Well-Dressed Burrito

best burrito in DC? it's a far cry from it.

after hearing rave review after rave review, i thought that I would convince my co-workers to take a bite out of what is referred to as the "best burrito in DC". now, mind you, one of my BOOF buddies, ak, is the resident expert on burritos as he has spent a fair amount of time in texas where burritos reign supreme. the best burritos most of us have had come from chipotle or qdoba, therefore, we were all in anticipation of burrito deliciousness from the well-dressed burrito.

the well-dressed burrito is in located in an alley, yes an alley, south of dupont circle. the line out of the restaurant/take out spot is known to come all the way out of store and down the alley. it is only open mon-friday during lunch time, so if you live outside of the area, it is almost impossible to get there for this burrito. you definitely feel like you are apart of something special as you venture into this alleyway and open those large doors. the name is not really even apparent on the store, there is just a small picture of a penguin. yes, a penguin...it is apparently their moniker.

so after all of that, we were excited to get these burritos. we drove all the way across town during lunch to pick them up and bring them back to indulge in what was supposed to be an unforgettable experience. so yeah, it was very much forgettable. BOOF buddies ak and rm got the grilled chicken burritos while me and ml (the other veg buddy) ordered the sauteed veggie burritos (with spinach). we were all very much overwhelmed. because ak is the burrito expert he was really really unpleased with the final result and even prefers the burritos from the popular tex-mex chain, chipotle, to this well-dressed burrito. they said that there chicken was dried, there was no sauce sauce that gave it an extra spice and the meat was seasoned subpar.

both ml and i thought the veggie burritos were ok but we were definitely underwhelmed. i liked the variety of veggies that they included (carrots, broccoli), but it lacked seasoning again and there was no real "kick" to the burrito. I would take qdoba and chipotle over well-dressed any day.

sm opted to not get the burrito and opted for the chimichanga (you could actually consider her a chimichanga connoisseur of sorts), and she said it was decent but not the best she has ever had and there was nothing too special about it. the best thing of the meal may have been the guac that we ordered which was nice, fresh and tasty. they also accidentally gave us a bean and cheese burrito (well, actually...we ordered it, changed our order, they never took it off the order, charged us for it and then gave it to us anyways), so all of us took a bite of that which was also decent but nothing to write home about.

a couple of positives (because i am a REALLY nice person :-D):

1) the scene. it is pretty cool to walk down an alley and feel like you are going to some sort of hidden gem for lunch that only a few people are privy to.

2) it's really cheap. dc is an expensive city to say the least so be able to get a quick (service is VERY good) and really cheap meal (under 6$), that is definitely a plus.

3) size: it is a really big burrito. it is definitely "well-dressed" in terms of all the stuff they put on it. i had a whole half of a burrito for dinner that night too.

overall: after reading some additional reviews, many people mention that the burritos may not be the best thing on the menu and to try their tacos, taco salads and other things. HOWEVER, i do not know how i feel about this because they are called the "well-dressed burrito", so their burritos SHOULD be the best thing on the menu.

Grade: C