On the Richmond Burrito Trail: 23rd Street's El Chaparro Restaurant
Can a burrito be too meaty? The Richmond Burrito Trail finds out as we return to 23rd Street to sample the Hidalgo-style Barbacoa de Borrego at EL Chaparro Restaurant.
EL Chaparro is a small restaurant near San Pablo city limits. Its sign features a worried-looking cartoon lamb getting cooked in a massive cauldron. Yup, we’re eating lamb today.
Inside, you’ll find a modest dining room painted in bold red, green, and yellow and a massive wall menu, mostly in Spanish. We flitted from one option to another even though we were on a burrito-eating mission. We went with a Super Barbecue Lamb Burrito, which is listed as the house special, as Barbacoa de Borrego is listed as the house special. El Chaparro also offers Ricos Taco De Pancita de Borrego, Tostadas de Ceviche and No Hay Cambio El Carwash.
Richmond is a hotbed of Barbacoa. La Eater even has a California Barbacoa Trail that mentions the Richmond Pulga, which maintains a half-dozen vendors from the state of Hidalgo, including El Chaparro.
Bill Esparza
At the restaurant, you can order Barbacoa in different ways, including by the pound, and eat it with handmade tortillas, salsas, and consomme. This seems to be the preferred way to enjoy this dish. We had other ideas and plans for our Barbacoa de Borrego.
EL Chaparro serves a hefty 698-gram Super Barbacoa Burrito filled almost entirely with shredded lamb. Really, there was hardly any room for a small amount of rice, beans, lettuce, pico de gallo, cheese, and sour cream. The meat was very tender and buttery but also bland. Maybe they want you to sauce it up yourself. We kept adding big splashes of EL Chaparro’s delicious smoky red salsa to liven up our barbacoa slab. The tortilla was nicely grilled and super flakey. But alas, the meat got the best of us, and we couldn’t finish this burrito.
One super burrito costs $14.54 and comes with a large amount of chips in a ziplock bag, along with a sampling of red and green salsas.
Let us know where to eat next, and check back next week for another stop on the Richmond Burrito Trail.
The Grandview Independent has been embarking on a culinary adventure to explore every taqueria, food truck, and restaurant in Richmond. This initiative dubbed the “Richmond Burrito Trail,” aims to showcase our city’s diverse and delectable burritos.
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