We take a peek into Los Gorditos' new brick and mortar joint in the current Last Supper and find the menu beyond the burritos to be quite tasty. But I want to talk about those burritos for a second. In fact, I'd like to address Portland burritos in general.

I enjoy a Portland burrito, and Los Gorditos Stacy burrito is on the top of my list, but I've grown weary of the way our taquerias use rice. I understand that rice can really round out a burrito, but I feel like more often than not in Portland, there is simply too much rice per burrito bite, which makes for an unbalanced flavor profile that's way too heavy on the starch.

I was speaking with a good friend this morning who is of the same mindset on this. His feeling is that too many people in the city put quantity over quality, buying into the giant burrito hype. Sure, you wont have to eat for the rest of the day, but was your trip down the humongous burrito shaft flavorful or interesting in any way? Nah. It was probably mostly rice.

Lately I've been requesting my burritos be made riceless. It's an eye opener because the quality of meat is not hidden in a sea of starch. Sure, you could discover this by just buying a taco, but sometimes you want more than a taco can give you. A riceless burrito is a lovely beast when complete with sour cream, cheese, salsa and guacamole. And for those who worry about being cheated, in my experience I have not noticed a significant change in burrito size when going sans rice.

As an example, I'll offer the Los Gorditos riceless carne asada burrito with extra sour cream. Straight off the first bite it's lush and juicy with a nice grill char and strong onion. Towards the end it's a delectable mess which tastes uncannily like a killer beef stroganoff. It's just not the same with all the rice.

So here's the plea to local taquerias: Please re-think the way you're using your rice. Maybe use a bit less, or work on the rice distribution when the burrito is rolled. The city will thank you.

So what do you think, Blogtownies? Is there too much rice in your burrito? Just enough? Not enough? Let's discuss.