The Carnitas Is In Another Castle

I had only been to





















at 2444 Telegraph Ave, the Berk, once before. The shiny tiled tabletops and presence of waiters made me think it was expensive, so I never set foot in it until three of us had to lunch in a hurry to get back to a film festival on time. Either somebody else paid or we ran up the bill with beer or something, because my impression of it as an expensive place didn't change. Boy was I wrong. I don't remember precisely how much the burrito cost this time, but I remember paying $5 and not feeling like a dick for leaving my change as a tip.

The burrito's qualifications, however, are questionable. I've been OK with reviewing a "pork" burrito instead of a carnitas burrito. Outside of the few with really crispy meat, I'd have a hard time telling them apart. Mario's put me in a quandry by offering no carnitas burrito, no pork burrito, but a burrito with pork in it. I was hungry, so I went with the chili verde burrito.




















They brought out chips and salsa. This is the ideal way to leave salsa on every table. Not only is it not a squirt bottle, but the spoon and the narrow container discourage dipping. Dipping alone isn't so bad, but unless I'm the first customer of the day, I'd be worried about eating after a double-dipper. Both the chips and the salsa were pretty good. You'll also note that there are still chips in the bowl, owing to Mario folding

























my burrito with the B button down (I'll stop now). Garnish and table service for a $5 meal. Unbelievable. That said, what is one to do with a pile of lettuce? Pour the salsa on it and pretend it's a salad? After, er, trying exactly that for a bite, I plowed right into the burrito :




























Tasty. The meat was sliced real thin-like, Philly cheesesteak style. Unfortunately, chili verde is disqualified from future reviews, as it's just too different from carnitas. It's good, though. Kinda spicy. Along with this new (for me) flavor, the burrito delivered a blast from the past : refried beans. I suppose I had some at Downtown Bakery II, but those were black beans and I was in too much pain to really notice. The only time I've had refried pinto beans since my undergrad days was when I was in the poorhouse and paying for bean and cheese burritos at The Burrito Shop 4 years ago. I don't know if I liked the beans or if I liked being taken way back, but I thoroughly enjoyed the burrito.

I meant to get a picture of this, but I didn't : next to my table was a picture of the restaurant. It wasn't done in some faux-historical way like Chipotle's; you're looking at the exact same view of the restaurant you had when you crossed the street. Also, it was a snapshot. Plus, there's an unsuspecting student walking in front of the restaurant at the time, immortalized because the photographer had 10 seconds to take the shot before getting back to folding burritos.