161292 Wed Oct 13 23:14:34 -0700 2004 9 13 New England 0 864565 Isabel's - an excellent Burrito Bar! This place is about as simple as you can get. They have nice clean tables in the front by the windows, as well as in the back. The serving area is indeed a bar, kind of like a short cafeteria line. They offer burrito's and taco's - ground beef, grilled steak, grilled chicken, carnitas - rice and a choice of beans - cheese - and the fixins area, consisting of pico de gallo, salsa verde (medium), salsa roja (mild), lettuce, sour cream, guacamole. You basically walk down the bar and indicate what you want, and they grill the tortillas, fill it, roll or fold it up - and there you go - lunch for about $5.00 (plus a pop or bottled tea). They also make Quesadillas and Mexican plates - just beans and rice topped with whatever you want. The thing is that their ingredients are Great! The tortillas themselves are fresh - they take them out of a plastic bag, but they're home made or at least, hand pressed. The grilled steak is chopped up marinated skirt - really tasty. The carnitas is also excellent - a little spicy, and really good. I didn't try any of the other major items. I chose black beans in the burrito and had carnitas with the salsa verde - outstanding salsa. The corn tortillas on the soft tacos were really excellent. Simple stuff, done right and very tasty. What more could you ask for? (Oh, and clean rest rooms.) Maybe over time they'll add some things - I could see a steamer for tamales or a fryer for fish tacos - but if they do anything, I would hope that make sure to keep the quality high. In the meantime, I'll be happy coming by for a grilled steak taco. Isabel's Burrito Bar 203 Plain Street (Hannaford Plaza - next to the China Buffet) (978) 441-0880 Wed Oct 13 23:14:34 -0700 2004 0 applehome 1 864584 Sounds like it could be ok, I will have to stop in and check it out. Do they have fresh cilantro or fresh (not pickled rings) jalepenos to put in the burrito? Did they give you any chips with the burrito or is that extra? Are the chips fried in store or are they premade? Any cilantro in that pico de gallo? Thu Oct 14 10:35:11 -0700 2004 864565 0 rl 2 866138 IIRC (as I posted in my last message), I believe they have cilantro in the Pico de Gallo - which is very fresh. I don't believe I saw any Jalepeno rings -- though I might imagine they would be able to whip some up for you if you asked (probably a bit of a surcharge). As to the chips -- well, since they don't have a fryer (at least not that I could see), they don't have any fresh chips. I didn't get any chips - so I'm not quite sure what they have in regards to that. Oh yes -- should have posted this in my initial review -- but applehome's prices may be a bit out of date, or he just estimated to the nearest dollar -- most things fall between $5.00 - $5.50 $5.29, $5.49 for burritos, barring the cheaper beans&rice burrito. Cheaper for Quesadillas But even given the ~$5 burritos -- they are *big* burritos - the way burritos are meant to be. Wed Jan 05 10:38:38 -0800 2005 864584 0 Kamaji 3 875312 What's up with Isabel's? I've tried to get my chicken burrito fix for 2 weeks and they are CLOSED! Say it aint so. Mon Jan 23 11:18:30 -0800 2006 866138 0 Jon Barstow 2 866986 II believe they make their chips in store....They are nice and warm when you get them....The burittos are humungous!!!!! You could not even eat one chip if you ordered them!!!! It certainly is alot for your $$$ Thu Feb 17 19:11:37 -0800 2005 864584 0 Jenn 1 866109 I couldn't agree more. I love Isabel's! The food is great - my favorite is the chicken burrito. The grilled chicken is delicous. The decor is simple, funky and bright. Isabel's serves awesome, fast food and the price is right. Sun Jan 02 20:05:13 -0800 2005 864565 0 anne 2 866985 Isabel's is fantastic!!!!!! I live in Salem, NH and I find myself driving down to Lowell just for a burrito!!! Thu Feb 17 19:10:02 -0800 2005 866109 0 Jenn 1 866137 I would have to whole-heartedly agree with applehome -- this place has wonderful burritos. -- I haven't yet tried anything else, but the ingredients are *very* fresh and *very* good. The Salsa (Pico de Gallo) was extremely fresh -- nice big chunks of tomato and cilantro in there. This is the first time I've seen Carnitas (pork) burritos offered outside of a place I love in lower east side NYC (I can't remember the name right now -- I'll have to ask my sister who lives there). To those that don't know exactly what carnitas is -- think of it like Pulled Pork -- just not with the same seasonings that is typical with southwest pulled pork -- more mexicany, and less smothered with sauce. The Guacamole was wonderful -- never seen chunks of Tomato in Guac before, but it's good! They had everything that applehome mentioned -- your choice of beans is black beans or brown beans -- I've never had brown beans in mexican, -- I'll have to try that next time. This place has much fresher and tastier ingredients than the other mexican places around here (On the Border comes to mind) btw - last night was my first visit to Chowhound, and this now is my first reply. Great place you have here! Wed Jan 05 10:27:54 -0800 2005 864565 0 Kamaji 2 866992 "This is the first time I've seen Carnitas (pork) burritos offered outside of a place I love in lower east side NYC.." Welcome to Chowhound,Kamita. Carnitas burritos are not as rare in MA as in NYC, it would appear. Quite a few places offer them, e.g. Anna's Taqueria (it's a chain with outlets in Brookline, Porter's Square, but a good chain), Boca Grande (Brookline), Mexico Lindo (Melrose). Those are the places I've tried it (I'm sure there are more) and my favourite version is Anna's because the meat is the most flavourful. Reminds me of the delicious kalua pork I had at Ono's in Honolulu. There have been numerous posts on the merits and otherwise of Anna's. To each his own... So you don't have to travel back to NYC for your fix! Thu Feb 17 22:23:37 -0800 2005 866137 0 ju 1 873787 Just a refresher on this place -- it's been around now for about a year. There business seems to have picked up quite a bit, and they don't appear to be in any danger of going away. I manage to get over there once or twice a month, and quality is as good as it was when it first opened. One change that I noticed is that they don't melt cheese on the tortilla in the steam press by default like they used to -- that's my only small complaint, but it's easy enough to ask for. They seem to have worked on their carnitas recipe too -- it's tastier than it was before. Tue Nov 01 17:35:33 -0800 2005 864565 0 Kamaji