La Taqueria De Ramiro - June 9, 2010 - Fort Street Mall

There is much to behold on Fort Street Mall, but it's not the kind of place you'd want to take a special lady friend--unless of course she enjoys the finer (and by finer I mean burritos) things in life. If you've got a hankering for some ono Mexican and you're stuck in town, La Taqueria De Ramiro (http://www.lataqueriaderamiro.com/) is the place for you.

I could rave on and on about their amazing breakfast burrito, but I will save that for a later post. For now, you'll just have to hear about my ride home with an oh-so delicious carnitas, black bean monster. After watching the chef pull out chunks of pork that were then chopped up and placed in the burrito right before my eyes, I knew that this one wasn't going to make it home.


With a minute left in the meter, I slowly peeled away the foil to uncover the perfectly moistened tortilla. My first bite was...well, let's just say that things moved quickly from here. Seeing a car perched for my spot, I knew that I had to take this show on the road and while it is not my policy to eat and drive, putting this puppy down was not an option. As a made my way home, each red light became a guacamole-filled moment of delight and each yellow light brought a smile to my still-chewing mouth.

LTDR has a simple menu, but what they lack in flare (16 pieces mind you), they more than make up for in flavor. An ample layer of cheese provided enough gooeyness to hold it all together, and the ever so slightly seasoned rice made a great base layer for the juicy pork and mushy beans, not to mention the guac and good (but not great) salsa. You have only one option when it comes to the tortilla (flour for all), but I didn't mind it one bit. Definitely worth exploring the menu on this place and for $7 and change, this little donkey packs quite a wallop!



DISCLAIMER: Juan Solo does not condone driving and eating burritos, and unless there is an emergency (flavor) situation, one should not operate a motor vehicle and partake of the awesomeness of one's burrito until one is safely at home. Think twice kids, unroll at home!


rolling on down the road,

juan solo

Diego's Taco Shop - June 7, 2010 - King St.

If you're looking to get some bang for your burrito buck, Diego's Taco Shop (http://www.diegostacos.com/) might be the place for you. This bare bones establishment, which sports homemade horchata, has quite the deal. For $9, you can get a carna asada burrito, rice, beans, two fried tacos (taquitos as it were) and a medium drink. The #4 requires serious effort to finish in one sitting and for those who are faint of stomach, you can get two meals out of this combo.

For this visit, I spent a dollar more and scored an orange jarrito to go with my order. My partner in crime opted for the horchata, which is a delicious blend of ground nuts, seeds, sugar and spices served ice cold. Ok, back to the burrito. The carne asada at Diego's is juicy, a bit fatty, and perfectly seasoned. The burrito comes with only tomatoes, salsa, and sour cream (although I substituted for guacamole) inside. The refritos are surprisingly light even though they clearly use lard for flavor. I spread some rice and beans on the burrito as I took bites, and this strategy produced some excellent flavors. The crispiness of the two taquitos offered the perfect balance to the mushiness of the flour tortilla, and I managed to get it all down in one sitting (Yes, I know...big surprise).



I'd thought from previous visits that this place was a bit pricy and nothing to write home about, but this last trip changed my perspective. Check out the #4, you won't be disappointed!

still recovering,

juan solo

BC Burrito - June 8, 2010

BC Burrito (www.bcburrito.com) at the corner of Waialae and 12th changed my life. I'd never felt comfortable with the lack of burritos, at least the rolled-in-front-of-you kind, on island. Now that they're my local, which is also to say closest, provider of all things rolled, I'd say that I average at least one burrito a week from this place. So, there will be many BC postings in the future and I definitely see this project as an opportunity to explore the depth and complexities of the already familiar menu.


Here's a little back story on BC and me. Thanks to an extremely favorable schedule while teaching a few semesters ago at UH-Manoa, I would make my way from the gym to BC and then to campus. This Thursday ritual magically transformed into Burrito Day, which survived for a number of semesters and may again see life in the Fall. Through this endeavor, I became friends with the primary roller, Jeremy, a.k.a. The Maker, whose hefty offerings challenge more than one's stomach. If you make it there during the week before 2 p.m., give the muscular Japanese man behind the counter a smile, tell him "the teacher sent you," and you'll have the burrito experience of your life. I had met the owner, Tony, from my time as delivery boy/sales duder for Styrophobia, and I have to say that these guys know how to roll!

Earlier in the week I headed up to BC and ordered the following: super wheat (a slightly larger tortilla than the "regular"), cheese (gratis on the super, but additional for the regular), onions, two beans (black and pinto), potatoes (deep friend awesomeness), chicken mole (more of a red sauce, but still tasty), with salsa de lupe (a semi-spicy, perhaps more tangy, red sauce), corn salsa (or medium), and a "shot of guac." For some reason, I decided not to add chipotle ranch to the potatoes, and I am confident that this error in judgment will not be made again in future visits. If you're looking for a restaurant experience, this is not the place for you. The beauty of BC is its simplicity; what you see is most certainly what you get at this no frills, stand-style, shop.


I do not want to spill the beans, so to speak, on all that BC has to offer in this single, and first, posting, so I will stop here and say in closing that this burrito was extraordinary on its own, but I chose to take a small sampling of the Big Island Lehua Honey & Five Spice Hot Sauce back home with me, which took things to a whole new level. Imagine a perfectly grand burrito infused with a sweet and tangy glaze that guides all of the flavors into a cohesive and concordant symphony of burrito bliss. Oh, BC...why are you so delicious?

until we roll again,

juan solo

Mexico Restaurant - School Street - May 22, 2010

This one was too good not to add, so here it goes. Mexico Restaurant (1247 N School St) has quickly become one of my favorite spots for all things South of the Border and it reminds me of "The Castle" (a.k.a. Los Reyes) back in Kennesaw, GA, which magically offered drink specials right after (and sometimes during) my final semesters as an undergraduate. At Mexico, the (hearty yellow corn) chips are fried, the salsa is hot, and the ridiculously large margaritas are strong. The seedy location (School street in the heart of Kalihi) only adds to the charm of making the trek into the heart of deliciousness.

This particular visit I struggled a bit with what to order as I'd had the carnitas burrito before and remember feeling particularly satiated with my decision. I branched out this time and ordered the mahi mahi burrito, which came topped with a fusion of salsa verde, topped with medley of mango and pineapple morsels, and a creamy white sauce. The fish was moist, clearly assisted by the white sauce, and there was lots of it. Although I gave our basket of chips more than the requisite once over, I was still hungry enough to devour this mammoth, which came in around $13 if I remember correctly. The side of rice and beans, which were real-deal refritos, certainly aided my gastrointestinal gaiety and overall sense of fullness on the ride home.


There was also some familiar music from a lone guitarist whose serenading eased the culinary carnage. If you're looking for the sit-down, restaurant-style burrito experience (not to mention a hefty margarita to go with it), you're be hard pressed to find a better spot in town.

fondly remembering this roll on Shabbas,

juan solo

Up next...BC gets the first of many postings!

Just like momma used to make - Edna - May 27, 2010

While the main point of this "project" serves to give me a reason to venture out and eat the finest rollings that the islands have to offer, it is also the case that the homemade varieties will appear here as well.

If you live on island then you know that it is mango season, to put it lightly. So, we've had a pretty steady flow of this fine fruit, so much so that we put together some mango salsa with a little cilantro, lime, and a touch of jalapeno and pineapple. Needless to say, it was dope and made the perfect topping for this barbecue chicken and black bean beauty, which was served with slices of a perfectly textured, local yamaguchi avo and some (homemade) chipotle sour cream on a brown rice tortilla. I had also made some sweet and spicy cabbage slaw earlier in the week for fish tacos, but we ended up using it as a salad dressing.

I do not want to make it a policy to re-live burritos from my past, but this one was definitely worth rehashing, or re-rolling, in my mind!

yours in all things wrapped,

juan rolo

Bueno Burrito - Kea'au and Hilo, HI - May 19, 2010

The "point," if one even feels comfortable using such a term, of this project is to catalog and share my culinary passion: the burrito. I can't recall when my pallet first happened upon the joys of hand-wrapped bliss, but I know that I've never been the same since. From the establishment of Burrito Day at UHM to the tireless search for the perfect bite, the burrito has become nothing short of a way of life for me. At the behest of some burrito brothers in arms, I've decided to share my eating exploits (and I hope you will too). Of course there are much more serious things to consider and ponder over in this world, but there is something special about the burrito. If you don't get it...well, you don't get it. For those of you who do, enjoy and feel free to send me the chronicles of your burrito-ing. To my knowledge there is no "National Burrito Day." I would like to correct this injustice and I hope to be able to begin to build a dialogue across party lines so that one day our children and our childrens' children can hold their burritos with pride knowing that their government shares their love for the delicacy known as the "little donkey."




Bueno Burrito - Kea'au and Hilo, HI - May 19, 2010
http://www.mibuenoburrito.com

To call this place a hole in the wall would be a great disservice to other holes in many walls across this (at times) great nation and beyond! Bueno Burrito should be your first stop for all things burrito on the Hilo side of the Big Island. While the downtown location serves as the anchor, we (Justin Stein, my burrito brother in arms) actually found the gregariously spry George actively soliciting at the Kea'au Farmers' Market. Although we caught him packing up for the day, George shared some of his spicy fish ceviche and prodded us to return the next morning when he would "cook us up something good." Indeed, he did! Serving up some serious roll-your-own mahi mahi breakfast burritos, George won our hearts and our stomachs so much so that we decided to catch another bite before our flight back from Hilo.

Later that evening, I ordered the Braddah Burrito, which was served with Coconut Cilantro Rice (Yes, it's as good as it sounds), Kalua pork, shredded beef, and shredded chicken. Additionally, a medley of salsas and some standard fixings made this baby really sing, and once unwrapped, it was clear that this sizable burrito was not going to make it out of the store alive. While we were a bit saddened at the charmingly misspelled "no mas guacomole" sign, we forged ahead knowing that some of his locally-produced avo guacamole would make our next Bueno Burrito our best burrito!

yours in all things wrapped,

juan solo