(More on that later.)
Here’s how each burrito ranked in descending order from my least favorite to the overall best.
This burrito cost me $3.99.
Photo: Taco Bell/Facebook. Design: Eat This, Not That!
The look:Admittedly, looks-wise, this wasn’t quite the travesty I was expecting.
It looks bulky and, indeed, quite beefy.
So kudos for living up to its name.
Photo: Matt Kirouac/Eat This, Not That!
But the kudos pretty much ended there.
The taste:That savory paste I mentioned?
It tasted exactly like that.
Photo: Matt Kiroauc, Eat This, Not That!
Which is, quite frankly, terrible.
The tortilla is way too much, as well, providing too much chew.
And anything that prolongs chewing on something like this is never a good thing.
Photo: Matt Kiroauc, Eat This, Not That!
This burrito cost me $5.79.
The look:Anything that elicits an automatic “eww” is never a good sign.
Everything seems to meld together into a creamy goop, flecked with off-putting pieces of lettuce.
Photo: Matt Kiroauc, Eat This, Not That!
The beans and red sauce are the primary showcases here, while everything else is too muted and messy.
At least it was cheap!
This burrito cost me just $1.49.
Photo: Matt Kiroauc, Eat This, Not That!
Taco Bell really likes the color brown, huh?
The taste:Quite simply, Taco Bell’s refried beans just don’t do it for me.
They taste nothing like actual beans, but rather a mash of mildly seasoned paste.
Photo: Matt Kiroauc, Eat This, Not That!
Granted, this one didn’t taste terrible, but the texture was a bit of a catastrophe.
The beans and the excessive, not-warm-enough tortilla make it altogether too chewy and gummy.
Ultimately, though, the refried beans are too much.
Photo: Matt Kiroauc, Eat This, Not That!
This burrito cost me $2.19.
The taste:It’s…fine.
Which is frankly glowing praise compared to how this could have gone.
Photo: Matt Kiroauc, Eat This, Not That!
The beans still kind of suck, but in this case, that’s mostly because they’re bland.
Of the new current iterations, the vegetarian version with black beans, was the inferior.
This burrito cost $5.19.
Photo: Matt Kiroauc, Eat This, Not That!
That sounds like an excessive mouthful, but it (mostly) works.
The red strips, which are crispy red tortilla strips, lose their crunch amid all the sauce though.
This burrito was the most expensive of the bunch at $5.99.6254a4d1642c605c54bf1cab17d50f1e
The look:Not that appetizing.
The taste:Fortunately, it’s much better than it looks.
It’s also much more modest than the Cantina Chicken.
This burrito cost me $2.49.
The look:Magnitudes better than the Cantina Chicken.
The tortilla looks toasted and much fresher, and the filling looks downright wholesome and balanced.
The taste:Of all the burritos in this survey, this one tasted the most like it looks.
And in this case, I mean quite good.
But in this case, it’s all better.
This burrito cost $5.19.
The taste:Indeed, every aspect of the Grilled Cheese Burrito is an improvement.
The seasoned beef is much more flavorful than the black beans, and it binds everything together more effectively.
Also, the fiesta strips retain their crunch, and provide a great textural contrast.
This burrito cost $2.79.
The look:Funny enough, my praise aside, this didn’t look all that amazing.
Mostly, it looks fine.
It’s definitely ample and clearly meaty, but it doesn’t wow like the Grilled Cheese burritos.
The taste:The wow factor here is in the taste.
And boy, does it taste shockingly good!
