The Search for Denver's Best Burrito: La Abeja

This is the sixth installment of this series that I explained fully here.

Denver Burrito #6: La Abeja
508 E Colfax


"As a non-native Coloradan I didn't quite get the point of green chili until I had a carne asada burrito smothered in it from La Abeja." - Yelp Reviewer

After having the carne asada burrito smothered in green chile from La Abeja, I totally know what she means.

It's a place that I've driven by plenty of times without even noticing. You enter through a door that makes it seem like you're walking into an electronics shop.

Everything is in Spanish and even though the employees speak English I found myself using "arroz" and "frijoles." A subconscious effort to gain street cred. According to Yelp, everything is good. For me, between carne asada, carnitas, barbacoa and al pastor, it's a toss up. But carne asada seemed to be the most popular online and since I had carne asada yesterday, I figured it would be a good comparison.

This is the second time that I've been asked "smothered?" in such a thick accent that it's unintelligible. At best it sounds like "muda?" But this time I was prepared. Carne asada, smothered, arroz, no frijoles. The menu board looks the same as above, but some of the white pieces of paper have been replaced or updated. I believe my burrito was 7 bucks.

As an aside, La Abeja means The Bee, which makes no sense to me at all.

I sat down and within minutes was presented with a plate. The burrito had folded ends. It was indeed smothered and then topped with white cheese. Lettuce and a slice of tomato were on the side.

(As always none of these are my photos. Except for the lime, this is exactly how mine looked.)

The first bite was a wad of tortilla with a few grains of rice, a casualty of the folded end method. The next bite was all rice. This is the opening act, a preamble before you discover what the burrito actually has in store for you.

Sure enough inside, there are only two things: steak and rice. The steak is chopped finely, smaller pieces than you'd expect. The rice is well-colored and flavored. But the unquestioned star of the show is the green chile.

It is spicy. It is bold and rich. It's the best green chile I've ever had and singlehandedly explains and justifies the entire concept of smothering a burrito.

It's not too spicy. It's not there to ruin your day. But it is hot. It's a cumulative heat that grows. I'm thankful to have a glass of water that I finished in the five to ten minutes I was dining there.

After discovering the hero of the dish, I went back and tried to taste the rice and steak by itself. They were both flavorful in their own right, the meat perhaps not as good as some other places I've had, but still very good. The rice is basically a necessary addition for me. I wonder if I had asked El Tepehaun to add rice to their amazing adovada how much better it would have been. Though their green chile pales in comparison to La Abeja's.

The tortilla grew on me. At first I thought it was mediocre, but by the end there was nothing to criticize this tortilla over. If it were me, I would experiment with slightly griddling the finished burrito to give the tortilla a slight crunch and extra flavor, but perhaps it doesn't actually work with the smothering process. Or perhaps it's just tradition to serve a soft burrito.

I really enjoyed this burrito and I immediately starting thinking about a return trip. The carne asada was very good, but perhaps the barbacoa or pastor could be even better. As I was paying on my way out, I saw that they offer under extras, a side of crema for 50 cents. I think that sounds like a fantastic idea.

El Taco De Mexico 9.5
La Abeja 9.5
Socorro's 8
El Tepehaun 8
Chipotle 8
Bocaza 7.5
Tacos Rapidos 7

Editor's Note: I just changed the score for El Tepehaun from a 7.5 to an 8. After tasting more, I realize their meat was truly amazing, and even if the rest of the components didn't stand out, it deserved a better score.