Taco Bell's Carnitas Steak Burrito - A Review

It had been one of those days.  The words "Wow Max, that is quite a mess you've got going on here" were overheard as I stumbled out of bed. Stools were being maneuvered around the kitchen, the key to toddler muffin stealing.  Painting time turned into finger painting.  Which turned into a trail of hand prints as I attempted to wrangle the toddler for a cleaning.  Markers were used to color not pieces of paper, but tiny hands.  And again, the toddler had to be chased for more cleaning.  Tantrums appeared to be erupting all over the place.  And each mess of toys seemed to give birth to three more messes.

On a day like this, I knew getting dinner on the table would be challenging, to say the least.  More likely, an impossibility.

That afternoon, the most wonderful of emails was sitting there, just waiting to be read.  One that said we would have the opportunity to review the Carnitas Steak Burrito through Daily Buzz Food and Taco Bell.  It appeared to be fortuitous timing.  Dinner was figured out!

This burrito, created by Chef Lorena Garcia, includes "citrus-herb marinated steak, premium Latin rice, flavorful black beans, guacamole made from real Hass avocados, roasted corn & pepper salsa, a creamy cilantro dressing, and freshly prepared pico de gallo, all wrapped in a warm flour tortilla."

Promising, no?  This delicious sounding burrito coming on the most desperate of days.  In the midst of messes galore, lunch had been neglected.  I was ready to embrace this burrito in all its glory, welcoming it with widely open arms and to proceed in shoving it straight into my belly.

And then the burrito arrived.  It was stuffed.  Definitely full of things.  And by things, I mean black beans and rice.

After eating a few bites, I realized it lacked flavor.  And then I realized that it didn't have any of that guacamole on it.  And I couldn't taste or see cilantro dressing, so that was likely missing as well.  The bits of corn provided fun little bursts of sweetness, but they were very few and far between.  The pico de gallo suffered from the same difficulties as the corn and pepper salsa.  And the steak?  Well, I had to spit a piece out because the texture was so weird and off-putting.

There was a lot of very unappetizing carnage left in the wake of this burrito eating, so I didn't want to photograph it.  I got one a few days later, and gave it the old college try, despite the bad experience from before.  Perhaps I am a masochist at heart.

This time, it was still inelegantly packed.  By which I mean move one piece and the whole thing just falls apart.  But at least this time, not just with the rice and beans and inedible steak.  A decent amount of crispy Romaine was spotted.  More of that surprisingly tasty roasted corn and pepper salsa could be seen.  Tomatoes from the pico de gallo were much more frequently observed.  I couldn't bring myself to eat the steak, however.  I am not that extreme of a masochist.

It had been a strange day - hail storms, rain storms, and sunshine were all swapping places.  One moment, blue skies, and the next moment, dark clouds and the sound of little ice particles pelting windows were heard.  Maybe this is the reason that I found myself with a spoon getting at the vegetable and rice/beans portion of the burrito.  So I suppose it has it's uses, but sadly, I can't recommend it.

I was financially compensated for this review by Taco Bell through DailyBuzz Food. The opinions are completely my own, based on my experience.  Clearly...