Burritos & Bill Murray

Time, once again, to blog about a local DC eatery (sorry, out-of-towners, but if you read on, I'll try to make it worth your while).

Today's lunch came from The Well Dressed Burrito. Like the Greek Deli, this is another landmark in the "Golden Triangle" district, particularly throughout the blogosphere. Or more accurately, exclusively in the blogosphere. That's because The Well Dressed Burrito is anything but a landmark... it is accessed through an unmarked door, through a narrow gate, up a couple of stairs, in an alley off 19th street. Adding to its hidden mystique, the entire block where it's located (between 20th & 21st) is currently fronted by a massive construction crane, lots of scaffolding, and temporary fences. They take pride in their location, printing "somewhere in an alley..." on their menus and website - a phrase probably taken from a critique.

Now on to the food. I should mention that I take my burritos seriously. And they make a seriously good burrito. I had the sauteed vegetable burrito today, along with a bag of chips (a sandwich bag, hand-packed with store-bought tortilla chips). I sprung for fresh spinach, an extra $0.50 - and they give you your money's worth. To my pleasant surprise, the veggie assortment included onions, more than one type of squash, cauliflower, carrot, and possibly some mushroom. Quite tasty. I'll have to go back and try one of their salmon offerings - available in quesadilla, fajita, and burrito forms.

I'm reminded of a scene from the movie Scrooged. Bill Murray's character, having just been kissed by one of the sultry actresses in his Christmas production:
"Boy, that was very good. But you know what? It wasn't great. There's only been one 'great'."

That sums up how I feel about burritos. The one great? OK, technically it was two: Big Burrito & Burrito Max, sister-restaurants which at one time flanked the campus of Boston University. Sadly, both are now gone. But I've yet to find an equal. They made their own chips, their burritos were HUGE, and they're still the only burrito place I've patronized that used yellow rice. The zenith of my burrito experience, life to date, was their BBQ Tofu burrito. Homemade BBQ sauce, tofu with perfect consistency, yellow rice, cheese, pico de gallo... It didn't attempt to be authentic Mex or Tex-Mex, but it was outstanding.

Honestly, nothing else has even come close. I'm still a fan of Moe's and Baja Fresh (and to a lesser extent, Chipotle). The Well Dressed Burrito might even fall into my top tier, but it doesn't take down California Tortilla - my favorite burrito in the DC area.