10. "I loved Baja Fresh when I lived in Cali" In response to Reply # 3
was excited to see they came to NY. But it seems like it never caught on. Although it was always packed during lunch time. They closed all the NYC locations as far as I can tell.
It was better in Cali though because it seemed like they took better care in making the food. In NYC, it seemed like they took the chipotle approach of scooping food out of bins.
In any event, Dos Toros is my go to joint now for chain Mexican.
13. "Right. The set up is the same as Chipotle" In response to Reply # 11
but for whatever reason, it tastes a LOT better than Chipotle IMO. My wife thinks it's the seasoning that Dos Toros uses. In any event, I'll take Dos Toros over Chipotle any day of the week.
14. "The Pancheros in Ann Arbor was heat rock..." In response to Reply # 12
until they changed the set up. They changed it to be like "Subway" and the quality of their food went down. We used to hit it up all the time in undergrad. But they decided to become more mainstream and the food stopped being good. I don't know what it was. They didn't seem to put as much detail in preparing the food after they changed their branding around '99/'00.
41. "I still go to the one in Ann Arbor on a regular basis. I don't notice" In response to Reply # 23
a difference from when I was at Michigan 97-01...way better than Chipotle or anything else. The one negative change is they simplified the menu - there used to be more options.
IMO what has always made Pancheros better is the tortilla - the fact that they don't press the tortilla flat until you order it makes it taste more fresh.
46. "IMO fast casual Mexican is a separate category from mom & pop. " In response to Reply # 45
If you're talking mom & pop Mexican in Ann Arbor, yeah. You have Sabor Latino, Banditos, or La Fiesta in Ypsi. But if I go to those spots I'm not getting a mission style burrito like I would at Pancheros or Chipotle.
39. "RE: Pancheros >>> Chipotle>>>Qdoba>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Moe's" In response to Reply # 12
OMFG YES!!!!!!!! I am still tempted to drive my happy ass to Burlington NC just to find out where the pancheros is just for nostalgia purposes. When my hubby was in Ann Arbor and I was in E. Lansing, it didn't matter who was going to see who, that was our go to restaurant. I'm drooling just thinking about it!
"We don't make mistakes, we just have happy little accidents" - Bob Ross
"I'm wearing a MSU Tshirt because I went to MSU, you are wearing a UM Tshirt because you went to Walmart!" -unknown.
29. "Finally someone with some gotdanged sense." In response to Reply # 16
"All the world's a stage, And all the men and women merely players: They have their exits and their entrances; And one man in his time plays many parts..." -The Bard
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