La Bamba

Ratings Guide:
Half handshake, half chest-bump hug – 5 stars
Chest bump – 4 stars
Fist bump – 3 stars
High five – 2 stars
Handshake – 1 star
Fone and fone – 0 stars
Manly ass slap – ½ star


Restaurant: La Bamba
Location: 2557 N. Halsted


I decided to do my own little version of Fat Tuesday yesterday. It comprised of eating lunch at La Bamba and ordering a “burrito as big as your head” and then having $1 burgers for dinner at Bar Louie.

So, part one of the dynamic duo took place during lunch with my friend Katy. I didn’t realize there was a La Bamba in the Loop, so it was a pleasant surprise to stumble upon it. I think it was on Madison, just east of Wells, but don’t quote me on that. Now, La Bamba brags that they make “burritos as big as your head”. I think they should change the tagline to “burritos as big as Josh’s hog”. Of course my wife would recommend the tagline “straws twice the size of Josh’s hog”. Either one works, I guess.

Anyway, I ordered the Super burrito, which is roughly the size of the Sunday edition of the Chicago Tribune. It really was much, much bigger than I thought it would be. It’s nice to know that there is a place that isn’t all hype. When they say they have big burritos, they bring it with big burritos. They have three sizes - small, regular, and super. Really, you should probably just go with the regular, which is still a huge burrito. But like I said, this was Fat Tuesday, so I went with the heart-attack-and-crap-all-afternoon size.

I opted for the pork as my meat of choice. Now, normally I’ll go steak, but I decided to mix it up. That, and I was planning on consuming about 6 lbs of red meat for dinner. Every burrito place is different about how they fill their tortilla. Some, like Chipotle, will use rice. Others will stuff it with veggies. La Bamba goes the bean route. They stuff this thing with a ton of beans. And not black beans or whatever, but the kinda smooshed beans that remind me of soft cat food. Either way, I’m not a huge bean guy, but I’ll eat the crap out of it when needed. And this was one of those times it was needed.

I didn’t love the burrito, but I also wasn’t going to look like a puss and leave a have eaten Super burrito sitting on my plate. I’m better than that. So, I slowly worked this thing over, pouring some great hot salsa on top of each bite.

Besides the cat food that filled this monster, I only had one other complaint – there wasn’t enough meat. The pork was shredded, which is fine, and it was good, but there just wasn’t enough. You had to get several bites into the thing before you hit meat, and even then it was a little sparse for my taste. I like my burrito STUFFED with meat, so it’s falling out all over the place. ‘Cause if I wanted a veggie burrito, I’d order one. When I want some meat in my burrito, I want that to be the main ingredient. In fact, it helps if that feels like the only ingredient. But La Bamba failed to deliver on that end.

Plus, my friend ordered the steak, and I like my steak to be big chunks, so you feel like you’re eating a steak. Instead, they have these tiny little pieces that might as well be ground beef. Again, not a fan.

But, the novelty of eating a giant burrito is always going to make me happy. And next time I’ll order it with extra meat or something. Either way, I’ll give it a high five. There are better burritos in the city, but it’s fun to try and consume something this big. Just ask my wife. HI-YO!




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