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| - I'm shocked, SHOCKED at the reviews for this place. Puzzle this out with me:
+ Take the top-rated burrito in Phoenix (Rito's "downtown" location has 4.5 stars, primarily on the strength of their legendary green chile burritos).
+ Keep the same menu (with food so good that it makes Carolina's look like Taco Bell).
+ Remove it from a tiny house in a less-than-savory South Phoenix location.
+ Add hours (including Saturday hours!)
+ Add indoor seating.
+ Put it into a more accessible location with less wait time.
Aaaaaaand... you get negative reviews! What gives?
Bizarrely, the criticisms are on its ambiance! This is incredibly ironic. Nobody slammed the old Rito's for ambiance because there was NOWHERE TO SIT AND EAT. It was a crowded little house with an aging air conditioner that worked overtime to try to keep the temps under 90 as everyone stood and waited. Okay, there were outdoor tables and chairs, but in the Phoenix summer, that's not really an option.
So now that the new location stuck a few chairs and tables indoors where you can sit in air-conditioned comfort while you wait, suddenly everyone's expecting a five-star restaurant environment! What do you want them to do? Start hanging the type of tacky decor most Mexican restaurants have around here - red and green sombreros, anyone?
Let's get this straight. Rito's is NOT a sit-down-and-eat restaurant. It is TAKEOUT. You order, you pay with cash, you step aside, and you wait. You pick up your food, go to somewhere more convenient, cut into the best wet burrito you've ever tasted, and go to food heaven. (It's probably good to go someplace where you have a little privacy, because some people in our society still aren't comfortable with seeing a stranger weeping over the perfect burrito.)
The funniest part is that I think the new Rito's is designed to FORCE you to go somewhere else and eat your amazing burrito. The place is so popular, they want the chairs open for people waiting for their orders, not people slowly burning their lunch break. I noticed when I was there that they had purchased and mounted a glossy, pre-printed sign that said the restrooms were under repair. Think about that for a minute.
I'll close with this. My wife is an ambiance junkie. She loves ambiance. A beautiful restaurant could serve her a hot pocket and she would be content. But Rito's is so darn good that she doesn't even care about the ambiance. We grab the burritos, head back to work, and by the time we're two bites in, we're already planning our next trip.
It's that good. Go get a green chile burrito enchilada style, eat it, and once the food epiphany has worn off, come back here and let's give this place the rating it so richly deserves. Five stars.
P.S. Always, always, always call to see if they are open before going. Their hours and days can be a bit irregular (for example, they are now closed on Saturdays during the school year), and occasionally they'll just be randomly closed. There's no heartbreak quite like showing up at Rito's and then having to settle for some other type of food instead.
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