Burritos

Burritos Inc. was a poor man’s Chipotle. Unlike Chipotle, however, Burritos Inc. was staffed by people who neither liked their jobs nor were very good at them. And unlike Chipotle, Burritos Inc. didn’t have a ridiculous fanboy following. Burritos Inc. closed in the midst of Chipotle’s epic e. corporate meltdown. Maybe Burritos Inc. was imitating Chipotle a little too closely?
The only nice thing about the place was its large back dining room, but I never ate in, so I never got the chance to enjoy it. Everything else was a total mess. The workers were very sloppy, so the already mixed-​up veggies got more mixed up and ended up in the beans, rice, and meat.
I’m usually a little sad when a Downtown Berkeley lunch spot closes. In Burritos Inc.‘s case, I’m not.

They are closed. They no longer exist. Make sure to get a refund on your groupons. Don’t let groupon take you for a ride either make sure you get your money back not «credit» towards another groupons.

I’ve eaten here twice using the Groupon (2 burritos/​bowls/​whatever main thing, orders of chips & salsa, and 2 fountain sodas for $ 14 on weekends — there’s a different one for weekdays). Both times, the burritos were huge. You walk in a Subway/​Chipotle-​type line, where you’re asked about the burrito options. They have spinach tortillas as well as normal ones, a few funky options like a couple of different corn salsas, and basically everything most taquerias have. It’s cold in there (hey, it’s winter and the place is a concrete cavern), so the food isn’t super-​hot from the steam table it’s in. The food’s better than Chipotle — there are different toppings/​fillings (jalapenos, radishes, corn salsa) than at Chipotle, and the red salsa is very hot, spicy, and tasty.
Nancy was our «burrista» (term I made up, as far as I know), and was very friendly and patient with my and my friend’s questions about the food. Nikita was also very friendly and even asked us if we wanted more salsa when she came into the dining area to clean. It was pretty empty at the time we ate — about 7 pm on a Saturday, so it wasn’t particularly dirty, but it’s good to know they keep the place clean by taking care of cleaning when there’s no one waiting for food.
What can I say? It’s a typical eatery you’d find in Berkeley — it’s a little on the expensive side, and bit hip and trendy-​looking. The staff is friendly; the food was about as good as most taquerias I’ve been to, including the ones in the Mission and Oakland that have been around forever. Judging by the other reviews, it looks like they had a bit of a rough start, but they’ve gotten past that stage and are serving decent Mexican food at prices you’d expect in an expensive neighborhood. If you want it cheaper, you’ll probably have to go to a different neighborhood.

Extremely disappointing. Burrito was ordered via Caviar app; arrived quickly but was ice cold! Rice was undercooked and crunchy. Shredded cheese was cold and not melted at all — which leads me to conclude that nothing in this burrito was warm when it was made. This place isn’t worth the cost of a flour tortilla, much less $ 7.95 per burrito. Too many good Mexican restaurants in the East Bay to waste your time with this one.

We know that Chipotle is popular and successful with its burritos, bowls, tacos and salads. A look at the menu and set-​up, Burrito Inc. pretty much mirrors Chipotle. As you enter, you walk up to the register, which was kind of awkward. You actually have to walk to the back of the counter to begin your ordering process.
Your order begins by choosing burrito, bowl, taco, or salad with your filler of steak, chicken, carnitas, or veggie. Then choose your rice, beans, salsa, cheese or sour cream, and optional guacamole. The differences here is that can choose your type of tortilla and they offer a mango corn salsa and grilled mushrooms and veggies for fillers. If you dine in, you can enjoy your meal in the back or front dining areas as well as a front patio area.
We had a chicken and a steak burrito. The steak was seasoned and flavorful, while the chicken was under seasoned and on the dry side. The cilantro lime rice was disappointing. It was bland and on the mushy side. Cilantro lime? The mango corn salsa on the other hand was tasty. It contained grilled corn kernels.
Comparing the two restaurants, Burrito Inc.‘s $ 7.95 to $ 8.95 for a meat burrito is on the high side, especially since the food is subpar. Service was friendly and place was clean.

I love that nasty orange nacho cheese sauce on my nachos and this place has it. Unlike Chipotle (which is a very similar style of burrito bar) they also have jalapeños, onions and cilantro.
Their service is great. Wonderful set of employees that are quick to give you exactly what you want even if it’s not on the menu. The food is only average and the prices are slightly higher than the surrounding businesses. I think that’s why their average rating isn’t great.
TIP FOR VEGETARIANS: Their pinto beans are cooked in pork fat. They don’t tell you that unless you ask.

I walked into this place (Formerly Café Firenze – i wanted to see what had become of that dear old café, now many years gone) and looked up the menu board. That right off the bat told me something was wrong. The sign says «fillings», rather than saying what kind of taco or burrito you can order. Fillings? Fillings! C’mon now! We don’t say «Fillings» when we’re getting a taco! We say «Un taco de pescado», or «Un taco de pollo
asado». Right then i smelled a rat.
I asked the girl at the counter (in Spanish) if they even had tacos as i could not see it on the sign. This girl, in spite of looking Mexican, could not even speak Spanish. SHe laughed apologetically. Apparently no one there could. She said in English that you have to order 4 tacos. 4 tacos! What if you only want one? What kind of place is this? «Burritos» and «tacos» for people who don’t know any better! Definitely not for Mexicans!
I could just smell something wrong here. I asked where the owner was from, suspecting probably Korea, like the place on Adeline St. (now a fish place) called La Palma Burritos (it also exists on Fruitvale) that is owned by Koreans. Note that they don’t say «Mexican Food» on the sign — good thing! It is NOT Mexican food! Note you will NEVER see any Mexicans eating in those places, and Fruitvale is a very Mexican neighborhood. The food is not Mexican – i don’t want «tacos» made by Koreans anymore than i want Kim Chee made by Egyptians. They have no feeling for the food, no roots, no wisdom passed down by Abuelita, no SABOR (flavor) except what they are copying, probably from Taco Bell. There is no authentism and you can feel it just walking in there and looking around. The emperor has no clothes! The food has no soul. This place is the same. The answer to my question was «Jordan». OK. «Nuff said. I was out the door like a bat outta hell.

A Chipotle-​wannabe that doesn’t make the cut. They get props for having a nice, clean place. Where you go to order isn’t obvious, and if the place were busy (we’ve been three times & it was nearly deserted every time), it would be hard to maneuver past people in line to the back seating area and restrooms.
The food, however, is a massive letdown. Rice, overcooked & nearly tasteless. Beans, what few there were added no flavor, carnitas were mushy and nearly tasteless, steak was overcooked and livery in flavor. OK, you get points for the corn-​mango salsa. That was made with fresh corn kernels off the cobb. The one saving grace of an otherwise, overpriced, lackluster burrito.

I feel that this place really deserves 3.5 stars. That’s my rating at least.
I wasn’t expecting much, seeing the negative reviews. I stopped in on a Sunday afternoon after a workout. The place was completely empty (granted though, it was 3PM which is an odd hour for any restaurant).
I opted for the bowl because if anyone knows me, they know I love my Chipotle burrito bowls!
I got half steak, half chicken. I enjoyed both. Good portion size, although the bowls are a bit smaller than Chipotle’s. But they were very generous with portions despite that. I also enjoyed that they had Chipotle Mayo sauce. The sauce was good, very different than sour cream and made the entire bowl taste really unique. They have corn, salsas, lettuce, jalapenos, grilled veggies, etc.
What’s not to like? The flavor was there. The service was friendly and fast. The portions were good. Price was okay — I think with all the stuff i «added» to my bowl, it came out to around $ 11, which is what I’d usually spend at Chipotle for the same type of deal.
Overall, I’d still choose Chipotle over this place. But I was pleasantly surprised, and can see myself coming back again.

Good quesadilla and burrito, but the guacamole literally has no flavor. Guacamole should have onion, lime, cilantro, and a hint of jalapeño. This tastes like stale avocado. Prices are much too high for the quality.
Service folks were nice, but wayyyyy slow.
Sadly I probably won’t be back as there are countless Mexican food joints that are much tastier.

They forgot the cheese on my nachos… Super plain and boring I really thought the main ingredient in nachos was cheese…

Came here with a Groupon and got 2 burrito bowl with 2 bags of chips.
The burrito bowl is small, but you can add as much toppings as you want.
It was tasty, but I wouldn’t come here without a Groupon.
The chips are oily but I liked how they added a bit of flavoring.
Great for lunch or a quick dinner.
The restaurant itself is empty and there are plenty of seatings in the back.

I try not to eat whole burritos in one sitting but after a short hike, the carnitas burrito and chips were history.
Excellent service today.
Thank you.
=D

You could sorta-​kinda justify the price when this place used to give out free chips and salsa with the purchase of any burrito. Sadly that policy has disappeared and now they’re a kind of overpriced, not super stellar burrito place. The one good thing I can say is that they offer a nice mango salsa, which is fairly uncommon. But besides that:
Warnings:
* Don’t get eggplant
* The ever-​present swarm of flies at the front
* A standard chicken burrito sets you back $ 10 (compared to $ 8 at El Burro Picante)
If you’re looking for burritos, El Burro Picante on University might work better for you.

Chipotle-​style burritos. Not cheap.
It is pretty clear from what popular chain this fairly new burrito joint gets its inspiration from. They have the same type of burrito bowls and everything. I got a burrito with guacamole and was genuinely surprised when I got the bill. Maybe it has been a while since I’ve been to Chipotle, but $ 13 seemed like a lot for a burrito. Perhaps a distinguishing characteristic is that they do have a very large assortment of toppings. The burrito was just OK. Overall it wasn’t too bad, but the rice was complete mush because of how overcooked it was. When I get served something so clearly ‘not right’, it makes me feel that the restaurant does not really care about the food they are serving, which worries me.
Perhaps I will give them a second chance, or perhaps I’ll just go elsewhere next time. There are plenty of other burrito places nearby.

I’m pretty sure that Burritos Inc. was the original name of that Nine Inch Nails song from The Fragile. They just changed the first word during the recording process. All joking aside, this place has decent burritos.
I tried the California Burrito which has carne asada, cheese, sour cream, and french fries. I had a flour burrito (they have spinach as well), and I added their spicy salsa and lettuce. The flavors in the burrito worked well together, and the carne asada was actually pretty juicy. Unfortunately, the spicy salsa is really «spicy» in quotes, meaning that it is not spicy at all. Then again, I’m a Texan and I’ve been pretty disappointed with the hot sauces in all of the Mexican places in the Bay thus far.
Another downside to Burritos Inc. is that my burrito cost $ 8.95. If you are going to charge $ 2 more than Chipotle, you should be significantly better. However, the Chipotle burritos have more flavorful meats and spicier salsa (which is sad, because their hot sauce is gringo level).
While I wouldn’t say Burritos Inc. is better than Chipotle, now that Chipotle has caved to the anti-​science, anti-​GMO idiots, maybe my money is better spent here.

Yummy, Yummy, Yummy, Yummy, Yummy, Yummy, Yummy, Yummy, Yummy, Yummy, Yummy, Yummy!!!
Great stuffings, the jalapeños are bomb as fuck, get a burrito bowl to cut calories, this is way better than you chipotle.

Burritos is like Chipotle. but this place was empty. 4 carnitas tacos for 8.95, just went for one. pricing similiar to chipotle. not sure higher or lower.
eats: carnitas taco (2.72)
–warmed taco shell with tender, tasteless meat,
–cilantro, onions, weak salsa, skipped cheese.
2 .5 stars. fulfilling in a limited sense.

Time: 12:17pm/61°F cloudy
Purpose: Had a package that colleague can’t wait till Monday to get hands on. Drove to Albany, drop it off scan area of new places. BI pop up as it was on the way back. Since its lunch time haven’t eaten anything after breakfast at 8:15am.
Ambiance: Walking by the outside, you’ll see four square backless stools facing the streets. Right behind it three round wooden tables with two tone cross weave chairs. A Panasonic 40’in flat screen with bookshelf speakers blaring on the corners, right below wooden plank bench without tables. As you enter your immediate left a utensil counter with self serve soda fountain. Directly in front sits six round tables with same seats as patio area and long wooden bench back against wall seating. Counter pretty much bare minimal with register, mini table top beverage fridge. Behind counter overhead meun design for that run down paint look, stove/​grill range hood, metals square containers, glass partition glass, condiment station, smoke meat box, tortilla steamer/​presser, prep counter. Inner back room house 32’in Vizio TV with 15 tables total. Each side with backless 2ft wooden block for one person seater while the inside are wooden long bench. The design here are mostly crinkle cut sheet metal with wooden support structure. Along the walls some kitschy frame pictures relating back to burrito times. Separate restroom for both gender straight back. No music just TV medium volume to no sound at all, muted.
Staff: It’s an all male staff when I was there the whole time. When I left it was the same. Mostly kids like mid 20s to late 20s. Only person past 30 was the manager supervising three workers making sure they didn’t put more or less of any items on orders. When coast was clear, they spend their time chit chatting about their weekend and personal problems. Only time they ask me if everything was ok, is when I got up to use restroom.
Cleanliness: Grade A, impeccable. Every area of place was clean nothing seen as a problem or presented itself of hazard. Specifications and permits posted near kitchen entrance.
Eats/​Drinks: Carnitas burrito $ 7.95 w/​all fixings excluding guacamole. Carnitas was pretty moist and juicy not hard and dried up. I went with lettuce, cheddar cheese, black beans, mango salsa, house sauce, sour cream. The ingredients were just basic by the looks of it, I can imagine the taste before taking a bite. I wasn’t wrong at all, same taste as Chipotle version however not wallet friendly. They don’t even have choices for tortillas like spinach, sun-​dried tomato, or corn. For some reason the girth of burrito was smaller than even taco trucks. I’m certain that even if, I pay extra for some guacamole it, won’t make a difference here. The size was small, nothing more than a standard burrito with fancy business name appeal ending with Inc.
Main Features: Burritos and bowls are sold more than others here.
Products/​Services: Tacos, salads, bowls, burritos, chips and guacamole, chips and salsa, guacamole, soda fountain, bottle beverages. Catering available through company site or contact store manager. Takes plastic, flat screen TV’s.
Punch Lines: Zippy service, clean, TV, push for sale, smaller than usual portions, pricey, pretentious, nothing out of the ordinary, gear towards students, décor leaves something to desired, wood paneling, off putting, sleeper, quite bland, outdoor seating, not as great, kept its standards, go elsewhere, street parking, pubic transportation.
Tradeoffs: Place reminiscent that of Chipotle, but in a more cozier design away from industrial feel with flat screen TV’s.
Final Thoughts: May not be as big as Chipotle, but pretty close to it. Since there’s not one Chipotle downtown Berkeley this place would be the one that steps in and occupy the area for that purpose. The closes one is on Telegraph ave. Who has the time to go 1.3 miles more for same offerings? Keep in mind that the difference is about $ 1.55 more here than that of Chipotle so there might be budget watchers taking notice. I’m sorry BI, you and I don’t have chemistry here, no appeal of anything.

One unique menu item that this place offers is the mango corn salsa. Seriously delicious. If I ever decide to come here again it will probably be for that. Super glad they recommended that to me.
Aside from that, this place is basically Chipotle with a slightly different selection of fillers. Smaller portions and more expensive too. The food tastes pretty similar so there isn’t much reason for me to come again except to try that salsa again.