Tuesday, January 19, 2010

TBG Re-Eats: Jack in the Box's Chorizo Sausage Burrito and Sirloin Steak & Egg Burrito


Current Weight: 165.8 lbs.

Some of you might've seen this on my
Twitter feed over the weekend:

Just cuz you have a 2 for 1 b-fast burrito coupon from Jack in the Box doesn't mean you should eat 2 b-fast burritos in 1 sitting. Trust me.

And, here's the rest of the story.

Last August, I reviewed Jack in the Box's
Chorizo Sausage Burrito. I used words like "forgettable", "artificial" and "bland" while handing out a pedestrian 2.5 (out of 5) score.

I've mentioned before how much I love the feedback from my fast food reviews, but this one struck a nerve for some reason. I was cornered by a few co-workers within the walls of the Unnamed Defense Contractor. I received some prickly emails. Even m'man Smitty thought I had lost my mind.

The general consensus from my readers: "There's something wrong with anyone who doesn't like chorizo."

It turns out…my readers were right.

A week after the JitB Chorizo Burrito post was posted; I went to see my allergist. She
diagnosed me with Samter's Triad after I'd complained about losing my sense of smell and taste – two of the five senses that may (or may not) have something to do with detecting flavor in food. Thanks to an assortment of expensive medications and twice daily sinus flushing, I can taste hastily prepared, inauthentic Mexican food, again! Sometimes!






JitB's Chorizo Sausage Burrito is actually a little bit better than I originally thought. There's a decent bit of spice and seasoning within the chorizo which, while not on par with the closer-to-traditional fare at the hole-in-the-wall Mexican spots, is a clear differentiation from most fast food breakfast burritos. JitB's chorizo does have an odd grittiness to it, but not enough grit to
make me hate it. Order it without the cheese sauce and thank me later.

Two(!) years ago, I reviewed JitB's
Sirloin Steak and Egg Burrito. It scored a 1 on my eat-o-meter as my primary beef (I'll be here all week…) was with the bitter, shoe-leather steak. I mistakenly mocked the burrito's chipotle sauce, too, before remembering one of the first rules of fast food – if it comes with sauce, order it with extra sauce.





The steak is still suspect, but it's a LOT easier to eat with excess chipotle sauce oozing from the front and back of the burrito. The eggs and hash brown sticks on the inside add substance to the eatin'. But, be warned: JitB apparently uses some sort of cash register key code when a customer orders "extra sauce". On more than one occasion, my "extra sauce" showed up as "no sauce" on the drive-thru menu monitor.

Make it clear when you order…and avoid those awkward drive-thru window debates with the 16-year-old who just handed you a sauceless burrito.

Revised Grade (Chorizo Sausage Burrito): 3.5 (out of 5)
Calories: 729 Fat: 40g

Revised Grade (Sirloin Steak & Egg Burrito): 3
Calories: 821 Fat: 50g

6 comments:

SHough610 said...

I've never been a big breakfast-from-fast-food fan (ironically the last fast food I ate was two McChicken biscuits on September 21st) mainly because I'm not a big eggs guy.

About the "grit" descriptor, I went to the Phillies Labor Day game in '06 and people were booing Pat Burrel (who had the uncanny ability to come up small in a big situation) and I asked a guy what he didn't like about Pat the Bat: "he doesn't have the grit or the hustle of someone like Jimmy (Rollins) or Aaron Rowand."

If you ever want to see a guy who "got it" and was meant to play in Philly look at Aaron Rowand (and Chase Utley). After Rowand broke his face apart in '06 he was quoted as saying "for who? My teammates. For what? To win a championship" (paraphrasing a famous Ricky Watters quote about why he gator-armed a catch Ricky said "for who? For what?") the best part was that this was TEN YEARS LATER in a different sport. The die-hards loved him

Aaron C. said...

"Pfft, forget it, Sam. While it has been established that eggs contain cholesterol, it has not yet been proven conclusively that they actually raise the level of serum cholesterol in the human blood stream."

(And, yes, one of those Egg Council creeps got to me, too.)

Shough610 said...

This is made all the better by the image of a dude in a giant egg costume creeping away behind you.

And do they not have Arbys in SD? I've never seen you mention them

Aaron C. said...

Ah, the Arby's debate. The only time I've mentioned them here is when I've lifted that Sherri (or Terri?) quote, "I'm so hungry I could eat at Arby's!"

We've got 'em in SD, but the nearest one is a 15 min. drive down the freeway from me, so it's hard to justify a trip unless I'm going to the area for something else.

Sadly, this is the same reason why I've never reviewed anything from West Coast cult fave, Del Taco.

Blondezilla said...

Have I missed your fish taco reviews? There is an appalling lack of fish tacos here in Germany (sigh).

Aaron C. said...

There is also an appalling lack of fish taco reviews 'round these parts. Pretty embarassing considering the number of fish taco I've digested in my life.