Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

A rare lamb burrito sighting

Barbacoa steamed six hours in cactus leaves

A 24-hour marinated lamb wrapped in a flour tortilla with pinto beans and rice.
A 24-hour marinated lamb wrapped in a flour tortilla with pinto beans and rice.

There are only a few restaurants around the country dedicated to making lamb barbacoa, and most have found their way onto my to-do list. But what I’d yet to find was any Mexican eatery serving a lamb burrito.

Place

El Borrego Restaurant

4280 El Cajon Boulevard, San Diego

That’s not a complaint: most days, I’d choose a plateful of lamb tacos over a burrito anyhow. But when I spotted such a thing on the menu of El Borrego Restaurant, I went for it. Who knows when I’ll have another chance?

Sponsored
Sponsored
A friendly little City Heights eatery

El Borrego’s in City Heights, occupying a bright orange storefront near Fairmount Avenue. Though it serves chicken and cochinita pibil pork, the counter service restaurant prides itself on its namesake dish, wrapping a 24-hour marinated lamb in maguey cactus leaves and slow cooking it over steam for five to six hours.

Most days I’d want the resulting tender, shredded lamb meat stuffed inside tacos, or served on a plate with a stack of tortillas. And both options come recommended here. But the $9.25 burrito wraps the barbacoa up with rice and pinto beans, inside a grilled flour tortilla. For two bucks more I embraced an add-avocado option, and for a dollar more added sour cream.

I waited in the dining room a few minutes before the burrito arrived at my table. It’s not the fattest burrito I’ve eaten this week, but without doubt it filled me up. The lamb lacked any gamey pungency, and its simmering flavor was almost too delicate to overcome the rice, beans, and avocado. But once I added some of the tasty and hot house salsa, I hit the burrito zone with this thing, saving the chunkier bits of lamb that came my way, and washing it down with the tangy house agua de tamarindo.

A burrito’s probably the least of the lamb options on the menu, but I’m glad it was there to satisfy my curiosity. Next time I will spend my gluttony on a half pound of that moist, succulent lamb meat and a stack of corn tortillas, and savor every moment. But I’ll have to be lunch or an early dinner. El Borrego closes at 6pm.

The latest copy of the Reader

Please enjoy this clickable Reader flipbook. Linked text and ads are flash-highlighted in blue for your convenience. To enhance your viewing, please open full screen mode by clicking the icon on the far right of the black flipbook toolbar.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Gonzo Report: Eating dinner while little kids mock-mosh at Golden Island

“The tot absorbs the punk rock shot with the skill of experience”
Next Article

Live Five: Sitting On Stacy, Matte Blvck, Think X, Hendrix Celebration, Coriander

Alt-ska, dark electro-pop, tributes, and coastal rock in Solana Beach, Little Italy, Pacific Beach
A 24-hour marinated lamb wrapped in a flour tortilla with pinto beans and rice.
A 24-hour marinated lamb wrapped in a flour tortilla with pinto beans and rice.

There are only a few restaurants around the country dedicated to making lamb barbacoa, and most have found their way onto my to-do list. But what I’d yet to find was any Mexican eatery serving a lamb burrito.

Place

El Borrego Restaurant

4280 El Cajon Boulevard, San Diego

That’s not a complaint: most days, I’d choose a plateful of lamb tacos over a burrito anyhow. But when I spotted such a thing on the menu of El Borrego Restaurant, I went for it. Who knows when I’ll have another chance?

Sponsored
Sponsored
A friendly little City Heights eatery

El Borrego’s in City Heights, occupying a bright orange storefront near Fairmount Avenue. Though it serves chicken and cochinita pibil pork, the counter service restaurant prides itself on its namesake dish, wrapping a 24-hour marinated lamb in maguey cactus leaves and slow cooking it over steam for five to six hours.

Most days I’d want the resulting tender, shredded lamb meat stuffed inside tacos, or served on a plate with a stack of tortillas. And both options come recommended here. But the $9.25 burrito wraps the barbacoa up with rice and pinto beans, inside a grilled flour tortilla. For two bucks more I embraced an add-avocado option, and for a dollar more added sour cream.

I waited in the dining room a few minutes before the burrito arrived at my table. It’s not the fattest burrito I’ve eaten this week, but without doubt it filled me up. The lamb lacked any gamey pungency, and its simmering flavor was almost too delicate to overcome the rice, beans, and avocado. But once I added some of the tasty and hot house salsa, I hit the burrito zone with this thing, saving the chunkier bits of lamb that came my way, and washing it down with the tangy house agua de tamarindo.

A burrito’s probably the least of the lamb options on the menu, but I’m glad it was there to satisfy my curiosity. Next time I will spend my gluttony on a half pound of that moist, succulent lamb meat and a stack of corn tortillas, and savor every moment. But I’ll have to be lunch or an early dinner. El Borrego closes at 6pm.

Comments
Sponsored

The latest copy of the Reader

Please enjoy this clickable Reader flipbook. Linked text and ads are flash-highlighted in blue for your convenience. To enhance your viewing, please open full screen mode by clicking the icon on the far right of the black flipbook toolbar.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Ramona musicians seek solution for outdoor playing at wineries

Ambient artists aren’t trying to put AC/DC in anyone’s backyard
Next Article

Trump names local supporter new Border Czar

Another Brick (Suit) in the Wall
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader