Sorry for the late notice, but it looks like I'm going to have to back out of tomorrow's crawl (as uncomfortable as that sounds ). Last-minute weekend guests are arriving Sat. morning--they did not confirm they were on their way until this afternoon, and this is the first chance I had to post....

It sounds like it will be a great event, and I look forward to hearing the results. Have fun, everyone!

Since Jim asked me how much we should plan on spending, thought I better post everyone the answer, but keep in mind, I'm talking only about the burritos:

$20 cover the event, and I'm thinking it will only be $16 per person.

Logic: if we group ourselves into threes (1/3 servings remember?) and we are making six burrito stops, then all we need is for each person to buy two burritos for their group of three. And at approximately $8 per burrito (on the high end) x 2 you should only spend around $16.

Hope that keeps the confusion down. We can figure out who everyone one third buddy is at Carniceria Leon stop #1 based on how many make it.

As of today the guest list stands at:

Attendee list: (14)
Burt +2
jimswside
RAB & REB
geno55 +1
GAF
Panther in the Den +1
laikom +2
Matt Elmer

Tentative: (3)
ronnie_suburban +1
seebee

Map & details:

1) Carniceria Y Taqueria Tierra Caliente (Was Caniceria Leon)
1400 N Ashland
773-772-9804
Arrive: 1:00 PM - Depart 1:50 PM

2) Carniceria Guanajuato
3140 N California Ave
(773) 267-7739
Arrive: 2:05 PM - Depart 2:50 PM

3) Taqueria El Asadero
2213 W Montrose Ave
(773) 583-5563
Arrive: 3:05 PM - Depart 3:50 PM

4) Palapita
4263 N Milwaukee Ave
(773) 427-4438?
Arrive: 4:05PM - Depart 4:50 PM

5) Las Asadas
2072 N Western Ave
(773) 278-9120
Arrive: 5:05 PM - Depart 5:50 PM

6) La Pasadita
1140 N Ashland Ave
(773) 278-2130?
Arrive: 6:05 PM - Depart ??



And the proposed scoresheet:

I would like to suggest an alternative to this system: at the start of the day, everyone give Burt $20, and he or his delegate should order enough burritos, and also that we switch around our group of three. If we need more money we can give Burt extra at the end of the day. If we need less, we can place whatever extra there is in the tip jar at the final restaurant or split it up or use it for drinks.

I don't think that we should have "stable" groups (we're not stable so why should our groups be), but would like to talk with everyone.

See you soon.

Many thanks to Burt for organizing this very enjoyable "Crawl" (not quite a "Thon," but welcome nonetheless). I stayed for the first four stops (well, not counting the pre-stop at Toons). I didn't find any of the four amazing, but of the four I enjoyed Carniceria Guanajuato's steak burrito the best, although because it was in the public space of a local grocery the space was not as congenial for conversation as the other stops. I also learned that while I do like steak burritos (especially with charred skirt steak) I don't love steak burritos. A taste of four (a third of each one) satisfied very nicely (along with a tasty taco), although the last two stops that I missed are reputed to be the best. Still, even if I am not aching to return any of the four stops, I am glad to have spent the afternoon with good food and new friends.

Ratings should appear shortly.

had a good time yesterday, and I thank Burt for organizing, and the other attendees for alot of fun. I dont even want ot think about eating, or mch less looking at a burrito for a long time.

Overall, I thought the burriots were decent, I dont think I rated any higher than an 8, and none lower than a 5. I skipped stop 5 as I was stuffed.

The best 2 for me were: Carniceria Guanajuata(stop # 2) & Stop # 3(El Asadero)

The worst one was the last La Pasadita -

Carniceria Y tacqueria tierra caliente (stop #1):


Carniceria Guanajuato (stop # 2):


El Asaero(stop # 3):


Palapita(stop #4):


La Pasadita(stop # 6):


fun day all in all.

The Attendees:
Burt
Andrew
Bruce
jimswside
Laikom
Teresa
GAF
geno55
RAB & REB
Panther in the Den
Stefan
Linda Al

The crawl began on August 22nd at 1PM. Fourteen brave hungry people showing up for the 1st annual LTH Char-grilled steak burrito crawl. Over the next 6 hours these 14 folks would experience the best the city had to offer, and then judge which was their favorite.

This event was man and woman against human stomach capacity with burritos that reached lengths greater than some arms. This was a six stop burrito eating marathon, and it was in the name of fun, science and pure gluttony that this undertaking was conceived, the three most noble causes in the food world.

13 participants filled out scorecards, 8 did all 6 of the 6 stops, 1 did 5 of the 6 stops, and 4 did 4 of the 6 stops. All had an opinion. Regardless of how many stops anyone ended up doing, it was a great time and and everyone gave it 100% and displayed no shortage of enthusiasm (and stomach space) for the love of burritos.

The Burrito Contestants:1) Carniceria Y Taqueria Tierra Caliente (Was Caniceria Leon)
2) Carniceria Guanajuato
3) Taqueria El Asadero
4) Palapita
5) Las Asadas
6) La Pasadita

The Score Card:
The criteria by which we rated them all:


How they fared:
Stop #1 - Carniceria Y Taqueria Tierra Caliente (Caniceria Leon) - 1400 N. Ashland
Arrived: 1:00 PM - Departed 1:50 PM


The judges scorecards:


Stop #2 - Carniceria Guanajuato - 3140 N. California Ave
Arrived: 2:05 PM - Departed 2:50 PM


The judges scorecards:


Stop #3 - Taqueria El Asadero - 2213 W. Montrose Ave
Arrived: 3:05 PM – Departed: 3:50 PM



The judges scorecards:


Stop #4 - Palapita - 4263 N. Milwaukee Ave
Arrived: 4:05PM - Departed 4:50 PM



The judges scorecards:



Stop #5 - Las Asadas - 2072 N. Western Ave
Arrived: 5:05 PM - Departed 5:50 PM



The judges scorecards:



Stop #6 - La Pasadita - 1140 N. Ashland Ave
Arrived: 6:25 PM – Departed: 7:30



The judges scorecards:



And the final verdict??
LAS ASADAS was the clear winner!!

1st 7.7 Stop #5 Las Asadas
2nd 7.3 Stop #2 Carniceria Guanajuato
3rd 6.8 Stop #3 Taqueria El Asadero
4th 6.5 Stop #6 La Pasadita
5th 5.9 Stop #1 Carniceria Y Taqueria Tierra Caliente (Was Caniceria Leon)
6th 5.7 Stop #4 Palapita

A great time was had, and everyone participating made it a great experience. I went home and went into a food coma, but hey, it was worth it! After all it was in the name of fun, science and pure gluttony, the three most noble causes in the food world.

great work burt,

i am kind of shocked La Pasadita finished 4th, based on what I at their I have no desire to return.

once again it was alot of fun.

jimswside wrote:great work burt,

i am kind of shocked La Pasadita finished 4th, based on what I at their I have no desire to return.

once again it was alot of fun.

Thanks Jim & everyone else who participated as well.

There are a few things to address in regards to La Pasadita;
First, as a group, we were not the same size group after departing stop #4 Palapita, which may or may not have skewed the metrics. Secondly, we ordered the Ultimate Burrito instead of the identical individuals burritos that we had ordered at the previous 5 stops, the ultimate while a party favorite, was no doubt a different animal than anything else we experienced.


Lastly, we were all stuffed!! No one was pushing to stand in line and get the freshest off the grill burrito as we had on the previous 5. Combine all those minor factors together and I think that it makes for a slight watered down experience from what La Pasidita is truly capable of delivering. Coming in at #5 with a disadvantage, when measured against the other top 5 places is still quite a feat. I'd be willing to bet that if chips were down and all things were leveled, they would have easily been number two or three.

That being said, this crawl was about as precise a measurement exercise as one could hope for, especially given the immensity of trying to do as much as we did in one day. So I'm satisfied with the results, and feel that if I'm ever looking for a great burrito in the city, and any one of these places is nearby, I will gladly visit any one of them again, in other words; no one sucked!

Here are few more fun shots from yesterdays crawl, Panther has all the fun crowd & group shots, which I cant wait to see!

At arms length


A table of "burrito experts"


The "Coke dealer" - Panther in the "el trunko"

Just for fun here are the results of our pre - crawl poll.
Which is currently your favorite today?
El Asadero 10% [ 2 ]
Las Asadas 26% [ 5 ]
La Pasadita 31% [ 6 ]
Guanajuato 15% [ 3 ]
Palapita 0% [ 0 ]
Carniceria Y Taqueria Tierra Caliente (Was Caniceria Leon) 15% [ 3 ]

Total votes : 19

Just out of curiosity, was Tierra y Caliente's mediocre showing the result of the delivery method--i.e., burrito instead of taco--or is this a portent of slippage? I've never ordered a burrito there and have no intentions of doing so; I hope, then, that the taqueria's standing was a lack of burrito prowess and not a sign of decline in terms of cooking.

Thoughts?

chezbrad wrote:Just out of curiosity, was Tierra y Caliente's mediocre showing the result of the delivery method--i.e., burrito instead of taco--or is this a portent of slippage? I've never ordered a burrito there and have no intentions of doing so; I hope, then, that the taqueria's standing was a lack of burrito prowess and not a sign of decline in terms of cooking.

Thoughts?

While I can't speak to Tierra y Caliente's past performance (as this was my fist visit) I'm sure others who were with us could chime in.

Keep in mind, a poor showing yesterday is not indicative of any of these six places being bad by any means, they are in fact, still the best of the best!!

I think Tierra y Caliente does a really good Al Pastor, in fact it looked so tasty that I ordered a taco while I was waiting for my burrito. Overall the Al Pastor was very good in spite of it being being a hair dry and lacking pineapple, yet it still was one of the most respectable tasting Al Pastor tacos that I've ever experienced in Chicagoland.



The burrito on the other hand, really suffered from "bucket meat syndrome" and a general lack of taste; it was very bland and chewy. Also the lack of ingredients to accompany the burrito, hurt the score in my mind. They did not offer rice, beans or veggies other than the standard taco tomato & onion/cilantro mix, which really just makes it a bigger flour wrapped taco, instead of being the "balanced meal" inside a flour package that the supers at Las Asadas, Palpita & Pasadita offer.


I can see why some folks seem to dislike burritos at these places, its because there is no balance from a little bit of char grilled meat in a taco vs a ton of meat when you lack all the other ingredients in a burrito size package.

On a side note; we got confirmation that Las Asadas, Palpita & La Pasadita are in fact all separate brothers of the same family who own and operate the three taquerias. Which explains the similar cooking methods, menu offerings and why the menu boards at each place looks the same!

None of the places blew me away, but I now have some places I can go when I need a good burrito, and even though I was stuffed I could appreciated the burritos at some of the places(stop 3). I probably should have bowed out earlier, but tried to make a go of it.

The La Pasadita's burrito was unmemorable(other than the ridiculous size), and was about as good of a burrito as I could expect from El Famous.

all in all a good experience, and fun way to spend a Saturday.

This all reinforces for me that there is no such thing as an excellent burrito, being a food item expressly designed for obfuscatory mediocrity.

Awesome work everyone! I can't wait to see if I can tackle one of those Ultimate Burrito's by myself.

Santander wrote:This all reinforces for me that there is no such thing as an excellent burrito, being a food item expressly designed for obfuscatory mediocrity.

Matt, I respectfully but firmly have to disagree. Get thee to Las Asadas, order a burrito regular, de carne asada, sin frijoles. If you can honestly say it was mediocre in the realm of Chicagoland taquerias, next time I see you, I'll throw a crisp 5.00 in yer hand to refund your cost. OR, you can verbally assault my tastes here, and I can have no rebuttal other than an apology for being a rube with a pedestrian palate. The burrito regular lets the carne asada shine through, which, IMO is the real reason to visit these joints. I'm normally a taco person, but Las Asadas' steak in burrito format (the burrito regular, that is) is a thing of beauty when they are on their game.

So, Las Asadas was the favorite, huh? Ho hum. j/k

seebee wrote:

Santander wrote:This all reinforces for me that there is no such thing as an excellent burrito, being a food item expressly designed for obfuscatory mediocrity.

Matt, I respectfully but firmly have to disagree. Get thee to Las Asadas, order a burrito regular, de carne asada, sin frijoles. If you can honestly say it was mediocre in the realm of Chicagoland taquerias, next time I see you, I'll throw a crisp 5.00 in yer hand to refund your cost. OR, you can verbally assault my tastes here, and I can have no rebuttal other than an apology for being a rube with a pedestrian palate. The burrito regular lets the carne asada shine through, which, IMO is the real reason to visit these joints. I'm normally a taco person, but Las Asadas' steak in burrito format (the burrito regular, that is) is a thing of beauty when they are on their game.

So, Las Asadas was the favorite, huh? Ho hum. j/k

I will withhold my full rebuttal for now, but suffice it to say, the burrito hate I've seen around here is truly unique only to the LTH Forum... Very strange indeed.

seebee, I wish you had made it out Saturday, you were one of the most educated burrito pallets that I was most looking forward to meeting and tasting alongside at these great Chicago Taquerias.

Panther: where are you?? I cant wait to see those pictures!

seebee wrote:
So, Las Asadas was the favorite, huh? Ho hum. j/k

I'm envisioning a big W flag, flying high from your porch tonight, for reasons having to do with other than a cubs victory...

abf005 wrote:Panther: where are you?? I cant wait to see those pictures!

Hi Burt,

Picnic most of the day today. Will get on it tomorrow.

What a great crawl! Had a lot of fun tasting, comparing and voting at all of the stops.

Almost all of the burritos were great! The char flavor strong and ingredients fresh. I would be happy to return to any for another.

All we did was determine the Best of the Best.

Thanks for getting this together Burt. Great job!

wasnt on the crawl but got to try Las Asadas in Des Plaines for the first time last week. Met Burt for lunch . I opted for the regular burrito as im partial to just onions and cilantro.
Other than some of the meat being a bit chewy it was an other wise excellent burrito and worth a trip back.
It may be a dive but it was the perfect atmosphere for eating a burrito.

interesting results. if i get a burrito i don't get rice, lettuce or avocado, just onions cheese and cilantro... they're alright but i prefer tacos. that said, i've been eating a lot of steak tacos and sometimes burritos from, these places recently. i've just about come to the conclusion that asadas, palapita and pasadita all taste about the same. Guanajuato is my current favorite. Tierra Caliente I haven't had in awhile but I remember their steak and pastor tacos being top. I believe it was steak at lunch and pastor later in the day being good, or something to that accord. i think i'm all steaked out for now. glad all these were tasted back to back... i think they're all decent, with Guanajuato on top. Salud!

MBK

Head's Red BBQ wrote:wasn't on the crawl but got to try Las Asadas in Des Plaines for the first time last week. Met Burt for lunch . I opted for the regular burrito as I'm partial to just onions and cilantro.
Other than some of the meat being a bit chewy it was an other wise excellent burrito and worth a trip back.
It may be a dive but it was the perfect atmosphere for eating a burrito.

I had a similar experience at the Las Asadas in Brookfield. While you stand a good chance of having a good burrito there could be a difference from location to location.

I am pretty sure all of the locations included lettuce and tomato (a lot in the case of the ultimate) on the burrito and I think the pic's Burt posted were special order burritos that included rice and excluded some of the standard ingredients (I think). One thing that was good was that some of the places we visited automatically included avocado (sometimes for the low price of $4.00) which is usually an upcharge at a lot of restaurants.

Wish I kept a list of what was included with the 'standard' burrito as that is what I ordered at most of the restaurants.

The Las Asadas Brookfield location is sadly not up to par with Des Plaines and Western ave.

The steak at these places will not be exactly the same every time you go. Each skirt might have a chewy bit to it, and you might just get that bit one time, but have tender, chewy free meat the next. I've been to Las Asadas Des Plaines and Western so many times that I've had their A Game many, many times, and when it's on point, it can seem like spending 50.00 on a steakhouse slab of prime ribeye is a waste of $. When you have one of their "a grade" tacos, you'll KNOW it. It also helps to keep things in perspective when you're eating one of their "a grade" tacos...they cost about 1.70 per. I'd bet that any one of these places could have been voted tops - just depends on who is manning the grill that day, how busy they are, how fresh the steak was, how much seasoning the grillman sprinkled on*, etc..


* Major problem for me at Las Asadas Brookfield - they tend to be heavy handed on the salt over there for whatever reason. For that matter, El Asadero seems to be salt heavy on a regular basis as well IMO.

Panther in the Den wrote:

Head's Red BBQ wrote:wasn't on the crawl but got to try Las Asadas in Des Plaines for the first time last week. Met Burt for lunch . I opted for the regular burrito as I'm partial to just onions and cilantro.
Other than some of the meat being a bit chewy it was an other wise excellent burrito and worth a trip back.
It may be a dive but it was the perfect atmosphere for eating a burrito.

I had a similar experience at the Las Asadas in Brookfield. While you stand a good chance of having a good burrito there could be a difference from location to location.

I am pretty sure all of the locations included lettuce and tomato (a lot in the case of the ultimate) on the burrito and I think the pic's Burt posted were special order burritos that included rice and excluded some of the standard ingredients (I think). One thing that was good was that some of the places we visited automatically included avocado (sometimes for the low price of $4.00) which is usually an upcharge at a lot of restaurants.

Wish I kept a list of what was included with the 'standard' burrito as that is what I ordered at most of the restaurants.

Panther; you are correct! I tried to order every one of my groups burritos (except the La Pasadita Ultimate) with beans, rice, avocado, onion, cilantro and tomato if available, and skip the sour cream & lettuce. My goal was to have supers across the board and compare like for like.

As I've stated before, I believe that a burrito without the full dinner plate stuffed inside it, is just a bigger taco. The real key is how well do they integrate the ingredients, and what is the taste of those ingredients and perfect grilled charred steak when combined, the whole thing should taste like a Carne Asada dinner plate with rice, beans, a little salad and some salsa in every bite...

Finally got the crowd pics of the event posted.

Click on each pic to see all of the pics from each location.



Carniceria Y Taqueria Tierra Caliente


Carniceria Guanajuato


Taqueria El Asadero


La Palapita


Las Asadas


La Pasadita

Enjoy!

really nice pics panther, well done.

Really sorry to have missed this event. It appears we missed a good one but it was an absolutely crazy weekend for us and we just didn't have time.

One comment about La Pasadita: from the pics, it's evident that you went to the sit-down restaurant on the west side of Ashland. My experiences at that location have typically been below their standard -- almost like a completely different restaurant. I know this place has its critics and I can understand that but they seem to do their best job at the (mostly) carry-out shop on the east side of the street. I don't think you can completely judge La Pasadita until you get a burrito there.

=R=

Yeah having clicked on the photo and reviewed the burrito pics from La Pasadita, they look nothing at all like the burrito from the east-side stand, though you probably couldn't have fit that group in the place comfortably! The carne asada burrito w/ onions cilantro crema and salsa verde from there is another one of my go-to lunches.

ronnie_suburban wrote:I know this place has its critics and I can understand that but they seem to do their best job at the (mostly) carry-out shop on the east side of the street. I don't think you can completely judge La Pasadita until you get a burrito there.

La Pasadita East side of Ashland is the by far the best of the three. I agree with Ronnie and am more than a little surprised you went to one of the West side of Ashland La Pasaditas.

seebee wrote:Get thee to Las Asadas, order a burrito regular, de carne asada, sin frijoles.

And so I did.........

Burrito Seebee Style, carne asada, cilantro, onion, cheese



When I said no beans I was asked if I wanted sour cream, to which I answered no, cheese was never mentioned and came on the burrito. Should I have also specified no cheese?

I'd venture Las Asadas Regular Burrito is an excellent example of the burrito breed, but I am simply not a fan of the genre. A tent flap of flavor inhibiting flour tortilla, overabundance of dense slightly salty meat bound by just north of industrial cheese. Give me a corn tortilla taco with cilantro and onions any day.

Burrito was split with my lunch companion, I also ordered a lengua, tasty if a wee bit on the fatty side. Mexican Coke at Las Asadas is huge, almost 17-oz.



Enjoy,
Gary

Gary, has it been mentioned here before that the one and only original East Side Pasadita is the superior one and the GNR? I don't think so.

Also, the Was C. Leon pic proves once again my rule about the place: when the room is slow (later in the lunch hour), you go with the pastor (I mean, look at it). When the room is bustling (and they are grilling steak over the big fire, but the pastor is shaved down to paleness), you go with asada. I understand that this was a burrito crawl and my comments are impertinent. But you got to go with what's good now -- as true for a taqueria as it is for a seafood shack. If you're on the Gulf and a guy walks in with a crate full of wriggling shrimp, but you order the king crab legs, you fail. This is just a basic observation about simple, a la minute dives, not a global criticism of burritos (which I personally dislike) or burrito lovers, whom I sometimes adore.

PS, another thing to keep in mind: the more "Mexican" a place is (or it's customer base is) the more likely the cook will approach burrito orders the way an authentic Chinese or Thai place approaches egg rolls and such. Not a criticism, but an observation.

I enjoyed the post, BTW, and although I don't eat burritos, the pics of the meat are instructive.

JeffB wrote:Gary, has it been mentioned here before that the one and only original East Side Pasadita is the superior one and the GNR? I don't think so.

Well, actually, it has. I'm too lazy at the moment to troll through posts or even to use the search function, but I know that some time ago (in the months, not years, category) I wasn't certain which one to visit for lunch one day when I expected to be in the 'hood and a little study made clear the general Board preference for the east side of the street.