Review: Taco Bell's Beefy 5-Layer Burrito

Enough posts about work...they're depressing me. Let's get to a quickie review of Taco Bell's latest addition to their Value Menu, the Beefy 5-Layer Burrito.

If you've been watching any of the college football bowl games on TV, I'm sure you've caught the Taco Bell commercial for the beefy burrito. Well, I certainly have and as I'm a sucker for the marketing, I had to try it out.

The 5-layers consist of:

• Flour tortilla
• Nacho cheese sauce
• Seasoned ground beef
• Refried beans
• Sour Cream

The first bite was great. I had a great big helping of the seasoned beef, a ton of nacho cheese and a big dollop of the sour cream. Unfortunately, things went south from there. The next bite would turn out to be the last bite of beef and sour cream. After that, it was all beans and nacho cheese sauce. Yes, I realize that I should not be expecting much for $0.89, but the person who put my burrito together could have spread the beef, beans and sour cream more evenly. It was just very disappointing.

My verdict: skip the Beefy 5-Layer Burrito. You'd be better off with one of the tacos (either the soft or crunchy taco).

Review: Burrito from Tacos Tumbras a Tomas

Well, the wife and I had a craving for carne asada burritos today and I headed to Tacos Tumbras a Tomas to satisfy that urge.



Tacos Tumbras (located at the Grand Central Market in Downtown Los Angeles) is known for their huge portions - be it for their tacos, tortas or burritos. It was near the end of the day when I strolled on in, so their portions get slightly bigger than usual. Check out this bad boy to see what I mean!



Yes, that is a 12oz can of soda (or in this case, a 12oz can of Chinese Lemon Ice Tea).



The burrito was generously filled with:

• 4 scoops of marinated carne asada
• 2-3 scoops of rice
• 1 scoop of beans
• Generous helping of chopped raw onions and cilantro
• 2 big spoonfuls of hot sauce (your choice of green or red sauce)
  

With the burrito (and almost everything else here), it's all about the meat and the amount they give you. As you see above, we're not talking Taco Bell sized burritos. The burrito literally requires a knife and folk to eat! The asada was very flavorful (as is their other meats - carnitas, cabeza, lengua, etc.) although a bit on the dry side today (probably the result of my going at the end of the day).

As you can see, I had no real complaint!



It was a good thing I was hungry, because on any other day, that would have been good for 2 meals. I'm stuffed...not bad for $5.50.

Tacos Tumbras a Tomas
317 S Broadway, Stall A5
Los Angeles, CA 90012
(213) 620-1071
Mon-Sun, 9am - 6pm

Review: Taco Bell's Nacho Crunch Burrito

As I've said before, I'm a sucker for the marketing. Watching all that college football on Saturday meant that I saw the Taco Bell commercial for their new 1/2 pound burritos about 80 times. I couldn't find the commercial on YouTube to share with you, but it's the one with Evander Holyfield where he orders one of the 3 new burritos that Taco Bell is offering:

Well, the wife and I were getting some gas for the car today and on the way to the gas station, we passed by a Taco Bell. I couldn't help but comment about the burrito and the Holyfield commercial, so the wife insisted that I get it (I'm sure she just wants me to get it so I don't constantly comment on the burrito every time we pass by a Taco Bell).

Well, first of all, the Nacho Crunch burrito didn't look like the photo above. However, it sure was tasty!

The burrito had the following:

• Ground beef
• Nacho cheese sauce
• Strips of tortilla chips
  
• Tomatoes
  
• Sour cream
  

There was a good amount of sour cream and nacho cheese sauce throughout, so every bite was flavorful. The only issue I encountered is that you need to eat the burrito quickly! Because there is so much sauce, the tortilla chips which is supposed to give the burrito its crunch got very soggy.

My verdict: If the Nacho Crunch Burrito stays on the menu for $1.99, I will definitely get it again.