California Burrito Taco Shop — Restaurant in Federal Way

Aug. 6, 2022

3rd Review. Went today around 3 p.m. for some takeout. Wanted to try out the Carne Asada fries, typically the best selling item in most similar restaurants.Wanted also to validate one of the items I ordered previously for consistency.

The Asada fries were fine. Fries were well cooked. The Asada was a little disappointing, I wished the meat was better seasoned. I mainly tasted salt, like one of the items I reviewed previously. Fortunately the lunch special Carnitas Burrito remained consistent as the previous time. Still required the pickled carrots and jalapenos to enhance the flavor.

So overall, I still rate this particular store somewhere between 3 to 4 stars depending on the item ordered. Not my first pick, but adequate for quick cravings.

Happy Eating !

July 24, 2022

Second trip. Bought 3 different items this time to try out the store’s offerings - Lunch special Carnitas Burrito, Lunch special Taquitos, and California Taco Salad with beef.

California Taco Salad - Not as much beef (Machaca?) as I liked, and the overall tasta was pretty bland. Adding additional Salsa from the salsa bar did little to enhance the flavor much. The accompanying rice and refried beans tasted fine.

Lunch special Taquitos - Daughter ordered this, and her conclusion is that the dish was bland.

Lunch special Carnitas Burrito - This was consumed 2 days later after storing in the fridge. Of the three, this was tasty and skewed towards the salty side. Eating it with the pickled Jalapeno and carrots added the right amount of tanginess to enhance the dish. The red salsa was very spicy, but lacked other tastes.

Comparing these foods to the Tacoma Memo’s offerings, the pricing is a little less though the portions were also a little less. Taste-wise, Memo’s has a large edge over this store. I rated Memo’s with 5 stars, but this place lies somewhere between 3.5 and 4 stars. Staff in both places were pleasant. To handle a late night hunger, this place is totally satisfactory. June 18, 2022

This was not a planned visit, and it was my first time to this store. Had to get some change for the car wash (Coin dispenser busted at car wash. Sigh!), and the store was opened at 8:15 a.m. This location is not big, is opened 24 hours, and has several parking spaces surrounding the building. It is beside Pacific Highway S in Federal Way so getting in and out is easy, except when traffic is backed up. I suspect it mainly caters to drive through traffic.

I walked in through the north entrance, and am immediately in a good size dining area. Seating is mostly aligned to the sides of the room. The kitchen area is to the immediate left. Menu is posted above the ordering area, and is large and easily readable. Food prices I consider reasonable (under $10 mostly). There is a “salsa bar” towards the south side of the dining area and serves various salsas, small yellow Aji Charapite spicy peppers, and pickled carrots with Jalapenos, etc.

The cashier who took the order was pleasant. Ordered a bacon breakfast burrito (my go to item to gauge a new place during breakfast.). The food was delivered rather fast. The burrito is large for the price paid ($7.30 with tax), and packed fairly well with bacon, egg and fries. It tasted a little bland (lack of saltiness in the bacon?), and overall drier than other bacon burritos. I also usually prefer my bacon breakfast burritos a little greasy. The food tasted fine with added salsa and condiments. At this stage, I rate this location a 3 out of 5 just based on this quick purchase. This may change after experiencing more from this place. Definitely worth a visit for a filling quick meal.

Happy eating!

P.S. The menu at California Burrito looks very similar to Memo's. Can anyone verify whether these 2 “chains” are...

I think I just rated this I don't know why it's asking me to do it again but I would rate them five stars a thousand percent of the time they are amazing no matter what time of day or night you're there cuz they're open 24 hours and still open 24 hours and we're open 24 hours all through covid this place the carne asada burrito two churros and a horchata is my go-to and it probably three times a week and it is truly there is no filler in the burrito whatsoever there don't skimp on any of the accoutrement that you might like like the guacamole and the sour cream occasionally depending on what time you're there and how busy they are you might get some gloopiness at the bottom instead of throughout the burrito but a little bit of just hand-mashing and you can get into the right place so that everything blends together perfectly but almost unfailingly delicious and their churros sometimes not always mostly if you get them when they're fresh or just to die for and fantastic and the consistency and the customer service there is amazing they never cease to be kind and considerate and are always greeted with a smile and just one of my favorite spots for late night snack or anytime snack really whenever I crave it which is constantly so would highly recommend to anybody for a multitude of reasons it is great and I do I refer everybody there for the exact menu items that I just said the other big part of it is is that no matter how long the lines are if you're deterred when you see 15 20 cars in line it doesn't matter they work through the line about a minute per car on average and I've never you know even when I've been like oh my gosh this is going to be ridiculously long wait and I've always up to the front before I even have time to get bored or you know consider any other options because once you had it you won't and it's worth it and that's the reason why it's always busy and they manage it beautifully which you can't save for many businesses that have that type of success in that many people that they serve and they also do some awesome stuff with the community too they never refuse anybody a meal that asks they make a great effort and it is shown and you know it's one of those places where even though it's a drive-thru I always tip because I feel like they're doing good work and I get a good result and it's really...

I’ve been going here since they opened in 2018 (give or take) I give 1 ⭐️ for the customer service but the food is okay! It’s always beginning of a business they do so well & attract people. Now they have regular customers and get so busy, they could careless.

1 new chica (idk her name) but if you ask, yes I remember her face. Being a regular customer, I know she’s new. We ordered Washington Burrito & Carne Asada Fries but the heffa gave us CARNE ASADA BURRITO & Carne Asada Fries. 😑 The only reason we went there that night was that burrito but she messed up! We told her that we asked for “Washington burrito” and heffa wanna say “Oh well, I confirmed your order and you said yeah”. NO YOU DIDNT CONFIRM ORDER AND STOP LYING! She was flustered. It wasn’t busy either. I understand how tired you can get from standing all day, but it doesn’t mean for you to treat customers stupidly or lie in their face. We had people in the car with me to witness this whole shenan go down! It was so stupid I didn’t wanna argue with her. Smdh!

Let’s talk about the prices!! It’s getting horribly expensive. What used to be only $9 is now almost $20 for a plate but portions aren’t good enough for that increased pricing. This is only in 4YRS span. I understand the market shooting high. But I can use $35 that I spend here to prep a meal for 4 people. That’s my argument.

Food? Well they must have a new cook now cause they’re so bland and nasty. I end up eating the Carne Asada Burrito (cause I was HANGRY), and that thing was almost full of beef with no seasoning. Nasty! I’ve been going here for years & I know the difference. I moved from Feddy to Pac & we still drive out there to get food but it just might not be worth it anymore. So if you’re new to this place, congrats. Wish you’d understand the difference to know what they were & what they are now.

Overall, customer service sucks. Food sucks. They’re all rude!!! That’s just an opinion of 1 person. But I will say it now, I TOLD YOU...