Izzo's Illegal Burrito

This was another new-to-me chain in New Orleans that I ate at out of sheer lack of options. But I figured it'd be similar to Chipotle/Moe's/Qdoba, right? And it was nut-free and that's nice. But it was really most similar to the freakin' "Burrito Elito" Cal Tort knock off in the Philly airport that is super awkward, dry, bad, overpriced, missing half the menu items, and the workers are baffled by a customer's presence. I always think it will be different there, by the way, and it never is! I wish CalTort were still around.

ANYWAY, this place was dry and bad and didn't have half the ingredients their website says they do. I wanted, like, guac. But I got chicken in I think soft tacos, with sparse lettuce and maybe chips and queso (the best part was this tiny queso). Not great, but it was food and not nuts. Desperation option.

Overall
Cost: 5/10
Taste: 6/10 (Compared to New Orleans, not compared to TexMex fastfood)

Qdoba

I guess I've been on a Mexican kick lately! Anyway, my roomie texted me a picture of their brisket ad (which had a dumb pun in it), so I decided to give their new brisket a try! Alas, the brisket was bad! It was a little sweet, a little dry, and super weird. The flavor just did not match any burrito type ingredients at all. However, they did give me a good amount! For 8.40 I got meat, rice, veg, guac, queso on the side, and 2 salsas. It was super filling, and apart from the weird brisket, pretty tasty too. Definitely better than Moe's (although the queso is yellow and not sweet sweet white), and if you're sick of that distinct Chipotle flavor, this is a nice alternative. I will definitely try another protein option here soon!

Drunken Yardbird Taco: Dunno what this name is a reference to, but I like that you can just get one single taco. This one had no lettuce (don't want e.coli) but it had guac and chicken and green salsa and weird parm-looking cheese and possible onions. It was OK, a little spicy, and I like trying new things. 6/10

Taco Salad: The shell for this is super buttery! It's basically a bowl but with extra shell. For the same price, you can't really say no. Taco salad all the way, baby. 8/10

Overall
Cost: 6/10
Taste: 7/10

Moe's Southwest Grill

At first I hated it because of the dumb names they give all their food options (named after mostly bro-y TV and movie lines), but I will say that they have more options than your Chipotle or even your Qdoba, and they give you free chips + a salsa bar raid with every order. Now, are the chips + salsa good? No, they're terrible, soft, and tasteless, but they are free, which I appreciate. Also they give you just a little guac, which might sound bad but I think calorie-wise it's a plus.

The contents are your standard non-cilantro'd rice, meats (a little flavorless, especially the chicken, but they have decent steak and they offer ground beef), beans, fajita veg (plus mushroom, a nice touch!) and tasty queso that costs extra and also is terrible for you. Plus corn/salsa/lettuce etc. The flavor isn't as good as chipotle, especially the rice, corn, salsa, and meat, but when it's all mixed together it's still decent and very filling. So I don't hate it any more. I wish they all offered breakfast, though. A breakfast option would shoot any Tex-Mex chain up to a 10/10 instantly :9

Overall
Cost: 6/10
Taste: 7/10

Border Café

This is a big tex-mex resto mini-chain! It's a short drive from Newark, so I'm glad I finally got a chance to go. Ambiance reminded me a lot of Fiesta Mexico (in Harrisburg), just more Texan/New Orleansean. Sat outside on the little patio stoop, which was nice. Free chips and salsa, which were good. Nice big sangrias (strong, too! ;9). I ordered the Chicken and Chorizo Etouffée, which is probably exactly what it sounds like if you have any clue what an etouffée is (I didn't). Basically it tastes like my mom's stuffed peppers - tomatoey beefy peppery rice dish. It was good, but not amazing (sorry mom!). My friend Rach thought it was spicy, but I didn't really think so. Just the slightest spice (which, to be honest, is all I want). Came with some sweet cornbread, which was great (probably not great for you, though..!). Overall a good experience, and the things my dining companions got (jim bowie steak and chicken guadalajara) were both very well-received. Probably a good place to take your parents! Oh, and for the amount you get, prices are very decent.

So... I came back with my parents, and I got the Blackened Chicken, which was chicken that came with a mango marmaladey sauce to dip in and José's rice. Chieken was good (but not amazing). And I discovered that I don't think I like Mexican rice very much! But, that being said, there are plenty more things on the menu that I'd like to try. And the sangria remains great! ;D

Update: Fajitas are the thing to get. Etouffee is sadly gone now, and sangria isn't as good or big as it used to be. Fries are crispy and good, and chicken in tacos is not great but the guac/pico/rice is rice.  

Update x2: Apparently they don't have any nuts in the whole place! Fajitas with no beans and added guac is good and two meals. Chips and salsa are still good. Corona is a classic beer :)

Overall
Cost: 8/10
Taste: 7/10