Burritoville on 23rd St. in May, 2009. Photo taken by BlurA14. (Source: Flickr.)
Is BurritoVille back from the dead?
So, I discovered that the long-shuttered BurritoVille of Chelsea (23rd and 8th) had reopened when I passed by this evening. Talking to the new owner, it had actually been open since last Wednesday. The redesigned and streamlined interior, steps down from the street was reminiscent of a small Chipotle, with the same sort of assembly-line ordering counter. The menuboard had been slimmed down to a small list of options, with most of my favorite names (can you say Bob Marley’s Last Burrito?) missing.
A taste test confirmed my suspicions that the original recipes and employees were long gone. The delicious red salsa of old has been replaced with something more reminiscent of Tostitos brand jarred supermarket salsa. The chips were bland and thin, nothing like the awesome thick corn chips of the old establishment. The spinach and mushrooms of the Lost in Austin (one of the only names that seem to have survived the transition) were overcooked and mushy, and the brown rice had been substituted for some kind of Spanish rice.
All in all, a total disappointment, like a bad remake of your favorite classic film. Unless I hear that recipes have returned to their pre-2009 form, I shan’t return.