Surcheros - Fernandina Beach, FL

Today I will be looking at a side by side comparison of the two burrito/bowl restaurants we have in town: Surcheros and Barberitos. I will be comparing them on price, portion size, and flavor for the Steak Burrito made the same way at each establishment. Both were done with the standard portion of steak, pinto beans, rice, pico, cheese, and chipotle ranch sauce(called Surcheros sauce at Surcheros) on a chipotle tortilla. I am in no way affiliated with either restaurant and am just a local enthusiast. To me the products are too similar to have a reason to visit both frequently so I needed to figure out which one was better.

Price:

Barberitos wins this category coming in at $8.55 after tax for their steak burrito vs Surcheros at $10.68 after tax. Both of these restaurants include chips and salsa and gave me the same amount of chips with the salsa being served at a salsa bar where you can take as much as you please. No drink, queso, or extras were purchased at either place and this is just the cost of 1 steak burrito.

Portion Size:

Barberitos is the clear winner here again. I could tell before I even got them home and put them side by size that Barberitos gave way more filling. When I was going through the line, the Surcheros burrito looked unimpressive, while the Barberitos one seemed like it wouldn't close from the sheer amount of food inside. Barberitos burrito was at least 25% larger than its Surcheros counterpart.

Flavor:

I fully expected Surcheros to win this. With all of the reviews touting it as amazing and "the best ever" I was fully prepared to be wowed. I was not. Their assembly line and its ingredients are almost a carbon copy of each other, so I didn't expect either to gain too many points on each other there. The steak at Surcheros was less flavorful, way more dry, and there was less of it. The rice at Surcheros was hard unlike the fluffy and ultra compressable rice at Barberitos. The cheese, beans, and pico tasted exactly the same from both. The tortilla wrap from Surcheros was lacking in the chipotle flavor department too. Just overall you had moist and flavorful vs dry and bland. Surcheros grilling the burrito did add a nice touch to it though.

Conclusion:

Barberitos won hands down for me. I was fully expecting for this to go completely the other way when I first set out to do this, but boy was I wrong. I essentially got 1.25 burritos worth of a more flavorful burrito for $2.13 less at Barberitos. To those who would say that Surcheros is more known for its bowls, the bowls are just the burrito filling minus the tortilla. I hope I helped someone with this review to get to the ultimate answer of which burrito place in Fernandina reigns supreme.