BAJA BURRITO VS. SATCO

Went to Baja Burrito yesterday. We go there a lot and have been for several years now. We live in Goodlettsville and don’t think anything about piling everybody in the van and making the 25 minute ride over to 100 Oaks to eat there, passing countless other Mexican restaurants in the process. I don’t know for sure, but BB may have been the first assembly-line burrito place in Nashville. I really like that because , I can get what ingredients I want and how much I want. That’s good because I’m a pretty picky eater (everything I can pick up, I eat) If you get a regular size (you can also get a small), by the time you get to the end of the line you’ve got a burrito about the size of a  small watermelon, something you’ve got to hold two-fisted and attack carefully, biting at the corners and edges because you can’t get your mouth (even mine) around the monstrous slab of goodness.

The second thing I love at BB is the salsa. They have four or five different kinds: mild roasted , hot, green and pineapple. The pineapple is our favorite. Picture your  absolute favorite salsa with little chunks of pineapple. Yes! The other salsa’s are very good too though. Sometime I’ll get a little bit of all the others and a lot of the pineapple.

Then there’s the fruit tea. It must not be just my favorite because they have more of that than anything else..It’s so good that I probably drink at least a half of gallon each time .

The staff is also pretty friendly and helpful.

Then the topper: you get all this for about $ 7 bucks with free refils of everything except the burritos.

A bunch of us went to San Antonio Taco Factory awhile ago. It was my first visit. I had heard a lot about the place over the years and how good it was, it being a staple for the Vanderbilt crowd, etc.

I’ll be honest, I was extremely dissapointed. First, it was way pricer that BB. Everything was confusing, it was a bunch of us there, the menu was a little scattered, everything was ala carte, and I was paying for mine and Jordan’s. But our bill was like $24. Don’t get me wrong, I’ll shell out some bucks if we’re eating sushi, or at a good steak place, but $24 for two, at a serve-yourself taco place?!?*! I don’t think so.

The little burritos were tasty but after polishing them off in about 3.5 minutes, I was hungrily looking at the plates of others in our group, hoping some of the women had left some, which they usually do. Not so here. Every paper plate was licked clean and not necessarily because the food was so good. I remember looking at James Hayes as we were getting ready to leave and we exchanged looks of despair, hunger, dissatisfaction, and poverty.

Finally, the salsa was decent but they only had one or two kinds and the the little containers to put your salsa in were so small you could barely get the edge of your chip in there to scoop.

About the staff: The first guy we meet was so anxious to help us figure out the menu and understand how everything worked that I couldn’t help but think he was trying to hustle tips out of us (which he didn’t get) The others were  busy talking to each other about personal stuff so they  were pretty distant and not very engaged. The BB employees are way friendlier and they can’t hardly speak Americano!

So, the next time you want a good custom-made burrito and salsa meal that will allow you to still have enough dinero to head somewhere else for coffee and a gourmet cupcake, check out Baja Burrito. Give yourself enough time to stand in line a wile though. A lot of others will be doing the same thing.