The Digs: Because Cool Blue Burrito is only open 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on weekdays (and not at all during the weekend for some really silly reason), finding good parking during the lunch hour might be a bit tough, so plan ahead. Inside the small tenant space in the huge Plaza building you get much of the same as any southwest food joint: muted earth tones, a bunch of four-seater tables, and the glass-barrier behind which you can watch your burrito magically fold into life.
The Delivery: Once you get past the line it only takes a couple of minutes to get your meal, making Cool Blue a pretty quick stop. The staff are quick with the tortillas and don’t fret about overloading the ingredients. And unlike other burrito spots, adding on extras like guacamole and queso won’t cost you extra, which is a nice touch.
The Dish: I started with a bowl of the black bean soup (there’s also chicken gumbo available, both are $3.75). It wasn’t a very large serving for the price, and was disappointingly lacking on the spices that typically enliven the soup. Even the fresh onions added to it didn’t help that much.
The meat in my guest’s grilled pork burrito ($5.95 for a regular) was marinated in Cool Blue’s own Polynesian sauce, and you can tell. It lent a surprising sweetness to the burrito, which actually played off the fresh tomatoes, guacamole, and spicy salsa from the ingredients line to create a really tasty and unique burrito experience. My guest didn’t care much for the sweetness but really liked the massive serving size, since a regular that you can’t fit into your mouth qualifies as a large almost everywhere else (here they’re $6.95).
My other guest’s grilled steak burrito ($5.90 for a regular, $6.90 for a large) was similarly sweet but less so, allowing the freshness of the lettuce, tomatoes, and onion to really shine.
I had the Jamaican jerk chicken tacos (three soft shells for $5.85, the same price as the regular burrito). The chicken’s marinade was excellent, if a bit wet and liable to make the tortilla disintegrate. It was also strangely sweet, making me think that the sweetness must be one of Cool Blue’s trade techniques. It’s a little distracting, but hey, they could have concluded that a fishy smell was the best essence to add, so count your blessings.
The Damage: The burritos are big, unique, and cheap at Cool Blue, meaning you’ll probably have leftovers and haven’t spent more than $10 for it.
The Deduction: Though the hours suck and the soup’s disappointing, Cool Blue Burrito makes up for it with solid pricing and some pretty sweet burritos.
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