El Caliente

El Caliente
2486 W. 81st Avenue
Merrillville, IN 46410 MAP
(219) 757-3876
Hours:
Monday - Sunday: 10:30 a.m. to 9:00 p.m.

Update: March 25th, 2008.

CLOSED!

May 26th, 2005. 11:30 a.m.

Today I was very hungry. I was running on a glass of milk and some vitamins since 6 a.m. What better way to fill one’s gullet than feasting on a steak burrito!

This was my first trip to El Caliente which according to their website has been open since February of 2004.

Their steak burrito contained beans, lettuce, tomato, and cheese. Included on the side were lettuce and a cup of sour cream. Initial impressions of the flavor were hard to pin down. “Tastes like roast beef”, I thought. After a few bites I came to the realization that I was actually eating more of a pot roast burrito than a steak burrito. This notion was confirmed by the 3 chunks of fat (one was half the size of my pinky finger) that had the unpleasantly familiar “jellied” consistency you find in grandma’s pot roast. There was also not much cheese in this burrito. I had to poke around a bit to find it blended in ever so slightly with the lettuce.

The chips were average and were accompanied by salsa, salsa verde, and pico de gallo. All salsas had good flavor although the pico de gallo was a little heavy on the onion or light on tomato depending on how you might view it.

All in all, El Caliente delivered a very uninspiring meal comprised of good value and not so good taste. My hunger was satisfied but not my taste buds.



Weight: 16.6 ounces
Length: 7.25 inches
Circumference: 9 inches
Price: $4.85 or 29.2¢ an ounce
Beer availability: No

Flavor: 4/10 sombreros
Value: 8/10 sombreros

Sabor A Mexico

Sabor A Mexico
3246 169th St.
Hammond, IN 46323 MAP
(219) 554-0394
Hours:
Monday - Sunday: 10:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m.

May 14th, 2005. 8:15 p.m.

With hunger still lingering after my last review, I headed north to Taste of Mexico. I now hoped that I wouldn’t become too full from eating two burritos.

The restaurant was pretty warm inside as was the salsa. Not spicy but temperature-wise. I’m not a fan of this “tomato soup” style salsa with its large pieces of green pepper and onion, as it tends to be light on flavor. I opted for the salsa verde instead to enjoy a few chips with before my burrito arrived.

The burrito had been grilled a little and pushed flat slightly. As I have stated before, I prefer a steamed tortilla wrapped tightly around the filling. The steak tasted rather bland and more flavor came from the cilantro instead. The steak was lean and had a good texture though. There were beans, lettuce, tomato, and cheese inside the burrito as well.

Sabor A Mexico has a large menu with dinner entrees, lunch specials, and even breakfast. I think if I were to visit here again, I would order something off the dinner menu.



Weight: 16.6 ounces
Length: 8.5 inches
Circumference: 9.125 inches
Price: $5.25 or 31.6¢ an ounce
Beer availability: No

Flavor: 6/10 sombreros
Value: 8/10 sombreros

Rancho Grande

Rancho Grande
8401 Indianapolis Blvd. (Next to Ultra Foods)
Highland, IN 46322 MAP
(219) 972-7966
Hours:
Monday - Sunday: 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 a.m.

Update: May 17th, 2010. 12:00 p.m.

I ordered a chicken burrito and found it very good although a little runny due to excessive chicken juice and sour cream. Burritos are now $4.69. This particular example weighed 15.6 ounces and was 6.5" in length and 9" in circumference. The cost per ounce was 30¢.

May 14th, 2005. 7:30 p.m.

It had been a couple of years since I had last eaten at Rancho Grande. I recalled the food being very good and looked forward to this visit. After ordering at the walk-up counter, the food arrived extremely quick.

No free chips and salsa here. They’ll run you and additional $2.29. My burrito looked pretty small on the plate and was cut in half, which I didn’t care for. I want to eat the thing as a whole. It’s not like it was some unwieldy 2-foot monster that I needed help with.

The taste was however excellent. No fat or gristle was present and a couple of slightly charred pieces of steak added a few moments of crispiness that I actually liked. Any more charred than the pieces were and it might have been unpleasantly crunchy. In addition to the steak, the burrito contained beans, lettuce, tomato, onion, sour cream, and cheese. I’ll also note the salsa verde was fairly thick and had an excellent flavor. The red salsa was average.

The small size and lack of free chips and salsa hurt the value rating but Rancho Grande still has excellent food. They have two other locations: one in Lansing, Illinois at 172nd & Torrence, and the other in Chicago at 2414 W. 47th St., which is also a supermarket.

Unfortunately I was still hungry after eating the burrito. So what else to do other than another burrito review?



Weight: 12.7 ounces
Length: 5.75 inches
Circumference: 8.625 inches
Price: $4.19 or 33¢ an ounce
Beer availability: No

Flavor: 8.5/10 sombreros
Value: 5.5/10 sombreros

Chachan City Burritos

Chachan City Burritos
9071 E. 109th St.
Crown Point, IN 46307 MAP
(219) 663-0600
Hours:
Monday-Thursday: 11:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m.
Friday-Saturday: 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 a.m.
Sunday: 11:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m.

Update: December 31st, 2010.

OUT OF BUSINESS - FALL 2010.

May 7th, 2005. 5:30 p.m.

I thought I’d start this post with a history of Chachan City and its influence on the flavor of Mexican food (Mayan, Aztec, etc.) Instead I found out it’s just a name. Oh well. They also bill themselves as “The Home of the Gigantic Burrito”. We’ll see about that…

The restaurant opened in early November 2004 in the strip mall across from the Church of the Four Seasons. The first time I visited the restaurant with some friends we were quite surprised that chips and salsa were not free but instead $2.50. Ugh. The second time we visited about a month later chips and salsa were free, they brought out a free sample of a seafood tostada, and gave each of us a coupon for buy one burrito get one free. SWEET! Some of the menu prices were lowered as well. Obviously, charging for chips and salsa at a Mexican restaurant turns away customers.

So my wife and I went several weeks later to use our burrito coupon for this review.

Our chips were warm and accompanied by a bowl of salsa that was on the smallish side. The salsa was mild but good. We quickly ran out of salsa and when my wife asked for more they gave her a Nyquil sized plastic cup full. Room for improvement here.

The burrito had an excellent steak flavor with no noticeable fat or gristle. It contained beans, cheese, lettuce, and tomato all in good balance. The beans were spicy and I really liked how they added to the overall flavor of the burrito. This one definitely stood out.

Chachan City comes away with an excellent steak burrito at an outstanding value. Why not perfect? I don’t know. I have this notion that when I reach steak burrito nirvana that I’ll pass out or something from the experience. Visit them if you get a chance.



Weight: 17.6 ounces
Length: 6.25 inches
Circumference: 9.625 inches
Price: $3.85 or 21.9¢ an ounce
Beer availability: No

Flavor: 9/10 sombreros
Value: 9/10 sombreros

El Amigo

El Amigo
312 W. Lincoln Highway (Route 30)
Schererville, IN 46375 MAP
(219) 865-3022
Hours:
N/A

May 6th, 2005. 6:45 p.m.

I’ve been going to El Amigo since 1993 or so and have always enjoyed their food. My dad even won $100 from the pop-top of a bottle of grapefruit flavored Jarritos there. This restaurant also gave me the idea of the Burrito Digest and has what I considered a benchmark steak burrito. So it was with great anticipation that I visited “The Friend” with my wife on a Friday night to review one of their steak burritos.

El Amigo’s chips and salsa are always very good. However, their pico de gallo can sometimes be overly hot with too much jalapeno in it. It was fairly hot but not unbearable on this night. My wife ordered a side of guacamole and it proved to be on the spicy side for her, but I found it very good.

Our food arrived and I noticed the burrito looked a little smaller than I had remembered it. Measurements validated my initial thoughts although I knew I would still be stuffed at the end of the meal.

The burrito had a very good steak flavor as always and had a good mix of beans, cheese, lettuce, and tomato. Unfortunately I ran into the scourge of the steak burrito…gristle. Three pieces to be exact, one large enough to spit out. What the heck was happening? My benchmark burrito was no more.

We later ran out of water and chips for the guacamole and had to flag down someone to get more. That wasn’t that big of a deal considering it was a busy Friday night.

El Amigo has other locations in Portage at 3380 Willowcreek Road and in Valparaiso at 3022 West Calumet Avenue.

I’ll continue to visit El Amigo albeit with the knowledge that there are better burritos out there, and someday I’ll find The One.



Weight: 13.1 ounces
Length: Just under 7 inches
Circumference: 9 inches
Price: $3.50 or 26.7¢ an ounce
Beer availability: No

Flavor: 7.5/10 sombreros
Value: 8.5/10 sombreros