Imperio Taqueria

Details:

• Rating: 6.46
• Order: Super Burrito - $9.25
• Meat: Carne Asada - 7
• Beans: Pinto - 5
• Rice: 7
• Guacamole: Avo - 1
• Crema: 5
• Salsa: 9
• Tortilla: 7
• Cheese: 8
• Size: 7
• Taste: 7

Description:

This taqueria resides in the corner of the most typical corner store (it was even on the corner). Equipped with no public restroom, but plenty of public restroom smell. Basically the perfect setting for a burrito, and the burrito itself held it’s own as well. Freshly grilled meat and tortilla imparted a nice grill flavor to both and also had great flavor. Unfortunately it was extremely salty, which may have only been the carne asada, or may be all the meats...? The rice had a little bite but was quite yummy. Beans were standard, as was the crema. The hot sauce was decently hot and very good. But, the burrito was so oblong that one corner had the salty meat, the other had hot hot sauce and crema, and the middle was mostly rice. The avocado was atrociously under ripe and terrible. Despite the saltiness, poor construction (also had clumpy tortilla at one end), and awful avocado, it was actually a pretty good burrito. As the rating suggests, I’d recommend it and also would go back, but it definitely was not a top tier burrito. An interesting mix of very good and very bad...but the good won out and I enjoyed the burrito.

Other Notes:

No chips. Jalapeños and carrots were ok.

Juan's Place

Details:

• Rating: 5.70
• Order: Super Burrito - $11.99
• Meat: Carne Asada - 5
• Beans: Pinto - 7
• Rice: 5
• Guacamole: 6
• Crema: 5
• Salsa: 7
• Tortilla: 5
• Cheese: 5
• Size: 10
• Taste: 6

Description:

Juan’s Place is a classic Berkeley establishment that you go to for huge portions, fresh flour tortilla chips, wild vibes and lights out blasting happy birthday music. And their burritos are...fine. They are massive, that’s for sure. The Asada was very dry and tasted a bit old, but at least had a great marinade and salty flavor. The beans were actually very good and the rice was decent. The burrito had pico de Gallo in it that was a nice touch. Guacamole and crema were on top so this was very obviously a fork and knife burrito. Burritos just aren’t the same when you don’t shove them in your face after unwrapping a nice layer of aluminum foil. Basically this burrito is just fine and that’s about it (besides being massive).

Other Notes:

Corn and flour tortilla chips with a red and green salsa.

Tacos Sinaloa

Details:

• Rating: 6.77
• Order: Super Burrito - $8.00
• Meat: Carne Asada - 7.5
• Beans: Pinto - 8
• Rice: 4
• Guacamole: No
• Crema: 9
• Salsa: 3
• Tortilla: 8
• Cheese: 6
• Size: 5
• Taste: 7

Description:

An Oakland classic that holds it's own, but definitely is not my favorite burrito. I had a few bites that were amazing, but the rest of them were just decent. Sinaloa's burrito is heavily filled with rice and unfortunately the rice is a bit undercooked and lacking flavor. But the flavor of the meat, beans and crema make up for that. The meat is not charred but still has lots of flavor (too bad there isn't more of it or the burrito could be great). The crema is top notch and mixes perfectly with the cheese for those amazing bites. The beans are great and the tortilla had a nice chewy texture while still giving some nice grilled flakiness. The salsa was a little spicy, but besides that it was like it wasn't even there. It was pretty average sized and the pickled jalapenos/carrots were awful. Solid burrito overall, but it would be much better if it weren't so dry. Less rice, add some guac (all they have is avocado and they were out) and it would be top notch. But...it's not quite.

Other Notes:

No hot sauce, salsa or chips.