| Boring exterior hides the traditional mexican cuisine within. |
Reviewer: Jason
Total Reviews: 1007
Reviewed: 5/9/2006
Rating: 8
My photo gallery
|
El Amigo Burrito was recommended by my 2 coworkers Jose and David. They made a visit on Cinco de Mayo and said the food was very good. (thanks for inviting me to your secret lunches, I feel the love). I've passed by El Amigo Burrito plenty of times on Stevens Creek but never thought much of the restaurant because the old school looking exterior. This shopping center belongs in the 80s and is in dire need of some beautification. So boring, so uninviting, yet so stealth just waiting to surprise you with good food.
We arrived around 12 and the place was packed. Looks like the restaurant has a lot of foot traffic from the adjacent car dealerships. Mechanics, salesmen, suits, nerds, grandmas, everyone eats here. Within 1-2 minutes of sitting down, bowl of chips, salsa, salsa fresca, and monster glasses of waters. Servicio es muy bueno. Combo and plate meals range from $7 - $12 with burritos in the $6 range. I've been on a carne asada kick lately and ordered one with refried beans.
tortilla - great tasting tortilla, grilled, not steamed (thank you)
beans - hot damm...these are good, melts in your mouth, runny, I love them but I gotta ding them for overflowing my burrito with it.
guacamole - nice slice of avocado, it's hard to top this
carne asada - I think I liked it? The problem was my burrito was loaded to the rim with beans, I could barely taste the meat. When I did get to the bottom of the burrito, I was able to eat it and from what I recalled, it was super good. If they would have used less beans and spread it out a tad, I would have given a higher score.
pico di gallo - fresh and enjoyable, some heat but not much
chips - terrible, they were stale and I have reason to suspect these are the ones in the large bags at costco. Another complaint was the lack of full sized chips, looks like they poured the bottom of the bag leaving us with shards of toasted corn triangles.
Well, El Amigo Burrito has potential to be an excellent mexican restaurant. I know they have tasty food but ditch the bagged chips and ease off on the beans for my burrito. And what's the dealio with no rice in my burrito? I had some of Terry's rice and it was frickin GREAT!! Prices are respectable, service is excellent, and people are friendly. Good job to El Amigo Burrito, I know I'm making a return visit.
|
| |
Reviewer: Terry
Total Reviews: 738
Reviewed: 5/9/2006
Rating: 9
My photo gallery
|
I have eaten at a lot of mexican restaurants...this week. So I think I have a pretty good handle on the scene around here. The first impression, though, always leaves an imprint. If the place looks rather dumpy or boring and plain, it reflects on the service and the menu, and the food. We arrive and my hopes are deflated. This place does not stand out at all in the long run of car dealerships around it. From the outside, it looks like a laundromat or something. Great.
We walk in and the place is pretty packed. A lot of car salesmen for sure. We are shown a table and are seated. The menu is large and quite varied. Waters are brought out and the glasses are the hugest things I have ever seen. I decide to go with the house special - the El Amigo Burrito supreme. I have had so many burritos, though, I was somewhat debating going with something else as I was expecting this to be a let-down burrito. Thankfully I did not.
The plate arrived and it was monstrous. I mean MONSTROUS. It looked like a Veggie burrito, served wet, with rice and beans on the side.
The rice was fluffy and among the best I have had anywhere. Its worth going here for the mexican rice alone.
The refried beans were equally impressive. Perhaps a bit on the runny side for me, but otherwise full of flavor.
The burrito was awesome. They loaded on the guac and sour cream on top (something you usually don't get on a web burrito) and it was a savory combination. The same rice was inside the burrito, but with pinto beans. GREAT stuff.
This was one of the top-10 times of fullness for me. I was at capacity - in a painful way. But this stuff was so good. This place is a total hidden gem, but it can't be that hidden - as this place really filled up for lunch. Prices were definitely on the high side for mexican food, and its more of a sit-down restaurant than a taqueria. But I am seriously considering giving this place a 9.5. I need to make a return visit to ensure that this wasn't a fluke.
Way to go El Amigo!
|
| |
| |
RETURN VISIT for Terry! 9/6/2006 - 8.5 Rating: Had to make another visit after my stellar first experience. I will sum things up quickly this time. I went with the same burrito and it looked identical to my pictures above. It was monstrous and quite tasty. I had no trouble polishing it off. Well no trouble TRYING to polish it off. I still couldn't finish it. This time I knew to take it easy on the chips and salad to save room, but I still had to sample them of course. The chips were EVEN WORSE than last time. That is why I am bumping down the rating. I thought (hoped!) the crappy chips last time were a fluke, but they were stale AND soggy this time. So nasty. The salsas, however, were quite good - very spicy too. The salad they give you might as well be non-included. It was also a letdown and a useless gesture when you have the chips and such a huge meal awaiting you. Because of these 2 inadequacies I am knocking down my rating to an 8.5, but the entree still delivers the goods. But it ain't a cheap lunch, be warned. |
| |
|
|
Reviewer: ne00
Total Reviews: 173
Reviewed: 7/5/2006
Rating: 7.5
My photo gallery |
Located within a run down plaza that consists of Santa Clara Billiards, El Amigo Burrito is far from the dumpy taqueria once inside. If coming from Lawrence Expressway the restaurant is on your left hand side.
My friend and I arrive just after 12:30 and they seat us in a booth. Menus along with chips and two types of salsa were brought to the table. The chips tasted looked and tasted like the store bought type; salty and crispy with a hint of staleness.
For our appetizer, something I rarely order at a Mexican restaurant, we decide to start with quesadillas con pollo ($7.99) as our appetizer. My friend ordered the shredded beef taco ($2.95) and carne asada taco without the beans ($3.25). I order the el amigo burrito supreme, (photo 6) at 10.50 and add a dollar more for the carnitas version. We each order a soda fro $1.75 each. Had we known that they served the soda in a can for that much we would have ordered one of their special drinks for an extra $0.50. The only free refills here are water and ice tea.
Side Salad: I could have done without it. While other tables got a choice of the salad dressing, our waiter assumed I wanted Italian on my salad so she served it as is. Lettuce, a half sliced of tomato, and Italian dressing. I ate a few pieces of lettuce.
Chicken quesadillas: One large quesadilla containing seven slices served with heaping side of sour cream and guacamole. Excellent choice as this was one of the best quesadillas I have ever had. I normally do not order quesadilla and only have had it at Taco Bell and at work. Now I know what I have been missing. Gooey melted cheddar cheese with string chicken marinated in some oily sauce served in two crispy flour tortillas. Pricy for $7.99 as that could have been a meal in itself, kind of. (9.5/10)
Shredded beef taco: Deep fried corn tortilla with lettuce, cheese, and shredded beef. The shredded beef looked a little like my carnitas but pulled apart. The taco shell is like the ones at Jack In The Box where the shell is wrapped around the filling to fit all the fillings.
Carne Asada taco: Soft tortilla with diced steak, pico de gallo, and a slice of avocado. Looked like a good bargain.
El Amigo Burrito Supreme: My burrito looks nothing like the photo. The menu says my burrito is topped with sour cream, guacamole, sauce and cheese but they did not include the sauce and cheese. My plate of food was served super hot, so hot I could not even touch my plate.
In short, my burrito tasted as dry as paper. OK, I am exaggerating, but it tasted dry. My burrito consisted of a grilled tortilla, filled with rice, a bit of refried beans, bits of carnitas and chunks of carnitas, lettuce, cilantro, and bits of tomatoes. They must have heated the plate before serving as the rice, lettuce, and diced tomato within the burrito were borderline dry. The contents of my burrito were not evenly distributed. I started on the end with a lot of rice and little bits of carnitas and ended up on the other end with a whole slab of carnitas with some refried beans. By the time I reached the other end I was already stuffed. The rice on my plate was moist and steaming hot. The beans topped with shredded cheese melted in my mouth. I would have preferred the guacamole and sour cream within my burrito and my plate not heated to the point of drying out the contents within my burrito. The quality of the carnitas is mixed as some pieces were dry, some pieces contained a lot of fat, and some pieces were tender but lacked the crunchy shell. (6/10).
I think our waiter was new and service here is good. It is easy to track down a waiter and request refills or help.
Pluses: Accepts credit cards, good service, good tacos and quesadillas.
Minuses: High prices, $1.75 for a can of soda, hits and misses on the burritos.
Bottom Line: If it were not for the chicken quesadilla, I would have ranked this place a 7. The quesadilla is that good and saved this place an average rating of 7.5/10. I am not sure I would return, as there are better Mexican restaurants in the area.
|
| |
|
|
| Disclaimer |
|
|
