Tortilla, Fitzrovia, London

I’m not sure what’s so bad about Tortilla that most people here dislike it. I went here last night after a few drinks with friends and I really enjoyed it! Granted that may have been because I was still a bit tipsy by the time I got there. Everything was sufficiently hot and delicious. Got a vegetarian as usual (free guac ftw) with medium salsa. I probably could have gone for the hottest salsa, though I’ve had experiences where in certain places the hottest is way too hot and others the hottest is perfect for me.

They put vegetables in mine which wasn’t technically included which I really appreciated. I liked the guacamole a lot too. I appreciate that there are 2 different sizes, and 2 types of rice.

I couldn’t say whether my partner liked it better or not, he got too cocky about his heat tolerance and asked for the hottest salsa (he normally orders mild)! I’m sure if he had gotten something he could handle he would have enjoyed it.

I’d want to experience Tortilla again when I’m completely sober, but in all I really really liked it!

My company has moved their office to the area so I went to explore lunchtime opportunities. Tortilla is a lovely, medium size restaurant offering tasty burritos. Medium or large, mild or spicy, meat version or vegetarian; they even offer Halal chicken!

The tricky part is to know how to handle your little monster (even a medium size is BIG!). Unwrap the foil at the top of your burrito, but keep the rest on it – otherwise you’ll end up with some rice on your laps. For those who prefer forks & knives , you can help yourself to a plate & the cutlery.

The only shame is that their offer their peppers with onions (I’m not a big fan of onions), but the staff is really cool and spend extra time to separate them for me. Extra star for that!

You can expect to spend around £5 for a medium size meal & £6 for a large one. I think it’s a good value for money, but you’ll have to make your own verdict!

I was disappointed by this place and what I thought was a decidedly below parr burrito. It has the usual choices of a burrito place, rice, beans, veg, meat (steak, beef, chicken), cheese, guacamole, salsa (medium, hot), lettuce. I choice a pork burrito with black beans and medium salsa (always finding this hot enough in other place). Firstly, as soon as I opened the tin foil the burrito was soggy – i hadn’t even bitten into it! There was no heat to the burrito, and to accompany this lack of heat, very little sour cream. My friend got the guacamole and and said was one of the worst she had tried, mainly being made of onions rather than avocado (and she’s a big guacamole fan). Her veg burrito ended up making a soggy mess all over the table, it was not pleasant.

Two thing that I did approve of were the decor. Very nice, red tiles, clean etc. And the choice of medium and large burrito. I can never eat a full burrito and the medium was around the right size for me and a bargain at only £4.95.

For photos, please go to http://chopstix2steaknives.blogspot.com/2011/06/burrito-m...

When the lovely Jaxies asked me months ago if I was interested in a Burrito masterclass, I gave it about two seconds before saying yes! I can’t recall the last time I had a burrito, it might actually be a case of never and was looking forward to giving this a go.

So one fine day I find myself trotting off after work ready for some food and action. I was greeted by the lovely Ewa who gave each of us a T shirt and some additional info on the ingredients that are used in the form of a booklet.

When everyone has arrived, we were ushered to a more private area and were given a quick talk about the ingredients. It was really interesting to listen to their experiences firsthand and what they went through. Their passion for burritos clearly shines through, especially all that talk about the beef. I am seriously salivating and WANT to try the beef that was highly raved about.

Next up, a whole bunch of ingredients (cilantro, onions, avocado, tomatoes etc) was presented to us and we were given the opportunity to make our own guacamole. This will be my virgin experience at making guacamole; in fact I don't even know what goes into one other than avocados.

After some serious mixing and mashing, I hoped I made guacamole lovers proud or at least a little. Here is my attempt; if anything xxx said that it was really creamy. =)

It was burrito making time next and we all huddled around the counter and some of us couldn't resist sampling the food. We are foodies after all. MY, those beef are GOOD!

One by one we lined up, wore our gloves and made our burritos. The tricky bit is in the wrapping of the ingredients in the tortilla. I managed to do a nifty job, yeay!

What goes into a burrito? You start with a tortilla which is lightly toasted. Next pick your choices of vegetables and beans followed by the choice of meat. No guesses which one I selected! Pile the guacamole next and the hot sauce. In Tortilla, there is a mild, hot and fiery option. If that is not enough, you can still put any of these.

After we have all made our burritos, it was time to eat. I really enjoyed mine. The beef was juicy and overall it tasted fresh and yummy. No oily or greasy aftertaste. We all got a certificate after for attending the masterclass, that was such a nice touch.

I have to say a few days later, I couldn't help myself but went into another eatery to have a burrito for lunch. My experience was not great as the burrito was sloppily made and wasn't as tasty. I won't be naming this other place here.

After trying out at least another place, I'll say Tortilla will be one place I'll be coming back to.

I'm still fairly new to the Burrito clan. I've had one from Freebird which was fantastic. Torrential rain coupled with a burrito need only meant one thing, the closest wins - and in this circumstance, the closest was Tortilla. I wasn't disappointed, but there wasn't a wow factor.

Restaurant location is great, it's lovely and clean, staff are willing to help, and convenience is good - but I'd only go here for the convenience. If you're looking for a quick bite to eat that will satisfy hunger, Tortilla is the one.

A really tasty meal in a flour tortilla - i always go for the braised pork and a bean mix topped with cheese and sour cream with the mexican rice.
These are very weighty so make sure your not on a night out as you wont be able to move afterwards.

I did ask to sample their steak but it was too chewy so stuck with my usual pork filling though i havent tried the chicken filling as yet

I went here recently on a Tuesday and was pleasantly surprised. I sampled a fish taco as I thought I would get in the spirit of things. I found the fish to be well seasoned and had a nice flavour. It was also fresh! Never frozen and had been bought in that very morning. I know this because I asked.

I was massively impressed by that and the way it had been cooked meant that it kept a nice flaky texture and wasn't too

I liked that there was a choice of flour or corn taco too. Sometimes I don't like the corn ones so much.

The food was palatable. The chilli sauce could have had a bit more punch though, but overall everything else had a nice freshness about it and there was a nice differentiation of flavours.

I especially liked the choice of beers available in Tortilla. They sell Blue Moon which with every sip takes me back to sitting in the Zeitgeist bar in San Francisco.

The decor in Tortilla is great, but I especially like the photographs. It has pictures of many great burrito places in California with particular attention payed to San Francisco which is only right given that this place is the mecca of burritos.

You haven't lived until you have eaten a burrito from the Mission district in SF.

If you don't believe me go there and try one and you'll know what I am talking about.

In the meantime I will console myself with what can be found here. But as far as burritos and tacos go I found what I ate here to be really good and they had nice guacamole too.

I will be back especially as this one is in a great location.

I am not mexican, however I do enjoy eating mexican food now and again. My favourite is meal is the fajita wraps and the taco's but other than that I dont eat anything else from tortilla. I do like the fact that when ordering food at tortilla restaurant the food is being prepared infront of you because most restaurants or fast food restaurants do not show you what is being made therefore at least this way I get to see what is being put in my food. I also think that if tortilla provide mexican desserts and smoothies then this could increase the sales for the company itself.

I'm not from Mexico and actually have never been there, but I definitely enjoy burritos & tacos. Tasty beans, juicy grilled chicken, fresh guacamole and salsas, some rice and spicy sauce - i was lucky to be introduced to Tortilla by one of my co-workers.Their medium burrito costs £4.95 and tacos are £4.30. Vegetarian option includes guacamole, meat eaters will have to pay 70p extra. I still have to try other burrito chains in London, but having this one so close to my work is really great. Fans of fish will be happy to know about their Fish Taco served on Tuesdays - i'm not sure if they're serving it in all of their stores though.

I have tasted a number of burritos in the area, and this is by far the worst. staff we too rushed to even ask whether i wanted salad in mine.

the tast of the chicken burrito was just sooo boring. the coriannder rice was tasteless and the chicken too. should have been more sald and sauce imo. stuggled to eat the whole burrito!

benitos hat and el burrito are much better.

Tortilla is fairly average. They are rapidly expanding which must mean they are popular, but I generally agree with the previous reviewer (except I rank freebird below Tortilla).

The meat is quite dry and of variable quality, and although the other ingredients look promising, unlike the better burrito places in London, Tortilla's are not greater than the sum of their parts.

I went here last week to try their fish tacos. I loved 'em. I also really liked their guac.

http://londonist.com/2010/09/fish_taco_tuesdays_at_tortil...

Unfortunately, the fish tacos are only available on Tuesdays and only at this particular location (Tortilla has a few restaurants in London). But fingers crossed they'll prove a hit and Tortilla will add them to the regular menu at all their eateries.

Compared to the Upper Street location, which is the only other Tortilla I've visited, this venue is very comfy and a bit swish in its design. It's a good place to settle in for a decent meal. And as I noticed on my Tuesday visit, it's extremely popular. So, if you plan to go for lunch, try to make it on the early or late side! Otherwise, you might have to wait.

Full review see www.grumblinggourmet.com

Man cannot live on pork alone... He needs hot salsa, guacamole, refried beans and a tortilla wrap too.

A fledgling chain operation, Tortilla provides freshly prepared burritos, fajitas and tacos to the worker drones around their central London locations. Their newest site is almost directly opposite my office and just couldn't be ignored.

I went expecting to grumble, suspecting a lack of authenticity, flavour and most importantly spice, and from the second I walked in nothing disabused me of this feeling. There's a real feel of the franchise to the decor here. Walls covered with faux brickwork and wipe clean prints of other more authentic carnitas joints back in the old country (well, California). One of those serve it yourself Coke machines occupies a wall, and a counter contains the take away necessities amid bottles of extra spicy sauce.

We worker drones joined a long queue towards the counter where the servers each prepped a section of meal, none trusted with the complete picture, all asking the same questions to each person. "Lime or Mexican rice sir?", "hot, medium or mild salsa madam?" I made the mistake of trying to give my full order to the first person in the line, only to have to repeat it another 5 times as I was taken down the production line. my wrap grew, through rice, beans and the all important meat stage (braised pork natch), past sour creams and guacamole, "would you like guacamole sir that'll be 50 pee extra" before heading into the all important final spicy straight.

Dear reader, I paid. It's about a fiver for the pork, chicken or veggie rolls with steak having a 50p supplement, certainly not overpriced for central London lunch fodder. Taking my foil wrapped flour roll torpedo back to the office I have to confess to being slightly excited by the weight and the heft of the thing as I took it out of the bag. Initial tastings of the tortilla wrap didn't blow me away. Bland and slightly too doughy with no discernible taste of its own. I know it's a different cuisine, but I much prefer the wrappings they use at Moolis, a company so obsessed by their flat breads they travelled to San Antonio, Texas to pick up a specific brand of flatbread maker (they've nicknamed it Moolita, bless..) - that's the sort of bready obsession with detail I'm looking for.

However I've got to say that it does get better from here. The carnitas pork ha obviously been marinated overnight and pulls apart easily. The whole meal (other than that tortilla) is spiced and flavoured with reference to authenticity rather than a milder European palate. The rice and beans do their job but aren't overloaded in an attempt to cheaply bulk out the wrap and the hot salsa is heaven... a deep dark red dredge of chilli, properly loaded onto the groaning wrap. Tingling heat and a softer slower burn, as Gregg Wallace would no doubt say if he'd joined me, "That's An Accomplished Sauce".

It's across the road from my office and it works for a spicy, quick lunch fix. I could go to the more accomplished Benito's Hat on Goodge Street, but you know what, I'll very seldom be bothered walking that far for anything other than Moolis, and if they ever move up the road to Market Place, I'm moving in.

Yummy margarita - nice food and a chilled atmosphere...what more could you ask for?!

Mexican eateries have bred like rabbits throughout London - and if you can't match or better what's already out there, you're doing Londoners a bit of a disservice.

I was thrilled to bits as I saw this joint being tediously put together down the road from my work - cutting the closest Mexican hit from a 15 min walk to a 3 min walk would be a.m.a.z.i.n.g.

But alas. The burrito that was spawned by Tortilla was under par, woefully disappointing. The sour cream was watered down to the consistency of milk. The black beans were swimming in water and slapped together with my usual favourite of pork and completely unspicy medium salsa, resulted in a big bag of liquid that continoulsy trickled through my tin foil as I hate it - luckily in-house.

My friend had gone for the 'hot' salsa and still we doused both in a bottle of chilli sauce we found off to the side. The staff seemed a bit disinterested in being there and altogether the experience was a let down.

Until something drastic happens I'm resigned to a fifteen minute walk to get some 'proper' Mexican food.

Oh dear. Train wreck.

I love Burritos. LOVE. Burritos. As a Californian it was the one thing I was jonesing hard for when I moved to London but mercifully a number of solid burrito spots have popped up across the city. I've tried to sample them all just to see what's on offer.

I was in Oxford Circus recently and happened across Tortilla, which a fellow expat had actually recommended quite highly so I thought I'd give it a whirl. The decor was average, nothing special, with some rather trite images of chilies etc on the wall with poetic descriptions. But I'm here for the food, not the decor, so whatever.

I went up to the counter and had a look at the menu and the ingredients and opted for my usual; a carnitas (pork) burrito. The VERY disinterested staff member tending to my burrito was frankly hard to understand and there were a few awkward moments where we just stared at each other over the refried beans. They were a little stingy with the accoutrement (sour cream and cheese) and so I asked for more and with a big sigh the guy obliged.

I took my reasonably sized burrito and glass (free refills on soda, nice touch) and took a seat. I unwrapped the foil and once the thing stopped dripping from the low grade sour cream and sloppy beans (not how they should be), I took a bite.

Quick aside, have any of you ever seen that episode of the Simpsons when Marge develops a gambling problem and Homer has to make dinner which consists of cloves, Tom Collins mix and pre-made pie crust? Remember his face when he takes that first bite? Yeah...that was me when I bit into this burrito. The pork seasoning was just....wrong. Like really wrong. It had flavor alright but it was like chipotle gone wrong, horribly wrong. I thought it might have been a one-off so I ploughed through but no, the taste remained throughout. Carnitas are supposed to be toasty and warm with subtle flavors that let the braised pork shine through. Not with this one though, no sir.

It should be noted that I went through what must have been 10 napkins while eating this thing. It wasn't well put together and the watered-down ingredients destroyed the tortilla within minutes.

There were two positives I could draw from my experience here, free refills and competitive price. But that won't make me go back. Ever. There are so many great Burrito places in London that you should go to before going here; Benito's Hat, Chilango, and Daddy Donkey to name a few.

In the immortal words of Homer Simpson "..........let's go see Mom."

OMG I love you guys!!!! the burrito was AMAZING! I was in the US last summer and i have to say that their portion are massive but yours is not little at all. How do you make your pork? soo good. I almost gave up when I saw the big queue but i'm glad my friend convinced me to stay. If you could make your hot salsa bit more spicy it'd be perfect! Will defo come back soon.

I have had lunch there twice and enjoyed the food, service and atmosphere on both occaisions. The portions are generous, the food was fresh and full of favour and despite having to line up to be served, the service was quick. Value for money - i will most certainly be back whether for lunch or a Mexican beer with tortilla chips after work! Thanks guys!

I ate at this restaurant at the lunch. It was my first time and I went here because my girlfriend loves Mexican food.
I have not the same opinion about the other reviews maybe they change.
I took a large burrito with grilled chicken, cheese, tomato rice, black beans.... It was so large and my belly so full that I believed It can explose.
The staff is quite cool and the service is very fast. The price is relatively average and I paid only 6.50£.

what the hell is busterbuster on about?the burrito that me and my bf had (bearing in mind hes half mexican and knows good mexican food!) was absolutely delicious!and i think the assistant overindulge us a little bit with the portion but made it more fulfilling for us!and to top that there is a bottomless amount of soft drinks you can have. This was on a day after we went shopping and wanted to find a nice joint nearby even though my bf wanted to go to Burger King originally!But thank God we found this.Marketplace is such a cool hidden place to find such outstanding finds!!!lets hope they put a tortilla chain in West London soon!