Let’s roll: Celebrating National Burrito Day in the ValleyDate: 3/29/2021 WESTERN MASS. – It’s no secret – the news staff at Reminder Publishing loves food. When we heard that National Burrito Day was on April 1, we had to celebrate by combing across Western Mass. to our favorite local burrito shops.
Traditionally, burritos consist of a flour tortilla filled with meats, cheeses, vegetables and other fillings. It also can be topped with sauces or salsa.
According to the Plaza restaurant, “Burrito” translates as “little donkey” from Spanish. “A commonly accepted story is that a man from Chihuahua, Mexico named Juan Mendez would sell food in a cart pulled by a donkey. It is said that he kept the food warm by wrapping it with flour tortillas. His food quickly became popular because of the convenience of holding and eating it, especially during the Mexican Revolution,” theplazarestaurant.com explains.
However the website continues to note that though this is an interesting story, it is most likely not true.
“An entry in the Diccionario de Mexicanismos from 1895 describes the burrito as we know it today and also compares it to a taco. This food was extremely popular in Guanajuato, so many assume this is where it originated. Some also think that the rolled tortilla resembles donkey ears, or rolled packs carried by burros, so accept this as the origin of the word burrito,” the site notes.
The burrito first came to the United States in the 1900s, with it’s first known reference at El Cholo Spanish Cafe in Los Angeles.
This week we launched our brand-new Northampton Reminder, so for our first-time readers, here are the logistics: members of the news team spread out across Western Mass. and into our communities in search of restaurants that make burritos. We each purchased a burrito or two, or called our favorite local shop to learn about their offerings. We made sure that there was at least one burrito representing each of our seven newspapers. The shops are listed in alphabetical order.
The standard disclaimer: when we do a feature like this one, it is impossible to go to every restaurant in every town to try out their goods. We make a conscious effort to trek out to a new location, if possible, with each tasting to make sure other storefronts are featured.
Bueno Y Sano
https://buenoysano.com/
Springfield’s Bueno Y Sano is known for their burritos and burrito bowls, quesadillas, tacos and more. They recently moved from their former location at 880 Sumner Ave. to their new location at 415 Cooley St. in the Stop & Shop plaza.
According to their website, “Bueno Y Sano opened in Amherst, Massachusetts on January 22 of 1995 and was founded by University of Massachusetts alum, class of 1993, Bob Lowry.”
“Lowry, who still owns and runs the original company, hatched the idea for Bueno Y Sano after having a burrito at a small restaurant on Nantucket Island,” the site explains. “A month later while driving through Amherst on his way to visit friends, Bob spotted a “for rent” sign in the window of a spot next-door to a very popular pizzeria in Amherst, Antonio’s Pizza. He thought that a burrito shop would appeal to the student market in Amherst, of which he had just recently been a part.”
Since then, the restaurant has expanded to having locations in not only Amherst at 1 Boltwood Walk, but Northampton at 134 Main St., in Acton at 263 Main St., in West Springfield at 935 Riverdale St., South Deerfield at 2 Elm St, in South Burlington, VT at 150 Dorset Street, Suite 300 in The Blue Mall, and of course, the Springfield location that I trekked out to.
One of my favorite – yet – least favorite aspects to a menu is when the restaurant includes the calorie count next to the food. I appreciate it, because as someone who is health-conscious, it’s nice to know. I get sad, however, when I realize my favorite menu item clocks in at about 1,014 calories.
These are the sacrifices I must make in the name of journalism.
I landed on the specialty burrito’s portion of the menu and selected the smoked brisket burrito. This burrito consists of rice, beans, cheese, grilled onions, pico de gallo and chipotle sour cream, and as the name suggests, smoked brisket. It clocks in at $9.75.
When I was first handed the burrito, I immediately noticed the weight of it. Though it was not the largest burrito I’ve ever had – and to be honest I was surprised that over 1,000 calories was packed into it – the weight of the burrito was substantial.
The burrito was easily held in my hands, and it did not fall apart as I ate it.
I enjoyed the flavor combination of the rice and grilled onion, however I felt the pico de gallo and chipotle sour cream were a little lost in the burrito with the contrasting flavors.
All in all, Bueno Y Sano provided a solid burrito in honor of the holiday.
Though they were not offering indoor seating at their Springfield location, my friend and I took our burritos to nearby Heritage Park in East Longmeadow and sat outside on a picnic table enjoying the beautiful weather and our burritos simultaneously.
Bueno Y Sano does offer an order online feature, so when the customer arrives their order is complete and waiting for them. Customers can also order at the counter and take their burritos to go.
Payton North
Macho Taco
https://www.machotacorestaurant.com/
Macho Taco, located at 67 Springfield St., Agawam in Agawam, offers a burrito that almost serves as an all-in-one meal.
The California burrito is what owner Jose Diaz describes as their “craziest burrito” and their most popular specialty item. It is a steak burrito stuffed with french fries, jalapenos, guacamole, nacho cheese, carne asada, sour cream, onions, rice, and beans. It leaves little room, or necessity for that matter, for a side to go along with it.
Sized to share or for a big appetite, the California burrito is $8.99.
Macho Taco offers authentic Mexican dishes such as flautas, sopes and molitas and are known for their namesake – the taco – but the burrito does not disappoint. Burritos come in several varieties and can be made as a bowl instead of a wrap.
Macho Taco offers online ordering and delivery through Grubhub and Door Dash.
Peter Currier
Mi Ranchito Tex-Mexican
https://www.miranchitotexmex.com
Douglas Hernandez, manager of Mi Ranchito Tex-Mexican restaurant at 69 Franklin St, Westfield, said that everyone loves the burritos there, and with 16 varieties of burritos on the menu, there are plenty to choose from. Beyond the standard options of bean, chicken, pork, and steak, there are vegetarian, fish, and chorizo options.
By far, most patrons take their burritos with steak, but Hernandez said he is a seafood lover, so the burritos with fish or shrimp are his favorites.
Mi Ranchito has two specialty burritos on its menu. The Al Pastor Style is made with achiote, spices, dry chiles, pineapple and roasted vegetables, and a choice of chicken, steak, vegetables or pork. The California Burrito is an extra-large flour tortilla filled with guacamole, pico de gallo, cheese, roasted garlic, sour cream and potato fries. It is then grilled and can include steak, chicken or shrimp. The California is the most popular of all the burritos the restaurant sells, Hernandez said.
There is also a “Good Morning Burrito” on the breakfast menu that consists of three scrambled eggs with cheese. peppers, onions and your choice of sausage or bacon, It comes with home fries on the side.
Burritos at Mi Ranchito are served as a bowl or on a 12-inch flour tortilla with rice, black or pinto beans, lettuce, cheese and pico de gallo, with a side of salsa. The price of various burritos at Mi Ranchito runs from $6.29 to $13.99, depending on the ingredients.
Mi Ranchito Tex-Mexican restaurant offers delivery service through the delivery apps DoorDash and GrubHub. The restaurant can be reached at 568-1150.
Sarah Heinonen
El Comalito
https://elcomalitorestaurantbar.com/
El Comalito offers a variety of options for a burrito that are served inside stuffed flour or whole wheat tortillas, as well as through a gluten free burrito bowl.
The restaurant serves a little over 25 specialty burritos, including but not limited to, chicken, avocado chicken, carne asada, picadillo, puerco, and chipotle pulled pork.
According to Jaime Martinez, manager at the restaurant’s Amherst location, the chicken and steak burritos are some of the most popular at the restaurant.
On top of these choices, Martinez mentioned an entirely different burrito that he considers to be the most unique that they serve. “I would say the chicken bacon ranch because it’s not traditional,” he said, with regard to what he believes is the most unparalleled burrito. “When you think about a burrito, you usually think of chicken, carne asada, and avocado.”
The restaurant serves their burritos with either chicken, marinate pork, pulled pork, grilled steak, fried pork, homemade sausage, and many more. They also have a vegetarian option that features grilled onions, peppers, mushrooms and broccoli.
Martinez’ favorite burrito is the Al Pastor burrito that they serve. “I just love the Pastor meat,” he told Reminder Publishing.
The Amherst El Comalito is located on 460 West St. They have a second establishment located on 126 Northampton St. in Easthampton.
La Veracruzana
https://www.laveracruzana.com/northampton
Phillip Pallante, who co-owns La Veracruzana with his wife Sunia Hood, said their staple burrito is their bean burrito.
“It varies from location to location but for years our staple has been our bean burrito, which is a pinto bean burrito. We sell hundreds of thousands of those burritos every year. I would say after that the shredded beef and chicken are really popular, our carne asada is really popular, our Theresa con huevos are really popular too,” he said.
Pallante added that even after 30 years of La Veracruzana burritos, the bean burrito is still his favorite.
“I have been having bean burritos for over 30 years, they are delicious,” he said.
Each burrito comes packed with rice, beans, lettuce and cheese, but there are options to add salsa and other toppings.
“It comes standard with rice, beans, lettuce, and cheese. We also have seven different homemade salsas that we prepare fresh just about daily. Some people pour it on top, some people put it inside, and then you can add anything else you want including onion, cactus leaves, and guacamole,” Pallante said.
Along with traditional burritos, Pallante said they also offer specialist burritos and alternatives for people on different diets.
“We also do have some vegetarian and vegan options as well, which are really popular these days. Shortly after we bought it for people doing low carbs, we also do bowls, so we skip the tortilla on those,” he said.
La Veracruzana has three locations at 21 Main St., Northampton, 63 S. Pleasant St., Amherst, and 31 Union St., Easthampton.
Mission Taco and Mission Cantina
https://www.themissioncantinaamherst.com/
For Easthampton’s Mission Taco, located at 58 Cottage St. in Easthampton, fresh ingredients are the key and everything is made fresh daily.
“We don’t save or use leftover ingredients,” explained Manager Kristen Miklinevich. “Everything from the meat to the veggies to the rice is made every morning.”
Mission Taco’s signature item is the Burrito Ahogado – a standard burrito with a flour tortilla stuffed with your choice of meat, shrimp or veggie, rice, choice of beans, pico de gallo, cilantro, onion, cheese and crema is smothered in Misson’s rojo enchilada sauce and melted cheese.
“It’s probably our second most popular item, behind the fish tacos,” Miklinevich said.
When choosing her own burrito, Miklinevich said it doesn’t get any better than the Burrito Ahogado with chorizo and refried beans. “It’s life-changing,” she said. “I have been working for Mission for eight years and I still love the burritos here. I’ll never get tired of them.”
Mission Taco, and Mission Cantina at 485 West St., Amherst, are currently open for takeout and delivery, utilizing the same menu in the meantime. Miklinevich said she hopes to be able to welcome guests back soon.
“We’re getting ready to open indoor and outdoor dining, but we are waiting on the state,” she said, citing logistical challenges related to the size limitations of the Easthampton location and spacing guidelines. “We would love nothing more than to welcome everyone back, but we have to take this slowly. We also lost a lot of staff when we had to close, so we can’t just turn it on overnight.”
Mission Taco is open Thursday through Sunday, 4 to 8:30 p.m. Orders can be placed by calling 203-5121 and 203-5027. Mission Cantina can be reached by phone at 230-3580. Both offer online ordering with Grubhub.
Moctezuma’s Mexican Restaurant
https://moctezumasmexican.com
I’ve had the pleasure of eating at this small Mexican restaurant, located at 684 Belmont Ave., Springfield, before and have never been disappointed, and I certainly was not disappointed when my wife and I tried its burritos for this story.
I ordered online through their website, which was easy and quick, and by the time I reached the restaurant they were bagging up my order.
The restaurant is open for in-person dining with the necessary social distancing.
My wife had the chicken burrito and I had the steak burrito. The chicken was stuffed with rice, black beans, cheese and grilled chicken. My carne asada was stuffed with the same ingredients, with steak, of course, being the difference.
Both burritos were topped with a tomato sauce, lettuce, tomato and cheese and had sour cream, guacamole and salsa on the side.
If eating a burrito by holding it like a sandwich is what you’re used to, be prepared with a knife and fork for these burritos. Both of them were quite large and simply could not have been hand food.
That’s not a complaint, though, as both were delicious. A problem with some eateries serving burritos is the ratio between the rice and beans and the featured ingredient. In this case, there was plenty of chicken and plenty of steak. Both were cooked and seasoned to perfection.
Moctezuma’s Mexican Restaurant has a very large menu and I will certainly go there again to try other items. The burritos will be at the top of the list.
G. Michael Dobbs
Two Rivers Burrito
https://www.tworiversburritocompany.com/
With the word “burrito” in your business name, customers certainly expect that your burritos are above average, and Two Rivers Burrito owner Joe Wynn definitely has the southwestern culinary chops to back up the name.
“We put burrito in the name and most prominently on our signage and print in order to keep things clear and simple for our customers and the community,” said Wynn.
Quality ingredients are a priority at Two Rivers, which offers numerous varieties of burritos, including vegetarian, pulled chicken, southwest beef and pork carnitas.
I opted for the latter for this story and was happy I did. The pork was juicy, seasoned well and not too spicy. It was also budget friendly at $8.95 and was large enough to share.
The burrito has a flour tortilla with rice, black beans, salsa, sour cream, lettuce, cheese, honey jalapeño sauce and pork carnitas. The honey jalapeño is everything.
This was a well-wrapped burrito. None of the delicious filling fell out when I bit into it and until I decided to tackle it with a knife and fork halfway through, all the filling stayed in the wrap.
I ordered and paid online and added a side of tortilla chips, which were still fresh and warm when I arrived to pick up my order.
Two Rivers Burrito’s menu includes several taco options, bowls (burrito fillings in a bowl instead of wrapped), salads, quesadillas and sides, including guac, and its own house-made hot sauce can be added to any dish.
There is also a light menu with smaller portions as well as a kid’s menu.
Two Rivers Burrito, located at 36 Elm St., Westfield, offers take-out and limited indoor seating during COVID-19.
Hope E. Tremblay
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