Burritos are my favorite food, but Chipotle is not the best. That’s right, I said it. As someone who has eaten a lot of burritos in her lifetime, I have compiled a ranking of the best fast food burritos. You’re welcome.
5. Moe’s
Moe’s is blech. Their first mistake is that the tortillas come out of a plastic bag. As snobby as it may be, I strongly prefer fresh pressed tortillas. Also, the menu at Moe’s does not encourage customization. They have 3 main burrito options, and the customer just picks the protein they want. But what if I do not like any of the options? Then I have to be that guy who pisses off all of the workers by actually asking for what I want. Also overall, Moe’s taste was bland, but to be fair the claim to be a “Southwest Grill” not actual Mexican food.
4.Chipotle
Whenever I tell someone that I don’t like Chipotle, they get horrified and then offended before telling me that I’m “just not getting the right thing.” But I stand by my distaste. Chipotle’s tortillas come out of a plastic bag. They do not even give you the option of queso, and it is impossible to get rice without cilantro. I need options. I also feel like a Chipotle burrito is in sections, like you eat all of the meat then get to the rice and beans and then to the veggies and salsa. I want my flavors to mix and mingle. Plus, if you eat Chipotle, you will probably get E. coli and die. But to Chipotle’s credit their lettuce is the best lettuce in the burrito game, but that sadly is not enough to make up for everything else.
3. Qdoba
Qdoba beat out Chipotle for only two reasons: they heat up their plastic bag tortillas, and “the extras aren’t extra.” A warm tortilla is very important to the burrito process. Burritos are a hot food, and should be eaten as such. I also like that a Qdoba I can get just about anything on my warm tortilla without an additional surcharge. Qdoba also has options, not only can I get warm melty queso on my burrito without an extra charge, I have two options for that queso. Beyond their burritos, Qdoba’s entire menu also has lots of options, from different tacos to taco bowls (you can eat the bowl) to nachos. Not bad Qdoba, not bad.
2. Freebirds World Burrito
When it comes to options, Freebirds reigns supreme. You pick what size burrito you want, you pick what kind of tortilla you want from four options (flour, wheat, spinach, cayenne), plus all of the normal burrito offerings. I will admit that the Freebirds tortillas do come from a bag, but they are heated up before they are filled. Freebirds gives three options of beans (black, pinto, refried). Freebirds also goes above and beyond when it comes to sauces: they have two salsas, two sauces, and two dressings. To be fair, Freebirds might not be the best choice if you have trouble making decisions.
1. Pancheros
Pancheros: land of the fresh pressed tortillas. Pressed and grilled right in front of your face. It is a truly magical experience. Pancheros also does their pricing a little differently than other burrito places; they do pricing based on the item not the meat, which is a perk for a beef eater like myself. Pancheros does have five salsa options, but only one rice option. Pancheros does not have as many options as Qdoba or Freebirds, but what really sets them apart, besides the tortillas, is the bob. Pancheros has specially made paddles just for mixing the ingredients of a burrito. Yes. Pancheros has solved the problem of the “sour cream bite” by mixing, or bobbing, all the contents before the tortilla is wrapped. Pancheros delivers on their promise of “Burritos better built.” In fact, I would argue that Pancheros is burritos best built.
