La Palma Mexicatessen (repeat visit)

Details:

• Rating: 8.42
• Order: Burrito - $13.02
• Meat: Carne Asada - 10
• Beans: Refried - 8
• Rice: 6
• Guacamole: 10
• Crema: 10
• Salsa: 10
• Tortilla: 8
• Cheese: 9
• Size: 7
• Taste: 9.5

Description:

Oh baby. La Palma has the distinct honor of being the original burrito by the bay, the first ever rated on this list. It's been 5 years since I last had it and I wasn't sure if it would hold up to my monumental memory. Good news, it's even better than I remembered.

Honestly, every single aspect of it was top notch. Each bite highlighted a different ingredient that wowed me each time. The carne was so beefy and charred and delicious. Clearly a high quality flank steak. Beans were slim but great. The guacamole and crema were incredible. And the pico de Gallo was even better, adding little bursts of vinegary delight. The cheese added a nice touch and the tortilla was great. The only possible small downside was a tiny bit too much rice and it was just a filler, without much of it's own flavor.

I enjoy a very juicy and oily burrito because that's where most of the flavor is, but this one was not oily at all if that's how you like it. Easily top 2 burrito spot that I've ever been to, plus it's a cute little shop that has tons of other things to stock up on that you can't find everywhere (like husks for tamales). It's not right in the middle of the Mission, but it's absolutely 100% worth walking the few extra blocks to get a far superior burrito to anywhere else nearby.

For the first review of La Palma, see here.

Farolito Oakland & Guadalajara Truck - Repeat visits

Farolito:

• Rating: 8.12
• Order: Super Burrito - $9.01
• Meat: Carne Asada - 9
• Beans: Pinto - 6
• Rice: 8
• Guacamole: 8
• Crema: 9
• Salsa: 8
• Tortilla: 8
• Cheese: 8
• Size: 9
• Taste: 8.5

Guadalajara:

• Rating: 7.81
• Order: Burrito - $12.00
• Meat: Carne Asada - 8.5
• Beans: Pinto - 7
• Rice: 7
• Guacamole: 9
  
• Crema: 8
• Salsa: 8
• Tortilla: 8
• Cheese: None
• Size: 8
• Taste: 8.25

Description:

Battle of the beasts. Side to side taste test of two top 5s ended with Farolito taking over the number 2 overall spot, while Guadalara dropped to number 7. We're splitting hairs with some of the best burritos in The Bay, but it's as simple as the fact that Farolito tasted better. Plus it's still only $8.25 and enormous. About as good as it gets.

For the first review of Farolito, see here.

For the first review of Guadalajara, see here.

La Hacienda

Details:

• Rating: 5.36
• Order: Burrito - $11.99
• Meat: Carne Asada - 5
• Beans: Pinto - 3
• Rice: 6
• Guacamole: 5
  
• Crema: 7
• Salsa: 8
• Tortilla: 4
• Cheese: None
• Size: 7.5
• Taste: 5.5

Description:

Nooooot great. Not terrible. Highlights were the salsas for sure. That's about it now that I think back. Lowlights were the beans, red sauce, and heavy rice filling. That's about all there is to say. There are plenty of other places to go to instead.

Other Notes:

N/A

Doña

Details:

• Rating: 6.66
• Order: Burrito - $10.00
• Meat: Barbacoa - 7
• Beans: Refried Black - 10
• Rice: 4
• Guacamole: None
  
• Crema: None
• Salsa: 7
• Tortilla: 7
• Cheese: 9
• Size: 4
• Taste: 7

Description:

This burrito was a pleasant surprise stemming from low expectations. That's a rare one for me, obviously, the guy with the burrito blog who rates each individual ingredient. But maybe I should try it out more often because it made me enjoy a middle of the pack burrito more than I would have otherwise. However, as always, middle of the pack around these parts is still a very good burrito.

This one wasn't your typical Mission Style, but still have some very nice flavors. It lacked the wow factor that many of the superior burritos have but also had its own best attributes. The menu doesn't say so, but the black beans are refried and were super good. Meat was good, but not your typical barbacoa or carnitas. They included some different spices that I liked but also wasn't what I was expecting. Other people might not like it as much. The rice was a white rice with cilantro. No guac or crema is disappointing but that's just life sometimes.

I'll give Doña some uncounted bonus points for the large outdoor seating, which is very covid friendly, and for their awesome fish taco.

Other Notes:

No chips or salsa bar

Taqueria El Castillito (Livermore)

Details:

• Rating: 6.36
• Order: Super Burrito - $10.00
• Meat: Carne Asada - 5
• Beans: Refried - 6
• Rice: 5
• Guacamole: 6
  
• Crema: 7
• Salsa: 4
• Tortilla: 4
• Cheese: 8
• Size: 9
• Taste: 6.5

Description:

I don't really feel like writing too much about this one. It was very mushy and soft. It was also really big, so that was a tough combo because it was pretty hard to eat. As far as Bay Area burritos go, this wasn't one that inspired too much beyond a filling lunch. But I got it to fill my tummy during lunch, and that's just what it did. It was fine, you wouldn't be sad if you go here. It won't be life changing either.

Other Notes:

N/A

Taco Negris - Repeat Visit

Details:

• Rating: 7.59
• Order: Super Burrito - $11.00
• Meat: Carne Asada - 8.5
• Beans: Refried - 7
• Rice: 5
• Guacamole: 8
  
• Crema: 9
• Salsa: 8
• Tortilla: 8
• Cheese: 8
• Size: 7
• Taste: 8

Description:

Take two for previous #2 ranked Taco Negris. I'll keep this short. It was still really good, but not as good as I remember and not deserving of second best. Plus, it was more than 50% more expensive. This rating would place it at #13 which is still a world-class burrito. Averaged out, it still breaks the top 5.

Taco Negris has very high quality ingredients, that's obvious. Every single thing in it was fresh, flavorful, and well made. The only reason this visit doesn't deserve a top spot is that it was missing the wow factor. Top 10 burritos just make you say wow over and over again. As good as each ingredient was, it was just missing a little something. Maybe I'll have to try it again to see if it wows me next time, but for now this will drop Taco Negris out of the highly coveted #2 spot. Sad day, but go give it a try because this is still an amazing burrito.

For the first review, see here.

Other Notes:

No chips or salsa, just jalapeños.

Taqueria La Mordida

Details:

• Rating: 6.75
• Order: Super Burrito - $9.79
• Meat: Carne Asada - 89.5
• Beans: Refried - 3
• Rice: 4
• Guacamole: 5
  
• Crema: 5
• Salsa: 6
• Tortilla: 6
• Cheese: 6
• Size: 7
• Taste: 7.5

Description:

Oh man, that first bite was gooood. I haven't had al pastor this good in a long time. What a pleasant surprise for a random taqueria stop in Half Moon Bay.

The meat was savory, juicy, flavorful, just the right amount of sweetness, and beautifully charred. Good stuff. Too bad that pretty much everything else in the burrito was subpar. As I got further into the burrito, that first amazing bite faded into a memory. The rice was really tomatoey and... not that good. The beans were very scarce, but unpleasant when they appeared. Crema, guac, and cheese were almost nonexistent but were yummy. Unfortunate, because I was really excited after that first bite. But in the end, amazing meat can take a burrito a long way, so the ranking is still decent.

Other Notes:

Came with chips, red salsa, green salsa