8 - Watsonville, CA: La Chilangita

I ate at La Chilangita's food truck a couple weeks ago, but I couldn't tell if they had burritos on the menu, and they advertise themselves as serving Mexico City style Mexican food (hence their name), so I ordered a chavindeca to try something new. This was a delicious two-corn tortilla quesadilla with a lot of meat and cheese inside. Not a burrito though, so I went to the restaurant of the same corporation to eat one today.

The place is on the corner of East Lake and Holohan in a small strip that seems to see a lot of cars pass by and very few stop. It was nearly empty when I arrived and empty by the time I ate. The woman behind the counter was very friendly and was the first person in 8 tries so far to engage with my question of a meat recommendation. Asada is most popular followed by carnitas and then suadero. Suadero is brisket, which is the meat of my people, so the choice was clear. I asked if poco carne was possible and she went back to check with the kitchen, which spoke directly to the operation's attention to detail. She offered chips and then gathered three (3!) separate table salsa bottles from the fridge, in addition to a cup of chip salsa which was bright red and a little smoky.

The burrito was stand out. The distribution was close to perfect and the level of moisture was perfect and consistent throughout. Mouthfeel is more than half of the point of eating a burrito, and La Chilangita has mouthfeel dialed in, or at least whoever was cooking today does. The brisket was juicy and its umami permeated most, but not all of the bites. The rice was quite honestly ethereal, and somehow everywhere there was rice, there was a touch of cheese. I think the only other strong opinion I've had about rice in burritos is that I wish there were less of it. I tasted two of the table salsas and found them a little off, but the third, a dark red, was almost exactly like Tacos Moreno's famous table salsa and I used it heavily. The tortilla was grilled and crispy, and my only complaint, and I never would have though of this if the burrito hadn't been so freaking good, was that the whole thing was a little too big.

That last thought may be a little controversial, but most of the burritos I've counted so far have been just the right size. That size being the size at which you can finish the burrito, including the delicious butt, and feel a little more full than normal, with a pleasant, glowing joy from being enchilado and super-sated. The Watsonville super burritos are definitely in conversation with the San Francisco style behemoths, but they easily beat them out by being the right big size, rather than too big. I'm sure there's plenty of men in their twenties or who work as bike messengers who would disagree, but I'd rather get back on the bike and feel slow and good than slow and bad.

Next time I would order a suadero super burrito and I might actually ask if they could make it a little smaller. Or I might not.

7 - Watsonville, CA: Taqueria Delicias #2

This is a special place. I don't think I've ever felt more like I was eating at a Mexican restaurant in the United States, in the sense of a restaurant that was brought from Mexico here. Spanish was necessary to complete my order with enough specificity. Parts of the menu are written on paper plates and tacked to the wall. The place was packed and noisy. A plato lunch special is something like five bucks. A burrito costs $3.75, and the whole scene made me assume that it would be a little Sonoran style burrito, so I came close to also ordering a torta. The friendly woman said they did have a super option, which I opted for, and recommended al pastor. $5.25

And it was regular super size! Good thing I didn't also get the torta - they should have a warning sign up. This is the best deal by far.

I've decided that I won't order pastor anymore unless I can see the meat on the spit. Often it just refers to the seasoning, in which case carnitas makes more sense to my taste. This pastor was indeed just seasoned, and was fine. The burrito felt a little thrown together, but the distribution was very good, which gave it an extra appeal, a casual excellence. There was a delightful core (no, not a Cheesy Core TM) of lettuce with a significant amount of cilantro mixed in that tempered every bite. Great balance is what I'm trying to say. The tortilla was grilled and a little crispy, and the roll was quite squat (a little shorter but fatter than average). I was given one small plastic container of salsa that was pretty good and I managed to stretch for the whole burrito.

Next time I'd get the especial del dia or the caldo de pollo or some other soup. The price is right.

6 - Watonsville, CA: El Frijolito

El Frijolito has the feel of a community classic, which it reportedly is. The building its located in is one of those triangle buildings on a block where two formerly parallel streets come together. The result of this is that there is just a concrete wall on the backside of the restaurant, into which they have fashioned a 'take out' window. It looks like a real time city, the collection of busy, waiting people and the food flying out the window, if you squint your eyes at least.

The inside of the place is warm and friendly. An elder of the family that owns the place takes your order and you sit down with a number. The place was packed when I ate there. First you get chips and salsa service (when chips are brought to your table at a distinct time before your food arrives). Then later your food arrives. My burrito, chile verde con poco carne, tasted just like the place looked: comfortable, warm, and homey, but not spectacular.

The beans were that kind of refried pinto beans with a loose soupy consistency, but with whole beans in the mix. A little bland and a little hearty. I suspect the man who took my order may have given me poco frijoles instead of poco carne. The chile verde beef was delicious, but the rice dominated and was only okay.  The salsa was nothing special.


Next time I'd order a plato, I think its more of a plato place than a burrito place. And I would go back for the warm atmosphere.