Allentown’s Burrito Grille has a lot of expectations to live up to. Because the corporate overlords at Chipotle and Qdoba have deemed the Lehigh Valley unworthy, they’re one of only a few fresh-Mex burrito joints in town. The only other one that comes readily to mind is Cali Burrito. I’m a big fan of burritos. Any time I’m out of town Chipotle is my first choice for lunch and, if I could eat any more afterward, I’d go back for dinner too. So, as you can imagine, I was very excited when I finally got the chance to check out Burrito Grille.

After walking in I was a little underwhelmed. It’s probably unfair to expect a small place like Burrito Grille to come up with an interior design scheme as sleek as Chipotle’s, but most of the decorations and the furniture inside are hold overs from when there used to be a Quiznos operating out of this location. The very Quiznos I worked at in between my freshmen and sophomore years of college, I might add. Gone is the Quiznos sandwich toaster, but the pickle & pepper bar has been repurposed as a salsa bar and most of the chairs have Burrito Grille stickers over where the Quiznos logo used to be. I’m not saying they had to rip everything out and start from scratch but it would have been nice to see a little more of a change from what it used to look like inside.

But let’s get back to what’s really important here…the burritos. The menu on the wall had all the usual items you would see at any other burrito joint. Since nothing really jumped out at me as particularly unique or original, I decided to go with an old stand by that never fails, a chicken burrito. I got mine loaded up with rice, pinto beans, fresh salsa, lettuce, sour cream and cheese and a couple other varieties of salsa on the side. Keeping the burrito from falling apart was no easy task but, for the most part, proved to be pretty rewarding. It tasted good and was quite filling, plus at $6.49 it wasn’t too hard on my wallet either.

I’d like to say I loved this burrito…but I didn’t. There wasn’t anything in particular wrong with my burrito, the chicken was good, the salsa was decent, overall it worked, but for some reason I just did not love it. And I really wanted to love it too. I wanted to have another awesome burrito option in the Lehigh Valley to go alongside Cali Burrito. What I will say is this, it was a solid burrito and something that, if in the neighborhood, I would definitely order again. And that’s exactly what I’m going to recommend to you. If you live in this neck of the woods or happen to be passing through, check out the Burrito Grille. Maybe after grabbing some chocolates at Josh Early across the street, swing by for some lunch or even dinner. Just because I didn’t love my burrito doesn’t mean you won’t and you’re only gonna find out if you try it!

The Burrito Grille is located at 4791 W. Tilghman St in Allentown, PA. For more information, go to www.burritogrille.com