I am a burrito junkie. I used to make last call pilgrimages with my boys to the Original Chubby's in Denver for some desayuno especial or a smothered beef and bean. Before the neighborhood gentrified, Chubby's was not a good place for a lanky white guy with a shaved head and goatee to be at two in the morning. Chubby's, you see, is a run-down burrito shack. Upon ordering you either took your meal home or you ate it off the hood of your car and were left to watch the police arrest the perpetrators of a gang fight in the nearby 7-Eleven parking lot or bought a pack of Newports for a dollar from a guy that shoplifted them from the nearby 7-Eleven or heard the pleas of female drinking companions from the back seat of the car urging me to take them home. I was thrilled when Chipotles started popping up all over the Denver metro area. The burritos are big, tasty and inexpensive. But something was missing from these burritos. Something I could not put my finger on it until I started frequenting Illegal Pete's. At the end of burrito making process at Pete's, they take a spoon and mix the ingredients of your burrito before wrapping it. This ensures an even distribution of flavor with every mouthful as opposed to a bite of just rice/sour cream/chicken/cheese. Illegal Pete's is a fifteen minute walk from my office (ten if I take the mall shuttle) and I stroll by three Chipotles (including one directly across the street) just to get there. Shall I cross the Rubicon at Chipotle and ask them to start mixing my ingredients with a spoon upon wrapping my burrito? I should probably learn how to say, "Please mix it with a spoon" in Spanish just to cover all my bases.

Labels: 16th street mall, burritos, chubbys, denver