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The best WiFi in Westie
By adamg on Tue, 03/04/2008 - 6:30pm
I'm typing this while waiting for a burrito at DeNo's on Centre Street. Lord only knows why a pizza place offers free WiFi, and yes, I'm a nerdgeek for bringing a laptop to a pizza place (hey, I'm just getting back from a computer conference at the Expo Center), but I don't care: It's molto cool.
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Comments
Wifi and burritos OR garlic and spinish pizza at DeNo's
Deno's has the best WiFi in Westie? That's a surprise.
Want another best? Try their garlic and spinish pizza. You can ask 'em to go light on the sause since you don't need any falling between the keyboard keys and gumming up your posts.
oops
what is spinish? is it anything like spinich?
oops^2
what is spinich? is it anything like spinach?
Burritos at DeNos?
Are they still counting how many they've sold?
Yep
There's a big sign right at the door (didn't notice the number tonight, sorry).
Why DeNos?
If you want a great burrito, why not a more authentic one at many of the better places? Ana's in Brookline isn't all that far, nor is Melinda's in Hyde Park (which is better than Ana's if you ask me), or even Yucatan Tacos in Rosie? DeNos' may have good pizza, but a burrito? I'll pass.
Two reasons
One: I had to be in West Roxbury to pick up my daughter at her dance class (Miss Emily represents, yo).
Two: WiFi!
That said, their burritos have always seemed fine to me - for one thing, they make a satisfying thud when you drop one on a table - but I admit I'm no burrito expert (and let's not forget Romano's in Rozzie Square). Also, didn't Melinda's get replaced by a soul-food place that then got burned out in a fire a couple months ago?
Wow
I moved out of Westie a few years ago, and had no clue that Melindas was gone. That's too bad, that place was great!!! Now that I live in the suburbs, I've been relegated to Moes or Qdoba, and both places dispoint me every time.
What's authentic about a burrito?
Just wondering what's it would be authentically if a burrito were authentic. Small, thin, and with only one or two ingredients?
Not sure...
if I get your point since it was kind of jumbled, but here it goes. While burritos are a Tex-Mex/Mexican-American creation, there is still a difference between getting one at a real Mexican restaurant or a subshop, if you ask me. Just like chicken parm is an American dish, you still see it at Italian restaurants. Get it?
Seen Them In Mexico
I'm still not sure what makes an "authentic" burrito, but they do make and sell burrito-like objects on the streets of Mexico City in busy business areas. The locals buy and eat them, but us tourists were sternly warned about street food. I don't know if these burritos are indiginous or if the locals just know a good quick walking around type of food when they see one. They may be some combination of local and good idea.
Mexican cuisine is highly regional, and TexMex is no exception. If something isn't TexMex or found in Juarez or Tiajuana, that just means it isn't northern Mexican. Head south and the cuisine changes. I've seen burritos in Honduran and Salvadoran restaurants, so they may be a Central American/Southern Mexican phenomenon.
Burrito-like objects
The burrito does originally come from northen Mexico (where corn doesn't grow well), but it's smaller, thinner, and has fewer ingredients than what we're used to here. It's basically a wheat taco. The honking big burrito wrapped in foil we've come to expect is Californian more than Mexican.
Portablility
That makes some sense - corn tortillas don't wrap so well and are used to make enchiladas, which I ate in large quantities that week.
I think the portable nature of the burrito has led to its spread north and south as food distribution has improved. From what I saw last fall, all you need is some meat, cheese, peppers, a hot surface, and a square of sidewalk to set up shop. Fast, cheap, and great walking around food.
I remember when there were no Taquerias in Boston. I'd head straight to one when I hit the west coast. Then Boca Grande opened and Herrera's set up all those wonderful carts. Annas is tops in value, too!
I tend to agree.
Wheat flour tortillas have that extra glutenous stretch to hold things in. I think you'd get yourself messy pretty quick trying to eat a soft corn taco while walking. You've pretty much got to sit down at a table to eat tacos. So maybe the spread of burritos north and south has more to do with food consumption patterns (i.e. more lunch on the run) than anything else.
Burritos are great cart food - a lot like shwarma, really.
Real Mexican subshop?
I guess that's a pretty good comparison. The conclusion, however, not so much. You might get a better chicken parm at a better Italian restaurant, but that'll have nothing to do with authenticity, just quality.
The authenticity of a Mexican restaurant is likely to have less bearing on the quality of their burritos, perhaps even an inverse relation. What Americans look for in a burrito is something that would be pretty foreign to a Mexican cook unless he'd been here a while. The predominance of wheat flour tortilla dishes on the menu is an index of inauthenticity. So I wouldn't expect a good American burrito from a authentic Mexican restaurant.
The best burritos would probably be at an American burrito joint (Anna's or Boca Grande) rather than an authentic Mexican restaurant. I don't think this fundamentally American food should logically be any worse at a sandwich shop than a real Mexican restaurant, since it is actually a sandwich and isn't actually Mexican food.
On the other hand, maybe the best burrito would be at a pizza joint, e.g. Romano's Pizza. But for me, I'd rather have the tacos anyway.
Romano's
Of course, Romano's is, to borrow the slogan of another Rozzie place, Real Mexican food (and pizza) by real Mexicans.
I will admit I have never been tempted by DeNo's Thai burrito.
I've never had a Romano's burrito
My heart belongs to the tacos there (carnitas and campechano).
(I have had the pizza -- and found it quite pleasing).
Yeah...
You have far too much time on your hands dude. My point was that if you're getting something like that, there is more to it than a wheat or white tortillas. It's called seasoning and spices, and if it's going to be inspired by Mexican food, then I say who would do a better job? A sub shop, or a Mexican place? Hmm, real mind boggling for you to make that leap.
I guess you must be the type to go to the local Irish pub and order a marsalla or scampi dish, just to prove a point. Good for you, I for one choose not to.
Congrats on pontificating on the origins of the tortilla, it's really riveting stuff.
Besides, having just been to Mexico, I saw plenty of "Mexican" restaurants selling things like (any guesses??) meat,rice and beans wrapped in a tortilla (wow, that sounds dangerouly close to being a burrito), just like SwirlyGirl has seen. I guess that couldn't have been authentic though, so it must have been my imagination.
Restaurant food versus street food
Many cultures have this sort of split. It comes down to street food = produced quickly with minimal infrastructure in small spaces and meant to carry around. Restaurant food = local cuisine that people eat when they have time and money to cook more complicated and longer meals and to sit down. That was stuff like enchaladas, posole, tamale, etc.
Like the difference between a Pizza slice and a sit down meal in an Italian place.
The ingredients of street food and restaurant food were often similar in Mexico City, but the form of the food was rather different. I suspect the burritos were imported for the same reason Herrera's has so many carts downtown - they work!
Gawd
Almost as much time as you, evidently.
My money's still on the corner pizza joint for best burrito.
But you can get your tortilla stuffed wherever you like.
Nice!
I still think you're way off base, but that last line was pretty funny!
To quote the great Ron Burgandy, "I guess we'll have to agree to disagree."
Mexican on Bromfield St.
Tequila Mexican Grill at 55 Bromfield is
pretty damned good. Adrian Walker would
be in less trouble if he'd stopped in there
for a burrito and Jarritos soda rather than
the Silvertone.