Taqueria El Tapatio
27560 Newhall Ranch Rd #307, Santa Clarita, CA 91355

This week’s Burrito Belt contender came with an unexpected problem.

I forgot to take the photo.

More on that later.

First, the burrito.

I ordered the $15 carne asada burrito, and the lady behind the counter couldn’t have been more welcoming.

The payment screen wasn’t working properly, which meant I couldn’t sign or leave a tip.

Not ideal.

But she pointed me towards the self-service counter and told me to help myself.

Salsa. Chips. Pico de gallo. Cilantro. Lemon. Cucumbers. Radishes.

Basically, everything needed to build a small side meal while waiting.

I took the two salsas on offer.

She encouraged me to take more.

Restraint won.

Barely.

This was a big burrito.

Long, tightly packed and very well put together.

Inside was the usual Burrito Belt lineup:

Carne asada. Rice. Beans. Pico de gallo. Cilantro.

No surprise ingredients.

No attempt to rewrite the burrito rulebook.

Just a generously filled carne asada burrito.

The meat immediately stood out. There was plenty of it, and it tasted good.

But the filling wasn’t mixed particularly well.

Some bites were heavy on carne.

Others belonged almost entirely to the rice.

And around here, we have a name for that.

Time for the scores.

A strong start.

The tortilla had a big job.

This was a long, generously filled burrito, but everything stayed tightly packed and properly held together.

No splitting.

No filling attempting an early escape.

Just a well-built burrito with the structure to handle what was inside.

8/10.

The carne asada was the star of the burrito.

There was a generous portion, and the meat itself tasted good.

But the uneven distribution worked against it.

Some sections had plenty of carne.

Others had very little.

At this stage of the Burrito Belt, good meat needs to make its presence felt throughout the burrito.

Not just when the rice allows it.

6/10.

A crime was committed.

The rice itself tasted good.

That wasn’t the problem.

The problem was finding noticeable pockets of it instead of an even layer running through the burrito.

One bite had the right balance.

The next was mostly rice.

Good rice.

Too much of it at once.

The evidence was clear.

6/10.

I brought two salsas back from the self-service counter.

They worked well with the burrito and gave each bite an extra lift without taking over.

There were plenty of other additions available, but two salsas felt like enough for the test.

A good showing.

7/10.

And now, the photo.

I ate the burrito that evening and only realized afterwards that I hadn’t taken the usual picture after cutting it open.

By then, there wasn’t much left to work with.

The remaining piece went into the fridge, was reheated the following day and returned for an official photo.

It wasn’t quite the dramatic cross-section we usually provide.

But it was evidence.

More importantly, the burrito held together well overnight and still tasted good the next day.

A respectable performance.

Even if the photography was less convincing.

7/10.

Taqueria El Tapatio delivered one of the bigger and better-constructed burritos we’ve seen in the competition.

The tortilla handled everything inside it.

The carne asada tasted good and came in a generous portion.

And the service was warm and welcoming from the moment I ordered.

But the filling needed better distribution.

A burrito can have all the right ingredients and still lose points when they don’t arrive in the same bite.

The pockets of rice were the main problem, and the carne couldn’t carry the burrito when it wasn’t spread evenly enough to reach every section.

Still, 34/50 is a solid score.

A big, tightly packed burrito with good carne, two solid salsas and enough leftovers to provide photographic evidence the following day.

Not a bad showing.

Next time, I’ll take the picture first.