Last week my best friends took a springtime vacation in Puebla, Mexico. While they wandered the sunny, earthy streets of Puebla, I took refuge from Halifax’s gray, rainy days in their Facebook picture albums. Every day I was treated to photos of chalupas, cemitas, tacos arabes and deep-fried quesadillas. So I was excited when, suddenly, fate tapped me on the shoulder and added burritos to my to do list.
Burrito Jax is small, a take-out counter more than a restaurant. There are a few seats lining a bar at the wall, but nobody is sitting when two friends and I head in for lunch. A handful of customers mill about, placing orders, picking toppings or waiting for their burrito.
Music is blaring, filling the small space. It’s hard to hear what the person next to you is saying—harder still to hear the people behind the counter. We take turns shouting our orders for small jax chicken, steak and vegetarian burritos, with one of the servers eventually turning down the music a smidge when my exasperated friend lets them know she can’t hear anything across the counter.
All three burritos cost the same ($5.25), so we’re left to wonder if Burrito Jax considers guacamole the “other white meat,” since it turns out not to be included as a topping for the meat burritos. There are lots of other fresh ingredients to add to our wraps, starting with “smashed” beans—black beans and basmati rice—leading into shredded cheese and vegetables like lettuce, tomato, green onion, green peppers, jalapenos and sweet potato puree. There are four salsas and additional hot sauces, including spicy mole and adobo. We load up, leaving out beans here and green pepper there.
The music is loudly chugging along, making it hard to communicate with the folks behind the counter. Their measured approach to burrito building doesn’t feel as negotiable as it does at, say, Subway. Trying to talk around the music is still frustrating, so none of us ask for more of the sweet potato puree or sauces, neither of which are applied generously.
After digging our burritos out of the paper bags, we sit on the stony wall on Grafton Street and eat our lunch. The gentle grilling of the burritos has left them all warm, without resulting in soggy lettuce or tomato.
There is no explanation as to what puts the jax in jax chicken, but whatever the seasoning is, it’s lost in the mix of mole and picante salsa, both of which have enough heat to give the burrito a nice punch. The steak, however, is tender and has a bit of a tang that stands out with the spicy combination of picante salsa and adobo sauce.
The vegetable burrito is disappointingly light on the guacamole. While piled with all of the available toppings and the mild pico jax salsa, there was nothing that really makes it sing. In fact, while each burrito is fresh and tastes good, they all lack a certain complexity that keeps them from being more than a cursory lunch.
Between bites we find ourselves wishing for the bright tang of fresh cilantro, the sweet char of roasted peppers or the layer of flavour a switch from plain basmati rice to Mexican rice would give. It seems like there are a lot of easy, missing options that would make them more memorable.
If Taco Bell is a restaurant that says they are at least making a run for the border, Burrito Jax seems happy to just look at it on Google Maps. There is nothing Mexican about the Burrito Jax approach; the food here is strictly US cuisine. But if you don’t expect authentic Mexican food and just want a cheap, tasty lunch, you’ll be happy.
This article appears in Apr 22-28, 2010.
I totally agree with your review, I wish they would turn the music down a few decibals. You failed to mention though how painfully slow it is as well. There were two people ahead of me and it took a half hour to get my burrito. It was a cheap and tasty lunch but when you are limited on time, Subway is faster.
i dont think burrito jax pretends to be authentic mexican. plus, you make it sound as if there are other places in town serving “authentic” mexican. false. the only thing coming close would be a meal at cafe aroma latino. but that is actually more central american than mexican. burrito jax has pretty slow service with decent tasting wraps. these wraps happen to be called burritos but that doesnt mean they are trying to be anything but a meal encased in a flattened piece of bread.
In response the amw, posted on April 22, 2010, there is an authentic Mexican restaurant in Halifax/Fairview called Mexico Lindo. The restaurant is owned by a woman who is from Guadalajara, Mexico. The owner is also the chef. Once you try it, you will know why I say it is authentic Mexican. The spice is toned down to appease the Canadian palette, but if you ask, the spice can be increased.
Any one with half a brain about cusines would know that a burrito is a TEXAN item, that originally was sold by men/women along the TEX MEX border riding a burro, and the wrapped food inside the tortilla became known as a burrito. While there may be issues with respect to service, loud music, etc, the real issue is having someone write a criticial assement of a place an not having the slightest idea about what she is talking about.
I stopped going there shortly after they opened due to their meanness on guacamole – I struggled to distinguish what value they provide vis a vis subway. I usually just try to go Pete’s Frootique on Thursdays and on the veggie burritos they will always add extra guac. The owner at Jax always gives me a lecture about the expense of avocado. Yet it is strange as Ciboulette across the street often puts generous quantities of guac in their sandwiches and their prices might be slightly more expensive (but so are the other ingredients/bread) but they seem to be able to pull it off. This place has huge potential but their cheapness and restrictive approach to running it are costing them more than they can understand. If they weren’t so prickly to deal with – I would be there tons instead after a couple trips I refuse to go!!! Too bad because it is an awesome idea!
burrito jax- some tips
1-change your name
2-the people have spoken, and some have left: more guacamole.
3-turn down the music
4-do some research outside of halifax. see how they do it in Austin, Santa Fey, San Fransisco. your burritos are smaller, more expensive, and lackluster.
5-don’t become the ‘pita boys’ of burritos