Burritos in BA!?!

Yes, burritos exist in Buenos Aires. I had heard tell of a Californian-owned burrito restaurant here but never actually tried it until today, when Mark, Sophy and I traipsed over to CBC (California Burrito Company) at Lavalle 441. CBC is a blatant Chipotle/Rubio's knockoff, right down to the vintage style posters of famous California locations like the Santa Monica Pier on the walls. But that's not a bad thing, because after months of living without legit Mexican food these burritos were incredible. Fresh ingredients, lots of choices (black beans!!), real salsa, real guacamole, real tortillas and real tortilla chips. The burritos even came in aluminum foil like at home and there were real paper napkins on the table as opposed to the little sheets of wax paper that pass for napkins at many BA restaurants. CBC is as good as Mexican food is gonna get in BA.

There are a couple downsides, the first being that people from California, where we eat real Mexican food on an almost daily basis, will get nostalgic for that real Mexican food. At home I don't eat at Chipotle or Rubio's because there are a lot of other, better, more authentic options right around the corner (Gordo's! Cactus! Picante!) But c'est la vie, this is Argentina and you have to take what you can get when it comes to Mexican food. (Pssst for those of you who were thinking that the food in Argentina would bear some resemblance to Mexican or Central American food, think again. Spices are not really a big thing here. Neither are rice and beans.)

The other downside to CBC is its location, in the center of Lavalle, near Calle Florida. This is my absolute least favorite part of BA and I totally don't understand why it's recommended as a tourist draw in guidebooks. It's loud, crowded, dirty, ugly, and touristy, and after 10 minutes on Calle Florida I'm wiping the grime and smog from my skin and looking for the closest Subte stop or colectivo that will take me back to Palermo.

However, a big CBC burrito with black beans, guacamole, three kinds of salsa, lomo or cerdo, all wrapped up in a flour tortilla, is worth braving the crowds on Lavalle and Florida. And once inside, you can easily forget about the city and pretend you're back at home for half an hour.
Oh and pssst, does this remind anyone else of that rhyme we learned in 7th grade Spanish class that went "A, E, I, O, U, El burro sabe más que tú..."