Sometimes being fast doesn't work out too well
As my stomach grumbles from the upcoming pain I inflicted on myself I'm reminded as to why I do this...so others don't have to go through the same. After my recent Cuban romp I got a hankering for Mexican food, something I haven't had in what seems like months. While I was placing my order which consisted is the Pescado (Fish) Soup, Ground Beef Burrito & the California Burrito I had this strange sense of familiarity. Ironically, I did indeed order from this place years ago back when it first opened and decided to shelve my review in-order to give them an opportunity to establish themselves and hopefully improve the food quality (which it drastically needed.) On top of that I placed the exact same order!
Here we are years later and doesn't seem like much has changed. Food arrived about 15 minutes earlier than expected and was piping hot. It's unfortunate that they used cheap everything to pack the food because the soup container pretty much was half open (the lid came off due to it not being able to withstand the heat from the soup) and spilled everywhere in the bag. On top of that when I was pulling out food to see what was leaking, after grabbing the soup container it promptly raised it's hand signaling it was the culprit as it spilled even more soup everywhere, staining the fabric on one of my chairs.
"All of the meat was over seasoned, a bit too much salt."
Okay so not a great start...can the food make up for it? The short answer is not in the least. Every burrito has all the fixins' (avocado, lettuce, tomato, sour cream.) All of the meat was over seasoned, a bit too much salt. On top of that the ground beef was overcooked, leading to some very salty crunchy bits within the burrito. Presentation wise things looked good, these were easily some of the neatest packed burritos I've had. They even held up well after taking several bites which shows whoever made them knows how to pack a burrito it's just too bad the quality of everything else isn't great. The fries in the California burrito added nothing and their taste as well as everything else was overpowered by the salty meat. They pretty much just were filler and an excuse to charge more money. I also noticed that the burritos were pretty much 60-70% re-fried beans which for an almost $10 burrito is inexcusable.
"I totally see why they threw in a stack of tortillas with cilantro and onions for free since I ended up taking the fish out of the broth and making fish tacos."
The Pescado soup should've been really easy. It's literally just fish, potatoes & carrots for a basic dish. What I got was a quart of 95% broth with maybe a quarter of a fish, a third of a carrot, a slice of another vegetable and that's it for $12+??? You cannot be serious. The broth tastes like vomit as well and stunk up my apartment really bad. I totally see why they threw in a stack of tortillas with cilantro and onions for free since I ended up taking the fish out of the broth and making fish tacos.
Overall, I can't recommend this place. Food is way overpriced and it's obvious they cut corners every chance they get. While the presentation is good, the overall quality of the food ruins everything.
2 out of 5 stars
The Fast Burrito
3414 W Irving Park Rd Chicago, IL 60618
b/t Kimball Ave & Bernard St Irving Park