Restaurants
Mission Burrito
Mission Burrito is the latest entrant in the ongoing burrito battle taking over this city, but they're the first burrito place to be as bold as to claim to offer the elusive Mission burrito.
For the uninitiated, the Mission burrito derives its name from the Mission District in San Francisco. Almost half the population in the neighbourhood is from Mexico and other parts of Latin America, and out of this densely Latino area has come a number of popular taquerias, almost all making the best burritos this side of, well, the Earth.
What's the secret to the burritos? The authentic environs certainly help everything go down that much better. There are sometimes live bands playing, self serve (ie. free) corn tortilla chips and salsa and actual Mexican people cooking up fresh beef, chicken and other toppings in the kitchen.
But the real piece de resistance with the Mission burrito is what goes inside and how its wrapped, folded and steamed to perfection. An authentic Mission burrito must be made with a large flour tortilla and it must be steamed using a tortilla steamer. When I was last in San Francisco, I actually tried to buy a steamer, but shockingly they don't come cheap. The best deal I could find was something like $2,000.
Inside, a Mission burrito should include rice, a choice of beans (black, pinto and refried), some sort of meat or main filling, good salsa, guacamole and cheese.
So, with all this as the context, and having been constantly subjected to the grilled burritos made famous in Toronto by Burrito Boyz (and emulated by everyone else), I eagerly made my way to the newly opened Mission Burrito in the Grange Food Court across the street from OCAD.
The fact that they're in the food court obviously means they're in no way trying to replicate an authentic taqueria, but scanning the menu does reveal some promising signs. First up, unlike, say, Z-Teca, there are both black and pinto beans on offer. There's also free guacamole - meaning that guac is included in the price of the burrito. This is crucial. It seriously pisses me off when places charge you an extra buck for what is an essential burrito ingredient.
The other good move is that Mission Burrito offers a good variety of burrito options. For vegetarians, there's both a bean and cheese burrito ($4.85 Small/$5.85 Large) and the slightly more adventurous sweet potato, bean and cheese burrito for the same price. For an extra buck, you can add some veggies or meat. There's a grilled veggie burrito, chicken and steak, all $5.85 for a 10 inch and $6.85 for a foot long.
But today is Friday (which for many is pay day) but for Mission Burrito is the only day of the week they sell a harder-to-find-in-Toronto-than-it-should-be fish burrito. So that's what I decide to have. At $7.98 before tax for a 12 inch it isn't the cheapest lunch in the food court, but for an end of week splurge...ah, what the hell.
The fish burrito is made fresh to order, meaning some guy in the back whips out a pan and starts frying up some fresh, seasoned tilapia. To round out the burrito, I opt for the pinto beans, some onion and green pepper, mild salsa and a generous spreading of guacamole. While I wait someone hands me a free bag of corn tortilla chips. Yum.
About four minutes later my burrito is ready. It's wrapped nicely in aluminum foil and the structural integrity is in tact. There's minimal leaking and no sign of any tears in the tortilla.
Unfortunately, the tortilla itself is hot and cold. The crew behind the counter must be still getting the hang of the steamer and didn't give it enough, um, steam. Eating a cold tortilla isn't exactly gross but inconsistencies like this just means that Mission still needs to iron out some of the kinks in the operation.
Inside, all the ingredients are working well together. The guacamole is perfect and the pinto beans have just the right amount of spice. Nestled in a food court table, steps from a cheap Thai take-out, I'm not exactly taken back to my days in the Mission District in San Francisco, but the city has got to start somewhere and what's offered here may not be Mission, but it's not too far off.
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i will try this soon. thanks for letting us know about it!
The truth is burritos really are Mexican food (not just Mexican-sounding), though they're not eaten throughout the country --I'm Mexican and have lived in various cities in Mexico before coming to Toronto for grad school. They seem to be eaten all over northern Mexico (so in So-Cal they are more likely to get them right than in other parts of the US or Canada, I'll admit) and my favorites still are the ones from Cd. Juarez (which is right across the border from El Paso, Texas).
The ones I've tried in the US and also here in Toronto, even while occasionally prepared by Mexicans (but, at least when I've had them, never by someone from *northern* Mexico who would actually know how to make a real one) all taste kind of American to me... Some of them are really good, but they're not authentic.
Which brings me to my point, why care about authenticity? We should just care about whether food is tasty.
Oh, and just to make it clear, HB is describing taquerias, which serve tacos, not burritos (there are exceptions of course). Carnitas and Pastor are from central and southern Mexico. And he's mostly right about guacamole. You usually don't put it in tacos, but it's OK (and optional) with burritos. This in the parts of my country I actually know: it not huge like Canada but big enough to admit plenty of variation.
As far as this place is concerned, I went there a few weeks ago just as they were open for the first time. The burrito was quite bad: beans were tough and undercooked, the chicken was too salty, and the salsa too watery. However, I think once this place gets going a little hopefully they'll refine the components.
Also - Chipotle is friggin awesome! I don't know what you turkeys are complaining about!
I think the whole guac debate from comes from how you should view guac. To me it is a side dish, a salad, an appetizer. Delicious on its own and deserves its own spot on the table. In other words it is not a sauce. On the other hand salsa, which literally means sauce, can be applied at will.
Which brings me to the question about authenticity. I will have to defend those who believe that certain food should be eaten certain ways. It is not that I am being picky or snob about my food. It is just I believe that after centuries of refinement a cuisine has developed to bring out the best in their dishes with what was available. A change will result in the loss of experience that a food conveys. Food should convey, in addition to taste, a sense of geography and occasion. Geography, being where the food is from, and occasion being when would such a food be eaten. I wouldn't dare celebrate a piece of Kobe beef by cooking it on my George Foreman on a Wednesday night, nor would I serve p.b.jelly sandwiches at Christmas dinner.
The best part of the burrito, in my opinion should be its filling, mainly the meat (sorry vegetarians), and little should detract from that. If you must drown it in sauce then you need to find yourself a proper purveyor of food.
I do admit to having some questionable food practices(like drowning my muffin in milk and eating it), and in a relativist society like Canada "to each their own" prevails, but some defense in authenticity is necessary in order to preserve the whole story behind a cuisine. But for whatever your food practice choices I cannot stop you, I will just have to continue to take my burrito guac on the side please.
About your claim that Mexican food in California is better than in Mexico: I hesitate to believe it without further evidence, but I wouldn't be too surprised if it's true; I tend to expect the best Mexico has to offer in any field -not just the culinary- to eventually wind up in the more lucrative US market.
(Oh, and I'm not sure I understood the relevance of that claim you made: I thought I was ranting about authenticity, not quality. Not being one of those people who really values tradition, I find a lot of non-authentic food quite good.)
However, Mission Burrito does miss the mark in a couple of key areas.
1.The meat is stewed or possibly braised. The "Carne Asada and Pollo" prepared in most mission style burritos is grilled on an open flame (visible in most taquerias) and then chopped up into small bits. Its awesome and the grilled flavor cannot be beat ? so stewed is a poor substitute.
2.The proportions are also a bit off. A mission style burrito is pretty much mostly meat with the beans and rice following and then whatever little condiments are put on it. The Mission Burrito was too evenly proportioned and lacked that meat overload.
3.Green peppers...no!
4. There is no small and large in the mission there is regular and super. Regular is meat beans and rice. Super is meat, beans, rice, a little cheese, a little Mexican style sour cream and a salsa (sometimes they will ask if you want guacamole ? but only if you order a super).
5. Portion. A mission burrito destroys you... you can barely get through one and if you do you are at once deeply satisfied and oh so disgusted in yourself. Mission Burrito is way to reasonable when it comes to size to really be a mission burrito.
Like I said a good burrito for sure...perhaps I will have to return mildly intoxicated to really judge since the majority of burritos in San Francisco's mission district are consumed around 1:00 am after a night of festivities.
I went in on Friday and tried the tilapia...it was the best burrito I ever had in Toronto so far...totally fresh and loved the guacamole; hope they start selling them in tubs.
This directly echoes my falafel-world pain... people try to tell me that hummus is extra and I'm like, okay, not only are you handing me a dry tasteless wrap without, but the falafels are made of the same thing as the hummus!
I need to get my head out of the chickpeas though - I turned around after buying a falafel and realized I was in front of this place. So close to trying it, yet so far...
Hell, anyone?
Here's my review - Mediocre at best. Lousy portions of meat and everything else in the burrito. Even though I ordered a small, I did not expect it to be that small, my cousin ordered a large and the price wasn't worth it either. Burrito Boyz is still the best (for value and taste) so far in Toronto. Don't waste your money, you can get something bigger and better in that food court for the same price they charge you.
Next competitor please!
I have been to a few Burrito joints in Toronto and Chipotle is by far the best, authentic? maybe not, taste? F YA. OPEN TO SUGGESTIONS!!!
Mission Burrito in my humble opinion is still the best I have tried so far.
Perhaps my experience was tainted when I bit into the burrito and cracked my tooth. It appears as though there was a rock in my burrito. A ROCK. Hmmmmmm.... I don't think i paid for rocks. Must have been part of the "bargain."
When I approached the manager, the following conversation ensued:
Me: Excuse me sir, I just cracked my tooth on this rock that was in my burrito.
Manager: Well, we use dried beans. Sometimes the beans aren't sifted properly and so sometimes there are rocks in our food.
Me: Oh, well that makes sense...
So, if you have teeth made out of diamonds, are a bird and require rocks for digestion, are looking to hurt people by having them punch you in the stomach, or are looking to become a gangster rapper, then I would strongly recommend eating at mission burrito. Alternatively, cheaper restaurants for you would exist, namely, the garden or rock quarry.
For everyone else, EAT AT YOUR OWN RISK. $$ DENTAL WORK INCOMING.
If you do decide to ignore this warning, this is what you have to look forwards to.
Ranked in order of quantity:
1) Rice. Lots of it. Ethopia is jealous. And hungry. One burrito could sustain a village for months.
2) Black beans. Rocks included. Yummy delicious ROCKS.
3,4,5,6) Pico de gallo, guacamole, sour cream, hotsauce, and some sort of sweaty processed meat.
WORST BURRITO EXPERIENCE EVER.
It's true what he says, when you use dried beans sometimes there are rocks. Hopefully your experience was exceptional. I go over my dried beans really carefully, and there are always rocks in them. I wouldn't be surprised if once in a while I, too, missed a rock in the cleaning process.