Mexica Burrito Grill, Billerica: real tacos in an old Dunkin'

I called the building before I could read the sign. Coming up Boston Road in Billerica: I know that place, that's where the Dunks was, across from the trampoline park. It was. Dunkin' moved out, Mexica Burrito Grill moved in, and whatever they did to the inside, the outside still gives it away. You pull in knowing exactly what used to be there.

Inside there is more room than I expected, and a lot of it is seating. Then the ground beef in those tacos turned out to be the most authentic taco meat I have had out here. Not close. The best.

Down the line

Ordering has the Chipotle rhythm to it: your plate starts at one end of the counter and works its way down while you point at what goes on it. It is a format that gets a lot of grief, and it is the right call here. Nobody has to know the menu's name for anything, you can see what you are getting, and the line keeps moving.

The tacos

Flour tortillas, ground beef. The beef is what makes it. The seasoning is spot on and it is an actual ground beef blend, not meat that was browned and salted. It has been a long time since I was served one of those. The first bite was good and it still needed something, and what it needed was heat.

So I went back up to the counter for hot sauce. It is one of the things you are supposed to pay for. The guy working the counter caught my eye, waved me off, handed it over and never said a word about it. It was a verde with barely any heat to it. With that on, the taco was perfect.

That is what I have been missing out here. I do not need it hot, and I do not need a novelty sauce with a warning on the label. I want a mild green salsa that belongs on what it came with.

The one thing I went looking for and did not find was a soft corn tortilla. Flour or a hard shell as far as I could see, so next time I am ordering the hard shell to get corn into it and seeing where that lands. It did not take anything away from the meal — I just wanted the option.

My wife had a burrito with steak and I got a bite of it. The steak is right there with the ground beef, seasoned by the same hand, no drop-off between them. That is two things off the menu now and both of them were good.

The verdict

Mexica is in the weekly rotation. The tacos are good and the drive is short, which is all it takes to earn the spot. Next time is the hard shell for the corn, with the verde picked up on the way to the table instead of after the first bite.

Bravo, Mexica. This is the first of these I have written down — I eat a lot of tacos and this blog has been nothing but code, so there is a taco in the header now and more of these coming.

Where

Mexica Burrito Grill, 647 Boston Road, Billerica, MA 01821. Monday to Saturday 11am–10pm, Sunday 11am–9pm at the time of writing. There is a second location in Tewksbury at 759 Main Street, which I have not been to yet. Both take orders online.