Dayton restaurants-best burritos

Dayton restaurants — Best burritos

The taste team, on a mission to find the best burrito in Dayton, sampled eight different tortilla wrapped delicacies so you don't have to. And believe us, you don't want to! We unfortunately had to eat some of ours less than piping hot because we transported them from all over town. Other than that, we got em loaded with everything and medium salsa. We tried chicken, beef and vegetarian options from each location.

Here are excerpts from our tasting notes.

Restaurants	Taco Bell (60 area locations)	Chipotle (4 area locations)	Qdoba (4 area locations)	Moe's Southwest Grill (2 area locations)	El Rancho Grande (3 area locations)	Taqueria Mixteca (1609 E. Third St., Dayton, OH 45403)	Carmel's (1025 Shroyer Road, Dayton, OH 45419)	Pepito's (4 area locations)
Taste: This one's pretty basic. We judged on taste, flavor and seasoning. The best burrito ever would get a 10.	Overall rating: 6.3 Pluses: "This is classic, nostalgic, comforting, delicious!" —Gerry Minuses: "Too many beans!" —Nicole	Overall rating: 7.0 Pluses: "I love how fresh this burrito is." —Nicole Minuses: "Unexpectedly spicy, rice is almost bitter in some bites." —Hillary	Overall rating: 4.6 Pluses: "The guacamole was good." —Gerry Minuses: "Ick. Tongue- scraping disgusting." —Zack	Overall rating: 5.6 Pluses: "This was a great burrito! Even the guacomole wasn't too bad." —Hillary Minuses: "Possibly the worst combination of flavors ever." —Zack	Overall rating: 8.4 Pluses: "I definitely loved the red sauce on this one!" —Nicole Minuses: "Only the meat lacks flavor." —Zack	Overall rating: 7.6 Pluses: "Delicious! Possibly the best ground beef, best mixture of ingredients." —Zack Minuses: "I'm not a supporter of beans in burritos unless it's just beans and cheese." —Nicole	Overall rating: 6.4 Pluses: "Great taste and very decent beef." —Zack Minuses: "First bite was unexpectedly repulsive. Maybe it was the strange purple relish." —Gerry	Overall rating: 2.0 Minuses: "The beans taste like grape jelly." —Mark
Freshness: No one wants the rice that's been sitting out all day. We checked out how fresh, juicy, and well-prepared the ingredients were.	Overall rating: 4.6 Pluses: "Not stale, but no Fresh Prince of Bel-Air." —Gerry Minuses: "The tomatoes taste off." —Nicole	Overall rating: 6.3 Pluses: "Well-prepared and ingredients were fresh." —Tiffany Minuses: "Tortilla was a little dry." —Mark	Overall rating: 5.3 Pluses: "Nice and warm, but not 'burn-the-roof- of-your-mouth' hot." —Tiffany Minuses: "Even if it was fresh, it would still be gross!" —Hillary	Overall rating: 6.0 Pluses: "Everything was fresh and tasty!" —Hillary Minuses: "It seemed poorly mixed." —Zack	Overall rating: 8.6 Pluses: "Excellent! Even for carryout it was still fresh and perfectly ready to eat." —Hillary Minuses: "The lettuce was poor quality" —Nicole	Overall rating: 8.0 Pluses: "The heavy duty foil helped with the freshness." —Mark Minuses: "Tolerable. It was a little mushy." —Hillary	Overall rating: 6.8 Pluses: "The chicken had the best taste. It looked like it was cut right off a fresh chicken breast." —Mark Minuses: "Rice was dry, sticky and dirty tasting." —Gerry	Overall rating: 3.2 Minuses: "It may have been fresh, but if so there's something seriously wrong with those cows." —Zack
Presentation and texture: Your eyes see it before your mouth does! Too wet and messy? Too dry? How's the ratio of tortilla to filling?	Overall rating: 6.6 Pluses: "Here it excels. Plenty of burrito goodness!" —Zack Minuses: "Ingredients were put together very sloppily." —Mark	Overall rating: 7.0 Pluses: "Good presentation and ingredient ratio. Love the tortilla!" —Nicole Minuses: "The tortilla falls apart too easily." —Mark	Overall rating: 6.3 Pluses: "It looked WAY better than it tasted!" —Zack Minuses: "Why does the sour cream look like cottage cheese?" —Nicole	Overall rating: 7.3 Pluses: "This burrito had the best presentation with a great colorful display." —Mark Minuses: "Too moist and mushy! Not well mixed and it had way too much sour cream." —Tiffany	Overall rating: 9.6 Pluses: "This burrito came with rice and beans. Always great to have a side." —Mark Also Pluses: "Great! However, you must use a fork!" —Gerry	Overall rating: 8.4 Pluses: "Great ratio and a great tortilla." —Nicole Minuses: "It was huge, but that's its only good attribute." —Hillary	Overall rating: 5.6 Pluses: "My portion was beef-heavy, however, it was very full of indgredients." —Zack Minuses: "Too dry! The chicken tasted like that particular fowl had a tanning bed problem." —Nicole	Overall rating: 2.4 Minuses: "Not enough filler, too flat." —Gerry
Worth the dough? A great burrito for $12 better be one helluva burrito! How much do you get for the money?	Overall rating: 7.3 Average cost (depends on filling, i.e. chicken, steak, vegetarian): $2.75 Comments: "If I needed, I could buy two for the price of the leading competitor." —Gerry "A ton of food for cheap." —Mark	Overall rating: 7.0 Average cost (depends on filling, i.e. chicken, steak, vegetarian): $5.50 Comments: "Definitely worth it, except the heartburn." —Nicole "Best burrito for the price." —Mark	Overall rating: 4.3 Average cost (depends on filling, i.e. chicken, steak, vegetarian): $5.75 "You get a fair amount. It's filling." —Gerry	Overall rating: 5.0 Average cost (depends on filling, i.e. chicken, steak, vegetarian): $6.15 with tortilla chips included Comments: "Not worth the money." —Tiffany "Great taste and chips included! Can't beat that!" —Hillary	Overall rating: 8.4 Average cost (depends on filling, i.e. chicken, steak, vegetarian): A two burrito meal for about $9. One burrito for $7. Comments: "I'm not sure if it's worth $7, but with rice and beans it may be worth it." —Nicole "The value of buying two for $9 is a great deal." —Gerry	Overall rating: 8.4 Average cost (depends on filling, i.e. chicken, steak, vegetarian): $5 Comments: "This is the biggest burrito I've ever seen!" —Mark "Big! What a value!" —Zack	Overall rating: 6.0 Average cost (depends on filling, i.e. chicken, steak, vegetarian): $7.25 Comments: "You get a fair amount for the price, but it would rate higher if it was yummy." —Gerry "A little overpriced for what it is." —Hillary	Overall rating: 2.4 Average cost (depends on filling, i.e. chicken, steak, vegetarian): $5 Comments: "You don't get any burrito for your money; you get Mexican- flavored food paste." —Gerry

Restaurants

Taco Bell

(60 area locations)

Chipotle

(4 area locations)

Qdoba

(4 area locations)

Moe's Southwest Grill

(2 area locations)

El Rancho Grande

(3 area locations)

Taqueria Mixteca

(1609 E. Third St., Dayton, OH 45403)

Carmel's

(1025 Shroyer Road, Dayton, OH 45419)

Pepito's

(4 area locations)

Taste:

This one's pretty basic. We judged on taste, flavor and seasoning. The best burrito ever would get a 10.

Overall rating: 6.3

Pluses: "This is classic, nostalgic, comforting, delicious!" —Gerry

Minuses: "Too many beans!" —Nicole

Overall rating: 7.0

Pluses: "I love how fresh this burrito is." —Nicole

Minuses: "Unexpectedly spicy, rice is almost bitter in some bites." —Hillary

Overall rating: 4.6

Pluses: "The guacamole was good." —Gerry

Minuses: "Ick. Tongue- scraping disgusting." —Zack

Overall rating: 5.6

Pluses: "This was a great burrito! Even the guacomole wasn't too bad." —Hillary

Minuses: "Possibly the worst combination of flavors ever." —Zack

Overall rating: 8.4

Pluses: "I definitely loved the red sauce on this one!" —Nicole

Minuses: "Only the meat lacks flavor." —Zack

Overall rating: 7.6

Pluses: "Delicious! Possibly the best ground beef, best mixture of ingredients." —Zack

Minuses: "I'm not a supporter of beans in burritos unless it's just beans and cheese." —Nicole

Overall rating: 6.4

Pluses: "Great taste and very decent beef." —Zack

Minuses: "First bite was unexpectedly repulsive. Maybe it was the strange purple relish." —Gerry

Overall rating: 2.0

Minuses: "The beans taste like grape jelly." —Mark

Freshness:

No one wants the rice that's been sitting out all day. We checked out how fresh, juicy, and well-prepared the ingredients were.

Overall rating: 4.6

Pluses: "Not stale, but no Fresh Prince of Bel-Air." —Gerry

Minuses: "The tomatoes taste off." —Nicole

Overall rating: 6.3

Pluses: "Well-prepared and ingredients were fresh." —Tiffany

Minuses: "Tortilla was a little dry." —Mark

Overall rating: 5.3

Pluses: "Nice and warm, but not 'burn-the-roof- of-your-mouth' hot." —Tiffany

Minuses: "Even if it was fresh, it would still be gross!" —Hillary

Overall rating: 6.0

Pluses: "Everything was fresh and tasty!" —Hillary

Minuses: "It seemed poorly mixed." —Zack

Overall rating: 8.6

Pluses: "Excellent! Even for carryout it was still fresh and perfectly ready to eat." —Hillary

Minuses: "The lettuce was poor quality" —Nicole

Overall rating: 8.0

Pluses: "The heavy duty foil helped with the freshness." —Mark

Minuses: "Tolerable. It was a little mushy." —Hillary

Overall rating: 6.8

Pluses: "The chicken had the best taste. It looked like it was cut right off a fresh chicken breast." —Mark

Minuses: "Rice was dry, sticky and dirty tasting." —Gerry

Overall rating: 3.2

Minuses: "It may have been fresh, but if so there's something seriously wrong with those cows." —Zack

Presentation and texture:

Your eyes see it before your mouth does! Too wet and messy? Too dry? How's the ratio of tortilla to filling?

Overall rating: 6.6

Pluses: "Here it excels. Plenty of burrito goodness!" —Zack

Minuses: "Ingredients were put together very sloppily." —Mark

Overall rating: 7.0

Pluses: "Good presentation and ingredient ratio. Love the tortilla!" —Nicole

Minuses: "The tortilla falls apart too easily." —Mark

Overall rating: 6.3

Pluses: "It looked WAY better than it tasted!" —Zack

Minuses: "Why does the sour cream look like cottage cheese?" —Nicole

Overall rating: 7.3

Pluses: "This burrito had the best presentation with a great colorful display." —Mark

Minuses: "Too moist and mushy! Not well mixed and it had way too much sour cream." —Tiffany

Overall rating: 9.6

Pluses: "This burrito came with rice and beans. Always great to have a side." —Mark

Also Pluses: "Great! However, you must use a fork!" —Gerry

Overall rating: 8.4

Pluses: "Great ratio and a great tortilla." —Nicole

Minuses: "It was huge, but that's its only good attribute." —Hillary

Overall rating: 5.6

Pluses: "My portion was beef-heavy, however, it was very full of indgredients." —Zack

Minuses: "Too dry! The chicken tasted like that particular fowl had a tanning bed problem." —Nicole

Overall rating: 2.4

Minuses: "Not enough filler, too flat." —Gerry

Worth the dough?

A great burrito for $12 better be one helluva burrito! How much do you get for the money?

Overall rating: 7.3

Average cost (depends on filling, i.e. chicken, steak, vegetarian): $2.75

Comments: "If I needed, I could buy two for the price of the leading competitor." —Gerry

"A ton of food for cheap." —Mark

Overall rating: 7.0

Average cost (depends on filling, i.e. chicken, steak, vegetarian): $5.50

Comments: "Definitely worth it, except the heartburn." —Nicole

"Best burrito for the price." —Mark

Overall rating: 4.3

Average cost (depends on filling, i.e. chicken, steak, vegetarian): $5.75

"You get a fair amount. It's filling." —Gerry

Overall rating: 5.0

Average cost (depends on filling, i.e. chicken, steak, vegetarian): $6.15 with tortilla chips included

Comments: "Not worth the money." —Tiffany

"Great taste and chips included! Can't beat that!" —Hillary

Overall rating: 8.4

Average cost (depends on filling, i.e. chicken, steak, vegetarian): A two burrito meal for about $9. One burrito for $7.

Comments: "I'm not sure if it's worth $7, but with rice and beans it may be worth it." —Nicole

"The value of buying two for $9 is a great deal." —Gerry

Overall rating: 8.4

Average cost (depends on filling, i.e. chicken, steak, vegetarian): $5

Comments: "This is the biggest burrito I've ever seen!" —Mark

"Big! What a value!" —Zack

Overall rating: 6.0

Average cost (depends on filling, i.e. chicken, steak, vegetarian): $7.25

Comments: "You get a fair amount for the price, but it would rate higher if it was yummy." —Gerry

"A little overpriced for what it is." —Hillary

Overall rating: 2.4

Average cost (depends on filling, i.e. chicken, steak, vegetarian): $5

Comments: "You don't get any burrito for your money; you get Mexican- flavored food paste." —Gerry

The resounding loser…

Pepito's

The taste team:

Gerry, 23, the non-picky eater.

Hillary, 23, the moderately picker eater who hates beans.

Zack, 23, not at all picky.

Nicole, 21, an adventuresome food connoisseur.

Tiffany, 18, admittedly very picky.

Mark, 22, the adventurous eater.

What do you think of our findings? Do you agree or disagree? Is there a place we haven't covered that we should visit next time?

Comments

By marilyn

May 4, 2008 5:29 PM | Link to this

the mixteca on 3rd street is the best. hotheads is a dump. chipotle chips are awesome. hillary is a crybaby who i imagine has a snotty wrinkle nosed face when she looks at things to pretend shes important. thanks!

By austin white

April 7, 2008 11:17 AM | Link to this

i agree that hot heads is the best i love the steak and all the options that you have to pick from and the taste team is realy stupid they dont know what they are talking about.

By luis

April 4, 2008 9:27 AM | Link to this

just a reminder for the taste team pepitos is been close for 3 months there are only two locations ,maybe you went to a different restaurant how reliable is your info ? you need to be carefull you can damaged the reputation of a restaurant when you get this kind of ………more serious thanks

By Foreverglow

April 3, 2008 5:01 PM | Link to this

Elsa’s! Where the crap are they?

By Diane

March 21, 2008 3:01 PM | Link to this

I agree with the Hothead burrito comment! I LOVE HOT HEAD! When you put that buffulo sauce on that burrito you will agree too that it is one of the best ones in town!

By Scot

March 19, 2008 5:12 PM | Link to this

Where is Hot Head Burrito’s on this list? This is a totally local company that plays with the big boys and the family run joints. Any fans or detractors pleases pipe in.

By Julie

January 30, 2008 7:40 AM | Link to this

Nobody went to LasPiramides ???? You gotta go try their BURRITO ENAMORADO - Steak or Chicken. I always get the steak - this burrito is HUGE with Steak, Green Peppers and Onions and covered in that wonder white creamy melted cheese. Comes with shredded lettuce and pico de gallo on the side. Not filled with Rice and beans like most places do.

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