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.

Rico Rico Taco - repeat visit

Details:

• Rating: 7.60
• Order: Burrito - $10.87
• Meat: Carnitas - 9
• Beans: Black - 5
• Rice: 10
• Guacamole: 8
• Crema: 6
• Salsa: 8
• Tortilla: 9
• Cheese: 6
• Size: 8
• Taste: 8

Description:

This repeat visit to a top 10 taqueria proves that the first test was not a fluke. Yes, Rico Rico has now dropped to #11, but it was still an awesome burrito.

This time I tried the carnitas, which was true to the menu description: crispy. It was super crispy. This is pretty rare for carnitas in a burrito, so props to Rico Rico. However, it was so crispy that it was a bit hard to eat in burrito form, and it was also a bit too salty. But I can't knock it too much because the flavor was great. Just like last time, the star of the show at Rico Rico is their rice. I can't even imagine getting a taco that is 1/5 the size for 1/2 the price, and doesn't have rice! Even if their taco tortillas are freshly homemade.

The other great thing about this burrito is the extra greasy fried tortilla. Tastes delicious, but at the cost of making the burrito more brittle and messy to eat. Pretty much everything else was as I remember it from the first trip. Overall very quality ingredients. The only difference this time was that I got black beans. I usually enjoy black beans more than pinto, but they were not very good this time. A bit undercooked, not much flavor, more grainy than creamy. I'll be sticking to the pinto from now on at Rico Rico. Overall, I still highly recommend, especially since there are very few other good burrito spots in the area.

Other Notes:

See review for 5/16/19.

Taqueria Los Pericos #5 (San Leandro)

Details:

• Rating: 6.54
• Order: Super Burrito - $13.16
• Meat: Carne Asada - 8
• Beans: Refried - 4
• Rice: 7
• Guacamole: 7
• Crema: 7
• Salsa: 7
• Tortilla: 7
• Cheese: 6
• Size: 7
• Taste: 7

Description:

I wanted to try this taqueria because I figured it must have been the same owners as the same-named #7 on the list in Santa Cruz. But as soon as I stepped out with my burrito, I realized there was another Taqueria Los Pericos a single block away. At this point I have no idea what connection they all have to each other. All I know is that this definitely does not match up to the Santa Cruz version. But it's still a solid burrito overall.

The meat had a nice charred flavor. The beans were pretty meh, but everything else was solid. Not amazing, but solid. This is another classic Bay Area burrito that satisfies any burrito craving, but doesn't leave the critic saying "wow." And maybe I'm just too price sensitive, but $13+ for a burrito doesn't sit quite right with me. I understand burrito price inflation has been skyrocketing over the past 5 years or so, but this is still on the upper end. I'd happily eat another burrito from here, but I won't be going out of my way for it.

Almost forgot to mention, check out all that guac and crema in the picture! Too bad it was too good to be true. Just another case of poor ingredient distribution left me guac-less and crema-less after the first few bites. So sad.

Other Notes:

None.