Highly customizable burritos with a large indoor and outdoor seating area.
Reviewer: Jason
Total Reviews: 1040
Reviewed: 4/14/2004
Rating: 8
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Burrito Real is home to the largest burrito ever made...about 4500 lbs. No really...go look in the Guiness book of worlds records. Although they hold the largest burrito in the world, too bad they dont hold the best burrito in the world....no I'm not trying to start a burrito war but just stating my opinion.
Burrito Real is suppose to be the same as La Costena but I believe Burrito Real tastes better. When you first walk in, you'll notice a selection of meats, beans, veggies, and other toppings for your choosing. It can be overwhelming for a first timer but your appetitie will quickly make your decision for you....oohhh refried beans, I'm a sucker for refried, it adds so much flavor to a burrito.
The order for today was the Carne Asada burrito with spanish rice and refried beans. The asada was cooked on the grill but unfortunately had no flavor to it. I think the cook forgot to put the seasonings on it? Rice and beans were tasty but tortilla left me wanting more.
Free chips and salsa is always a plus in my book. Average tasting burrito but with a large selection to choose from, I'm sure I can find a burrito to my liking. Burrito Real squeezes by with an 8.
I rate this place 7.5 stars. This place, as many reviews proclaim, is NOT the best burrito in Mountain View. That honor still goes to La Bamba.
I did, however, find this place to be above-par. The offerings were quite diverse. If you want to take the time to order exactly the right burrito you can probably find EXACTLY what you're looking for. Personally, though, I like to judge based on what the burrito makers serve you. As a positive point, however, refried beans are an option. So you know the burrito can't be that bad.
I ordered the regular rice & bean burrito (don't even THINK about ordering a SUPER burrito here unless you are sharing with someone. They are HUGE beyond HUGE.) I ordered a selection of veggies to go inside of it, but was constantly concerned because each addition is 39 cents. I don't like having to conduct cost/benefit analysis when ordering my burrito.
The place itself is clean and large so even when its crowded you're bound to be able to find seating easily. A nice touch is the free chips/salsa bar as well. The chips tasted pretty good too.
This place was a nice treat to find. I ordered the Pork Chile Verde, not a bad choice. I love the fact that you have so many fillings to choose from, to make the ultimate custom burrito. The Spanish rice was perfectly done. I could only eat half of the burrito, these suckers are huge. I guess that’s why they hold the Guinness Record for the world’s largest burrito. I give this an 8 star rating as I was thoroughly impressed with how fresh the cilantro, tomatoes , and guacamole was. Definitely try this place out!
Reviewer: ne00
Total Reviews: 187
Reviewed: 9/13/2005
Rating: 7
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So this morning when I got into work my co worker IMs me and asks if I ever been to Burrito Real and I responded that I heard of it but havent been. He said that its apparently very similar to La Costena, so similar they even have the same menu. I read the reviews on Jatbar.com and decided to grab a burrito on my way home.
Apparently I have been to Burrito Real a long time back. The first time I came I waited in a slow moving line just to order my food. Things havent changed in terms of speed in making the burrito. Its not as efficient as La Costena where they have it down to a science.
Burrito Real is right down the street from La Costena, within the Valero Gas station square. There is plenty of parking when I got there at 6:20pm. While walking up I noticed they have a lot of taco specials on certain days. The inside counter area where they keep all the ingredients are very clean. Burrito Real has all their meats listed out on its own sheet of paper with a description of each meat they offer. There was only one person in front of me and yet the whole process still took 10 min. The main difference in speed is the tortilla warmer; La Costena has the steam like presser where as Burrito Real has one of those hot iron plates that warms one side at a time.
I chose the Mountain View special since its the best value at La Costena and I wanted to compare the taste to see how similar it really is. I requested black beans (or choice of pinto or refried beans), Spanish rice (or choice of brown rice), and carnitas and the fixings with my burrito. They way they made my carnitas was something I havent seen done at La Costena before. They scooped a huge amount of carnitas and slapped it on the grill.
They offer free chips and salsa but the chips dont seem fresh as they still have the crunch but with the stale taste. The salsa looked very fresh and the plus for me was there was no cilantro in the salsa. I overheard one customer rave about their green sauce and was requesting to take home a cup of green sauce to use at home.
The first bite into the burrito I tasted the moist Spanish rice. But as I got further into the burrito the ingredients were not mixed very well as the beans were in its own corner and the rice and guacamole and sour cream were in its own side and then the carnitas on the other side. The carnitas was very moist, but lacked the crunchiness on the outside. The burrito tasted healthier than the same burrito from La Costena, but less flavor. The carnitas at very little flavor on its own but the meat was moist and almost made up for the lack of flavor. I think next time Ill choose refried beans to blend in the taste more as the black beans stood out on its own too much.
The burrito was over flowing and I only managed to finish ¾ of the burrito before my dance lessons and finished up the remaining on my way home.
There are plenty of indoor or patio seating and the place looks a lot cleaner than La Costena, but it lacks the efficiency and speed when ordering. I can imagine that lunch crowd waits longer for their order here than at La Costena. Despite the wrapper being the same as La Costena except for the name outside the wrapper I cant say that the burrito taste the same. The tortilla here seems mushier and letting it sit out for two hours made it mushier even more.
Pluses: Clean, plenty of parking, plenty of seating, free chips with fresh salsa, friendly staff, good descriptions of each meat.
Minuses: slow, cash only, a little pricey for lunch (7.00) for a burrito.
“I'm so sad right now, learning Burrito Real is no more (there's still La Costena I guess, which was the same). In college I would drive all the way back from Santa Cruz just to sink my teeth into their savory burritos. They were the true champs..”
