16 August 2012

Here come the Burrito Riots as Guzman y Gomez gets really popular

| johnboy
Join the conversation
50
burrito line

This is the line from Guzman y Gomez to the corner of Bunda and Petrie.

And this is the line from that corner towards Reid.

burrito line

When we walked past at the appointed start time of 11am the workmen were still finishing building the store and the velvet rope was still up.

burrito line

The kitchen, however, was a hive of activity.

burrito kitchen

It seems a free burrito comes with a significant wait.


UPDATE 16/08/12 12:38: And thanks to Jono Hayward for taking us memetic:

burrito meme

Join the conversation

50
All Comments
  • All Comments
  • Website Comments
LatestOldest
VYBerlinaV8_is_back12:43 pm 21 Aug 12

switch said :

VYBerlinaV8_is_back said :

Based on the popularity of this place I suspect we’ll become the Fart Capital.

I thought we already were the Public Fart capital.

The less phonetically aesthetic (but more accurate term) for public art is “sh1t”.

VYBerlinaV8_is_back said :

Based on the popularity of this place I suspect we’ll become the Fart Capital.

I thought we already were the Public Fart capital.

VYBerlinaV8_is_back12:17 pm 21 Aug 12

Based on the popularity of this place I suspect we’ll become the Fart Capital.

troll-sniffer11:35 am 21 Aug 12

A guy sits down in a cafe and asks for the hot chilli. The waitress says, “The guy next to you got the last bowl.” So, he gets a cup of coffee. Then he sees that the guy next to him has finished his meal, but the chilli bowl is still full. He says, “Are you going to eat that?” The other guy says, “No. You can have it.” The guy takes it and starts to eat it. When he gets about half way down, he sees a dead mouse in it, and he pukes the chilli back into the bowl. The other guy says, “That’s about as far as I got, too.”

hetzjagd1 said :

.

I’ve now finished it and it was mildly spicy in places. I hit a patch of the tomatillo salsa which was a refreshing break from beans but it was short-lived.

Second burrito – Chicken Guerrero (Mild)

First bite – boom, I can taste the grilled chicken with its Guerrero marinade as advertised and it is good. There is still a wealth of beans that I can see peaking out at me from the one bite opening I’ve made but they aren’t the only cowboy in town this time around. Second bite – all beans! Enough with the beans. Each bite further to the left or the right seems to alternate between beans and relative chicken awesomeness. I have the same problem at Zambrero’s usually…..

Perhaps authentic Mexican has lots of beans, and what you are after (like most people apparently) is a Westernised version, where it is all meat, little salad and no beans (and lots of sauce to then give some flavour)?
If so, people can’t really complain about there being no ‘authentic Mexican’ places in Canberra, can they?! 🙂

I thought I’d share my experience with the two burritos I had. A friend of mine was mysteriously given two burritos in a bag and donated the second to me. I should start by saying how much I was looking forward to Free Burrito Day and how much I really wanted to like this because I love tex-mex and presumed I would like what is otherwise meant to be authentic Mexican food. Also Zambrero’s has been consistently disappointing at the Woden and Civic stores recently to the point that I swore I would not go back (at least until $5 burrito day at the Canberra Centre). Based on that is why I’ve used Z’s as a point of reference a couple of times below. I’m sorry Guzman y Gomez, I wish it had been different and I thank you kindly for giving me the option to try before I buy.

First burrito – Pork Chipotle

The back of the menu advocates Guzman Y Gomez as ‘deliciously healthy’ and I can only agree in part that it does indeed taste ‘healthy’. I’m a couple of bites in and I am a little underwhelmed. The pork chipotle is apparently among ‘GYG’s Most Popular’ products. It is quite ‘beany’ in flavour. The menu specifically lists it as (spicy) rather than (mild) but so far I’m not really reaching for a drink. They don’t seem to rock any sort of sauce like Zambrero’s does and the flavour isn’t really popping out at me. Overall the combined ingredients are making it taste kinda cheesey at most. Also it is shorter than your typical Zambrero’s burrito and probably about as thick as they usually are however this feels much denser and doesn’t just taste like rice.

I’ve now finished it and it was mildly spicy in places. I hit a patch of the tomatillo salsa which was a refreshing break from beans but it was short-lived.

Second burrito – Chicken Guerrero (Mild)

First bite – boom, I can taste the grilled chicken with its Guerrero marinade as advertised and it is good. There is still a wealth of beans that I can see peaking out at me from the one bite opening I’ve made but they aren’t the only cowboy in town this time around. Second bite – all beans! Enough with the beans. Each bite further to the left or the right seems to alternate between beans and relative chicken awesomeness. I have the same problem at Zambrero’s usually, I seem to pick the wrong side of the burrito to eat from and trying to rebite to get even amounts of salad, rice and meat prove futile if you don’t get it right the first time. Mexican food is a harsh mistress. Its also kind of a dull mistress apparently (in the case of burritos from Guzman Y Gomez) which I have heard before but hoped wasn’t true. I can see why the Tex-mex and other cheese-heavy americanised Mexican restaurants seem to surpass authentic mexican in terms of popularity and ubiquity. Oh my god this burrito is so bland and boring in places – is this what old age is like?

I seem to struggle to take a bite without dropping a little bit of rice around the place each time.

It should be noted that they have complimentary DIY tabasco sauces, jalapenos and diced red onion. It was crowded and loud and I didn’t trust myself to be able to unwrap my burrito, load up on extras and then wrap it back up satisfactorily and transport it back to work.

Also of note, they wrap these bad boys consistently. Both my burritos could be sat on their ends and left unattended like some sort of obedient ‘authentic-mexican’ puppy.

lobster said :

4005 total burritos given out that day according to facebook

That’s a shame. I was hoping Canberra would beat their record.

4005 total burritos given out that day according to facebook

Considering I went there at lunchtime, queued beyond the corner, and ended up with a great tasting burrito in hand in less than 30 minutes……..IT WAS AWESOME

PantsMan said :

A burrito delayed is a burrito denied.

QFT.

Kerryhemsley11:10 am 17 Aug 12

Solidarity said :

Burritos? I thought it was the line up for wang massages.

Yeah one of the best business names in Canberra. Up there with Dr Fang the dentist in Dickson.

poetix said :

Does anyone here want to talk about burritos?

Free guacamole with the vego one, JB. And lots of beans.

I quite liked mine, the chicken was tasty. I didn’t like the beans in it so much, they were all in one section so I ended up with a mouthful of bean and nothing else. It didn’t have as much salad as Zambreros, which I imagine some people would prefer. I like the salad involved in Zambreros though, so will probably go back there

FWIW, I found the burrito fairly bland.

devils_advocate9:41 am 17 Aug 12

dpm said :

It’s interesting that in a city with the highest wages (http://www.canberratimes.com.au/act-news/capital-wages-still-highest-growing-fastest-20120816-24ac0.html) so many people will still line up for anything free.
One case is the ongoing waiting times at ED, though I suspect that may be more due to the lack of alternative options, especially after hours and on weekends, surely?
In the burrito case, I suspect it is simply because marketing types know how to cause a frenzy environment! Personally, on principle, I’d rather not line up like pavlov’s dogs! For some reason i’d feel embarrassed to be lining up there.
Then again, it may be that rich people simply are the tightest with their $?! Do people also go to soup kitchens too? They’re not marketed as well I suppose…
God i’m being a negative pr$%k on a Friday! Hahahaha! 🙂

Again, I don’t think it’s that it’s free, people want to know if there’s now a better mexican restaurant in Canberra. I doubt the freebie factor was the only driving factor.

It’s interesting that in a city with the highest wages (http://www.canberratimes.com.au/act-news/capital-wages-still-highest-growing-fastest-20120816-24ac0.html) so many people will still line up for anything free.
One case is the ongoing waiting times at ED, though I suspect that may be more due to the lack of alternative options, especially after hours and on weekends, surely?
In the burrito case, I suspect it is simply because marketing types know how to cause a frenzy environment! Personally, on principle, I’d rather not line up like pavlov’s dogs! For some reason i’d feel embarrassed to be lining up there.
Then again, it may be that rich people simply are the tightest with their $?! Do people also go to soup kitchens too? They’re not marketed as well I suppose…
God i’m being a negative pr$%k on a Friday! Hahahaha! 🙂

poetix said :

Does anyone here want to talk about burritos?

Free guacamole with the vego one, JB. And lots of beans.

No, no, its fun seeing someone being a noob trying to troll a seasoned regular.

GYG twitter page post at around 3 p.m. on 16/08 “YEAHHH! 2040 free Burritos and Bowls given out so far at GYG Canberra!”

Final numbers to come…

How much is a burrito even worth?? $10? (I honestly have no idea, I very rarely buy takeaway, let alone mexican). For something that is worth so little there’s no way I’d be waiting in an annoying queue! I hate queues!

Burritos? I thought it was the line up for wang massages.

Does anyone here want to talk about burritos?

Free guacamole with the vego one, JB. And lots of beans.

poetix said :

Skidd Marx said :

poetix said :

Damn! I was at the gym, trying to bench press, thinking about the free burrito that awaited me. But I am starving, so I think it’s chopped up tofu and avocado for me. I’d fall over in a queue at the moment.

Please feel free to include a point in your next post.

I shall use this post as a template.

And to those calling me buff…I haven’t killed a vampire in a while.

It’s clear your ironic humour is lost on the simpletons who could never be as magnanimous and measured as your response!

Have tried this before in Sydney. I got the Nachos. Very average. The beans tasted like… something else.

Mexican dishes are easy to make. Pretty cheap to buy the ingrediants too. Never understood the big fuss around Zambreros and what now appears to be over this new joint.

And then you rode your bike home right

Skidd Marx said :

poetix said :

Damn! I was at the gym, trying to bench press, thinking about the free burrito that awaited me. But I am starving, so I think it’s chopped up tofu and avocado for me. I’d fall over in a queue at the moment.

Please feel free to include a point in your next post.

I shall use this post as a template.

And to those calling me buff…I haven’t killed a vampire in a while.

Fist_is_a_verb3:44 pm 16 Aug 12

poetix said :

Fist_is_a_verb said :

poetix said :

Damn! I was at the gym, trying to bench press, thinking about the free burrito that awaited me. But I am starving, so I think it’s chopped up tofu and avocado for me. I’d fall over in a queue at the moment.

Do you go to the gym? And do bench press? Incredible stuff.

Chopped up tofu and avocado sounds delicious though, wanker.

Somebody’s joie de vivre needs a workout…

The whole point was that that alternative was not delicious! It’s called pumping irony.

But the burrito was tasty. Thank you G y G.

Never thought I’d see a gym buff use the phrase “joie de vivre”, full credit to you.

I was actually thinking about hitting the library to brush up on such nonsense, but they don’t have anywere for me to do lat pulldowns, so I’l going to have to give it a miss, unfortunately.

devils_advocate said :

Skidd Marx said :

poetix said :

Damn! I was at the gym, trying to bench press, thinking about the free burrito that awaited me. But I am starving, so I think it’s chopped up tofu and avocado for me. I’d fall over in a queue at the moment.

Please feel free to include a point in your next post.

The point is, he will sacrifice free food at the altar of his own buffness.

Reps in peace, buddy.

Geez people, I think you’ll find Poetix is a female. Try to keep up! She’s been posting here for well over a year and isn’t a gym-obsessed roid head!Hahaha!

devils_advocate3:34 pm 16 Aug 12

Skidd Marx said :

Seems people don’t value their time very much.

Or, they value burritos very highly.

Same issue with brodburger.

Heterogenous preferences.

devils_advocate3:30 pm 16 Aug 12

Fist_is_a_verb said :

poetix said :

Damn! I was at the gym, trying to bench press, thinking about the free burrito that awaited me. But I am starving, so I think it’s chopped up tofu and avocado for me. I’d fall over in a queue at the moment.

Do you go to the gym? And do bench press? Incredible stuff.

Chopped up tofu and avocado sounds delicious though, wanker.

I LOL’d. Quite hard.

devils_advocate3:29 pm 16 Aug 12

Skidd Marx said :

poetix said :

Damn! I was at the gym, trying to bench press, thinking about the free burrito that awaited me. But I am starving, so I think it’s chopped up tofu and avocado for me. I’d fall over in a queue at the moment.

Please feel free to include a point in your next post.

The point is, he will sacrifice free food at the altar of his own buffness.

Reps in peace, buddy.

poetix said :

Damn! I was at the gym, trying to bench press, thinking about the free burrito that awaited me. But I am starving, so I think it’s chopped up tofu and avocado for me. I’d fall over in a queue at the moment.

Please feel free to include a point in your next post.

Seems people don’t value their time very much.

Fist_is_a_verb said :

poetix said :

Damn! I was at the gym, trying to bench press, thinking about the free burrito that awaited me. But I am starving, so I think it’s chopped up tofu and avocado for me. I’d fall over in a queue at the moment.

Do you go to the gym? And do bench press? Incredible stuff.

Chopped up tofu and avocado sounds delicious though, wanker.

Somebody’s joie de vivre needs a workout…

The whole point was that that alternative was not delicious! It’s called pumping irony.

But the burrito was tasty. Thank you G y G.

Fist_is_a_verb2:17 pm 16 Aug 12

poetix said :

Damn! I was at the gym, trying to bench press, thinking about the free burrito that awaited me. But I am starving, so I think it’s chopped up tofu and avocado for me. I’d fall over in a queue at the moment.

Do you go to the gym? And do bench press? Incredible stuff.

Chopped up tofu and avocado sounds delicious though, wanker.

Do you get a high-five from a quesadilla genius as you jog through the door?

FWIW, I had GyG in Sydney (Kings-X) a few years ago. It was fine.

20 minutes!

Was just in the area with the Mrs, no less than 200 people waiting at about 12.45pm today. Cant believe how many farken tightasses there are in Canberra, willing to wait an hour or more for a free feed.!

johnboy said :

It smelt pretty tempting when we were down there.

But would you pay for it and how much would you pay?

I plan to go back tomorrow and buy lunch. I’ll let you all know.

People will line for something free even if it’s rubbish.

It smelt pretty tempting when we were down there.

A burrito delayed is a burrito denied.

If my rough calculations are roughly correct, they were managing 4.75 burritos/min when they first opened the doors. Taking into account kitchen staff fatigue post-APS lunch hour, this output may significantly reduce come 2pm…

Damn! I was at the gym, trying to bench press, thinking about the free burrito that awaited me. But I am starving, so I think it’s chopped up tofu and avocado for me. I’d fall over in a queue at the moment.

We hear with the superstaffed kitchen and no moneyhandling the wait is only about 15 mins.

Mysteryman said :

Aaroncbr said :

My burrito was great, will be back again after work for some dinner.

How long was the wait?

I waited around 15 minutes.

Aaroncbr said :

My burrito was great, will be back again after work for some dinner.

How long was the wait?

My burrito was great, will be back again after work for some dinner.

It did smell pretty good damn them. And jazz report the corn chips they were feeding the crowd were excellent.

Holden Caulfield11:25 am 16 Aug 12

OMG, it’s not like it’s an Apple store!

devils_advocate11:23 am 16 Aug 12

Is it the prospect of a free burrito, or a good burrito, that has caused the massive interest?

Like brodburger, the main cost of this burrito would be lost wages standing in line, rendering the direct cash payment to the vendor negligible.

I am more interested in whether the product lives up to the hype/what I have tasted in Sydney.

Daily Digest

Want the best Canberra news delivered daily? Every day we package the most popular Riotact stories and send them straight to your inbox. Sign-up now for trusted local news that will never be behind a paywall.

By submitting your email address you are agreeing to Region Group's terms and conditions and privacy policy.