When you’re in Moab, Utah, it’s probably best to be as Moab as possible. This might mean crazy mountain biking, death-defying humvee riding or long hikes. Or it could mean a meal out at Miguel’s Baja Grill, a Mexican restaurant right in the middle of town. But it’s not enough to simply go to Miguel’s – the key is to eat Miguel’s M.O.A.B. (Mother of all Burritos).

This burrito was filled with beans, rice and jack cheese, plus whatever meat I wanted. I chose steak because it is steak. Then I chose the red sauce to top it all with because my waiter said it was the best. The burrito could have conceivably actually given birth to another burrito at some point in its life because it was really, really big (perhaps even bigger than the “pregnant burrito” I once ate).

Thus, I jumped right in with a fork and knife and went to town on this mother. It was nothing short of delicious. The steak was cooked nicely and well-seasoned, while the cheese, beans and rice were exactly as you would expect them. Perhaps the biggest pleasant surprise was the red sauce, which was flavorful and also packed a nice punch.

Regardless of how you do Moab, you’re going to be hungry. And when you are, you won’t go wrong with a M.O.A.B.

Scottsdale and breakfast go together like peas and carrots. Well, assuming those peas and carrots are nowhere near me. But having breakfast near me is good, so it became time to check out Ncounter in Scottsdale, its third location after presumably finding success in Tempe and Phoenix. I’m not sure what the “N” stands for, but the rest of the name is descriptive of the ordering style of the restaurant, so that made sense.

I ordered the Chipotle Egg Burrito, which is packed with bacon, avocado, cilantro, potatoes, scrambled egg, cheese and chipotle sauce. And it was really very good. I appreciated each ingredient in balance and really loved the flair of melting extra cheese over the top of the thing both for style points and for taste points. No bite was the same as the last, but none were overwhelmed by any single ingredient either.

This wasn’t a burrito to end all burritos, nor was it even a burrito I would necessarily go for on a later visit to Ncounter, but it was unquestionably a burrito worth eating and one that made me think Ncounter probably has a bunch of other really solid food waiting for an unvegan to eat it.

Once again, I found myself at one of the Phoenix area’s seemingly endless supply of breakfast/brunch spots. This time it was a place called Scramble in Scottsdale. Scramble is one of those places where you order at the counter, which is all good and well until there’s only one person at the counter with a line out the door and a bunch of empty tables inside. But I digress, as even with that wait to order it probably took just as long to get my food as it would have if I had sat down and ordered at the table.

And what food did I order? Why, that would be the Southwest Breakfast Burrito. Unlike most southwest-style burritos, this one had no beans and, most importantly, no pico de gallo. Instead, it was filled with spicy chorizo, cheddar, avocado, scrambled eggs (duh), and jalapeno cream cheese. It also came with hash browns on the side, and not inside like some burritos may be.

I was definitely a fan of the various flavors and the burrito undoubtedly packed a punch. Yet, the ingredients all kind of blurred together from a textural standpoint. And this was a shame, because the hash browns that were on the outside looking in were of the delicious crunchy sort. Throw those in the burrito and they are a game changer, but without them I was left with the feeling that this burrito just didn’t live up to its flavor potential.

Alas, flavor is important, so with that said I was a fan of Scramble, but not as much of a fan as I could have been.

I love old school greasy Mexican places. The types that have been around from years, have a stable menu and don’t try to introduce something crazy to the menu (I mean I like those too, but there’s a special place in my heart for the former). Ajo Al’s in Scottsdale is one of those old school places. Maybe it hasn’t been around since some of Phoenix’s older spots, but it opened in 1986, which is like 100 years ago in Arizona years.

Like many local spots, they have their twist on the open-faced quesadilla. Locals call them cheese crisps, but people like me know the truth. And unfortunately, Ajo Al’s Cheese Crisp is pretty subpar. I mean, you can’t go wrong with cheese on tortilla, but this one just wasn’t anything more than that.

Yet, the main course I ordered was nothing less than perfect. It was the Pollo Con Queso, which literally means “Chicken with Cheese” in Spanish, but that translation doesn’t do it justice. This is a burrito simply filled with shredded chicken and deep fried, then it’s topped with spicy cream cheese and a thick layer of, well, more cheese. It also comes with beans (I opted for refried) and rice.

And yet, while this sounds like the most overwhelming meal of all time, it’s actually shockingly balanced. Each bite is better than the last until you reach the inevitable diminishing returns toward the end of the burrito. But, then, there’s rice and beans to rescue you in case things get a little too delicious. The only complaint I can really lodge is that there were a few pieces of lettuce thrown on the plate next to the burrito with no explanation whatsoever.

You can get better cheese crisps elsewhere, but I’m not sure the same can be said for a deep fried, chicken-filled cream cheese and regular cheese-topped burrito.

As with most breakfast places in Southern California, there has to be some sort of Mexican influence. Dawn Patrol in Santa Barbara is no different. So as I stood in line waiting to place my order, I had plenty of time to think about what to get. Like many breakfasts before, I couldn’t take my eyes off of the Breakfast Burrito.

But this was no ordinary breakfast burrito. Where others are often just a combination of meat, cheese, egg and potatoes, Dawn Patrol’s goes a different route. It’s filled with an over-easy egg, Oaxacan cheese, fire-roasted salsa, avocado and beans. And not just any beans: heirloom beans. I have no idea what that means, at least in the flavor realm, but I was excited to find out. I also added bacon to my burrito for good measure.

The result was pretty fantastic. I mean it’s hard to go wrong with all of those things mixed together in a burrito and Dawn Patrol didn’t disappoint. It was also a nice balance of flavor that can be hard to get in a breakfast burrito stuffed with hash browns. The tortilla was griddled to a nice crisp that added a bit of crunch to the texture and made itself more than just a container.

As far as breakfast burritos go, I couldn’t have asked for much more than what Dawn Patrol had to offer.

A lot of the time, a burrito is just a burrito. Fillings vary in quality and variety, but they are generally the same basic thing. Not so much at Burritos La Palma in El Monte. These burritos came straight from Jerez, Mexico and if you didn’t know any better you might think of them as enchiladas. Burritos La Palma specializes in birria and so that’s what I got.

But I didn’t just order my birria straight up, I ordered them as the Platillo Especial, which comes topped with a green chile pork sauce, a side of refried beans and lettuce and tomato for no apparent reason. But you may be wondering what a birria actually is. Well, in actuality it’s little more than a spiced, shredded beef, but the way Burritos Las Palmas makes it you would think it’s a whole lot more. The seasoning was nothing short of fantastic and the little bite I had of my buddy’s chicken tinga only served to drive that point home. The beef was incredibly tender, as well, and the best part is that there was nothing else inside the burritos but the beef.

It was served enchilada-style and really was basically an enchilada. Probably the only difference is that the burritos were closed off at the ends and perhaps maybe the people of Jerez just know better.

It’s not easy to find a reason to go to El Monte, but Burritos La Palma is one of them. You can get a normal burrito almost anywhere. You can find some great burritos out there, too. But Burritos La Palma is more than that, it’s not just unique, but it’s great in every conceivable way. Well, except for that ridiculous bit of lettuce and tomato, of course.

Tacos tu Madre was blowing up all over the social media a few months ago with amazing-looking burritos that seemed to represent a new level of delicious fusion. Thus, I had to give the place a try and had my best opportunity when out in West LA. They were out of a couple things, but this didn’t impact what I had in mind. There are a number of options and they are all available as a burrito, a taco or a bowl.

I went with the Fried Chicken Burrito, which was stuffed with buttermilk fried chicken, poblano ranch slaw, fermented chili, cilantro, honey sriracha and Spanish rice. It also came with a sort of spicy aioli for a kick. This was a great decision, as you can’t really go wrong with sticking fried chicken in anything and this burrito was no exception. Yet, while I ordered my burrito without the slaw, Tacos to Madre made the mistake of sneaking it in and for that they may never be forgiven.

I also ordered a Grilled Cheese taco, which is not at all like the traditional grilled cheese sandwich. It features queso panela, which is a cheese that can very literally be grilled. This, Tacos tu Madre did just that and topped it with red pepper aioli and avocado. It was essentially like a fancy pants quesadilla and it was fantastic. Plus, there was no slaw or any other such vegetables to ruin the experience.

Thus, Tacos tu Madre has garnered mixed reviews from yours truly. I want to believe that the slaw mistake was just a one-off, because this is a place that I want to get back to. After all, it’s not everywhere that you can get a fried chicken burrito and I’d like to believe such purity still exists in our world.

In LA, the word Rodeo usually means one thing: a shopping street in Beverly Hills. Sometimes it means another random street on the west side and occasionally it means the thing with cowboys and stuff. Almost never does it mean dinner, unless you happen to find yourself strolling along Sunset in Echo Park and stepping into the first divey Mexican place you can find that just so happens to go by the name of Rodeo.

The place had the interior and menu that you could find in dozens of other Mexican places around LA, so I ordered the same thing I would order in any of them – a Burrito Enchilado Plate. This is just fancy Mexi-speak for a wet burrito. I filled mine with carne asada, but it also came stuffed with rice, beans, onions and cilantro, with beans and rice on the side. I wanted no part of the onions, then chose to get mine topped with both green and red salsa because I had never heard of such a thing before and the counter man recommended it.

The result was a pretty solid burrito. In fact, it met pretty much every expectation I had for such a spot. In no way did it amaze me (aside from all the colors!), but it also didn’t let me down at all. This is not the kind of place to rush out and eat, but if you’re in the neighborhood it will get the job done. Especially if the job is to make your burrito both green AND red.

Every now and again a restaurant comes along and changes everything, It gives you something you never knew existed or something you knew existed, but just hadn’t found yet. The new taco truck at Carnegie Mellon creatively calling itself Camion Mexicana Universidad that just opened a couple of weeks ago is not one of those places. But for myself and a couple of guys from California, it was greeted with immediate excitement.

We all ordered a steak burrito, each customizing it to fit their needs. I got mine without sour cream or lettuce, but with the steak, two types of salsa (corn and normal), beans, rice and cheese. And when it was ready and wrapped in foil it was impressive in size. Unfortunately, that was where any positive impression ended.

As I bit in, I found myself mouth-to-burrito with a slew of tomatoes. This could be overcome with a lot of hard work, but the rest of the burrito didn’t really improve matters. The steak itself was a sickly grayish color with little flavor and even if there was a lot of flavor, it was overwhelmed by the sheer amount of rice inside.

I truly wish the place the best of luck, because perhaps people without a taste for good Mexican food could be satisfied by the taco truck. Or, perhaps they will some day read this post and know that changes can be made. After all, it is not so crazy for a spot to make adjustments to fit the needs of customers, especially so early on.

In the land of Western New York, a great battle is being waged over Americanized Mexican fast food. In one corner there is Taco Bell, perennial favorite around the country. In the other is Mighty Taco, a local favorite with just about as much connection to Mexico as general stability (read: none). Yet, I knew I had to try it out to see what kind of competition it is to the first love of my life.

I decided I had to try out a few items to really test out Mighty Taco. It began with two tacos, one with barbecue pork and the other with ground beef. They also came with cheese, tomato and lettuce, so I told them to hold the latter two crappy ingredients. I was given the option of white, wheat or corn tortilla and chose white (which I assumed meant flour) and also a choice of sauce and went with hot. The result was pretty good, although the pork was a bit too sweet. Neither were anything special, but they got the job done at a good price.

As for that other thing in the picture up above, it’s the Banderito from their specialty burrito menu. It’s filled with fajita steak, “Buffito” chicken (which apparently means actual grilled chicken with buffalo sauce), more chicken in apparent fajita form, lettuce, blue cheese and hot sauce. Of course I ordered without the lettuce and this was a wise choice. In fact, the Banderito was the best thing I had, it was quite tasty and while it doesn’t seriously threaten Taco Bell, it is a nice thing to have to switch things up every once in while.