The Search for Denver's Best Burrito: Adelita's Cocina Y Cantina

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

Denver Burrito #9: Adelita's Cocina Y Cantina
1294 S Broadway

This is not a burrito joint. This is a legitimate restaurant serving a variety of "traditional Mexican fare." This is a place that I could take my mom. Missing is any element of seediness. Also Spanish.

I suppose it's a strange dichotomy, but I didn't have the highest hopes because it was too nice. The menus were a high-end print job. This place was verging on classy. If I wasn't doing the burrito search, I would have chosen enchiladas or a unique entree.

According to Yelp, Adelita's serves a fantastic mole. Confession time: I've never had mole. It was very tempting to ask for a burrito smothered in mole, but I wasn't sure what I was going to think. Instead I got it covered in green chile with a cup of mole on the side.

As for the interior, I say no beans like always, and asked the waitress which was better, the carnitas or the al pastor. She said the latter. So I went with that.

The first thing I tasted is the green chile. It was unlike any other I've had. It was tangy, with a generous amount of sweetness. I did like it, but it wasn't as enjoyable as a good spicy sauce.

A couple bites in, I tasted something else that was unlike anything else on this search. Refried beans. This was the first place that had ignored my request to hold the beans. The beans didn't ruin it for me, as I did finish the burrito in it's entirety, but I would have preferred it without.

Every time I'm about to have a burrito, I think this really isn't that hard. There's only a few components. Make flavorful meat, flavorful non-mushy rice, a good sauce and a good tortilla. If you got some cheese or cilantro or onion, that's fine too. But it's really not that complicated.

And then I come here and they fill my burrito with white, mushy rice. And the beans. And a sweet sauce that doesn't compliment the meat. The tortilla was typical, which normally is a criticism, but here anything that's not a negative I suppose should be appreciated.

I don't mean to be so harsh. The al pastor was good. And I did enjoy the burrito on the whole. But there were plenty of drawbacks.

And the mole on the side? I didn't care for it. I don't know if this was good or bad by mole standards, but I preferred the sweet green chile.

I ate it all, but it still comes in at the bottom of my rankings.

El Taco De Mexico 9.5
La Abeja 9.5
Señor Burritos 9.5
El Taco Veloz 9
Socorro's 8
El Tepehaun 8
Chipotle 8
Bocaza 7.5
Adelita's 7
Tacos Rapidos 7