Battle of the Burritos: Chipotle vs Pancheros

Mitchell Feldman  

After economics class, there’s only one thing to do, and that one thing is to eat a burrito. I’ve been doing it for days at this point, and it’s practically a religion. This semester, however, I don’t have the pleasure of eating in solitude; I have to eat with Quad Cam, who lives in the quad in my hall, and Bowen, who is fresh out of China. Of course, they do not believe Pancheros even exists, as it is invisible from the sidewalk. But I proved them wrong. Walking into Panchero’s, the first aspect I get to hardcore-judge is the store itself. Pancheros’ line starts all the way to the left despite it seeming to start towards the right. This makes me feel stupid every time I go there. However, the restaurant does have t.v.’s, which were important back when I used to try to convince myself that I wasn’t eating alone. In addition to having no way of distracting me from lonely sadness, Chipotle starts to have crazy lines every half hour (when classes end). ADVANTAGE: PANCHEROS

So we get to the line, and, of course, the entire menu is in Spanish. Bowen’s just learning English for the first time and I have to be the one to break it to him that we use other languages here too. Why do we do that? To confuse the shit out of the foreigners? I don’t know. All I know is, I made sure Bowen will never forget what queso means.

Speaking of queso, Pancheros has queso, Chipotle does not. ADVANTAGE: PANCHEROS

So now we’re all prepared in our basic Spanish phrases, it’s time to order, and we understand this restaurant perfectly. Oh wait, I forgot, Pancheros has a crazy magic tortilla-making machine. The tortilla is actually the primary difference between Chipotle and Pancheros. At Pancheros, the tortilla is “baked” to order, creating a fantastic flavor and warmth that Chipotle’s pre-packaged tortillas cannot compare with. The taste of the tortilla adds a depth to Pancheros burritos beyond what can be found at Chipotle. ADVANTAGE: PANCHEROS

We start telling the burrito-builders what we want, moving down the line. I get my mild salsa, and start paying. Quad Cam and Bowen request the extra-spicy-I-have-no-fear-of-death salsa. And I remember. Bowen’s from China, and he’s a man. Obviously I’m not, and I look like the loser in this situation. We sit down to eat the burritos, and I try to pay attention to all the food details so I can compare this thing to chipotle (kind of kills my eating-vibe there, but I make sacrifices for my dedicated readers).

The common opinion holds that Pancheros has slightly more flavor in its meat, however I don’t see that being much of a factor considering all of the add-ons. More importantly, Chipotle offers one meat option that Pancheros does not: barbacoa, the shredded beef. This meat is so moist and flavorful that I give Chipotle the edge. Everyone knows quantity goes over quality, anyway. ADVANTAGE: CHIPOTLE

We decide that this was such a great experience that we should do some kind of three musketeers bs and eat lunch together every Tuesday and Thursday. Wonderful. Throughout the meal, I describe to my new buddies all the little things about burritos that no one besides me cares about, however they obviously don’t listen. It’s impossible for people to cover their ears when I write, so:

As I found out recently, Chipotle offers a salad dressing which tastes incredible when poured gently on a burrito, and it breaks up the monotony of burrito-eating very well. Try it. Pancheros, though, offers a mild salsa without obnoxious amounts of tomatoes, allowing me and other tomato-haters (I know you’re out there) to get salsa on our burritos. I also have to take into consideration the nostalgia factor of Chipotle. Chipotle exists in many of our hearts as the first chain burrito place we went to, while Pancheros is this new-comer trying to build a reputation.

But, I can’t let my irrational fruit hate to influence my decision, so ADVANTAGE: CHIPOTLE

Final Verdict

With so many advantages towards each side, I have to look towards the biggest factors in flavor, and I find that the queso and tortilla outweigh salad dressing. I might regret telling people that Pancheros is better than Chipotle as I like the short lines, but it’s my job.

WINNER: PANCHEROS

Jazzy Veggie Vegan Cuisine: Go Green While You Go Blue!

Zoe Bauer  

I was a scoop of sausage stuffing and a piece of pecan pie past my limit when I decided to go vegan between Thanksgiving and winter break.

A genuine vegan may criticize my spontaneous adoption of a lifestyle meant to promote a lifetime of healthy eating and sensitivity to animals. Nonetheless, I accepted the challenge as a way to cleanse myself between holidays characterized by stuffing your face.

After Thanksgiving, returning to Ann Arbor as a vegan was difficult. Though I appreciate that dining halls are sensitive to special diets by providing numerous vegan options and kindly labeling meat/dairy-less selections, I typically don’t crave tofu meatballs or teriyaki smothered tempeh. So, after a week of cheese-less pastas and chicken-less nuggets, it was time to explore my vegan options outside of campus dining. Yelp led me to Jazzy Veggie, a small restaurant on South Main with a proud description that reads: “Comfort Foods—Vegan Style”. I am not sure if it was the name of the restaurant or its logo’s font (which, adorably, looked like this) that attracted me, but Jazzy Veggie drew me in with its website, which made the restaurant appear to have a stylish and friendly atmosphere.

A short walk down Main Street (great location, by the way) brought me to its door. The restaurant was nearly empty and the atmosphere was not quite what the website built it up to be. While the website led me to believe the place was funky and hip, the restaurant turned out to have a low-key and under-enthused ambiance. The layout was typical: tables on one side near the window and an ordering counter on the other; and the environment was not particularly jazzy and upbeat, though the employees were quick to greet me at the door.

After contemplating the many menu options, I ordered the Spicy Black Bean Burger with a Carrot-Walnut Salad on the side. My meal was about $9: a bargain considering the amount food that came a shortly after I ordered. It only took me one bite to realize that the burger’s name didn’t lie—I found it to be very spicy, but equally delicious! The soft wheat bun paired with the veggies on top of the burger cooled down the heat of the dish, and the chipotle aioli, which was spread over the bun, added just the right creaminess

Still, despite my satisfaction with the burger, I favored the Carrot-Walnut Salad. This side dish was extraordinarily refreshing: shredded carrots, walnut halves and golden raisins tossed in a light, tangy (likely orange or lemon) dressing; and its vibrant colors made it especially appealing.

The meal contained no heavy components, as it steered clear of non-vegan ingredients, so I was left feeling energized rather than overly full. Because of this, I found that the description, which labeled Jazzy Veggie as “comfort food”, didn’t quite fit. While comfort food usually refers to fatty, yet familiar American foods, Jazzy Veggie offers lighter and more refreshing dishes. Without meat and dairy—two key components of heavy household favorites like cheesy casseroles and hearty beef stews—the restaurant fell short of “comfort food”.

For my purposes, the shortcoming was an added bonus since holiday comfort foods led me to begin the cleanse in the first place. In my mind, abstaining from these creamy calorie-packed meals justified my indulgence in them during the actual holiday. Jazzy Veggie provided me with a delicious and healthful alternative to standard “comfort food”. The restaurant’s easy location, affordable prices, and tasty dishes make Jazzy Veggie a must-go for foodies—vegan or not.

Restaurant Week Special: Rolling Deep with the Michigan Stats Department

Karry Lu  

As a first year grad student, my diet can most accurately be represented by this slightly modified infographic:

Luckily, Restaurant Week in Ann Arbor offers a brief respite from the usual carb-loaded and precisely memorized happy hour specials. Armed with a freshly deposited GSI stipend and the lack of Friday classes, I, as well as a bunch of other students in my department lured by the opportunity to be real adults, scheduled a classy dinner at The Earle, a venerable French restaurant located on West Washington near Main Street.

Restaurant Week primer: participating restaurants offer multi-course lunch or dinner menus at fixed prices, allowing patrons to sample their signature dishes (or whatever’s still sitting in the walk-in and needs to be sold in the next 48 hours) at a discount. I’ve done this before in New York, Chicago and DC, and it can be hit or miss unless you do your research. Still, given that my track record with the Ann Arbor dining scene almost exclusively involves $9 Indian buffets and various noodle-centered establishments, I thought this would be a good chance to see how hard this town can bring it.

First thoughts: The Earle is massive. It is almost certainly the largest restaurant I’ve set foot in, and more closely resembles the catacombs of a minor Roman emperor than a place where people go for dining and celebrating. At this moment I’d also like to give props to our servers who graciously allowed us to push a bunch of tables together to accommodate all sixteen of us. As everyone knows, stats students are a traditionally rowdy bunch.

For this restaurant week, the Earle offered a three-course dinner with a choice of two appetizers, six entrées, and six desserts. The cannellini bean and escarole (the poor man’s kale) spicy tomato soup, which was my chosen starter, did not earn much comment or distinction. It was perfectly serviceable, I liked the Parmesan on top, but it was clearly just something to whet the appetite for the main course. For me, that was the boneless duck breast in a sauce of apples, cider, and brown sugar, with rum raisins and potato-turnip purée. I was conflicted about this dish; the duck was properly juicy and tender, but I could’ve done with a sauce that wasn’t so sickly sweet and one-dimensional. Call me crazy, but dumping apples, cider, and brown sugar in the same dish seems like overkill. Also disappointing was the lack of crispy, salty skin, which is usually my favorite part of duck breast and would’ve certainly supplied the needed textural and taste contrast. I was more or less satisfied in the end, but this really was the one that got away; we could’ve had so much more.

I should take a moment to say that yes, because we are sophisticated motherfuckers, we did indulge in a bit of wine to accompany our red-meat heavy entrées. More specifically, one of my dining companions and I split a bottle of Terra Alta Cataregia 2004 “Gran Reserva,” which was chosen solely on the basis of its sub-$30 price tag, and that one wine tasting I went to three years ago where the lady might’ve mentioned something about Spanish wines being undervalued. Verdict: slightly ponderous, subtle blackcurrant and stone fruit undertones, with a chewy oaky finish and hints of vanilla and honeysuckle on the nose, which is pretty much what I say about all red wines that don’t smell like barnyard and burnt moss. Still, it was a very acceptable sipping wine, and a perfect enhancement to a night of enlightened conversation between intellectual peers (topics included white people not knowing about beef wellington, actresses we think are hot, R syntax…probably).

Naturally, there was room left for dessert. A plurality of the table chose the dark chocolate cheesecake, and I was no exception. It wasn’t overly sweet, which I like, because it meant they used quality chocolate, but it was almost too rich and heavy, and by the end I felt like I had a few bites too many. Given the choice again, I might opt for my neighbor’s crème brûlée. It’s hard to go wrong with a caramelized sugar crust.