Fast Food, Fair Prices at Tito’s Burritos

Try as you might, you can’t help but smile when you walk into Tito’s Burritos on Springfield Avenue. Blue Christmas lights hang down from the ceiling, surfboards, beach party posters, and slogan stickers cover every visible surface, a straw hut “roof” covers the ordering counter, and a large, fake sailfish named “The One That Didn’t Get Away” hangs from the restaurant’s main wall. It always feels like a beach party at Tito’s—and a well attended one. There usually is a long line of customers at the surf-shop themed sliver of a restaurant who are looking for a quick bite.

The Mexican eatery’s origins are credited to the elusive “Tito,” who lives for the beach, doesn’t sweat the small stuff, kicks back, and lets it all hang out. His restaurant, which has a twin in Morristown, is a casual, to-go style set-up. Order at the counter and take away or eat at one of the metal round-tops or along the half-surfboard table under the sailfish.

The menu, as the restaurant’s name dictates, naturally revolves around burritos. Tito’s offers ten varieties, each rolled in a 12” flour tortilla, stuffed with an assortment of ingredients, and come with homemade chips. “The Mac Daddy” ($8.75) features Grade-A steak, black beans, yellow rice, cheese, sour cream, pico de gallo, and fresh guacamole. “Off the Hook” ($7.45) is filled with lightly battered and fried white fish, shredded cabbage, black beans, yellow rice, and a cilantro-lime sauce. There is also a “Veggie” option ($6.95), a burrito special of the day, as well as low carb options.

Tacos, quesadillas, salads, and nachos are also popular items. Tito’s taco selection covers beef, chicken, steak, shrimp, veggie, and even swordfish ($3.25-$4.50), and their quesadillas ($6.25 base price) come with mix-and-match ingredients in either a 12-inch “classic” or six-inch mini  “fun-shape” ($4.50 base price). The free salsa bar offers several different condiments, including hot sauces, and is well stocked with small containers, lids, plastic utensils, and other transportable accompaniments for your meal.

I was definitely into the vibe at Tito’s, and I ordered a bit of everything. “The Bird (Is The Word)” burrito ($7.75) was indeed humongous and included grilled strips of chicken breast, black beans, yellow rice, cheese, sour cream, pico de gallo, and guacamole. Sadly, the chicken was dry and hard and could not be disguised by the mounds of other products. The same was true of the somewhat flavorless beef empanada with cheese special ($6.95) and the shrimp taco ($4.50) which was layered with green bell peppers, tomatoes, and cabbage. The best part about the shrimp taco was its double casing, a hard blue corn shell interior and soft flour tortilla exterior, which at least created an interesting texture combination.

Hot wings ($7.95 per dozen), which according to Tito are “The Best in New Jersey,” are also featured on the menu and are allegedly cooked by Manny, Tito’s half-cousin thrice removed, of “Manny’s Wing Emporium.” The wings are available in four different levels of heat: Mellow which is rated 1 on the “Singed Palate Factor” scale, Gnarly (SPF 3), Double Overhead (SPF 8), and Wings of Death which is “rumored to be classified as lethal weapons” with an SPF “off the charts.”

My dining companion and I went straight for Death, and the server asked us several times if we were sure we were serious and tried to steer us away from the dish. Of course, that only made us want to order it even more. When the bowl of twelve, steaming, large wings arrived (complete with celery and carrots sticks and a side of blue cheese dressing), we were warned not to touch our eyes with the sauce or risk blindness for 25 minutes. With an intro like that, we couldn’t wait to dig in. A few minutes later we were luckily still sighted and happily consumed our wings. The wings were delicious: plump, moist, finger-lickin’-good, lip-tingling, worthy of a large stack of napkins, and definitely on the upper levels of HOT. However, death by wings was not imminent for either of us.

The dessert selection is limited to mango and lemon fruit sorbets ($3.95) and ice cream ($2.25). Tito’s does not have a bar, although diners are encouraged to BYO. The restaurant even provides margarita slush by the glass ($3.25 for 12 oz, $4.50 for 20 oz) or the pitcher ($7.95) to which you can add your own tequila. Sodas, ice teas, water, and lemonade is available at the fountain or in cans/bottles.

Tito’s slogan is “It’s all good,” and it is—as far as the service, ambiance, and prices are concerned. The food was cooked pronto and although we expected to have to go up and claim our food after a bingo caller rattled off our number, the server was nice enough to bring it to our table. The place certainly has a sense of humor and screams “fun.” While you definitely get a fair amount for your money, the food, unfortunately, doesn’t quite make my party list.

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Tito’s Burritos

356 Springfield Ave., Summit

(908) 277-3710

Hours of Operation:

Monday through Saturday, 11 am-9 pm

Sunday, 12-8 pm

BYO. Kids menu and catering available.

All major credit cards accepted.