TODAY’S LUNCH: GRILLED CHICKEN BURRITO FROM BURRITO BOX

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store

In my quest to expand the Honorary Street Food category, a friend recommended Burrito Box at 885 Ninth Ave, between 57th & 58th St.  It certainly qualifies, with only a storefront and a couple of stools serving tacos, burritos, quesadillas and wraps – definitely street food served from a storefront.  They also have the Lunch Box across the street with soups, sandwiches, salads and baked goodies.

The first time I went there a few day ago, the Burrito Box was closed at lunch due to problems they were having with their gas lines.  A burrito restaurant with no gas – is that some kind of cosmic joke?

inside store

I went back today and it was quite busy, with 10-12 people having already ordered and waiting for their food.  They had free tortilla chips and salsa while you waited, but all those people waiting was not a good sign.  It did turn out to be pretty quick – I only waited about 5-7 minutes for a freshly-made burrito. False alarm.

Their menu was extensive, with tacos, burritos, quesadillas, wraps, tostada salads and tortilla salads.  Each category has 6-8 choices of fillings with some interesting combinations, and an extensive vegetarian selection as well.  Today’s Lunch is the grilled chicken burrito ($8.55 incl tax).

What a burrito it was, at least on the size front.  It was short and very fat, the size of an overstuffed beer can, and quite heavy too.  Lunch also included tortillas, 2 hot sauces and salsa.  The red sauce was pretty hot and the green sauce was very hot.  The salsa was medium-hot with fresh cilantro and small pieces of tomato.

lunch

The burrito was stuffed with grilled chicken, sour cream, rice, beans, cheese, lettuce and tomato.  The first bite had a nice grilled chicken and sour cream taste.  Subsequent bites included more of the rice and beans and the other ingredients.  I didn’t taste much cheese, and there was a little more sour cream than expected, but this was a very good burrito – and I won’t be hungry again for a week after eating this monster!

burrito eaten

Today’s Lunch gets an 8.5 out of 10.  There was plenty of grilled chicken and the other ingredients, which were all fresh.  It was a lot to eat for lunch and it was fairly pricey.  I would have preferred a smaller, cheaper burrito (in size, not by skimping on the fresh ingredients).  Honorary Street Food places need a little more room on the value/pricing front than food trucks and carts, since they have to pay NYC rents.

Burrito Box is a worthy addition to the NYSF Honorary Street Food category, and they will be added to our directory and map shortly.