Monday, April 12, 2010

The Best Thing I Ate Today: Benito's Chicken Burrito


En route to witness the black night of Michael Caine's soul in the uber-gloomy "Harry Brown," I stopped in on one of my favorite burrito places in Los Angeles, Benito's, for an edible security blanket, their chicken burrito with extra pico de gallo and guacamole.

There's nothing fancy about Benito's. In fact, it's kind of grungy, but that's what makes it so good. They get down and dirty in all the right ways.

To build a Benito's burrito, they start by griddling a fresh flour tortilla until it flecks with a polka dot dressing of char. Next, they add stewed chicken, a mixture of breast and thigh meat in a tomato and onion bath that will eventually run down your hands as it pools at the bottom of the burrito, followed by shredded iceberg lettuce, Spanish rice, refried pinto beans, guacamole and pico de gallo that's 60% diced onion to 40% tomato. Bust out the Breath Asure, kids, because this bad boy came to play. Finally, extra helpings of Benito's tomatillo and fiery red salsa poured on each new bite, occasionally followed by a slice of pickled jalapeno to add additional fire best squelched by an ice cold Styrofoam cup of Horchata.

By the time the last bite had been inhaled, I was back in business and primed to see one of the darkest films to come down the pike in recent memory. Apologies to the nice man who sat next to me and had to endure my pico de gallo breath at the screening. I promise, it tasted much better than it smelled a few hours later.


Benito's Taco Shop
7912 Beverly Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90048

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