El Paso Menu

Posted by anoop on October 16th, 2007 22 Comments

I headed over to El Paso within minutes of reading about it on cVillain, and I just finished writing about it on my blog. I also snapped a photo of the menu for those of you that haven’t been yet:

El Paso Menu

Hopefully the cVillain collective can answer these questions:

I’d really like to know what’s going on with the rest of the menu. For example, under Burritos, they list Regular, Super, and Platillos. Also, Papas sound intriguing, but I have no idea what they are. Finally, does anyone know what their Quesadillas are like? Hopefully someone can save me from my ignorance.

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22 Responses to “El Paso Menu”

  1. 16 Oct 2007 at 1:37 pm1truechewcav said:

    Potatoes!

  2. 16 Oct 2007 at 1:38 pm2Stanley said:

    “Papas” just means “potatoes.” No idea how they’re prepared, though.

    In general, the way the menu seems to work for native speakers is (1) they ignore the menu and (2) they just tell the guy what they’d like. For instance, last time I was in there, a customer asked to guy to prepare something that very closely resembled a quesadilla—cheese melted inside a folded-over tortilla—but the word “quesadilla” never crossed anyone’s lips.

  3. 16 Oct 2007 at 1:44 pm3Thor said:

    seriously you don’t know what papas are? have you heard of Google?

    “papas definition“

  4. 16 Oct 2007 at 1:56 pm4anoop said:

    Well, yeah, I looked up that it meant potatoes, but I’m guessing if I ordered it, the guy wouldn’t just toss one over the counter.

    Stanley: Did you ever determine the difference between a burrito and a super burrito? I’m guessing platillos means plate or platter? I think I’m just going to go down the menu and start ordering stuff.

  5. 16 Oct 2007 at 2:03 pm5Thor said:

    They do toss it over the counter… :)

  6. 16 Oct 2007 at 2:18 pm6belmont yo said:

    My papas were the rolling stones.

  7. 16 Oct 2007 at 3:34 pm7dijonbray said:

    anoop: The only difference I’ve noticed between super and not is sour cream, and maybe being bigger. If “super” is an option, is there really any question of what you’re going to order?

  8. 16 Oct 2007 at 4:40 pm8Cojo said:

    I took cvillain’s advice and went as well, had the bistek burrito, and found it nowhere near as good as Atomic’s or even Guad - mushy rice, sub-par chewy meat, boring sauce…

    The only pluses were the fresh cilantro and the fact that the thing weighed approximately as much as a small cat.

    Two thumbs down - go to Atomic instead.

  9. 16 Oct 2007 at 8:47 pm9Stanley said:

    I’m suspicious of a commenter named “Cojo” making recommendations about food that Spanish-speaking people eat.

  10. 16 Oct 2007 at 10:45 pm10Taliesin said:

    Isn’t he the guy w/ the big teeth that gives fashion advice on Good Morning America?

    I just want to know what happened to the Cordon Bleu at West Main. Estimated Eyes. Random you might think? Or not. More social experimentation.

  11. 16 Oct 2007 at 11:21 pm11Stanley said:

    Isn’t he the guy w/ the big teeth that gives fashion advice on Good Morning America?

    Don’t know. My (admittedly obtuse) reference was to the first-person singular present-tense conjugation of the Spanish verb “coger,” which can mean something naughty. *Sigh*

  12. 17 Oct 2007 at 8:19 am12Cojo said:

    I’m generally suspicious of all people named “Stanley,” fwiw.

  13. 17 Oct 2007 at 10:32 am13oy said:

    Two thumbs down - go to Atomic instead.

    Latest rumor I’m hearing is that this will no longer be an option come the end of this month. Anyone else heard that Atomic is closing up shop? (I’m a bit crushed)

  14. 17 Oct 2007 at 11:19 am14Thor said:

    Did they get busted for too much ROCK?!

  15. 17 Oct 2007 at 12:44 pm15sparky said:

    I just heard the Atomic rumor too! Came right to this thread to post looking for more info! This is tragic!

  16. 17 Oct 2007 at 6:11 pm16yayi said:

    atomic burrito’s guacamole always looks brownish..DOWNGRADE

  17. 18 Oct 2007 at 8:30 am17Toolshed said:

    Papas usually means french fries (think of an American menu just listing “fries”), and there is no k in the spanish language.

    Anyone know if their chorizo is sausage or steak?

  18. 18 Oct 2007 at 9:03 am18oy said:

    Atomic rumor is confirmed - they close at the end of the month. Going to El Paso today for lunch - will try to learn about their chorizo

  19. 18 Oct 2007 at 1:03 pm19oy said:

    goddam - just downed me un pollo burrito. Coworkers got barbacoas and a bistek. Concensus, summed up by our most eloquent co-worker - “That shit is GOOD”.

    Given that 2 of the 4 of us just at at Chipotle yesterday, it was a good time for a compare/contrast - El Paso got the thumbs up from both of them (as well as from me - and I’m far from a Chipotle basher - I lived in Denver when Chipotle was a local burrito shop, and pined for them for years before they went national).

    Sorry - forgot to check on the churizo toolshed

  20. 18 Oct 2007 at 1:10 pm20Stanley said:

    there is no k in the spanish language

    That’s a rather prescriptivist statement. I think a descriptivist linguist would assert that the letter K is alive and well in modern-day Spanish, in certain registers at least.

  21. 18 Oct 2007 at 2:25 pm21Toolshed said:

    I’m planning to make a visit to this place today in anticipation of the Atomic-sized gap in my life.

    Also, good point, Stanley. I’ll make sure to immerse myself in whatever basilect I order a burrito in.

  22. 18 Oct 2007 at 2:32 pm22Thor said:

    So, what is the reason that Atomic closed down?

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