Mucho Burrito Calgary

[tex_in_yyc]

I happened to make the monster trip north to the land of the NW Costco and spied Mucho Burrito sitting in the restaurant zone of the giant Beacon Hill shopping area.

I managed to sneak in just before they got real busy for lunch trade. The whole "Mucho Burrito" concept is a direct clone of Chipotles in the US; right down to the tone and style of the ads in the shop. They love to advertise they are real Mexican...about as Mexican as the queen maybe... but not necessarily in a bad way. The raison d'etre for Mucho Burrito is the California style big overstuffed burrito.

I ordered up a medium Chicken Fajita burrito combo (with chips/sauce and soda). The burrito itself turns into a pretty decent size once its stuffed with rice, meat, peppers/onion, cheese, choice of sour cream or burrito sauce, some herbage and optionally quacamole (at an extra charge). Salsa comes in mild, medium or hot. I had the hot.

Tortilla options are white or whole wheat. No point making the meal any healthier than it already is, so I opted for the white. Once its all put together, it was a pretty decent burrito. The tortilla was soft, moist and fluffy in texture. All the ingredients were rolled up nicely to meld all the flavours together. The hot sauce has a good kick...probably not for the faint of heart.

The chips/sauce were pretty uninspired. The chips were generic. The sauce was the same 3 choices as on the burrito. I again chose the hot. Next time I'd choose medium. Without a burrito around it, the sauce was even hotter than I'd have preferred with chips.

I'm a big fan of burritos, and Mucho Burrito does a pretty decent one. I don't know how often I would make the monster drive to their location though, and the price is a bit steeper than a burrito should really be. If I found myself in the area, I would stop in again as we don't have an abundance of burrito shops in Calgary, so I'll save them as a guilty pleasure kind of place.

[flavourgirl]

There is now one on 4th Street SW. I tried the mucho sized burrito when i went since I was starving at the time and looking forward to checking out this new place in my hood. I finished it all but probably shouldnt have since it was too much food for one sitting. Next time I will have one size smaller. I thought the price was good for what I got. Decent quality but not the best I've ever had, certainly not the worst either. It is a far cry better then taco bell or taco time. I like that it is close to home for when the craving strikes.

[howlin]

i see there is one on country hills and harvest hills still have not tried.soon as i work near there

[Mr. Fuji]

It's official: The signage is up for a Mucho Burrito location is slated for the Suncor Energy Centre (aka petro-Canada Centre) downtown.
It will be on the +15 food court where the KFC/Taco Bell was formerly located. Too bad that place was closed right before teh double-decker was released- I wanted to see one for myself.

[23skidoo]

Heh, yeah, I went over there to get a double down yesterday and it was all boarded up.

[howlin]

the last i heard ,the double down wasnt being served in canada.to bad it looks good enough mabye to eat even.

[Merry113]

It was released in Canada yesterday. Both John Manzo & Alau posted on their blogs about it.

[John Manzo]

IT WAS GOOD. And surprisingly non-junky- I just had it by itself (with a bottle of water) but afterwards I didn't feel that gross.

[Scary Bill]

JM you'll waste away to nothing eating those. They're Atkins approved as the grilled dd has only 3 carbs!!! The fried has 11 carbs, and 1 of those is actually fiber, which just seems too healthy.

[howlin]

went by the one in my neck of the woods and they dont have it there yet.i guess a trip to cowtown is in order.(but not just for the dd)

[23skidoo]

The Suncor location is open now.

[beggsy]

They are opening a location in Crowfoot - same strip as the stand-alone Starbucks.

[John Manzo]

Awesome! I might even take the C-Train up there from U of C for lunch.

[Jetgirly]

Thank goodness! We had to make a run to Crowfoot for lunch the other day and went to Bad Ass Jacks for wraps... it was HORRIBLE. WORST SERVICE EVER, and the wraps were terrible.

[John Manzo]

At long last I made it to the MB at Country Hills and Harvest Hills- en route to the airport. Had a "mucho" size burrito with carne asada- it was very good, though I'd not get the fajitas veggies (I HATE undercooked bell peppers!) or the "burrito sauce"; next time, guac and sour cream.

Good news for downtowners: Owner told me a new location will be opening very soon in Suncor food court. Yes that's only M-F but still, an option. Also, he says that the Taco Del Mar at MRU would be morphing into a Mucho.

[alley]

There's also a Mucho Burrito opening in Quarry Park. I'm not sure if I should get excited or not, but it's gotta be better (tho of course more expensive) than Taco Bell, right?

That's mucho locations for this Mucho Burrito chain opening in a short time.

[John Manzo]

Mucho if you live in the far south or the far NW- for those of us in the inner city (defined very broadly), we're still shit out of luck.

Hopefully Los Chillitos opening soon on 17th will put the envy back where it belongs!

[Satiated]

Do you own a car John? Your posts constantly lamenting destinations outside the Beltline make me wonder.

If you do drive, why the resistance to drive for 30 minutes to get some good food?

[hsk]

I'm with John. I wouldn't drive 30 minutes for great food (maybe not even 10 minutes), there are too many great places much closer.

[Satiated]

I assume you are talking about mexican [in quotes] restaurants? If you are talking more broadly about restaurants and ingredients beyond a 30 minute drive not being worthwhile, well don't complain about the state of Calgary's restaurant and ingredient scene.

[peter.v]

Aren't the two of them implying that the inner city does have enough food to go around and they don't have to travel to the outer city? An "okay" burrito chain on the outskirts is hardly a paradigm shift for the food scene of a million+ person city and in my opinion would never be worth a 30 minute drive. Even something like the banh mi at Thi Thi, one of my favorite sandwiches I have ever had, would not be a destination meal for me. I'd have to be going downtown for something else to justify the trip (I live in Shawnessy when I'm in Calgary... it takes awhile to get in).

[John Manzo]

I'm happy to drive to, say, Forest Lawn to get a couple sfeehas as Mediterranean Bakery or something like that because it has only one location and you go to ethnic suburbs to get ethnic treats. Mucho is a chain and I'd hope that it would be opening all over Calgary, not just on its most remote edges.

The inner city is well-served for high end restos and there are lots of cheap gems too, but it really bugs me that we don't have things like you can find in central areas of Toronto or Vancouver- urban-format Canadian Tire, Home Depot, lots and lots of grocery stores, that sort of thing. Stereotypes notwithstanding we have 120,000 who live withing 5km of downtown Calgary and we're poorly served in too many areas. The fact that the beltline only has two full-service grocery stores is a problem that the market hasn't addressed and so in my opinion is the almost complete lack of urban formatted "suburban" businesses.

[AriaDream]

Well, true... but speaking as someone in the far NW I can say we are very poorly served for high end restos. Sure, plenty of fast food but if I want a great meal I have to head for the core.

Just the way life is I guess.

[hsk]

Well yes, restaurants - Mexican, Indian, Italian, Korean, steakhouses - any type of food that has very good representation close to me. I have been known to drive to Okotoks for exceptionally good French food (several years ago). Not something I do often.

Ingredients are different, you buy a batch and you have it for a while, I'll drive to the far NE if I have to, I was only talking about restaurants, i.e. one meal per drive experience.

[John Manzo]

Not the lifestyle I want to live.

[truthserum]

Noticed there is a Mucho Burrito "opening soon" in Shawnessy, taking the old Wind Seekers spot in the strip mall between Zellers and Canadian Tire (same stretch that has Plaka and Subway).

[sweeterpea]

We tried Mucho Burrito a few weeks ago and thought they were *meh* Husband thought they were pricey for the size as well. We are big fans of the San Francisco burrito and get our fix every once in a while, so we can't help but compare. I'll give them that the ingredients are fresh, service fast and friendly, but would probably not return.

[nonlinear]

wowzers. based on the initial posts in this thread, I didn't really have high expectations for this place, but just looked at their menu out of curiosity. Mucho Burrito looks about as Mexican as taco time.

[John Manzo]

Taco Time sucks even compared to US Taco Time. I'd be shocked if the bar were this low- this place looks more like Qdoba, which isn't "Mex" (it's Cal Mex) but is still better than any of the crap we call burritos in this country.

[nonlinear]

hey john - yes, you're right. i was just trying to point out how 'fake' everything seems on their site. at first i was going to say that it looks about as mexican as mcdonalds, but then i thought of chipotle and how this might confuse my analogy, and.. you know... ok, i'll stop now :)

[worldwidestuff]

911 CALLING CHIPOTLE HEADOFFICE: ARE YOU READING THIS??

Calgary market ready for entry.

[Major_9000]

New Mucho Burritto opening on Friday in South Trail Crossing (130th Ave SE).

Today they were open for training and everything was FREE!...woohoo...I was the last customer at around 2 p.m....got a nice Carnitas Mucho Burritto and it was very good.

They also gave out a nice warm cinnamon roll...nice surprise today!

...I would say this is much better than Taco Del Mar...of course free Burrittos taste very good, so my judgement may be a bit clouded today.

[John Manzo]

They had earlier announced one at Bankers Hall, but now the listing is gone- closest one for us inner city types will be westhills. Looking forward.

[Major_9000]

I went back today and picked up some tacos...they were nothing special...I will stick to the Burritos.

[AriaDream]

I tried their quesadillas recently and loved it. The one up on Sarcee serves beer too, I had a very nice time.

[AriaDream]

I recently had the steak quesadilla. It was delicious and did you know they also have beer? My sister loved it with a corona and there was a free lime. I need to go back to this place more often, I live right beside it.

[kc1970]

I definately prefer Chipotle - wish they would come into Calgary. Mucho Burrito IMO was just okay.

[AriaDream]

Thanks! I meant to review this place but forgot. I live five minutes away so they are highly convenient to me and I plan to make them a regular stop. I'd agree.... they're not worth a huge drive but they're totally worth it if you live in the area. And the best part is that the hot sauce is really HOT, not wimpy like a lot of stuff in this city.

[John Manzo]

? I've never found "hot" to mean anything but "hot" in Calgary- certainly no less than any other city I've ever visited. In fact I was pretty surprised on a trip to Malaysia how much spicier food here is. Seriously.

[AriaDream]

Really? But then, I compare everything I encounter to my mom's chili. Nothing here matches up. :)

[anonymoose]

In Malaysia you have to ask for hot also; it's not something that's automatically assumed.

[John Manzo]

Just like here.

[23skidoo]

Try the curry at moughal mahal. (actually, don't, it's not very good). You don't even need to ask for hot. I can see enjoying it if you're a capsaicin junkie, but I ended up feeding it to the garburator.

[worldwidestuff]

They are not in the same league as Chipotles. Yet.
I had (and still have) hopes that they would kick up their flavors a bit, especially with the Lime/Cilantro rice. No comparison to the version at Chipotles.

And what's with the cheese? Saputo gave them a good deal on Cheddar?

[Merry113]

Thanks for the review! I will definitely have to try this as I love Chipotle & have missed it since moving to Calgary from Austin. :)

[John Manzo]

"pretty decent" is stlll going to be better than anything else on offer here, so I'm thrilled- not thrilled to have to drive that far north, but still happy to see this sort of thing coming this way.

All that said, we made beef rendang (yes beef rendang) the other day and I am going to try some leftovers on a Malaysian burrito!

[23skidoo]

Still no love for the burritos at Taco Del Mar downtown?

[John Manzo]

I.... hate to admit I still haven't tried it. I've had taco del mar in Portland and it was all right.

[sharonanne]

We've been once and I agree totally with what you say. In fact, I planned to write a review, brought home the take-out menu too but never did. You did a fine job though.

We do live close and keep meaning to try the California /Thai place just to see how that works or Xan which is a new incarnation of the Mongolie Grill kind of place to see if it's any better than most.

[AriaDream]

I've tried the California/Thai place. They make a very nice Pad Thai. I can't speak to anything else, but they offer a mango salad that I want to try.