oh ho! another exciting new concept from my fast food favorite/most deadly addiction, taco bell. god how i hate you, taco bell. i loathe thee. yet still… i need you. i need you inside me.

xxl grilled stuft steak burrito

SO this time around, taco bell has turned their ordinary grilled stuft burrito, deemed “too damned tiny” by hungry millions, into a gigantic monstrosity the size of your forearm. but, unlike the relative failure that was the XXL chalupa, instead of basically just making the burrito bigger (note: the burrito is a bit larger, but not so much that the original would seem dwarfed by comparison), they decided to throw everything they had in there. and i mean everything. this is the burrito every stoned taco bell employee has been quietly making for themselves all along.

inside this beast is rice, refried beans, sour cream, fiesta salsa, avocado ranch sauce, guacamole, a blend of three cheeses, and steak, beef, or chicken depending on your tastes. i went with the steak variety. now, i love taco bell, but i usually get the same things every time i go, so maybe i’m wrong about this, but nothing there has guacamole on it! i mean, none of the items that i can think of. have they always had this lying around? and if so, in their many stretches to make new items from pre-existing ingredients, why does guacamole never pop up? they need to take advantage of it, because it is always a welcome addition.

so anyway, the result of throwing all these toppings onto one burrito is greatness. it’s the burrito i would make myself, had i the talent or motor skills to do so. the flavors all blend into each other, amounting to a unique flavor that flexes all its muscles. and there is a nice balance struck between all parts, so that you’re not just eating a rice burrito, but a really cohesive meal all at once. no one part stands out, except maybe the meat (which is what you’d want). i’ve had it twice now, and the only ill i can speak of it is that if you leave it sitting out for too long, it mysteriously begins to smell like a hot dog. which really is kind of magical. oh and it’s a bit pricey. it’s around/over five bucks. which is stupid to me. at least it’s got more going on than the quad steak burrito, after which i vowed to never spend more than five bucks on a taco bell burrito. well, here we are.

all in all, good tasting burrito, and i will probably get it again against my better judgement. but if you are in range of any real mexican restaurant, your money will likely be best spent there.