Hilarios Tacos
28440 Haskell Canyon Rd, Santa Clarita, CA 91390

Sixteen burritos.

That was supposed to be it.

The final contender before the Burrito Belt moved into its next stage.

Then Hilarios Tacos arrived.

And by the end of the scorecard, two things had become clear.

This burrito came very close to breaking into the leading group.

And the Burrito Belt wasn’t ready to end.

Hilarios delivered a carne asada burrito filled with beans, rice, pico de gallo and sauce.

The first impression was a good one.

There was plenty of flavour.

The carne asada had a comforting, home-cooked quality.

And the sauce helped bring the meat and the rest of the filling together.

This was a burrito I genuinely enjoyed.

But one familiar problem was hiding inside.

And it would eventually keep Hilarios out of the top five.

The tortilla was slightly on the greasy side.

But it held together well.

No major structural problems.

No filling trying to escape.

Nothing that required emergency repairs.

A solid wrap and a solid start.

7/10.

This was the strongest part of the burrito.

The carne asada had a real home-cooked feel that immediately stood out.

The flavour reminded me of Neca’s Kitchen, particularly the way the meat tasted and the comforting overall feel of the burrito.

It didn’t taste like the carne had been included simply because the menu said it had to be there.

It gave the burrito its identity.

The sauce helped hold the meat together, adding even more of that home-style flavour.

This was carne asada worth building a contender around.

8/10.

Then the investigation began.

The filling wasn’t distributed evenly.

One section had a heavier concentration of rice.

Another was noticeably stronger on carne asada.

That meant the experience changed depending on where you were in the burrito.

Some bites gave you the home-style carne asada that made such a strong impression.

Others gave the rice too much control.

The rice itself wasn’t the problem.

The distribution was.

If the rice and carne had been spread more evenly, Hilarios could have moved much closer to the top of the leaderboard.

Instead, we had another Rice Crime.

6/10.

The sauce worked well with the carne asada.

It helped bind the meat together and added to the comforting, home-cooked quality of the filling.

It didn’t overpower the burrito.

It supported its strongest ingredient.

Exactly what the sauce should do.

7/10.

Then came the reheat test.

And Hilarios produced a surprise.

The tortilla softened nicely.

The flavours came together even more.

And somehow, the burrito tasted better after reheating.

Not every contender survives the following day.

Some decline.

Some simply stay the same.

Hilarios improved.

7/10.

Hilarios Tacos delivered a very respectable Burrito Belt contender.

The carne asada was excellent.

The sauce supported it well.

The burrito had plenty of flavour.

And the reheat test made it even better.

But the uneven rice distribution proved costly.

With the rice concentrated in one area and the carne heavier in another, some bites were noticeably better than others.

A more even spread could have pushed Hilarios into the top five and placed it among the third-place group.

Instead, it finishes just outside.

Close enough to threaten the leaders.

Not quite balanced enough to join them.

Hilarios came close.

Very close.

But 35/50 leaves it one point short of the current top five.

The leaders stay where they are.

The leaderboard remains unchanged.

Entry 16 was supposed to complete the original Burrito Belt lineup.

Sixteen contenders.

Then the final judging.

But something happened along the way.

We found more restaurants that need to be tested.

And after sixteen burritos, we have also started noticing two clear trends in the types of burritos being served across Santa Clarita.

That may eventually mean splitting the competition into different groups or categories.

First, though, there are more burritos to eat.

The Burrito Belt Championship is officially expanding from 16 to 20 contenders.

Once all twenty have been judged, we’ll return to the strongest entries and put the top contenders through the final rejudging.

Hilarios didn’t make the top five.

But it did arrive just in time to prove this competition isn’t finished yet.

Four more burritos.

Then the real judging begins.