El Balazo, San Ramon

So here's the thing.... I don't mind paying money for good food. However, I do have a problem paying money for food that is just okay. Especially when it's a a taqueria and you just want a burrito!!! Well, this was the case at El Balazo in San Ramon. While the food was decent, I've had WAY better. For $27, we got two super burritos and an order of nachos with carnitas. Maybe 'cause it's San Ramon it cost about $10 more, but it wasn't worth it.

This all started with my hubby coming out to San Ramon, where he would pick up lunch and we would eat it at my work. Now, we can eat Mexican most nights of the week and be happy, and I would like to think that we've tried a lot of taquerias. When I saw the menu for El Balazo, I thought it looked good. There is a lot to try on there. I will say that they have a lot of variety. If you can't find something that sounds good, go to McDonald's. They had several burritos that sounded really interesting, but then I saw the Chicken Mole burrito. I'm a sucker for really good mole, so I had to try it. There are also full meal platters, seafood, sandwiches, salads... again, if you can't find anything to eat there...

We split an order of super nachos, which came with our choice of meat (carnitas), cheese, beans, salsa, sour cream and guacamole. Talk about a lot of food. The carnitas were alright, if not a bit fatty. I did like the refried beans, which were on the side because my hubby doesn't like beans. I've never had refried beans that were completely pureed, but they were good. There was a nice zip to them and they weren't really fatty like a lot of places do. As for the guac and salsa, it was good, but nothing to brag about. The different hot sauces were pretty good. Both of us liked the green, which seemed to be ground up jalapeno and cilantro. You can't go wrong with that.

My chicken mole burrito was.... decent. Nothing outstanding, nothing horrible. Just decent. It came with rice, black beans (you have an option of black, refried or pinto), sour cream, cheese, guac, and salsa. I've certainly had better mole. I love mole for the rich, spicy chocolate taste. I failed to taste the chocolate. All I could taste was cinnamon. Overall, the burrito was a bit on the dry side. There was a lot of rice, a few beans, which were overpowered by the taste of cinnamon. I didn't really notice the other condiments in it. The hubby had a Chile Verde super burrito, which was also decent. Again, nothing to write home about. The pork was tender and moist, but it seemed to lack flavor. I didn't really taste the tomatillo sauce it was roasted in. He got his with no beans, so I found it a bit dry, but it's my personal feeling that burritos need beans. Overall, it was rather non-discript.

If the food had been amazing, I would have no problem going back to anyone of the El Balazo locations. For $27, I don't think it was worth it, especially for a carry out lunch. I can get better Mexican for a lot less. Maybe we ordered the wrong thing. There are still several items that sound good, but not for the money.

peace out, peeps.
lena

El Balazo
2005 Crow Canyon Place
San Ramon, CA

El Balazo has 10 bay area locations. Beer and wine served. Catering menu available.