El Burrito Taco Shop — Restaurant in California

I was hungry for breakfast this morning and wanted to try something new and found El Burro Taco Shop as an option in my search. I have seen the place many times as I was picking up food orders, but I don’t frequent the area often, so I never went there. I was happy to see it for delivery and I decided to give the place a try!

As is my tradition, I will start with the “As Delivered” section of the review. I provide only one photo here as there wasn’t anything special. I will say though, I asked for side containers with my order in addition to the 8 oz Salsa that I paid for, and I did not receive them. Not quite sure why, but I will say that the 8oz container (1/2 pint label on menu) is enough if you’re just looking to dip a few chips and add some to each bite of your burrito like I do.

Time to look at the first item, which is a Shredded Beef Hard Shell Taco.  I put it leaning against the salsa as it simply wouldn’t stand up!! I found this to be a tasty taco as a whole and it went well with the salsa. That said, the shredded beef was a bit like jerky and I did not like having the meat come out as I was taking a bite. As a whole though, I really did enjoy this taco, so if you can tolerate that, it is a great taco to eat!

The second round of photos is the Carne Combo Breakfast Burrito. I took a photo after I unwrapped it, sliced it in half, and then took a photo of each side as if you were going to eat it. Now, I wasn’t sure what to get as I have never ordered from here, but I was quite pleased! The potatoes were a good size, well cooked, and I thought the balance of ingredients was excellent! Among the most important of things, if one considers the meats in this burrito, is the fact that it was not greasy at all. Everything was perfect and if you like meat without a grease bomb, definitely check this one out!

The third item here is the Ham, Egg, Potato, and Cheese Burrito (Gringo Breakfast Burrito on menu). I provided a photo of the burrito, and as before I cut it in half and took a photo of each side so you can see the distribution of ingredients. Quite happy with this item and once again we did not have a burrito that is dripping grease. I was quite pleased with this burrito as well and have no complaints. The flavor of the ham was great, and I didn’t get any of those pesky pieces of non-chewable ham that you sometimes get from places. This burrito is also an excellent choice!

Final Verdict:

There is not much to complain about where El Burro Taco Shop is concerned! I really enjoyed the salsa that they had and found that it had a nice level of heat to it. As a whole, it really complimented each of the items that I reviewed above. You might want to ask if you want side containers as I’m not quite sure on that one, but the ½ pint of salsa they offer on their menu seems to be more than adequate for a generous application. There are a lot of great places to get a good breakfast burrito from, but I would easily put this in my top...

Finally I am driven to write a review about this local spot. Much like many of the other business establishments around here, once the competition arrives, they better step up their game. 9 times out of ten I use the drive through, at my own risk. I usually also leave a tip, as I appreciate people working during these times.

I have been coming here on and off since they opened. I have sworn off of them couple of times after being disappointed probably 40-50% of the time, more often that not with them getting my orders wrong, other times being the quality. I cannot be the only one. Today was no exception. They were close, and I had to get something pretty quickly for myself and others.

I was the only one in the drive through line. So there was no rush or other reason for mistakes, aside from just a lack of the desire to get it right. Kids meal with rice...rice...rice, confirmed rice. Nope, got it home and no rice, just mostly undercooked limp French fries, no not even close to being appetizing unless perhaps you love close to being raw fries.

A machaca burrito, well I am not a professional cook, but last I heard machaca was beef, green peppers, onions, eggs and maybe a little cheese? This one they forgot the peppers and onions, and cheese was so thick I thought that perhaps I ordered something different, like a cheese burrito with extra cheese and don't forget the cheese. .

The last burrito I bought there had so much oil on the outside of the tortilla, I didn't eat it.

Like I mentioned, good maybe half of the time, but with inconsistent ways in the way they make items, the way they are served, and then add the mystery as to whether you will get what you ordered, this is a potential waste of money.

Like I mentioned, the businesses out here have it good. They can be very careless as they are close, few and far between and depend on that fact as their strength. Competition will have a very direct effect on your success. As for me, I'm out. I tried, tried and now it is just being unwise to return. By the way, I see two new shopping centers. Hoping for a place that cares about...

So, I've been going to this taco shop semi-regularly since they first opened, and after eating half of my usual order of carne asada fries today I figured I'd express some growing disappointments I've had.

1. The wait times have always been fairly ridiculous for the drive thru, even if there's only one or two cars ahead of you in line. Customers can count on at least ten to fifteen minutes for small orders, or closer to twenty or more for multiple combos/items. My longest wait on record has probably been upwards of 25-35 minutes, but I do admit that there were four or five cars ahead of me during that visit. Still, it's unacceptable for a fast food restaurant whose food has become questionable over time.

2. While the portion sizing and extra salsa from the pleasant drive thru workers is always great, the quality of the food - specifically the quality of guacamole and beef/carne asada, and other meat - has been slowly declining since the shop's opening months. The trigger for this review, actually, was a canned-food-tasting bite of carne asada followed by several others, and then one really bad taste of something chemical-ly or soap-based on a strip of meat that was bland and shredded to oblivion. It almost made me gag.

I used to describe this place to friends as the perfect place for some solid-tasting Mexican food with friendly workers, and to an extent that's still happening; I still get an order every now and then that's awesome and just what I would expect, but it's less and less of a common thing. If they can make a change for the better, and actually stick to it, I'd gladly come back to give a...