Dining Out Boston

On days when C-line trains are few and far between, I go home "backwards" and take the D-line to Brookline Village. Then, I inevitably pass Baja Betty's and wonder whether all those online reviews citing their mediocre burritos are just Anna's Taqueria zealots.

Yesterday, I indulged my curiosity, purchasing a Watsonville ($6.90), a "smaller" version of the apparently massive California ($7.85). The kindly bearded server listed chicken, steak, spicy pork, green beans, and squash as my choice of fillings; I gave two nods to the chicken and squash.

Baja Betty's burritos are not the tightly wrapped, grilled torpedoes you find at Boca Grande or Anna's, but rather loosely rolled logs of rice, beans, fillings, guacamole, sour cream, and sprinkling of cheese. The warm, fleshy chicken melted the cheese and sour cream such that they became a salty, creamy coating for the rice and beans and the chunky guacamole provided some welcome color. Halfway through my meal, my face was covered with stray grains of rice and strings of squash. These burritos are a wonderful meal to eat by yourself, but less ideal for a cheap second-date dinner.

Healthful burrito alternatives and fillings like whole-wheat tortillas ($.25 extra) or fat-free yogurt are consistent with Baja Betty's "California Mexican" theme. I appreciate also that my request for a few tortilla chips was granted with no extra charge. And, while I won't claim that Baja Betty's even approaches the consistent quality of Anna's, I do assert that their burritos, like the D-line, are a fine alternative.

The Info
Baja Betty's Burritos
3 Harvard Square, Brookline Village
www.bajabettys.com