There are many, many reasons to visit Taos, New Mexico. Mountains, for example, and the chance of spotting a big-horned sheep on your daily commute. Pink adobe and sweet-smelling desert dirt. Hippies and earthships. Positive energy and fancy ceramics. Art galleries. The list goes on and on.
I could wax poetic about this beautiful little mountain town, or I could just talk about what you actually care about:
Where to get a goddamn burrito.
Because, if you’re like me, you don’t go to New Mexico for the art galleries. You go there to eat. And if, like me, you have a limited time in New Mexico, you have a limited time in which to consume a year’s worth of green chile. So you want every meal to be smothered, covered like your Waffle House hashbrowns. Only in this case it’s smothered-covered like your green chile burrito.
So here are four Taos burrito joints and what you should eat there.
Toribio’s
I’m not going to lie…When it comes to burritos, I pick favorites. And Toribio’s is a clear favorite. There are two venues, one on the northside of town and a recently-opened southside version. I’ve never actually eaten in at Toribio’s — we usually just order to go. If you call ahead, your burritos will be ready by the time you get there. One burrito per person is probably enough for a normal person, although Macky and I usually order three or four so we can sample all our favorites at once. (And we eat more than normal people, so it works out.)
What to order: Pork adobada burrito (pork cooked in red chile, with potatoes and beans) or chicken mole
Guadalajara Grill
A Taos classic. If you want to act like you know what you’re doing, you have to call it “The Guad.” Like Toribio’s, there are two Guads, a northside and a southside. This is your standard New Mexican burrito. Expect to eat it with a fork as it will be sopping with green chile and gooey cheese.
What to order: Burrito supremo with carne asada and green chile
Abe’s Cantina
Abe’s is part convenience store, part liquor store, part bar. And they also make burritos, because this is New Mexico after all. Abe’s breakfast burritos are our staple food for mornings when we have to be somewhere early (i.e. before 9am). They are the ideal munch-in-the-car food, as demonstrated by the photo above.
What to order: Breakfast burrito with green chile and sausage. If you’re throwing a party, pre-order their tamales.
Elma’s
Elma’s, a tiny little shed with a walk-up window, is easy to miss, but it squarely follows the “divier it looks, the better the food” rule. I can’t help but love these sort of drive-in mexican places. I’ve only been to Elma’s once, but it lived up to all my expectations and the pico de gallo was delicious.
What to order: Chicharrón (deep fat fried pork belly) burrito
What’s your favorite burrito ever? Please describe in excruciating detail so I salivate all over my keyboard.
