The Tako Factory in the community of La Mesa in San Diego, California made me think about how many times I’ve gotten lost as a driver in an area I’m not familiar with. Even though I felt it in my gut that another’s direction may be the right one, I still should’ve gone with the other feeling in my gut to go with the original plan. The original plan was Los Pinos within the Grossmont area.
Situated within a spitting distance from the social services office off of 73rd and El Cajon Boulevard, Tako Factory took the place of another shop that I recall being painted in the traditional yellow and red motif. Tako Factory added a new logo and got hip to the times by being clever and using the O.M.G. acronym as the “original Mexican gourmet.”
In seeing that I thought about how much of a bold statement that was and how many other places like this had some sort of claim to fame to a burrito or some other Mexican dish.The dish in question here is the infamous California Burrito. I am still kind of new to the California burrito as it is a dense package of energy for laborious endeavors. The order was something like this:
The cashier: what can I do for you boss?
Me: Yeah, I’d like two California burritos please?
Cashier: Two California burritos?
(I’m glad my partner in gormandizing was there to indirectly remind me that it may contain Pico de Gallo (spicy rooster (cock) ).
So I told him no pico. Just with that request, the guy hesitated a bit and wondered why we would do such a thing just with the raised eyebrow and the slightly sarcastic “okay.”
About ten minutes later the burritos were ready and as he was putting them in the plastic bag, he asked if we wanted salsa and we said yes. One big no no for me was the dick faced move of dropping one of the containers on the floor and putting it back in the bag. I don’t like starting trouble. I am a peaceful man.
At home, we finally got a chance to eat the burritos. My appetite was affected when an insect was discovered in the bag our burritos were in. Plus, it didn’t help that a salsa that was dropped on the floor was put back in the bag. But as a glutton for punishment, I pressed on and bit into the beast. (Please refer to the photo above)
O.M.G. was not the right slogan, (pitch, gimmick, insult) for their Mexican gourmet. With the first bite, I didn’t get the blend of the ingredients that a California burrito usually gives. The fries, meat, sour cream, salsa didn’t come together. The flavors all tended to stay away from the bland flavorless meat which also tasted like they forgot to order some from their supplier and quickly ran to the local market/lotto store to buy meat. The fries tasted like less than discount fries, and the emphasis here was all about quantity over decency. My fellow reviewer also got to the bottom of the burrito faster than me, and at least gave me a heads up that there was a light at the end of the giant heap of tastelessness. And yes, it was there, but let me also remind you that I used my three salsas to give it hope and change. The reward was also a queasy stomach and self loathing for changing my mind from Los Pinos to this place due to positive reviews from the locals on Yelp!
My score: 6.5 out of 10 teeth. And a nail with a crap infested middle finger to the cashier.
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