El Burrito Loco # 3 — Restaurant in Portland

Granted, not everything I've tried is my absolute favorite ever, but the standouts are absolutely fantastic. Used to go to their North Portland Ave location in the 90's, but it's gone now. Left town for 20 years and was thrilled they still had their spot on 82nd when I came back- yes, it was one of the top places I looked up shortly after I returned. El Burrito Loco is deservedly addicting.

The chile relleno tacos are one of the best food items in the entirety of Portland. They're at their best with a side of their guac and a bit of the red sauce (definitely arbol based- so not for the faint of tongue).

The Taco Loco is just stupid good with their green salsa. The plain tostada is absolutely solid with or without meat. Dealer's choice on the salsa- they both work with it.

The enchiladas are awesome- great, great sauce- just get them on a plate- the paper containers they use for a side enchilada are annoying... at best.

Stuff like the carnitas and carne asada tacos come with guac, and are flavorful and delicious.

The burritos are stupid big- I don't get those too often, but friends of mine are fans. Chicken fajita is a popular one.

Crunchy tacos are deadly good.

I know I've had things I thought were just ok at times, but a ton of their menu is stupidly better than any of the other 'drive-thru' mexican places in Portland, i.e. Don Pedro, Muchas Gracias, Habaneros... Not even close. Super Torta and Taqueria Santa Cruz in St. John's are roughly on par, if that gives you a point...

It's the Turducken of burritos and I think I'm in love!

Had a hankering for something quick and happened to be in the area so I pulled into El burrito loco. I had to stop and let a Mexican family cross the parking lot, I figured that was a good sign. I was expecting normal 'more authentic than taco Bell' but not sit down restaurant quality style cuisine like every other Mexican drive-thru in town. I was pleasantly surprised. First of all the burrito it's self was huge. It was laid on a bed of lettuce and tomato salad with guacamole and sour cream and when I cut it open I was pleasantly surprised that inside of my shredded beef was a perfectly executed chile relleno. It was layers and layers of deliciousness. To top it off the entire thing was covered with a layer of very authentic and fresh chips. Two bites into my meal I thought to myself I should take a picture to post with my review but I couldn't bring myself to stop eating it long enough to do that. first I want the chips in the guacamole and sour cream with some of the lettuce and tomatoes, then I tore into the burrito which has a delicious and high-quality soft flour tortilla around it. Excellently fresh pico de gallo inside and refried beans with flavor along with the shredded beef. I really like this whole burrito I will probably make this my forever...

So, let’s start with the positives first! My wife and I ordered one order of Asada Fries, and two large Cokes, and were full for five cents shy of twenty dollars! The Coke was really good, and the Asada Fries were enough to feed two of us, but they were only a three star experience! At first look the Asada Fries had generous portions of cheese, sour cream, pico de gallo, and well obviously fries. Unfortunately, they are Asada Fries and not Carne Asada Fries….meaning the meat is grilled but not marinated. This one unfortunate difference made the Asada not even note worthy. The guacamole and sour cream overwhelmed everything else, and although the fries were nice and crisp they left a greasy coating in my mouth that even the Coke couldn’t cut. The customer service wasn’t bad, but not necessarily what I would call friendly…..all this being said, I will most likely return to try something else on the menu at some...