For all the rave reviews that Anna’s Taqueria has received since I’ve come to Boston, I must say I was thoroughly disappointed upon having my first burrito here. At first it seemed interesting when you order the veggie burrito, as they have a collection of seemingly seasonal vegetables that they dice up and put into a burrito. The burrito I had had sweet potato, squash, yellow pepper, carrots and broccoli. One caveat on Anna’s is that their rice is cooked in chicken broth, but you can request vegetarian rice. However, this rice is very dry and salty, and basically ruins the flavor of the burrito. The salsa and guacamole are pretty average, and overall thoroughly disappointing. For all the hype around Anna’s, I feel like they do not deserve the yearly “Best Burrito” awards that they are given, and as such, I will give them one and a half cheese sandwiches (primarily for having vegetarian rice option and a decent variety of vegetables).
Boca Grande is another local chain restaurant that has a few locations in Cambridge and one in Brookline. Boca Grande has the greatest diversity of meal options as well as vegetarian options of any of the burritoriums I have reviewed. You can get tacos, quesadillas, burritos, enchiladas, or even tamales here. And for most of these options, you can get bean and cheese, grilled vegetables, tofu or adobe tofu. I have tried the tofu and the adobe tofu, and I recommend you avoid the adobe tofu at all costs. For some reason, the adobe sauce is the most foul tasting dressing that I have ever had incorporated into a burrito. However, despite this minefield of bad taste, I do appreciate the effort Boca Grande makes to give vegetarians options. As a result, I’ll give Boca Grande three cheese sandwiches.
I don’t know if you can qualify Boloco as a burrito place, as their fillings are more indicative of wrap-style establishments rather than burritoriums. My favorite “burrito” at Boloco is actually a wrap, called “The Mediterranean”. It is black bean hummus, tomato salsa, olives, feta cheese, rice, cucumber, balsamic vinaigrette that you can get with either fajita vegetables (onions and peppers) or marinated tofu. You can also substitute the regular rice for brown rice at no charge. I always get the tofu, as it is the extra firm style for which I have always expressed a fondness. This meal is very tasty, despite having over 2 g of salt in it. I sometimes get a smoothie (the Jimmy Carter is pretty good) to wash down all that sodium. I’ll give Boloco three cheese sandwiches for making a solid wrap.
A lot of respect is given to Chipotle for being a champion of local and sustainable food (whatever that is worth for a place that is owned by McDonald’s). I do respect the simplicity of the menu where you have the vegetarian option that can be translated into salads, tacos, burritos, and burrito bowls. Chipotle has a good combination of flavors with their salsa and their guacamole (slathered on with reckless abandon), and you can feel confident that when you’re eating this burrito you’re making the world a better place. However, if this was truly “food with integrity”, as they emphasize on their website, there should be a lot more vegetarian options, as on average you’ll have better integrity serving vegetables than killing pigs or cows (no matter how sustainably or organically you do it). So, I’ll give Chipotle three and a half cheese sandwiches (they would have more if they had more than just one vegetarian choice).
Herrera’s is probably the smallest of the chain burrito places that I am listing on this META review. They don’t even have a Twitter account! They do have two locations in downtown BostonTheir veggie burrito is quite interesting, as they include steamed broccoli, carrots, zucchini, and squash. It’s not as flavorful as the grilled veggies at Qdoba, but they do provide an alternative flavor texture to basic onions and green peppers that other places provide. I believe that the guacamole is one of the best that I’ve had in a burrito (that I didn’t make myself). Altogether, I think Herrera’s makes one of the best burritos in Boston, although I don’t think their salsa is that great. It seems that every burrito place has at least one deficiency that prevents them from being a truly great burrito. I give Herrera’s four cheese sandwiches.
I’ll be honest - coming into Boston, my favorite burrito place of all time would have to be Qdoba. If not for any other reason than their three cheese queso sauce. I really enjoy eating their burritos, from their buttery rice to the hot salsa. Furthermore, I believe they put the most cheese in their burrito of any of the places listed on this META review (purely anecdotal - I have no data to back up this claim). Also, they are the only burrito place listed here that have a frequent customer card that gives you free burritos. Any place that rewards you for returning to the same location gets bonus points in my book. I’m probably going to get some flack for this, but Qdoba is hands down still my favorite burritorium, as they provide both a veggie burrito (with mixed zucchini, squash, onions and green peppers) and a vegetarian burrito (just with onions and green peppers, but comes with free guacamole). Unfortunately, the guacamole is nothing special, which is probably the major detraction for Qdoba. I’ll give Qdoba 4 cheese sandwiches, to put them as the best chain burrito place in Boston.
