A Challenger

At 1446 University Ave, the Berk,

serves up legendary carnitas burritos. I had been there before for carne asada, but I was probably too much of a neophyte then to recognize the hallmarks of greatness. There's a bit of foreshadowing in the chips and salsa. Once I got them (the girl behind the counter absent-mindedly handed me empty salsa cups but no chips,) the chips were delightfully warped and greasy. The only salsa in the salsa bar labelled "hot" or "spicy" was actually hot and flavorful. The salsa borracho was also quality, though there wasn't enough beverage in it for me to determine what got it drunk.

Then the burrito arrived at my table, wrapped around the middle in paper. I thought about it for a minute and decided to cut it in the usual fashion.

Unwise. The diagonal slice is for aesthetic purposes only and I do not endorse its use in recreational burrito ingestion. As far as a Monte Cristo burrito goes, it's just asking for trouble. Paper and tortilla are not up to the task of keeping the halves together after the slice. After scooping up the mess with a fork, however, there were no further complications. The pork was delicious. The title of this entry is an announcement that La Casa Latina is no longer the undisputed champion. Monte Cristo's carnitas straddle the spectrum from juicy and tender to excitingly crispified. The tortilla, as you can see, is lightly grill-browned, adding to the texture. Finally, the salsa fresca really distinguishes this burrito. I'm not a huge tomato fan, but I could tell that whatever went into this salsa was grown for flavor, not mass.

Inside the door, I noticed a poster dealie for Montero's. I don't know if they share an owner or if they're so far apart that they don't regard themselves as competitors. Monte Cristo's is fancy and nice inside :

but the burritos were very different. I turned to Google to settle the score.

Results 1 - 10 of about 10,600 for "monte cristo" montero's. (0.05 seconds)

Now I feel like a dumbass.