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Saturday, February 23, 2008

Tijuana is all Talk

Tijuana's manifesto is impressive, but as you will notice they only mention food a couple of times. The reason? They're more concerned about their personality and atmosphere than the actual food.

We were greeted at the door by a manager when he noticed we looked rather overwhelmed. He asked us if we had ever been to Tijuana before and we explained that we were die hard Chipotle fans. He walked us through the menu, explained how to order and asked us if we had any questions. So far we were very impressed by his concentrated service....more service than you usually get at Chipotle.

We went to order and I immediately tried to make the burrito like the one I have at Chipotle, I added rice (which they forgot to put in) and I also wanted salsa, but it cots 99 cents extra. They had all kinds of options but none that I was really looking for. Black olives and green peppers are ok, but I'm spoiled with 4 different types of bold salsa and 4 different types of meat. In exchange I had them make it "wet" by adding on queso.

We also ordered chips and salsa. The total came to just over $16 with no drinks. For fast casual I thought this was a little expensive.

We went to go sit down and I carefully examined the hot sauce bar. With 18 different types of salsa to try it was definitely impressive, however I think they have a few of them just to say they have them. It seemed like bragging rights to say they have 18 hot sauces. I tried a few, but...eh.

Our food was delivered to our table, which was a nice change but we were both weary of not being able to see them make our food like at Chipotle and Moe's.

video

It was a huge portion, but there was hardly any flavor or spice at all. The chicken was bland and the goods inside (lettuce, cheese etc) were nothing special. Without the queso smothered on top, there would have been hardly any flavor at all. To compete they should spend some time and money in creating new salsas and flavors beyond the hot sauce and limit the number of options.

If I was in the mood for a good quesadilla this is definitely the place I would go. But for a burrito? I'm heading to Chipotle or even Moe's. There is so much effort put into the decor and atmosphere that I think they forgot why we came in the first place....we want some amazing Mexican food.

(watch the video for more free entertainment)

Posted by Dan Holm at 10:54 PM
Labels: , , ,

10 comments:

  1. I was just at a "Flats" two days ago while I was up in Mount Dora for my sister's birthday. I am also a chipotle fan as well as a Moe's fan. When we arrived we were also greated by someone who asked us if he had ever been there before...when we all said yes she gave us the menu to look over. She then promted us for our drink order. I though this was funny for the fact that we were still in line. We had to hold onto our dripping drinks even before we ordered.

    I got the Burrito and have to say I thought it was "OK"...compaired to cipotle or moes it was EXTREMELY bland and the only thing that gave it any flavor was the "Smack my Sweet Ass and Call Me Sally" Hot Sauce.

    Another thing I notcied was there were NO trash cans in the restarant. This creates some confusion with the whole fast food concept. It was also odd that the waitress would come around and ask us if we needed anything.

    Like you said they are more concerned with their image then the food flavor and all together menu.

    I would not recomend Tijuana to ANYONE...as it is both expensive and not worth the experience.
    ReplyDelete
  2. I laughed to the point of tears during that video.
    CHIPOTLE ALL THE WAY
    ReplyDelete
  3. For being such a well known place you would think that the food would be better. Chipotle is the way to go.
    ReplyDelete
  4. I went to a Tijuana Flats in Winter Park with Brittany over Christmas Break. We got the queso to go with the chips, and that was quite enjoyable. Not the best queso I've ever had, but it was quite good. We ate outside, and there was this guy who was wandering around on his bike, I don't remember what his name was, but he was known by everyone and he knew everyone. He was mentally handicapped and was decked out in FSU attire with reflective vests and helmets and accessories on his bike which he was riding on. And if anyone had rival attire on (UF or others) he would scream profanities and threaten them. I ate in fear.
    ReplyDelete
  5. The lack of trash cans at Tijuana is extemely odd. We sat for a few minutes and pondered what we should do next. You can watch the video on YouTube. Follow this link:

    http://youtube.com/watch?v=Bm8PkudzzcM
    ReplyDelete
  6. Maybe they expected you to just leave your dirty plates there on the table and then they threw them away for you.
    ReplyDelete
  7. I think the video needs some editing. haha
    ReplyDelete
  8. The minute I heard you were venturing to “The Flats” I knew that you would not enjoy your experience there. But I remember over a year ago when you were a dedicated Moe’s customer. We had a hard time convincing you to try Chipotle. Once you did, you saw the light and look at you now… a true endorser of the Chipotle Brand.

    On my last trip to “The Flats” I ordered a cheese quesadilla. When they brought out our to-go order, the dude read the order back to us, which was correct. I looked inside the bag and the non-environmentally box was labeled correctly. However, we I got it home and opened the box, I was quite surprised to find a Chicken Quesadilla. And as you know, chicken is no good for a veggie like me. I could have taken it back, but would a cheese quesadilla really be worth the 20 min round trip drive back to “The Flats”? No!
    I will add that the main reason I eat there is because the closest Moe’s is a 20 min drive (one way). The closest Chipotle is a 30 min drive (one way). Sucks to live in Sarasota.
    ReplyDelete
  9. That's the saddest story I have ever heard
    ReplyDelete
  10. I used to live in Sarasota!
    ReplyDelete

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