Weird numbers but good tasting food (Chiptole Mexican Grill (Downtown Vancouver))

Every time I walk by here, there are always lots of people lined up. So I decided to do a bit of research on this place and found out that they only have 4 menu items. This includes either 3 tacos, a burrito, a burrito without the tortilla (so it's pretty much just a salad, but because there is rice, you still get your grains), or the salad. Then you get to choose your toppings and what you would like to put in your burrito/ meal. All of them come in at around 9-11 dollars.
  When I arrived it was around lunch time, and the place was jam packed with people. It seemed like all of the seats were taken, so you either had to sit with someone else or have it as a take out. My friend and I were waiting in line and we started out the door. It took about 8 minutes before we got to the front (they moved very fast actually, I think this is where the less menu options come in). I decided to order a Chicken Burrito as it seemed to be the biggest of them all for the lowest price to calorie ratio.
   It sort of reminded me of Subway as they asked you what you would like to put in your burrito. I decided to put everything (BEWARE!! Some things they offer like guacamole or salsa will cost EXTRA but you have to ask which one cost more if you are looking strictly on the cost side). I decided to get everything that didn't cost extra. I must also add that the prices that they have for their things seem so random. Usually you would see something priced at something that ends with a .99... however, for them they end in unusually weird numbers... I am not sure if this is because with tax those numbers become a round number or if they did that to stand out...
  When I got my meal, the way they wrapped the taco up  and how heavy it was made it feel like grenade for some reason. It was a solid solenoid shaped thing that was warm in a tin foil. Because I told them it was for dine-in, they gave it to me in a basket. I also ordered chips too (they were only $1.20 and it seemed to be freshly made).
  The burrito tasted pretty good, the ingredients felt fresh and the portion was big (I actually just did the Grouse Grind before this so I was pretty hungry). The only downside was that the tortilla shell got a bit soggy and wasn't able to hold all of the ingredients.. so I ended up with a bunch of loose rice and vegetables and stuff at the end. Otherwise, it tasted good. The chips were good too and definitely worth the $1.20. The seasoning they used was a bit on the sour side (I think it was limestone salt they used), but it didn't have the greasy feeling that most chips have.
  Besides being crowded and having to wait a while (this is not a place you would want to bring your date if you are looking for romance), it is a pretty decent place to go and I would definitely come back).

Half Mexican Half Contemporary Tacos and Burritos (Chronic Tacos Broadway City Hall Station)

Hey everyone, I know it's been a while since I last posted (sorry I've been travelling and got caught with work), but I am back!
When it comes to Mexican food, there are quite a bit of selection around town. However, not being Mexican, I can't really comment on how authentic one Mexican restaurant is compared to another. That said, Chronic Tacos feel a bit more Western and contemporary compared to many of the other Mexican food places.
Conveniently located within a few meters to the Broadway-City Hall Skytrain station, this location is a fair place to grab your Taco needs. The moment you walk into the restaurant, you will see that the lighting is dim and the place is quite spacious. On the right hand side there is a bar and the ordering counter is at the back of the restaurant.
 This place is meant to be more of a fast food location, and by looking at the menu, this is even more evident. There aren't too many items on there. There are two main items that they offer, which are burritos and tacos. Beside these two, they do have a small sides menu and a kids menu. Compared to many of the other Mexican food outlets I've been to, I would say the menu from Chronic Tacos has less options.

When it was my turn to order, I saw on the counter if you text the word "TACO" to this number (4242658226) you would get a free taco coupon (I found out later on that it wasn't a free Taco, it was a "BOGO" thing). I decided to only get a Taco and a side of rice. The tacos were at least $3.99, so I figured if I got a side of rice with the Tacos it would be cheaper.
 I decided to get a chicken taco with corn flour (I think corn is more nutritious than refined flour). This location is sort of like Subway in the sense that they ask you what kind of toppings you would like. I find what was interesting is that they give you a double layer of the taco shell, and then they put so much toppings on the taco shell (relatively speaking, like the toppings compared to the shell) that you cannot fully wrap the taco shell around the toppings. At the end I ended up getting a fork and eating the toppings by itself and the taco shell separately.
The materials used for the toppings were fresh. What I liked about the chicken was that it wasn't greasy at all. In addition, even though I didn't add any sauce to the topping (the sauces add so much more calories...) it was still relatively good. The side of rice I got was good too. There was a hint of tomato in there, and it was flavourful that you can just eat the rice right off the bat.
 In summary, I would say the price is on the higher end, especially for the portion (the portions were not that big). The quality was fair, so I would probably come back (to use that BOGO coupon...) if I was in the area.

Mushroom Burrito? Yup, you heard it right. (Jason's Deli/ Fort Worth)

During our competition at the Thunderbird flying fields, the event organizers recognized that the competition teams would not have time to get food, so they got catering done for everyone. This was about 200-300 people worth of food. What they got were these lunch boxes from Jason's Deli (Sorry, I do not know the exact location that they got it from, but I assumed it's this one because it's relatively close to the flying field).
   What I really liked about Jason's Deli was that the lunch was all neatly packed inside a box. For all of the lunch boxes, they came with a bag of chips, a piece of pickle, a chocolate chip cookie and a sandwich. I got the vegetarian option because I wanted a something that was healthier. It's really funny because the vegetarian option came with baked chips instead of the regular chips, while the other meat options had the deep fried chips. It seems like whoever makes these meals also assume that vegetarians are also health nuts. There is nothing wrong with it, I actually like the assumption, but I just find it funny.
   When it comes to the sandwich, for the vegetarian option, I was surprised when I opened it and found a mushroom burrito. I never had raw mushrooms before, let alone seeing it in a burrito. When I took the first bite, I immediately fell in love with it. The feta cheese and the spinach really brings out the flavour inside the burrito and it was really good. The funny thing was that the event organizers bought extra portions of the food and they gave them to our team because no on wanted them. While everyone took the cookies (which by the way was amazing) and chips, I took the burritos. Even though I felt a bit fat after eating 3 or 4 burritos, but it was fantastic. If anyone is looking for catering, I highly recommend this place.

Americanized Mexican Cuisine (Chili's Burleson Review)/ (Texas Trip Part 5)

It was late at night (around 10:00) and my team and I just finished our day at Thunderbird flying field for our competition. We were hungry, and wanted some food (that wasn't fast food). We had Denny's the night before so tonight Denny's was off our list. As we were driving, we came across Chili's.
   From the outside, Chili's appears to be like a regular American diner. However, when we walked in, the whole diner feel of the exterior went away. The inside had sort of a retro feel to it with it's synthetic leather couches. It was very close to closing time, so once we were seated the waitress
reminded us that the restaurant was about to close and we only had 10 minutes to put our order in.
  Although this restaurant's main feature was Mexican cuisine, I find that many, if not all of the menu items were all somewhat Americanized versions of Mexican food.
   We were all starving by the time we got into the restaurant, and we were short on time. I quickly searched through the menu to find what to eat. I tried to stay away from the burgers and fries section, and at the end, I found a section for the health nuts. Well it wasn't called the health nut section but it contained healthy options (that was under certain calories and had only a certain percentage of fat).
  Besides meals, they had a wide variety of sides like side order of rice or steamed broccoli for only around $2. Even though the sides sounds tempting, I decided to get a meal. In the end I settled for the Grilled Tilapia.
   When it arrived, it was served on a long plate, and the presentation of it was pretty decent. The broccoli was pretty average tasting. It wasn't bad but it wasn't anything special. The rice and Tilapia was on the spicy side, not to mention that the Tilapia tasted like it's been in the freezer. That said, the sauce on the Tilapia masked abit of the taste of the Tilapia.  I would say this Grilled Tilapia was average tasting. It wasn't anything too special, but it wasn't bad either. When you are surrounded by burgers and French fries, this Grilled Tilapia is more nutritious and abit healthier than the whole deep fried options.
   When it comes to pricing however, I found that the Grilled Tilapia meal (which came in at about $13) was abit on the expensive side. The reason that I found it expensive was that the size of the meal was not that big. The sides like rice and broccoli can also be obtained for $2 each. This means that the Tilapia costs $9, ($13-$4 (for the two sides)), it was abit on the expensive side. Other than the price, I would say the service was pretty decent but abit on the slow side (I understand though, because they are near closing and everyone is probably drained from working). Also, this restuarant is pretty family friendly. They have free crayons and activity papers for kids, in fact, they gave away free crayons for kids and they gave me some too haha.