Salsa & Agave Mexican Grill

Restaurant: Salsa & Agave Mexican Grill

Cuisine: Mexican
Last visited: December 15, 09
Area: Vancouver, BC (Yaletown/Downtown)
1223 Pacific Blvd
Price Range: $10 or less

1: Poor 2: OK 3: Good 4: Very good 5: Excellent 6: Tres Excellent!!

Food: 4 (based on the burrito I had)
Service: 3.5
Ambiance: 2
Overall: 3.5
Additional comments:

• Located in Yaletown
• Seats 20
• Made fresh upon order
• Family owned and operated
• Very homestyle Mexican on top of big stove pot and electric stove
• Very popular
• Homemade salsa/guacamole/avocado sauce
• Nothing really spicy, and a bit bland
• Not homemade tortillas
• Busy at lunch
• Eat in/Take-out
• Accepts MC/Debit/Visa
• Tuesday- Sunday 11am-9:30pm
• Closed Monday

**Recommendation: Burritos

I’ve only tried one thing on the menu: The Ahogado Burrito. Apparently it’s one of the best things they serve. The owner highly recommended me to order a burrito and claims that they’re different than any burrito I’ve ever tried. For the most part, he was right. However the best burrito for me is still Chipotle's in the States. I know it's a chain, but I think it's pretty awesome.

I have heard nothing about this restaurant before so I had no expectations for it…which is I think better because I might have been disappointed. This place is apparently a favourite. I liked it enough to give it a 4/6, but I think most people would rate it higher.

Salsa& Agave Mexican Grill has just introduced their new burritos. They’re basically the burritos on the original menu but a bit reinvented. They’re actually customer-inspired burritos. The owner found that a lot of people were customizing their burritos with extras so he decided to just make their creations permanent members of the family. It’s $8, the same price as the burritos on the original menu, so it’s not a bad deal considering you get all the extras…they’re really big too.

As you read my review you're going to notice that I’m complaining a lot about it. It was very good, but just overrated. I think it's popular and people like it because of the portion size and price. Not many places like this in Yaletown. Also becuase it tastes like 'bad for you but sooo good' hangover food

On the table:

Ahogado Burrito 4/6

• Soft pork, rice, beans, cheese, simmered in mild red tomato sauce & drizzle of sour cream on top $8
• The owner warned me that I was ordering a saucy knife and fork burrito, so I was prepared to be pretty sleepy after lunch. It was a pretty big and hearty burrito, it filled up an entire take-out container. It was pretty heavy and loaded with ingredients - but all a little bland.
• I didn’t really like how my burrito was swimming in a pool of sauce though. The sauce is usualyl the best part, but this one was bland. Rather than “simmering in mild tomato sauce” like the menu says it was more like sauce poured into a container and my burrito placed in it. It was a pre-cooked tomato sauce that wasn’t good itself, but good with the burrito. It was very watery and tasted like very watered down canned pureed stewed tomatoes.
• The burrito is very saucey which is great. However it was a bit too mushy, watery and soupy for me. Everything was just really soft and cooked to the point where you could possibly eat it without teeth. I mean it was really good, but about 3/4 of the way through I got tired of eating it because it got so repetitive.
• The best part of the burrito was hands down the pork. They were generous with it and it was very juicy and tender, just like pulled pork. It didn't have many spices; it was just really soft and cooked well so that it had that slow-cooked flavour.

  

• The beans and rice were layered on top of each other and that made it mushy too. The rice was definitely cooked to the point of baby food or Mexican style congee.
• The beans were refried beans with very few seasonings if any.
• I wish there was some fresh lettuce or black beans in it. Refried beans are just such an easy way out to me because it comes from a can and maybe add some seasonings in so it's "homemade".
  
• There was some frozen peas and corn kernels in there as well, but there was so little of them I thought maybe it was an accident.
• The tortilla shells aren’t homemade, which is super disappointing. I think they can afford to do that. A lot of authentic Mexican places will make their own. The tortilla shell also got a bit soggy because it was soaked in the sauce. Then on the ends the tortilla shells got a bit thick because it was so huge and had to hold so many ingredients.

  

• It could have used a little more sour cream as well because they only drizzled a bit over the top.
• It had some fresh salsa made with onions tomatoes and cilantro – it was quite bland again though. They made the burrito and sauces extra mild (not spicy at all, I really don't think they used any spices) for the general population. It was literally figuratively watered down Mexican food.
• It came with a side of hot sauce which was good. It was very smoky and hickory flavoured and really really spicy..

Budgie's Burritos

10'' Burrito

Restaurant: Budgie's Burritos
Cuisine: Vegetarian/Vegan/ Mexican
Last visited: August 14, 09

Area: Vancouver, BC
44 Kingsway
Price Range: $10 or less

1: Poor 2: OK 3: Good 4: Very good 5: Excellent 6: Tres Excellent!!

Food: 2
Service: 3
Ambiance: 2
Overall: 2
Additional comments:

• Hole in the wall serving large vegetarian burritos at a cheap price
• Also on the menu: tacos, tortilla soup, quesadilla, nachos
• Store bought guacamole/sauces...apparently I am wrong, it IS all made in house! For me it wasn't as obvious, but I'm glad to hear all of it is made in house.
  
• Burritos are pretty bland and kind of mushy - needs hot sauce/Tobasco
  
• Open Mon-Sun 12pm-10pm
• $6.50 for 10'' and $ 7.50 for 12'' burrito
• Taco - $3
  
• Vegan options at no extra charge
• Eat in/Take-out
• Hipster staff and clientele
  

**Recommendation: Johnny - O Burrito (I didn't try it, but it's the most popular choice). Everyone orders burritos here. I wouldn't re-order the things I tried because they weren't that good.

For what it is - a hole in the wall eatery on Kingsway, Budgie's is not bad, but not great either. I think it's popular becuase it's cheap and filling, but the food is actually not great. Really casual, get your own water, order and pay at cashier, seat yourself kind of eatery.

I was expecting more because it's quite busy and I always hear people raving about how big the burritos are. Yes they do put quite a bit of stuffing, but it's definitely not something you can't replicate at home. Open a can of beans, over cook your rice a bit, grate some cheese, buy some store bought guacamole etc...and that's pretty much Budgie's, nothing special - just a fat vegetarian burrito. Everything was actually lacking in flavour and too mushy - my wrap broke because the sauces and everything made the burrito too wet. Just by looking at the pictures you can tell how mushy it was. I couldn't pick it up cause the sauces would leak out the bottom. Sometimes this can actually be good, but because the sauces are bland - it wasn't.

I may go again, but out of convenience...hands down The Foundation (also vegetarian) just down the street is better.

The staff was pretty cool though - instead of writing our names with our orders they were drawing pictures of us...just for that day though.

On the table:

• Blair Stanley Burrito 3/6
  
• Tofu in a roasted chipotle and red pepper sauce, rice, beans, cheese, salsa, lettuce
• This sounds like it would be really flavourful and spicy or smoky - but it wasn't any of the above. I needed to add Tobasco (available at the table) before every bite to give it flavour. It was good that way, I barely ever use Tobasco sauce unless something really needs flavour too. The tofu was the firm kind which gave the burrito texture and heartiness...otherwise I would have felt like I was eating a lot of mush.
• Henry Burrito 1/6
  
• Tofurkey sausage, rice, beans, cheese, sour cream, salsa, lettuce
• Don't get this. It really isn't good. The tofurkey tasted like cardboard and I almost took it out. It kind of looks like cardboard too (see picture) - it tastes pretty bad. I've had good tofu sausage before, but this was a really poor quality one...not sure what brand they're using, but they should really opt for something else. Has a weird after taste...needed lots of Tobasco...partly to add flavour and partly to mask the tofurkey taste.
  

Los Tacos

Restaurant: Los Tacos
Cuisine: Authentic Mexican
Last visited: August 7, 09

Area: San Gabriel, California
504 W. Las Tunas Drive
Price Range: $10 or less

1: Poor 2: OK 3: Good 4: Very good 5: Excellent 6: Tres Excellent!!

Food: 3
Service: 2
Ambiance: 1
Overall: 3
Additional comments:

• Located in San Gabriel, California
• Famous for "The World's Greatest Tacos"
• Cheap, but authentic Mexican
  
• Family owned and operated
• Hole in the wall - local favourite
• Serves big breakfast and lunch platters
• Big portions
• Nothing gourmet, super casual
  
• Offers authentic Mexican drinks and desserts

**Recommendation: Carnitas soft tacos, drink -Horchata. I bet their breakfast burritos are amazing, but I didn't get to order one, I saw some locals order the Tortas too, which looked delicious...and are very big.

The tortilla shells are all made in house and are really fresh. Each taco is double wrapped with these soft tortilla shells. Good tortilla to filling ratio. An authentic Mexican hole in the wall eatery that is familiar to locals. The tacos all come in miniature form - the traditional way - and its great! No sour cream or guacamole in these traditional tacos, just well-marinated and cooked meat. Cheap, good Mexican food - not the best, but it's real Mexican.

On the table:

• ** Carnitas soft taco 5/6
• Pulled pork
• This was my favourite taco out of the bunch. It was flavourful, tender and saucy.
  
• It was the first plate of tacos gone. Each plate comes with 4 miniature soft tacos, and each taco is double wrapped in their homemade tortilla shells. So your tortilla won't break while you're in mid-bite, although the filling might overflow and spill out the top.
• Barria soft taco 4/6
• Marinated beef
• This was my second favourite soft taco.
• Pretty good, but not the best. Nice pieces of marinated beef, its good with their chile verde salsa.
• Chicken Mole soft taco 2/6
  
• Pulled chicken smother with mole sauce and pablanos
• This was a close second. The mole aka sauce, is a rich deep brown colour and it had a smoky cumin flavour. It's made with ground chilies, but the chilies don't add heat, it just added an intense smoky taste.
• Al Pastor soft taco 1/6
  
• Marinated Pork
  
• This taco was my least favourite out of the bunch. It was the only one left over too, if they were good we could have finished them, but it wasn't really worth it. They were a bit dry, and bland and just had no kick.
  
• Quesadillas 1/6
  
• Nothing special here. What you'd expect for a cheap fast food quesadilla. Just a generous amount of melted cheese on tortillas. But they use big tortillas, which are still really fresh.
• Hard Shell Tacos 2/6
  
• I prefer the soft tacos to the hard shell tacos. The soft ones just taste fresher. The shells are the best part and don't need to be deep fried. We had it with thin slices of roast beef aka asada and they top them off with cheese, tomato, and lettuce. Nothing out of the ordinary.
• Nachos with Asada 3/6
  
• A big plate of nachos covered with thin cuts of roasted beef, melted cheese, tomatoes, onions, and topped with heaping scoops of guacamole and sour cream.
  
• Super greasy, but pretty tasty...again not the best. But expected from a place like this.
• **Breakfast Burritos
• Didn't try it, but I will if I go back. They have a whole section just for breakfast burritos so I feel like they would be really good there. They're really really big too. Saw a lot of Mecxican families ordering these for lunch.
  
• ** Tortas
• Didn't try this either. But I saw a few local Mexicans guys ordering the "Torta" as I was leaving. It looked really delicious. It's a grilled roll with your choice of meat, lettuce, tomato, and guacamole.

Authentic homemade Mexican desserts

Drinks

• This place serves up authentic Mexican drinks: Horchata, Tamarindo & Jamaica
• The most authentic and best one is the: Horchata - made of rice milk, and has a nice almond flavour. Nice and sweet, it has a little cinnamon and vanilla flavour to round it all up.