California Burritos

Several months ago, I was introduced to a little blog called The Great Taco Hunt. The taco “Bandini” (as he refers to himself) is on a hunt for the most flavorful taco in all of Los Angeles. He clearly has an iron stomach, as he’s eaten off of dozens of taco trucks all over the city, and from little shack-like restaurants that don’t necessarily have “A” ratings in the window. He’s an inspiration to all taco lovers, and his pilgrimage has inspired me to eat off more than one roach coach in the past few months.

I consider myself a (mostly) fearless eater, so as my friend Lindsay described the “California Burrito” on our way down from LA to San Diego, I was both fascinated and horrified. Apparently, the California Burrito is a San Diego specialty available at many taco stands and the occasional drive-thru burrito joint. The contents? Carne Asada, French Fries, cheese, sour cream and guacamole.

My boyfriend and I were intrigued as we pulled up to Roberto’s drive-thru on Garnet in Pacific Beach, CA. We were considering ordering the dubious-sounding “cheese enchilada fries” but with Lindsay hanging out the rear window hollering into the tin-can/microphone asking detailed questions about Roberto’s California Burrito recipe, we knew we had no choice but to go along with her suggestion.

Lindsay has steered me right before, and she’s dragged me along with her on some pretty oddball adventures, but nothing compares to this glorious combination of seasoned skirt steak, greasy fries and fatty sauces wrapped up in a flour tortilla made the right way – with lard. There are no words to describe how tasty it was, other than those uttered by my boyfriend:

“I wish we’d gotten another one.”