Asada Supremacy at Macho's

After more than six months of turning out columns for , I've come to appreciate something about myself: I'm the Russian Judge.

I will more than likely never give a perfect ranking of 5 out of 5. There have been a couple in the past that ranked very high, but I guess there's always something that can be better about a burrito.

My latest trip to featured the closest thing I've had to a perfect score yet: The Asada Supreme ($4.99). It's not the best burrito I've ever had, but it easily tops the list since I started the column in October.

Here's the almost perfect breakdown:

Tortilla
Nothing different here. The tortillas in the previous burritos I've had at Macho's have been superb. If they don't make them from scratch, I want to know what the name of the tortillas they use. They are soft, hot, chewy and smell amazingly fresh.  The optimum vessel.

Carne Asada
This gets a little bit lost in the first bite that I took because it was that good. The perfect proportion of tender, juicy, flavorful beef, combined with creamy guacamole and fresh pico de gallo made me overlook just how tasty the carne was. Perfectly cooked to a medium-rare/medium. And lots of it.

Cheese
Maybe more cheese could have been in there, but the fact that they didn't skimp on it is a bonus. It was also perfectly melted among the other ingredients, which if you've read this column before, you know is aces with me.

Guacamole
Creamy, delicious. There was a distinct garlic flavor in the guacamole, which added to the overall taste of the burrito. It wasn't overwhelming, and seemed to permeate well into every bite.

Pico de Gallo
The tomatoes, cilantro and onions were diced to a wonderful size, where they were small enough to not get in the way, but also big enough to provide a great texture contrast. They weren't "crunchy" by any means, but more crisp and firm. The acid in the pico also cut some of the creaminess of the guacamole and worked very well.

Bonus Ingredient
There was sour cream included in the burrito, but I can't include it as an actual ingredient for one simple reason: it mixed with the meaty juice emanating from the carne and create a random, hybrid "southwest" sauce that flowed throughout. I don't know if it was intentional or not, but it definitely pushed the flavor over the edge for me. Amazing happy accident or brilliant move - it's all good!

Overall
Best burrito I've had on my journey so far. That's high praise, but it's also a true indication of how much I enjoyed my trip to Macho's. My only point of contention is that the tortilla split near the bottom, causing the ingredients to start slowly spilling out its backside. I saw this merely as an inconvenience, as the best bite I had was all of the "runaway ingredients" as you can see in the picture. It had everything you want in one bite! For that reason alone, I can't give a perfect score. Well, that, and my status as the Russia Judge.

Rating: 4.9 (out of 5)