Let’s start with the good news: the arrival of L’s Burrito & Juice Company, via cart, means that burritos are back on the downtown mall. The burrito cart, as it surely will be referred to by most, is at 1st and Main (in front of Derrière de Soie) every weekday. L’s menu is nicely restrained to chicken, pork, beef, and vegetarian tacos or burritos, a couple of sides, homemade limeade, and homemade sweet tea. And the guy makes waiting in line fun. He calls out the “weird vegetarian” as he hands over her veggie burrito, gracefully deflects the inevitable hot dog requests, and has a strange ability to predict whether you’ll want pinto or black beans. He’s also clearly passionate about his “Upper Rio Grande” food, the kind of chow he grew up eating in Northern New Mexico.
I wanted to love it so badly. But nothing brings out my inner Simon Cowell like a burrito, and while L’s Burrito & Juice Company gets some good basics right and shows promise for improvement, it’s not there yet. We sampled the huge chicken and pork burritos (slight edge to the pork): the consistency of the meat was great, but it needed a lot more flavor. That was a theme throughout, as the hot sauce didn’t have much heat, the cheese portion was stingy, and the enormous portion of rice drowned out the more flavorful components. On the flip side, the limeade had way too much flavor and was a sugar shock to the system.
All is not lost, however. L has the fundamentals down: the meat is high quality and well prepared, and he grills the burrito once wrapped, a key strategy for optimal flavor. So L, heat up that salsa, add more seasoning to the meats, dial back on the rice and up on the cheese, and for goodness’ sakes start selling some chips, and we may have something here.
Jed says: “The burrito was bigger than my nephew, which didn’t make up for the lack of flavor.”
Rating: Erin: 
Jed: 
Pros: Fast burrito lunch on downtown mall, fresh ingredients and quality meats, credit cards accepted, L is fun.
Cons: Needs more flavor, no chips.
Price: Burritos $6, Tacos $2.50.
Parking: Limited.
Contact Info
L’s Burrito & Juice Company website
Photos
More Info
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