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Taqueria El Burrito is a small chain of three Mexican restaurants, all of which are diversely located in the greater Sacramento area. The Roseville location is one of the few taquerias in town that I haven't visited, and I've had my eyes on this restaurant for quite some time. It took me some time to finally pay them a visit, as it's located in a corner of town that I seldom visit. But all fine restaurants are worth waiting for...
Photo: The Roseville location of Taqueria El Burrito is located on busy Douglas Blvd., in the T.j. Max shopping center. I love the outdoor dining, but at 0930 on this Wednesday morning, November 25, 2015, outdoor dining wouldn't have been too much fun, as the temperature was hovering in the upper 30's.
Photo: This is the view of the restaurant as you walk in the front door. The divining room is comfortable, squeaky clean and absolutely GIGANTIC, with tables in the middle, and booths lining the walls. The camera only captures about half of the size of this GIANT dining room, with as nearly as much open space as the Mojave desert. Specials are posted on a board near the counter, and on an "old school" blackboard on the wall.
Photo: As far as I'm concerned, there are two ways to judge how good a Mexican restaurant is. A) Do they serve menudo? B) How good is the menudo? On this Saturday morning, December 5, 2015, both questions are answered, as my friendly server, Anna, brings my order of menudo.
Photo: Before my menudo arrived, I made a trip to the salsa bar, and grabbed a basket of chips, and Sialoa "hot" salsa. In just a few minutes, my bowl of menudo arrived, along with corn tortillas, and a taco de birria on the side. During my meal, Anna came by and asked if I wanted some more tortillas, and I declined, as I was full. This food is delcious! In true taqueria fashion, you walk to the counter, make your selection from the menu board, place your order, pay for it, and when your order is ready, it will be brought to your table by one of the friendly staff members. There are also printed menus you can browse, and paper menus you can take home for future reference. The extensive salsa bar is located to the left of the counter.
Photo: The free, with your meal, of course, all-you-can-eat chips and salsa bar. The chips - not shown in the photo - are to the left, and kept under a heat lamp, which I wasn't particularly happy about, but that's a small thing. Check out the bottles of hot sauce! Then, there are trays of limes, radish, pickled carrots, diced onion and cilantro. There are six varieties of salsa, including Sialoa "hot," mild red, tomatillo salsa, pico de gallo, sour cream and huevos and green avocado sauce. Crushed ice keeps the salsa fresh and chilled. My only complaint - very minor - is the chips were under a heat lamp, and tasted on the stale side.
Photo: Taqueria El Burrito has several varieties of Mexican beer, including Pacifico, on tap! That's class... I enjoyed a trip to the salsa bar, and sipped on an icy cold Pacifico beer as I waited for my order to arrive. Today, I chose pico de gallo and creamy avocado to dip my chips into. Note the colorful table that is so clean you could eat off it.
Photo: One Pacifico beer is great, another one is even better! My friendly server, Anna, brings another beer to my table with a smile. She and the chef were the only people working on this Wednesday morning. Taqueria El Burrito opens at 0900, and their menu includes a few breakfast choices. At 0930 in the morning, I had this huge dining room all to myself, as I was the only customer.
Photo: Thanks, Anna, for snapping my photo, as I'm ready to begin my delicious brunch. Since I was the only customer and had the restaurant all to myself, I chose to sit in a booth for four; why not? My brunch was ready in less than ten minutes, as I'd barely taken a sip of beer and hit the salsa bar before it was delivered to my table. Actually, I was at the salsa bar when my meal was delivered, hence my omission of a smiling Anna bring food to my table.
Photo: Lunch... simply delicious. Taqueria El Burrito may morph into one of my favorite taquerias in Roseville. In addition to the on-tap Pacifico beer, and my trip to the salsa bar, I ordered two tacos de tripas, and a fish taco, with everything. Amazingly delicious! These tacos were absolutely loaded with meat, veggies and salsa.
Photo: I ordered "everything" on my tacos, and that's how they arrived. Each taco is a typical "street" taco; each taco is built on two corn tortillas, about the size of a DVD. This is the sort of taco you'll find on the streets of Mexican cities, and this is the way a taco should be made. I ordered two tacos de tripas - fried beef tripe - and one fish taco. Since I ordered "everything" that's what I got, everything, including salsa, onion, cilantro and cabbage. The fish taco is the taco pictured with the red salsa. The fish was grilled, not deep fried, as I ordered my fish grilled. If you prefer your fish deep fried, just say so when you order it, and that's how your fish will be fried, so to speak. The verdict on the fish taco: Delicious. I love tacos de tripas, and these were some of the best tripe tacos that I've enjoyed in a long time. The tripas - small beef intestines - were fried chewy, yet crispy, which is the way I like them. Like the fish tacos, the tripe tacos were absolutely loaded with meat, veggies and salsa. Thank you Taqueria El Burrito for providing a fork to scoop up the ample goodies that fall out of the taco as you eat it, and savor the delicious flavor. Mmmmmmm.... The verdict on the tacos de tripas: Amazing! Taqueria El Burrito is an outstanding Mexican restaurant! The food is delicious, the service is fast, the prices are reasonable, and the staff is friendly. They just might become my favorite taqueria in Roseville... Taqueria El Burrito #3 Copyright(c) 2015 eRench Productions. All rights reserved. We've been on the web since December 22, 2002.
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