Taqueria Los Pericos

Details:

• Rating: 7.77
• Order: Burrito - $7.50
• Meat: Carne Asada - 8
• Beans: Refried - 9.5
• Rice: 7.5
• Guacamole: Yes - 5
• Crema: 8
• Salsa: Yes - 10
• Tortilla: 8
• Cheese: 5
• Size: 5
• Taste: 8.5

Description:

Santa Cruz may not be by THE Bay, but is is by A bay so we'll count it. Plus, it has at least one great taqueria so it must be included on this list. I will start by saying that I went with a large group of people and the burritos were not very consistent. Some were much larger and mine was not constructed very well. So it may be a little hit or miss, but that just makes the range of burritos go from good to great. My specific burrito did not hold its shape very well and was medium sized. I didn't get one of those immediate "wow" first bites, but almost everything about the burrito was top tier. The carne asada was good, the refried beans were great, the rice was perfectly cooked but not super flavorful, the tortilla was grilled but still soft. The guac and crema and cheese were lacking a little bit but the whole burrito was still very juicy so that wasn't a big loss. I'm not sure why, but the burrito seemed like it didn't have enough rice and meat and guac...but that doesn't make sense or it would have been empty. Even so, each bite was great so that shows what a quality burrito it was. However, the best part might have been the salsa bar. Serve yourself unlimited chips (which more than made up for an average sized burrito), plentiful salsa options and charred jalapeños added the final touch to a great burrito. The habañero salsa was not so hot but still sweet and delicious. The green salsa and pico de gallo were both great. Highly recommended place for those just outside the real bay.
Other Notes:
Unlimited serve yourself chips with a great salsa bar.

Taqueria El Castillito

Details:

• Rating: 6.59
• Order: Super Burrito - $9.99
• Meat: Carne Asada - 7.5
• Beans: Refried - 6.5
• Rice: 5
• Guacamole: Avocado - 6
• Crema: 5
• Salsa: Yes - 3
• Tortilla: 8
• Cheese: 8
• Size: 8
• Taste: 7

Description:

This burrito falls firmly in the upper end of "solid burritos but nothing too special". The meat was decent, the rice was ok, the beans were pretty good, the cheese was nice. There wasn't quite enough crema (except dripping out onto the foil), the guacamole was just avocado pieces and the salsa was extremely sour. The sourness was a bit offputting but was more surprising than bad. The tortilla was very good and it was a pretty large burrito. The distribution was poor at the top but got better down toward the bottom. Overall I can't say anything stood out with this burrito, but it was everything a burrito should be and on the upper end of that tier. It was a bit expensive though.

Other Notes:
Decent green and red salsa with serve yourself chips.

Estrellas De Sinaloa

Details:

• Rating: 5.65
• Order: Super Burrito - $8.95
• Meat: Carne Asada - 6
• Beans: Pinto - 5
• Rice: 6
• Guacamole: Yes - 3
• Crema: 3
• Salsa: Yes - 3
• Tortilla: 5
• Cheese: 6
• Size: 8
• Taste: 6

Description:

This burrito was very interesting. It was quite large and came with chips and salsa. Everything about it was decent, but it tasted very strongly of seafood or shrimp. I'm guessing they used the same grill for carne asada as for their seafood. Luckily I like seafood so it wasn't bad, but it was an unexpected and unwelcome flavor. The burrito was juicy and had the right distribution of ingredients for the most part. The meat was pretty good except the seafood flavor, but nothing else was great. Also the taqueria was playing music so loud it felt like a club...so weird.

Other Notes:
Comes with chips and salsa.

La Penca Azul Truck

Details:

• Rating: 7.99
• Order: Super Burrito - $10.25
• Meat: Carne Asada - 9
• Beans: Refried - 6
• Rice: 9
• Guacamole: Yes - 7
• Crema: 7
• Salsa: No
• Tortilla: 8
• Cheese: 8
• Size: 6
• Taste: 9

Description:

This burrito was pretty bomb. It was pretty average sized, but the super burrito is two tortillas and enormous (extra $3). The asada was pretty incredible. It was quite salty but with that it packed a ton of flavor. It wasn't particularly charred, but it was cooked well and there was a ton of it. The seasoning on it was great and the oil seeped through the burrito and mixed with the guac/crema/cheese to make a really nice juicy filling. The guac/crema/cheese all added to the burrito, but none quite stood out as amazing. The beans were solid but nothing special. The rice was a really good flavorful mexican style rice. It was a bit darker and was cooked perfectly. Tortilla was grilled style and was solid. The guac/crema/cheese cost an extra $3.25 though which is pretty ridiculous. So the burrito without it is pretty cheap and with is pretty expensive.

Other Notes:
Guac/crema/cheese cost a lot extra. Came with jalapenos, carrots, grilled onions, salsa.

Ole Ole Burrito Express

Details:

• Rating: 4.29
• Order: Super Burrito - $7.85
• Meat: Carne Asada - 3.5
• Beans: Refried - 5
• Rice: 3
• Guacamole: Avocado - 4
• Crema: 5
• Salsa: Yes - 3
• Tortilla: 7
• Cheese: 6
• Size: 6
• Taste: 3

Description:

A little bit larger than medium size. The word to describe this whole experience was "bland". The meat was overcooked and bland but at least had an ok char to it. Beans were mushy and rather flavorless. Rice was dry and had been sitting out too long. Avo was just a couple pieces right in the middle. Crema was decent but not much of it. Salsa was bland. Tortilla was pretty good. Cheese was unmelted but there was a lot of it at least! It was all in the first few bites of the burrito so it was basically all cheese there. The salsa bar was also very bland. The distribution in the burrito was totally off too. Nothing here was terrible, but every part of it was subpar for sure.

Other Notes:
Comes with chips and salsa.

Papalote

Details:

• Rating: 5.35
• Order: Burrito w/ the works - $11.94
• Meat: Carne Asada - 7.5
• Beans: Black Refried - 6
• Rice: 7
• Guacamole: Yes - 4
• Crema: 4
• Salsa: Yes - 3
• Tortilla: 2
• Cheese: 6
• Size: 5.5
• Taste: 6

Description:

This was a pretty medium sized burrito. The asada was a full grilled steak that was cooked medium which was nice that it wasn't overcooked. The meat flavor was good and stood out on certain bites, but a lack of seasoning and underheated grill caused a lack of grill/char flavor to compliment the meatiness. Black refried beans are a rare treat, but they were a bit old and underwhelming. Rice was a nicely flavored achiote-like rice, but was a little dry as if it had been sitting out a while. Guac, crema and salsa were pretty sparse especially considering you had to pay extra for them. "The works" was not worth it at all. The salsa was pretty bad in the burrito. The tortilla was falling apart and flaky in a bad way. Not very good at all. Overall, the meat saved this burrito and brought it back to decent because the rest of it was not great.

Other Notes:
Comes with chips and tomato sauce like salsa.

El Paisa@.com

Details:

• Rating: 7.74
• Order: Burrito - $9.50
• Meat: Carne Asada - 6.5
• Beans: Pinto - 6
• Rice: 8
• Guacamole: No
• Crema: 10
• Salsa: No
• Tortilla: 4
• Cheese: 8
• Size: 10
• Taste: 8

Description:

So this burrito is enormous. If that's not enough, it also comes with chips, onions and nopales along with the full salsa/topping bar. First bite had a solid wow, distribution was great top to bottom. There was plenty of asada, though it wasn't the best ever. But it had a nice flavor and definitely dominated the burrito as it should. They only have pinto beans which was a bummer, but they had good flavor and weren't overcooked at all. Rice was very nice. Pretty simple, but perfectly cooked, the right amount and tasted great. No guac or salsa which was a bit sad. The crema was the real star of the show though. Flavor really came through and it was a generous amount of great thick crema. So good. The cheese was also really good in the areas that had it. It had pockets of a lot or a little so somewhat hit or miss. The tortilla was not so great. It was pretty thick, but missed on both the steamed/grilled sides. It was just kind of...there. Didn't even eat dinner after having this for lunch cause I was still full.

Other Notes:
Huge salsa/toppings bar. Comes with chips and fried onions and nopales!