Burritos, burritos, so many burritos. At the end of my last post I took stock of what remained of my Live Mas adventure. While I concluded that less than 50% of the Taco Bell menu lay ahead of me, unfortunately much of the uncompleted portion of the menu appears to be inhabited by my principal nemesis, the burrito. As avoidance will get me no closer to my ultimate goal, onwards we go, dear reader.
Item #31: COMBO BURRITO
By my count, there are no fewer than 12 principal varieties of burrito on offer at the Border:
I have conquered the following burritos thus far (in chronological order):
1. Cheesy Potato Burrito
2. Smothered Burrito
3. Bean Burrito
4. Steak & Egg Burrito (breakfast)
5. Burrito Supreme
6. Beefy 5-Layer Burrito
On this visit:
7. Combo Burrito
Yet to come:
8. Cantina Burrito
9. 7-Layer Burrito
10. Black Bean Burrito
11. Fresco Burrito Supreme
12. XXL Grilled Stuft Burrito
That is a lot of fucking burritos.
The official Taco Bell website description for the Combo Burrito:
"A warm, soft flour tortilla loaded with a double portion of seasoned beef filled with hearty beans, onions, real cheddar cheese, and tangy red sauce."
Price: $2.19
Taste: 7.5 (out of 10)
Value: 6.5 (out of 10)
Overall Score: 7.3 (out of 10)
I have to confess that at this point all of the burritos are starting to run together a little bit in my Taco Bell consciousness. I did not notice a large difference between the Combo burrito and the Beefy 5-Layer Burrito, even though the Combo Burrito cost nearly $1.00 more. If anything, the flavor was a bit more on the bland side here. And while the Taco Bell website claims a double portion of beef in the Combo Burrito, I didn't find it to be appreciably more filling than the Beefy 5-Layer Burrito.
Also, this is one of the seemingly random menu items where chopped onions make an appearance. There seems to be no rhyme or reason that determines where these things are included. They do add an interesting crunch here and there, but not much in the way of flavor. This could easily be remedied by using red onions instead of white onions. But I won't hold my breath on this one.
The bottom line: There is little to distinguish the Combo Burrito from the rest of Taco Bell's burrito lineup.
Item #32: MOUNTAIN DEW BAJA BLAST FREEZE
I managed to get a fair amount of sunburn working outdoors yesterday. Sunburn sucks. I didn't get too sunburnt yesterday, but I think I still might rather have a cold than sunburn. (Of course, if I had a cold, I would probably say that I would rather have sunburn.) Plus, it was roughly 85 degrees with 85% humidity all day yesterday and today. All of which is to say that my skin is on fire and my body thermostat is set to "HEAT" for the time being. I thought, "Why not try an ice cold beverage?"
The website description:
"The Mountain Dew Baja Blast Freeze is a refreshing frozen soft drink with the flavor and energy of Mountain Dew and a blast of tropical lime."
Price: $2.09
Taste: 8.0 (out of 10)
Value: 7.0 (out of 10)
Overall Score: 7.8 (out of 10)
I am not a big frozen drink guy. Give me a cold beer over a margarita any day of the week. But this one tasted surprisingly good. The frozen texture still managed to allow for a fair bit of carbonation, which was a nice surprise. Having said that, however, the Mountain Dew Baja Blast Freeze (that's a mouthful of name right there) didn't really taste much like Mountain Dew or tropical lime. (Is there such a thing as a non-tropical lime?) But it was a nice change of pace on an extremely warm day.
Item #33: BLACK BEANS AND RICE
There is a trio of side dishes available at Taco Bell that I never even knew existed prior to my Live Mas adventure. Each of these side dishes come in a dish/bowl type of container. The first is Black Beans and Rice, which I tried tonight. Also available are Pintos & Cheese, and the Cheesy Fiesta Potatoes. Can you guess which one of the three I expected to consume sans cheese? I will give you a hint, dear reader: that's right, the one that didn't have cheese in its name.
The website description:
"Premium Latin rice topped with flavorful black beans."
Price: $1.49
Taste: 7.0 (out of 10)
Value: 6.0 (out of 10)
Overall Score: 6.8 (out of 10)
First of all, let me say this: the Black Beans & Rice on offer from the Border did not taste bad. It was pretty much what I expected. Except for one thing: there was a pretty substantial layer of cheese on top of the beans and rice. (See official Taco Bell description above; note that there is absolutely no mention of cheese.) This layer of cheese is plainly visible in the picture above. This cheese did not impart a strong, cheesy flavor, however; it mainly served to help smooth out what could be a rather fibrous texture if the beans and rice were left to their own devices.
My bottom line for Taco Bell's Black Beans and Rice: It was filling, but not extraordinary from a flavor perspective. I do have a slight problem paying $1.49 for a menu item that does not include any meat. And the inclusion of the rather heavy cheese layer does pretty much disqualify any claims that this menu item might have to "healthy alternative" status. But it still does offer an "off-the-beaten-path" quality that may appeal to some.
Bonus: it comes with a spork.
My receipt for tonight's meal:
Keep it real, my peeps.
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