Burritoville

2055 rue Bishop

Montreal, QC

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7 out of 10

This messy, gooey thing is a Burritoville taco. You'd think I'd get the burrito at Burritoville but you can't get three different kinds of those for less than $11 tax in. They have almost the same fillings (add brown rice - not the most intense of flavour additions) so for $3.50 a piece they're the best way to figure out which burrito to buy next time.

Things of Note: The tomato salsas are half canned tomatoes and half fresh, the green tomatillo salsa would be incredible if it were fresh but it's all canned, though you can find the most amazing tomatillos right now at the Plateau and Mile End Farmers' Markets. The tacos are the only things served on corn tortillas and everything else is wheat, so if you've got a gluten problem go with the delicious corn version. You can sample the three types of corn tortilla chips they serve with salsa at the cash, or spend money to try some with their nachos. The cheese is probiotic "raw" cheese so if you're lactose-intolerant you will either feel less sick or not at all sick depending on how sensitive you are. You can also replace the cheese with guacamole or sweet potato at no extra charge in the burritos, tacos and quesadillas. I don't know what they'd say if you said you wanted the nachos without cheese but with sweet potato. You'd probably get away with a guac substitute.

When they write "garlic" as the second ingredient in the "original" taco and burrito they mean it. That's a whole lot of vampire-fighting kick. I personally thought it was delicious, though, because any strong flavour in a taco is better than smooth, bland mush. The three tacos all tasted kind of similar but the sweet potato version does stand out a little more because of its sweetness (remember you can add sweet potato to any of the others, though). Combined with the apples, raisins and optional cheese, it was a bit too salty-sweet. So "stand out" is not necessarily a good thing. It could have used a bit more 'hot', which is where the big bottle of hot sauce in the restaurant comes in. If only there was lime, this would be great.

The three-bean chili version (pictured above) is supposed to come with onions, carrots, celery, peppers and mushrooms in addition to kidney, pinto, and black beans, but everything got a little too puréed to really tell it apart. Still, I have faith that that the taco was better for including these healthful items (kind of like you're better off for having eating that salad with your duck confit or that one piece of lettuce on your hamburger), adding flavour through vegetables instead of excess salt.

You can bump up your taco ($3.50), burrito ($7) or quesadilla ($7-$8.50) to a combo ($10-$11.50) including a side (chips and salsa, a beautiful sprout salad, a quinoa salad, passable guacamole, or a soup of the day. Sometimes there's no soup, but when you're already melting that's okay), and guacamole. You can also keep bumping to that very Montreal term - a trio ($12.50-$14) - by adding a homemade lemonade (regular or raspberry) or a santa cruz soda or a 2nd side. McAuslan beer is also available, or red wine. The only menu items I'm not covering are the roasted vegetable quesadilla and the spinach quesadilla because they don't seem much like quesadillas to me. They're just protein-less bean replacements, so they kind of just seem like wraps with hot sauce. If you don't want beans, though, these quesadillas are an option.

For dessert there are homemade cookies. These are lovely. They're not the best in the world, but the ginger tastes like actual ginger and the lemon tastes like lemon. All is right in the world.

Expect To Pay: $11-$15 including tax and tip
Hours: Mon-Sat 11am-11pm
514-286-2776