Taqueria El Castillito (Livermore)

Details:

• Rating: 6.36
• Order: Super Burrito - $10.00
• Meat: Carne Asada - 5
• Beans: Refried - 6
• Rice: 5
• Guacamole: 6
  
• Crema: 7
• Salsa: 4
• Tortilla: 4
• Cheese: 8
• Size: 9
• Taste: 6.5

Description:

I don't really feel like writing too much about this one. It was very mushy and soft. It was also really big, so that was a tough combo because it was pretty hard to eat. As far as Bay Area burritos go, this wasn't one that inspired too much beyond a filling lunch. But I got it to fill my tummy during lunch, and that's just what it did. It was fine, you wouldn't be sad if you go here. It won't be life changing either.

Other Notes:

N/A

Taco Negris - Repeat Visit

Details:

• Rating: 7.59
• Order: Super Burrito - $11.00
• Meat: Carne Asada - 8.5
• Beans: Refried - 7
• Rice: 5
• Guacamole: 8
  
• Crema: 9
• Salsa: 8
• Tortilla: 8
• Cheese: 8
• Size: 7
• Taste: 8

Description:

Take two for previous #2 ranked Taco Negris. I'll keep this short. It was still really good, but not as good as I remember and not deserving of second best. Plus, it was more than 50% more expensive. This rating would place it at #13 which is still a world-class burrito. Averaged out, it still breaks the top 5.

Taco Negris has very high quality ingredients, that's obvious. Every single thing in it was fresh, flavorful, and well made. The only reason this visit doesn't deserve a top spot is that it was missing the wow factor. Top 10 burritos just make you say wow over and over again. As good as each ingredient was, it was just missing a little something. Maybe I'll have to try it again to see if it wows me next time, but for now this will drop Taco Negris out of the highly coveted #2 spot. Sad day, but go give it a try because this is still an amazing burrito.

For the first review, see here.

Other Notes:

No chips or salsa, just jalapeños.

Taqueria La Mordida

Details:

• Rating: 6.75
• Order: Super Burrito - $9.79
• Meat: Carne Asada - 89.5
• Beans: Refried - 3
• Rice: 4
• Guacamole: 5
  
• Crema: 5
• Salsa: 6
• Tortilla: 6
• Cheese: 6
• Size: 7
• Taste: 7.5

Description:

Oh man, that first bite was gooood. I haven't had al pastor this good in a long time. What a pleasant surprise for a random taqueria stop in Half Moon Bay.

The meat was savory, juicy, flavorful, just the right amount of sweetness, and beautifully charred. Good stuff. Too bad that pretty much everything else in the burrito was subpar. As I got further into the burrito, that first amazing bite faded into a memory. The rice was really tomatoey and... not that good. The beans were very scarce, but unpleasant when they appeared. Crema, guac, and cheese were almost nonexistent but were yummy. Unfortunate, because I was really excited after that first bite. But in the end, amazing meat can take a burrito a long way, so the ranking is still decent.

Other Notes:

Came with chips, red salsa, green salsa

Taqueria Don Chepe

Details:

• Rating: 6.76
• Order: Super Burrito - $11.58
• Meat: Carne Asada - 8.5
• Beans: Refried - 7
• Rice: 8
• Guacamole: 5
  
• Crema: 5
• Salsa: 8
• Tortilla: 7
• Cheese: 5
• Size: 6
• Taste: 7.5

Description:

This burrito was good! Ok, it didn't jump out to me at first with an amazing first bite, but everything about it was good. The meat actually had a really nice char and flavor, it just could have been a little greasier to flavor the rest of the burrito. There honestly isn't much to say about this burrito besides that it was good. Everything in it was good. Nothing was superb (although the meat was close). Nothing was subpar. Can't complain about that...

Other Notes:

N/A

Taqueria Los Pericos (Dublin)

Details:

• Rating: 6.68
• Order: Super Burrito - $11.72
• Meat: Carne Asada - 7
• Beans: Refried - 7
• Rice: 8
• Guacamole: 3
  
• Crema: 4
• Salsa: 8
• Tortilla: 9
• Cheese: 7
• Size: 7
• Taste: 7.5

Description:

Is there a better way to kick off the new year than with a burrito? 2021 is already looking stronger than last year with a solid burrito showing.

This is the fourth Los Pericos location I've been to. I still have no idea if/how they're connected, but they're all pretty good. I'll start with the bad on this one, and it's a very common calamity: not enough guac or crema! Luckily, that was really the only bad part. And good thing for Los Pericos that their most heavy fillings (meat, rice, beans) were all quite good. So yeah, more of the juicy fillings would've been nice, but at least they shored that up by making sure the other ingredients were quality.

The meat could have been a little more flavorful and oily, but no issues there. The pico de gallo was really good and their other salsas definitely did the job. This wasn't a massive "stuffed for two days" type of burrito, but it was on the hefty side. I was stuffed for the rest of the night at least. Solid showing from yet another Los Pericos.

Other Notes:

Comes with chips, red salsa, green salsa, pico de gallo.

Fiesta Taco

Details:

• Rating: 6.54
• Order: Super Burrito - $12.27
• Meat: Cabeza - 6
• Beans: Refried - 4
• Rice: 4
• Guacamole: 8
  
• Crema: 8
• Salsa: 8
• Tortilla: 6
• Cheese: 7
• Size: 4
• Taste: 7.5

Description:

A burrito with too much guac and crema? Apparently it does exist. This burrito was still solid, because I do love a lot of guac, crema, cheese and all the ingredients that go into a very non-dry burrito. But in this case it was at the expense of meat, rice and beans. That wasn't the worst thing because the rice and beans weren't amazing. There could have been more meat, but it wasn't too sparse and it was pretty good too. I did deviate this time with cabeza, but I just felt like something other than carne asada. Overall the burrito was quite enjoyable, but it didn't leave too much of a lasting impression. This was definitely an example of how important the right ratio is in a burrito. I almost always want more guac and crema, but this burrito proves that too much is too much (way better than too little, though).

Other Notes:

Small amount of chips and quite good red/green salsas.

Golden State Taqueria

Details:

• Rating: 6.06
• Order: Super Burrito - $10.65
• Meat: Carne Asada - 4
• Beans: Pinto - 8
• Rice: 9
• Guacamole: 6
• Crema: 7
• Salsa: 2
• Tortilla: 7
• Cheese: 10
• Size: 5
• Taste: 6

Description:

First burrito way out in Dublin/Pleasanton! It was fine. I guess it was better than I expected, so that's pretty good. Reasonable price, reasonable size, and reasonably good. There really isn't too much to say about this one. The meat was actually not salty enough, which is super rare. Rice and beans were really good, but the salsa was pretty bad. Lots of good melty cheese, and the guac and crema were decent. That's really all there was to it. I'd eat it again for sure, but I wouldn't make any special trips.

Other Notes:

None.