Midtown Lunch

Everyone moans about how terrible the burritos are in NYC, which perhaps explains why there’s a line out the door at every Chipotle come lunch time. There are some decent burritos, in my opinion, but I’m no expert. Lupe’s East L.A. Kitchen has been selling Mexican food on Sixth Ave. (at Watts) for 20 years according to their Web site, and I’d heard good things about their burritos so I decided it was time to give them a shot. Would I find the burrito of my dreams a short subway ride away?

I ordered a beef burrito colorado ($8.50) and went to pick it up a short while later (you can order online). I’ve had the beef colorado preparation before and found it delicious, so I was pretty excited to dig into this baby.

On the first bite, I have to admit I was a little disappointed. There were a lot of things this burrito had going for it, namely that the rice, lettuce and tomato were on the side rather than inside the tortilla like so many places here do. The problem was with the filling of chunks of stewed beef in a thin red colorado sauce, pinto beans and white cheese. I was going to take a picture of it but it was just a mess of gray. I’m not sure what I was expecting, but it was just bland and badly in need of some hot sauce or salsa or something to brighten it up more than the red sauce on the top of the burrito could. I guess this is one argument for eating in so you have access to sauces sitting on the tables.

Have any of you had a standout dish at Lupe’s? Are my standards skewed?

Lupe’s East L.A. Kitchen, 110 Sixth Ave. (at Watts), (212) 966-1326, www.lupeskitchen.com