Because I’m a Self Declared Expert

Lately, little to no food has sounded good to me. Yes, I’ll eat. But outside of my morning granola, I can barely be tempted to heft fork to mouth. Except when it comes to Mexican fare. For whatever reason I have been on a Mexican kick for like 2 months. I cannot be satisfied. Everything I attempt to eat that is Mexican doesn’t measure up to whatever yard stick I’ve got floating around in my head. Within the last 2 weeks I have eaten at 4 different “fast food” Mexican places. Let us start with the worst and work our way up, shall we? Because as the title infers, I’ve decided I am now an Expert.



***Composer’s Note***


From here within are purely my opinions.There is no science behind it. If you do not agree with me, that is fine. We are all entitled to our own opinions.


All meals were of the same notion, Burrito, which included, a variant of “Mexican rice”, some form of Steak, pinto beans, salsa, shredded cheese, topped off with sour cream, and a side of nacho chips. Easy enough, right?



From the Category of “I can’t believe I choked it all down”: Rio Wraps! Their RIOriginal Burrito? Oh sweet lord. The “Steak” was, Watery. The rice was tasteless; the sour cream was almost nonexistent. And the steak was watery. Did I mention the steak was watery? The greasy water ran down my hand as I bite into it. Even their chips were kinda gross. I don’t mind whole grain, but these whole grain chips were the whole grain of our parents’ youth, Cardboard. The best part of the whole meal? The lemonade.



Salsarita’s Fresh Cantina. Is our next stop on dusty road of Mexican Fast Food. F is always telling me I use too much salt, and when I cook, he says my food is TOO SALTY!! I of course don’t believe him, and tell him HIS food is TOO PEPPERY!!! Anyway, my point is, Salarita’s Steak Burrito was TOO SALTY. As in I COULD NOT FINISH IT. The meat was ok, other than the saltiness. Not the highest quality steak, that’s for sure. I don’t remember what the rice tasted like, but the salsa was good. Very spicy for the “Medium” I ordered, but still good. Their pre-sweetened tea made my teeth hurt from the sugar content. Thank goodness they had unsweetened tea to tune it down with. It was a forgettable burrito. The chips however were DEVINE. I imagine they would have been even better if I’d gotten the queso dip I ordered instead of the salsa, oh well.



Taco Bell. Some say it is not real Mexican food. I kind of agree, but in a fix it will do. I’ve gotten the Grilled Steak Burrito and the Grilled Suft Steak Burrito. Both are actually quite good. Both would benefit from more sour cream, but that might be just me. They are filling, and the steak is pretty good. The nacho cheese for the chips is kind of addicting in a cheap cheese like food product way. I’m actually kind of craving this now dang it. Luckily we have a Taco Bell right by our house.

Here’s a question for my digital friends across the pond, Why do you dislike Taco Bell? My friend A, who is a transplant in the U.K., begged her friends via Facebook to send her some Taco Bell seasoning because Mexican food is a no go over there. What gives?????



And our final resting place on the road of Mexican Fast Food stops is, QDOBA. Oh, be still my growling tummy. The amount of you food you receive is gut busting. Their Queso Cheese Burrito? HEAVEN. The salsa is good, the meat is fresh. The chips are just salty enough. The rice has a good flavor. ITS GOOD people, REALLY GOOD. My one complaint is when they are building said fabu-ness is that all the sauces end up on one side of the burrito. So when you take a bite on the left side you get an explosion of salsa, sour cream, and queso sauce, but when you bite on the right you get meat, rice and beans. It is sadly lopsided. I have actually asked them to place it down the middle or even on BOTH sides. That aside, Qdoba is my top choice for good Fast Food Mexican. I am still currently looking for a good Slow food Mexican restaurant. Alas, I have yet to find it.



And just for the sake of argument, I have tried Chipotle. It does not measure up to Qdoba. It just does not. The flavors are not as strong, even if they do give you more nachos.