The Burrito Shop
5359 College Ave., Oakland, CA 
No menu on website; Yelp reviews: http://www.yelp.com/biz/the-burrito-shop-oakland-2
Review date:  March 3, 2015

Did we want to come here? No. 

We were trying for Restaurant Chu, but for some reason it was closed at lunchtime today. As we had an appt right across the street in one hour, we had to stay within a few blocks.

Unfortunately, this isn't really the restaurant end of College. We decided to try The Burrito Shop, a local mini-chain of three taquerias. All we can say is, Yelp is right on target with the rating of 2.5 stars.

I had a steak & prawn super burrito, Carlos a chile verde super, Inez a grilled chicken regular. Of them, mine was the best of a barely average bunch. The shrimps were big and fresh, although the guacamole must have come in a squeeze from a bottled purée; we couldn't see much evidence of it. 

All the burritos are the same size, btw - "super" merely refers to an addition of sour cream and cheese. 

Carlos also got a Baja fish taco, which came drizzled with a crema he found too sour, so he ended up just eating the small piece of breaded fish by itself.

However far we think Gordo's Taqueria has sunk, their burritos still seem head and shoulders above the rest in the desultory state of East Bay burrito wars. This Burrito Shop is small, rather cramped, and noisy with too-loud music. We finished our blah meal, cleared our tables, and were thankful to escape.

If we'd had another 15 minutes, we could have driven down to La Calaca Loca. More expensive, but the quesadillas, nachos, and salsas are much better. 

The SF passion for great Cal-Mex burritos doesn't extend over the Bay Bridge. Here, none of them are destination-worthy, so you pick whichever one is reasonably close. It's strictly a matter of propinquity, not passion.

Three people, lunch: three burritos, five additions, one taco, two beverages, came to just shy of $40.