| Taqueria Chavez, located in the market, has authentic menu and cheap prices |
Reviewer: Jason
Total Reviews: 1020
Reviewed: 3/1/2006
Rating: 8.5
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Shout out to Hotmail folks back at Microsoft land. Its been awhile since Ive seen my old coworker JR so we decided to hit up one of his favorite burrito joints in the area. He likes it so much that he claims it to be better than my beloved Taqueria La Bamba. You would not believe how many times we have heard this story before. The taqueria is actually inside Chavez Supermarket towards the back of the market. Get there before 12 or else you'll be standing in line next to the beer section staring at 32oz bottles of Tecate.
JR claims the thing to get is the Super Burrito Carne Asada. It comes with sour cream, guacamole, cheese, pico di gallo, salsa, beans, rice, and the meat.
toppings - i dont like sour cream in my burritos but forgot to tell him to hold the SC. Everything else was top notch. Salsa is more on the mild side. What was great about the toppings was it made the rest of the burrito very moist. I did have some spillage towards the bottom and reverted to a knife and fork.
beans - I think they default to pinto beans but I asked for refried beans. Semi runny, good stuff but I like La Bamba's better.
rice - moist, just enough in there, didnt overwhelm you with too much.
tortilla - I read on the web site that Chavez Supermarket makes their tortillas at their tortillas of mass consumption factory...TMC. After checking with my NSA contacts, the factory is at the San Jose location. They make these tortillas fresh with natural ingrediants. There was something missing from it......fat/lard/heavy taste. I also hate the fact they steam them. You might like them but for me, it needs to look like a thin pancake with grill marks to win my heart.
meat - ahhh...carne asada was excellent. I can see why JR likes this place much better than Taqueria La Bamba. I hate to say it but the meat here blows away the Carne Asada at La Bamba. The burrito maker takes these nice pieces of steak and cuts them in front of you. The real deal....meat was lean and no gristle was present. It was easy to chew and probably marinated to get it this tender. I dont know about the other meats, I'll have to come back for those but I can vouch for the carne asada. It has the jatbar approval :)
The portion size was quite large and prices reasonable ($5.49 for super burrito and $4.49 for regular burrito). The super market is extremeley clean and even doing a drive by on the meat deli a couple of feet down, I was impressed with the beautiful cuts of meat. So much selection, so little time to eat them all.
Chavez Taqueria serves great burritos and on the verge of being a 9. I thought it fell short with the white tortilla, maybe its their achilles heel, maybe Im too picky. Either way, Id make a return visit for the Carne Asada but if Id be reluctant to try the Carnitas considering one of my all time carnitas meal is next door at Tres Potrillos Taqueria.
Great job to Chavez Supermarket for presenting your store and eating areas in sparkling clean conditions...oh yeah and your burritos kick a lot of ass!
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Reviewer: Terry
Total Reviews: 738
Reviewed: 3/1/2006
Rating: 8
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I was skeptical, walking into Chavez Supermarket to get a burrito. Last time I did something like this, I got a La Costena burrito, which was just average. I figured if a place goes to the effort of making their own restaurant, they gotta be decent.
Well today I was proven wrong.
The line for the taqueria in Chavez Supermarket was equal to all the people in the rest of the supermarket. After a small wait, I finally went with my order: Super Veggie burrito. Yeah what a disgrace, with all the Harris Ranch signs. But I don't eat the stuff, so there.
The burrito was made before my eyes, and rather quickly. I missed out by not specifically saying I wanted the refried beans. When I noticed he loaded it up with pintos it was already too late. Oh well. The only thing I specified was spicy.
I hurried outside and dug into it. Wow, this is a solid burrito. The tortilla was actually quite boring. Just steamed, no grilling to it. Probably my least favorite part of it. The beans were among the best I have had, pinto style, as was the rice. The rest of the veggie burrito had very few veggies, just some lettuce and salsa, with sour cream and guac. Only a sprinkling of cheese. More cheese would have helped this (or some grilled veggies). Otherwise, I considered the rest of the ingredients that were there to be on par with any other burrito I have had. And at under $4, it was bargain as well.
Chavez Taqueria is definitely worth a return visit in my book. Good stuff.
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Reviewer: Dan
Total Reviews: 81
Reviewed: 6/1/2007
Rating: 7.5
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After reading the Jatbar review, I decided to head out early on a Thursday. I arrived at 11:30 and the line was 15 people deep. Jeez. I had to wait a good, long time to order my food and get it. (At least there's the option of switching to Tres Potrillos next door if the line gets too bad.) When I made it to the front, I ordered the regular Carne Asada burrito plus guacamole for $4.86 incl. tax. A really good deal, except for the fact they don't provide chips or salsa bar. A pet peeve of mine, since I like to crunch chips while I am chowing on a burrito. They didn't even offer them for sale except Doritos in a bag. Point loss. As for the burrito, it was the real deal, with fresh carne asada chopped before your eyes. I was familiar with this style of carne asada. It's a type of skirt steak that comes pre-marinated from lots of hispanic grocery stores and makes for a chewy, tender and flavorful carne. I have Salvadoran friends who make this all the time, so it wasn't all that new to me, but it is still damn good. The burrito was absolutely huge and delicious. It rates a solid 9.
The seating options are pretty limited here. There are only a few tables facing a busy parking lot. Not the best atmosphere. So Chavez should be considered more for takeout than eat-in IMHO.
I visited again today at 11:45 and the line was 12 people deep. Good thing I had a newspaper. This time I timed everything. It took me 11 and 1/2 minutes to place my order, or about one minute for every person in line. I ordered the grilled chicken burrito, and the price was the same as before. Like the carne asada on my previous visit, they chopped the meat before my eyes, which is kinda nice, I must admit. I grabbed a small bag of Doritos near the cashier since no other chips were offered. –Grumble- All in all, it took me a full 15 minutes between the time I got in line and the time I walked out the door with food in hand. (For this same period at La Bamba, with a line twice as long, I could've stood in line three times!) My chicken burrito itself was nothing special. In fact, I would say it was a bit below average. The chicken didn't have much flavor and the tortilla was a little too gummy. This meal rated a 7.
If I was going to rate Chavez Supermarket on food alone, I would give it an 8. But considering the slow line, lack of chips, and seating non-options I will drop it to 7.5. I may be back someday for the Carne Asada burrito if I'm in the area.
Pros: Great carne asada burritos; good prices
Cons: Long, slow lines; few seating options; no chip/salsa bar |
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Reviewer: pyunnyhana
Total Reviews: 45
Reviewed: 5/18/2008
Rating: 7.5
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I bought a large horchata and two tacos (carnita and carne asada). Cost me around 8 bucks
The horchata was YUMMY, especially on a hot hot hot day like that day. It is actually a bit sweeter than other places.
The tacos were good. You have choices like cheese, sour cream and what not but I opted for the salsa and onions. The carne asada was lean and the carnitas was crunchy and very flavorful.
The cons of the meal were the tortillas. It was weak and was breaking apart while I was trying to pick it up to eat it. I like my tortillas sturdy enough to withstand the contents. Another con was the price. 2.29 for one taco. For me, that's a little steep. Burritos are 6.50. I'm used to tacos for under $2 bucks and burritos at 4.50. My friend had a quesadilla with chicken which cost 5 dollars and it was SMALL. It was like, half a portion. I quote from him, "Am I stand too far from my food? It looks a little small..."
Despite the cons, the food was good, and I'd like to go back to try their burrito. |
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Reviewer: jsatre
Total Reviews: 74
Reviewed: 8/17/2006
Rating: 9.5
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I give Chavez Supermarket the tip of my hat! They really blew my socks off today! You'll question my 9.5, but let me break it down for you...
I walked in this evening at 7:30 pm, and am greeted by a nice guy behind the line. He gets to work on my order right away as the cashier was in the back grabbing more napkins. I ask for no guac in exchange for sour cream. He also asks if I wants hot sauce. Heck yeah!
Here's the breakdown....
Tortilla - basic, nothing special. Last few bites were even a tad doughy tasting. That's the result of steaming a tortilla and not grilling it. This is the one thing that Chavez can do differently. And they have a grill so it's possible.
Meat - OH MAN! This is indeed the best carne asada I have ever had. Restaurants, taquerias, homecooked, you name it. Chavez advertises they sell Harris Ranch Beef and I imagine this is the stuff. SO tender, so juicy, so flavorful I was in heaven. Well marinated, char-grilled with a taste of lime in the background. PERFECT! Knocked my socks off! 10+ here!
Rice - Wow, these guys again hit a homerun in this chicks' burrito! rice was very flavorful, in a light tomato-chili sauce if you will. Chucks of tomato were present. I'm no rice fan but this was fantastic stuff. Really added some great texture and flavor to my overall burrito experience.
Cheese - plenty of gooey jack cheese
Salsa - Nice big sweet chunks of tomatoes, long strips of cilantro, diced whit onion, a tad of garlic and jalapeno. Very fresh, full of bright flavor. Excellent!
Pintos - A nice texture to the pintos, tender but they held up their shape. Seasoned just right. Just right for this burrito fan!
Sour Cream - Held up to the heat very well, and distributed throughout.
Wow - my new favorite place for a Carne Asada Super Burrito. At $5.49 a great value for a huge, out of this world tasty burrito! My only sugguestion: grill the tortillas!
Awesome... I'll be back!!
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Reviewer: ne00
Total Reviews: 176
Reviewed: 9/28/2006
Rating: 9
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Easily the best Carne Asada burrito I have had to date and probably nowhere can top this. Ordered a Carne Asada super burrito with refried beans and red sauce for $6 and change but it is money well spent.
I stopped by Tres Potrillos for lunch with a friend to try the Carnitas bowl. I contemplated grabbing a burrito at Chavez next door instead but the parking lot was packed. Instead, I stopped by to grab some dinner for friends and myself at Chavez, as I could have wanted to come by for a while now.
Parking lot was bustling again and there was a line at the Taqueria counter. Several larger orders placed ahead so the line was getting longer by the minuet. While waiting in line I saw them grill the steak on the grill. Finally, I was up and I decided on a super Carne Asada burrito with refried beans and red sauce. The guy grabbed a whole steak and chopped it up into bits. The tortilla is steamed and equal amounts of steak, rice, beans, condiments placed into the burrito.
Moist tortilla as I prefer the steamed version. I hardly taste the rice and beans as everything melts together. Fresh and cool taste of the fresh salsa helps balance the red sauce. I am able to taste the steak in every | | |
