ALMANSITA’S — Restaurant in Fort Collins

I really wanted to love this place. It’s 2 minutes from our house and has California burritos and rolled tacos- two things my husband and miss a lot from our time in San Diego. I have a 5 month old son who is allergic to dairy, which means, if I eat dairy, it will literally cause him to poop blood (because he breastfeeds). So the past 5 months, I have been dairy free (which really sucks because I LOVE dairy). It makes it really hard to order food from anywhere because of the extra work required in verifying anything I want to order is either dairy free or can me made dairy free. We’ve been getting coupons for Almansitas in the mail for the past couple months, but finally decided to try them tonight. I really wanted to try their California Burrito but I was having trouble finding a website (which I don’t think they have). There is a Google listing with photos and reviews, but moat of what I found was third party food ordering sites. I did end up finding photos of their menu online. Very few of their items had a description but luckily (or so I thought) the California burrito did. The description below the California burrito was carne asada with French fries, guacamole and pico de gallo. I really wanted to order directly with them so I could be sure to get no dairy, but I tried calling them at least three times and the phone just rang and rang; no one ever answered. So I ended up ordering through GrubHub and made sure to note “no cheese” on both of the items I ordered. Once we picked up our food and I opened my burrito, it was full of sour cream. That’s pretty annoying since there was no mention of sour cream in any of their online menus. So I called the restaurant thinking they would offer to remake it, but the person I talked to was not very helpful. She did not offer to remake my food and basically made it seem like it was my fault. She told me I should have called to verify there was no sour cream and when I told her I couldn’t get through, she said it was because she was on the phone. I don’t they should put ingredients (especially allergens) in their food that aren’t listed in the descriptions. My rolled tacos were pretty good, but I doubt if we’ll be back because of the poor customer service and flippant attitude...

I don’t even know where to begin. I’ve now given this place three separate chances, and each time has been worse than the last. I’ve eaten Mexican food all over the U.S.—Southern California, Mexico, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Nevada, Colorado—and I can confidently say this is, without a doubt, the worst Mexican food I have ever eaten in my life.

Let’s start with the burritos. I’ve had three. All three were absolutely horrendous. Not just disappointing—unforgivably bad. Dry, bland, cheap-tasting meat with a texture that makes you question whether it's even safe to eat. The beans taste like they came from a rotten can, sat in a dishwater bath, and were reheated three days later. The rice? Somehow overcooked and flavorless at the same time.

I thought after my first visit that maybe I just caught a bad day or the wrong cook. So I went back a second time. Then a third. Shame on me. I genuinely wanted to give this place a fair shot, but it has failed in every category: taste, quality, authenticity, and execution.

I’ve ordered combination plates, tacos, and burritos, hoping something . . . anything . . . might be redeemable. Nope. Every item was awful. Even the chips were stale and the salsa tasted like watered-down tomato paste with a hint of vinegar. I’ve had better Mexican food at gas stations, and I’m not even trying to be funny.

My wife, who is Hispanic, was with me on two of those visits, and she was just as shocked at how bad the food was. She refused to even take leftovers home. That should tell you everything.

I never thought I'd find such a bad Mexican food place in my life. Nothing even comes close to how bad this place is. It’s in a league of its own, and not in a good way.

I don’t know how this place is still in business. Maybe people who’ve never had real Mexican food are keeping it afloat. But if you have any idea what authentic, even halfway-decent Mexican food should taste like, do yourself a favor and stay far, far away from this restaurant.

Three visits. Three disasters. I’ll never step foot in there again. This place should be used as a textbook example of how to ruin Mexican cuisine. If I could give it zero...

After reading the reviews, my partner and I decided to go ahead and try Almansita's. The reviews seem to be completely divided. Most of the good reviews mention memories of Southern California Mexican food. I brought our food home as we live well outside of any delivery areas. There didn't seem to be any quality issues with it not being eaten right away.

We tried the rolled tacos (a staple on almost every menu in Southern California Mexican restaurants), tamales, and the Chile Relleno Burrito. My tamales came with rice on the side as I asked for no beans. We also had horchata. The horchata is good but not the best in town in my opinion. The tacos were perfectly crispy and again close to our Southern California experiences. The tamales were a bit spicy for me, I am a bit of a wuss when it comes to spicy though. The spicy taste did not overwhelm the flavor of the meat though. The Relleno Burrito was very good, how could you not like a burrito stuffed with a deep fried pepper stuffed with cheese?

I really like the flavor of the rice and wish I had more leftover than I do. I could probably eat just their rice for a meal.

My partner and I discussed the negative reviews and decided that the people who left them were expecting a different type of Mexican food. There are many different variants of Mexican cuisine, so it makes sense to not like certain types.

We will definitely be returning to try...