New Westminster upscale Mexican dine-in El Santo has launched a new takeout-only venture — almost exclusively for burritos and burrito bowls.
El Santito, introduced to the world as the "little brother" of El Santo, promises to cater to everyone's burrito pangs with a menu that includes El Fenix burrito — 12-inch tortilla wraps stuffed with chipotle chicken, cilantro, poblano rice, pinto beans, cheese, sour cream and habanero apple jam; the El Chabela, which features braised beef instead of the chicken; and El Bandido, which has tepache marinated pork.
For vegetarians, there is El Reina, which includes toasted corn instead of meat.
All the burrito options are also available as gluten-free burrito bowls, sans the tortilla wraps.
The news of the burrito haven comes just a few months after El Santo's kitchen began whipping up trays of deep dish cookies in partnership with Meal Ticket Brands (Joseph Richard Group) earlier this year.
Unlike the cookies, though, the burritos will flaunt the El Santo brand that's known for its contemporary twist to traditional Mexican cuisine.
The chefs plan to use as many authentic Mexican ingredients as they can locally source to bring to New Westies these humble "stuffed to the max" burritos whose origin dates back to the Mexican revolution in the early 1900s.
A certain street vendor in Chihuahua, Mexico, is credited to have been the first to create burritos as a way to keep his meals warm.
Juan Méndez, as El Santito's website explains, had the ingenious idea of packing his meals in large homemade flour tortillas and lugging it along with him on a donkey to work.
"As the 'food of the burrito' ['food of the little donkey'] grew in popularity, the 'burrito' was eventually adopted as the name for these large tacos," states the website.
And now, they are the highlight of the city’s newest takeout spot.
"At El Santito, we may not have little donkeys to transport our burritos to you, however we promise our burritos are just as fresh, authentic, and satisfying," the website adds.
Customers can order them through food delivery apps.
Alternatively, they can be picked from the same address where El Santo’s elaborate dine-in options are enjoyed — 680 Columbia St.
