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Is the Veggie Works better than any Taco Bell burrito?

Lucky Baldwin’s Pub here in Pasadena is currently having a Belgian Beer Festival. I had just finished doing some work in the lab last night when Greg gave me a call and said something to the effect of “Lucky Baldwin’s is having their Belgian Beer Festival. And, I was thinking the best time to get some of that beligan beer would be…now. You in?” Well, of course, my good man.

Mike, Greg, and I headed down to Lucky’s, where soon after Holly arrived. The ordering was simple: taster sizes of the first six Belgian beers on the list, please. The first round of tasters was, on average, pretty good, but like Greg said, none of them stuck out as particularly great. One or two were noticeably worse than the others, but they were all drinkable. Round two? The same, except the next six on the list. Round two was more interesting than round one, because we were brought some carbonated Hawaiian Punch with alcohol that someone was trying to pass off as Belgian beer. Okay, maybe it wasn’t Hawaiian Punch, but the resemblance (in both appearance and taste) was striking.

After leaving Lucky’s, we stopped by Del Taco to pick up some eats. My order? Two Veggie Works burritos. It’s still Lent, baby, and I’m not cheating on my commitment. What was in the Del Taco bag? One Veggie Works burrito. Doh! Del Taco really picked a time to screw me. During Lent, after a reasonably late night of drinking, socializing amongst friends…of course. When else would they leave out a burrito? No big deal, I suppose.

After finishing the burrito, I made a statement that seems somewhat crass in hindsight. I declared the Veggie Works burrito to be better than any burrito I had ever had from Taco Bell. Pretty strong claim, eh? Well, my judgement may have been colored by the fact that it is Lent, I have not had meat for two and a half weeks, and I’m generally much more hungry more often now than I was before Lent. But, I still defend my claim, to an extent. The only burrito I have had from Taco Bell that competes well with the Veggie Works is the chili cheese burrito (which, unfortunately, is not on the California regional menu). I know, some people really like the seven layer burrito, others really like the Frito burrito…not me. I don’t mean any harm; I’m just not crazy about those burritos. But, the chili cheese…on an empty stomach…right after having the tostada and a double decker taco….yum. That will require further study. Until the next time I’m in Texas, chili cheese.