada - 8
• Beans: Refried - 10
• Rice: 3.5
• Guacamole: None
• Crema: 4
• Salsa: 8
• Tortilla: 4
• Cheese: 5
• Size: 10
• Taste: 6.25

Description:

Santo Coyote is a charming sit down spot on the far reaches of the International Blvd burrito district. I'll get straight to the point: Santo Coyote has the best refried beans ever. They know it too, because they start you off with a basket of chips, a bowl of salsa and a bowl of refried beans with cheese to dip. They also have homemade corn tortillas with some pretty amazing meat. Their al pastor and carnitas tacos are really really good because of the freshly charred meat and homemade tortillas. Their pupusas and menudo also looked pretty good.
If you can't tell by now, the burritos do not stack up to the rest of their menu. It's unfortunate because the meat is great (carne asada was good but not as good as the pastor or carnitas), the beans are top of the top and the salsa is good. The burrito rating did get a bit of a bump up because of the other great parts. The burrito is also enormous...too big for one tortilla so they use two. But that also means that most of the burrito has two layers of tortillas. The rice was also on the dry side and undercooked. There was no guacamole and the crema was just ok. The cheese didn't add anything to the thick tortilla either.
So even though the meat and beans were so great, the rest of the burrito took away enough to make it mediocre. As a burrito blog, I can't recommend this one too highly. But if you're a taco or bean lover, this might be for you. Especially a bean lover, because these beans were honestly amazing.

Other Notes:

Comes with chips, salsa and amazing bean dip.

El Tio Juan Taco Truck

Details:

• Rating: 5.95
• Order: Burrito - $8.00
• Meat: Carne Asada - 6
• Beans: Refried - 8
• Rice: 7.5
• Guacamole: 5
• Crema: 4
• Salsa: 5
• Tortilla: 6
• Cheese: 8
• Size: 3
• Taste: 6

Description:

El Tio Juan is tucked away on a quiet Fruitvale neightborhood street. Let's just say there is a reason it has "Taco Truck" in its name and not "Burrito Truck." That is not to say that the burrito was terrible, but it certainly didn't impress in any way. I didn't try a taco, but I wish I did because the burritos are very skinny and small. Plus, the meat was pretty good so I'd suggest tacos at this joint over a burrito. But enough about tacos, this is a burrito blog!
The rest of the burrito was ok. The beans were actually very good. The rice was a bit overcooked but was nice and orange with lots of flavor. The crema was extremely thick (which I often like), but the rest of the burrito was dry enough that the thick crema did not add any juiciness. There was also no guacamole and the meat was relatively dry with not much delicious oil from the meat.
So it was basically a small burrito that was a little too dry, but had pretty good flavor throughout. Not the worst, but definitely not close to the best. At least there was a ton of melty cheese all over, which I will not complain about. If you find yourself here, get tacos...but really just walk a couple blocks down and go somewhere else in Fruitvale.
Other Notes:

No chips, no salsa. Comes with pickled jalapeño, carrot, onion.

Señor Sisig

Details:

• Rating: 6.75
• Order: Burrito - $12.42
• Meat: Pork - 9
• Beans: None
• Rice: None
• Guacamole: 5
• Crema: 7
• Salsa: 8
• Tortilla: 5
• Cheese: 4
• Size: 6
• Taste: 8

Description:

Señor Sisig has Filipino California style burritos, so they are not exactly Mission style, but they are still burritos and they are in the Bay. The bread and butter of their food is the Filipino sweet pork, which lives up to the hype. Filipino pork in general is probably the best pork I've ever had and theirs does not disappoint. The flavor and smoky char were just blasting through all the other ingredients, and they didn't even put much meat on the burrito. With a bit more meat, the burrito could have been much higher on the list.
What did disappoint me was that the pork was only a little bit warm. And this was a theme with the whole burrito. The meat was lukewarm, the fries were soggy and barely warm and the rest of the ingredients were supposed to be cold (crema, guac, pico, cheese). So it was essentially a lukewarm to very cold burrito wrapped in another not very hot tortilla. Sisig has so much potential but it is squashed by a lack of careful preparation. Nobody wants a cold burrito, or fillings too top or bottom heavy, or unmelted shredded cheese, or soggy fries.
But for all the criticism, it's hard to complain too much about some of the most flavorful and delicious pork around. Even the fries were garlicky and flavorful. I would have preferred rice and beans, but that's just a preference. The guac and crema and pico were all very good, but my first few bites had all of them and the bottom of the burrito was all fries. So when you mix together some incredible ingredients inside a rather uninspiring cold burrito, you get...a still pretty good burrito. Hopefully yours is a bit warmer than mine was, at least enough to slightly melt the cheese.
Other Notes:

Truck that moves locations. California burrito comes with fries but no rice or beans.

Rico Rico Taco

Details:

• Rating: 7.63
• Order: Burrito - $10.87
• Meat: Carne Asada - 7
• Beans: Pinto- 9
• Rice: 10
• Guacamole: 8
• Crema: 7
• Salsa: 8
• Tortilla: 10
• Cheese: 8
• Size: 7
• Taste: 8

Description:

It feels so good to be back to burritos after a two month hiatus. I almost forgot how good burritos are. During my time away I had a lot of recommendations for Rico Rico so it was an obvious next spot to try. I was a bit skeptical because it is so trendy, but I can’t argue with their very good burritos. It was one of those burritos that had incredibly delicious individual ingredients but somehow still lacked the wow factor. I think that is mostly attributed to the meat just being good, but nothing more than good. It definitely wasn’t bad asada, but all of their meats were extremely oily to the point of leaking out of the foil. The oil also wasn’t the flavorful meaty oil you often get, but instead took away from the burrito overall. The rice, however, was the real star of the show. It was a deep orange color and had so much great flavor, ensuring that no burrito bite was unsatisfying. The beans were also really good. They don’t have refried beans, but their pinto beans are soft, flavorful and creamy. The crema and guac were pretty good too. The guac is really more of an avocado salsa, but they did it well. So take all of those great ingredients, wrap it in a great tortilla, grilled both before and after wrapping, and you’ve got a solid burrito spot in an relatively burritoless spot of Oakland. Given the size of the burrito and rising burrito prices, it’s not a bad bang for your buck either. Their tacos, on the other hand, are almost half the price of the burrito and don’t even have the rice! (But their homemade thick corn tortillas look good, so I’ll still have to try a taco someday).
Other Notes:

Busy with a bit of a waiting time. Comes with one small salsa.

See review for 8/29/20.

Taqueria La Bamba

Details:

• Rating: 6.99
• Order: Burrito - $10.20
• Meat: Carne Asada - 8
• Beans: Refried - 4
• Rice: 7
• Guacamole: 8
• Crema: 7
• Salsa: 9
• Tortilla: 8
• Cheese: 6
• Size: 5
• Taste: 7.5

Description:

The defining factor of a Taqueria La Bamba burrito is definitely the quality ingredients. I would say that every single filling was good to great (except the refried beans), which is pretty rare for a burrito. The meat was relatively un-marinated and seasoned, but that allowed the beefiness to shine through and it wasn't overcooked. The rice was unassuming but cooked perfectly. The guacamole and crema overflowed the middle part of the burrito and both were tasty. The pico de gallo added a nice cilantro and raw onion flavor throughout. Tortilla, cheese and salsa on the side were also good. However, even though all of the ingredients were very good on their own, the burrito missed a bit of the wow factor. I think a part of that was the style of the carne. Often a burrito will have very greasy, salty meat which can impart a lot of flavor the other ingredients that are naturally less flavorful (rice, crema, etc.). Because La Bamba's meat focused more on the natural flavor, the burrito as a whole lacked that huge burst of flavor all the way through. The other part that detracted from the burrito was the ingredient distribution. The top of my burrito was all meat and salsa. The middle was all guacamole and crema. The bottom was all rice and beans (which I thought they left out until the last three bites). So the beginning of the burrito did have a little bit of a wow, but because of the distribution the right flavors didn't quite come through in every bite. In the end it was still a great burrito because regardless of which fillings I was eating, they were all good. The rating right on the level of "solid" fits perfectly, I would recommend La Bamba to people in the area.

Other Notes:

Sit down taqueria with free small chips and one salsa. The wait time was long for non-takeout.

Taqueria San Bruno - repeat visit

Details:

• Rating: 8.69
• Order: Burrito - $10.82
• Meat: Carnitas - 10
• Beans: Refried- 9
• Rice: 6
• Guacamole: 5
• Crema: 10
• Salsa: 8
• Tortilla: 10
• Cheese: 10
• Size: 9.5
• Taste: 9.5

Description:

Alright, so how did a repeat visit to the holy #1 go? I went in with extremely high expectation, but it has been a while so I didn't remember exactly what the burrito was like. Well...it was actually better than I remembered. I was audibly saying "wow" almost every bite, because every bite still surprised me at how good it was.
The meat is unbeatable. This time I got Carnitas, but also got carne asada, al pastor and pollo tacos. All of them are just about the best I've had. The carne asada is for sure the best, the carnitas is at least tied for the best, the pastor is a little sweet (as it should be, but I like it more savory), and the pollo is awesome. There is honestly so little to nitpick at with this burrito. The tortilla is perfectly chewy but still grilled and flaky. The distribution is flawless - a layer of cheese, then rice, then beans around the outside. The middle is a big saucy mess of meat, crema, guacamole and salsa. The cheese is plentiful and part of every bite because of the distribution. The beans are so good. The rice (as I mentioned last time), is a bit plain, but well cooked and does it's job. I'm not even sure a flavorful rice would make the burrito better. The crema is top notch. There really isn't enough guac, which is so sad, but at least the burrito is still juicy enough. And to top it off, it is absolutely enormous.
So when it comes down to it, there is very very little that could even make this burrito better. They even have free chips and a great salsa bar. The wait can be a little long, it is pretty expensive now, there could be more guacamole, the rice is a little plain...and that's it. I'm not saying there isn't a better burrito out there, but I've eaten a lot of burritos and I can't even imagine what could make one better.
Other Notes:

Sit down taqueria with free chips. Salsa bar includes red, green salsa, jalapenos, carrots/onions, pico de gallo.

Also a note about the rating: since this was a repeat visit, the numbers in the ranking table include both visits. The most recent visit is weighted twice as much as previous visits.

See Review from 10/13/17

Tacos El Autlense

Details:

• Rating: 7.07
• Order: Burrito - $8.50
• Meat: Carne Asada - 9
• Beans: Pinto - 6
• Rice: 4
• Avocado: 6
• Crema: 4
• Salsa: 8
• Tortilla: 6
• Cheese: 6
• Size: 6
• Taste: 8

Description:

True to its rating, Tacos El Autlense ranks toward the bottom of "Top Notch." The meat was definitely near the top of the top notch. The carne asada was grilled perfectly and had a ton of flavor that melted throughout the whole burrito. (I also tried carnitas that were so so good, al pastor that was not so good, and cabeza that was quite good). On the flip side, the rice was very overcooked and mushy, but at least had decent flavor. The rest of the burrito was about average. Beans were good, avocado was about four slices right in the middle of the burrito (nice and fresh), crema was decent but not very much of it, salsa was good, tortilla was very grilled and pretty dry in places. It was slightly above average size. So basically it was a pretty good burrito, but the awesome carne asada raised it to a very good burrito. I'm happy to finally find a solid taco truck in the Berkeley/Albany area. I definitely recommend this over any other place I've been to in Berkeley.
Other Notes:

Comes with red salsa.