Blue Burrito Café
650 Main St., Westbrook
854-0040
blueburritocafe.com
When you think of Mexican food, one of the last words that pops into your head is “Westbrook.” One trip to Blue Burrito Café will change that.
There it is, right on Main Street in the old mill town. Blue Burrito has a modest-sized dining room filled with painted picnic tables, a small bar, and a patio overlooking Riverbank Park. It’s a little place with big flavors.
Let’s start, naturally, with the salsas. There are at least eight available on any given night, all made in-house. Choices range from the mild (the sweet onion and cilantro Salsa de Savoya, Salsa Fresca), to the medium-spicy (Salsa Verde, the smoky chipotle Canyon Fire Sauce), to the tongue-scorching hot (Salsa Roja, another labeled XXX).
It’s the salsas that make an order of chips and salsa here worth $7. The round, white-corn chips (Tostitos?) are the only disappointment. A chip with more character would do justice to the hand-crafted salsas (and fresh, cooling guacamole) Blue Burrito makes so much effort to prepare.
You’ll find the dishes you expect at a Mexican joint: tacos, quesadillas, enchiladas, and, of course, burritos. These are all well prepared and seasoned, and the portions are satisfying. It’s the extras and specialties that make this place memorable.
For example, you can get a beef or pork quesadilla ($9.50), but there’s also one filled with blackened baby shrimp ($10). The shrimp and fish tacos ($9.50) come with a delicious creamy chipotle sauce. The burrito varieties ($8-$10) can include the slightly chocolaty mole sauce at no extra charge, or you can skip the tortilla and have a burrito bowl (more filling, no wrap) for an additional 50 cents.
My person favorite is the New Orleans Jambalaya Chimi ($13). Chorizo, chicken, rice, cheese and sour cream work their magic inside a crispy tortilla topped with a black bean sauce. You will love it. Your doctor will hate it (but will order one on the sly).
You won’t have room for dessert, but as usual, you’ll order some anyway. I recommend the Mexican Chocolate Mousse ($6). The cinnamon and chocolate delight is served frozen, with whipped cream and a chili-powder-laced chocolate bark that bites back if you eat it alone but blends well with the rest of the dish.
There’s a good selection of beer from Mexico and micro-breweries, and the cocktails are mucho strong. Friendly service, hip (if predictable) décor, good tunes (heard Cash’s Tex-Mex flavored “Ring of Fire” on a recent visit), and inventive specials combine to make Blue Burrito the go-to place for Mexican food in the Greater Westbrook area.
— Chris Busby
Blue Burrito serves lunch Tues.-Fri. from 11:30 a.m.-2 p.m., and dinner Mon.-Sat. from 4:30 p.m.-9 p.m. (9:30 or so on Fri. and Sat.). Take-out is available.
