I just went tonight...might have been the wrong time. It was packed and everything was moving a little slow. I wait tables so its understandable.

Good menu and awesome decor...but everything tasted mediocre to me. I'm gonna go back during non peak hours and try again.

I went Easter weekend and the place was pretty slow. The food was dissapointingly decent, but the ambiance was great. One employee was incredibly rude to everyone I was with. They screwed up my order, and I could barely hear them over that huge glass sneezeguard. Still, I'm going to give it another try when I'm back in Duluth. Maybe by then they'll have things together a bit more.

I've never been but slow service, good decor, average food, and the compulsion to return? Viva La Communistica! THAT's a well-done theme restaurant.

I went tonight. Food kicked ass. I was impressed. Noisy, but have you ever been to Mexico? It's always noisy there.
And this is coming from someone who's in a band with a Mexican individual.
I've had real Mexican food. I don't think what they serve is actually "real" Mexican food, but who cares. Guadajahara in Superior kicks its ass. Still, it was very good. Sorry the previous posters had a bad experience. My method with a new restaurant has always been to wait a couple days after they open. Don't go on the first day. They're just scrambling and figuring things out at that point.
My experience was very good. I'm going to recommend the place to everyone I know.

I've been twice, once with just me on an expototion to find food and beer last tuesday, and again the following evening with the fam...

good food, with beer, four blocks away...my opinion of the joint is pretty cut and dried, as big a fan as I am of Dave Hoops' brew. Damn the "Session Beer" tag, you have five pints of Tugboat, you're gonna be just a little tipsy. Good news on that is the low-hangover potential due to the slightly lower ABV% of the B.U.'s offerings.

The Empire Builder was pretty good, a bit spicy, but a filling offering, as is the Capitalist Pig. They do tend to fall apart right near the end there...

All in all, I can see spending a bit of time there...

I went with my family and I had the veggie burrito (forget the name.) It was all right - Hazel enjoyed it. I think it needed more cheese. However, I'm more of a enchilada fan than a burrito fan, so that probably explains that. The chips and salsa were great. Root beer was wonderful.

We also ordered chocolate chip cookies to go and did not get them - we got some kind of non-chocolate raisin vegan cookie, which tasted better the next day. :)

The place was packed, which made it hard to talk and service was somewhat slow.

But the ambiance is great and the place looks fabulous.

And I can see potentially moving PDD Game Night there once the craziness dies down and the nighttime temps get a little warmer.

I thought it was the closest thing to Chipotle in Duluth. Lil' Ang's still has the best fajitas in Duluth though.

The one drawback is that Burrito Union doesn't put cilantro in their rice or salsa. A huge noticable difference between Chipotle and Lil..

It was good, but without a key ingredient fell short.

Nice close bar though.

My wife and I went a couple weeks ago.

We left without any food.

The HUGE line was NOT moving AT ALL for at least 20 minutes. (This was about 2pm on a Friday.) Then, an employee said that there was table service. "Thank god!" we said and ran to one of the MANY empty tables. A few minutes later, the nice waitress told us that the dude was misinformed and that if we wanted food that we'd need to get back in line.

We left.

Apparently they were STILL TRAINING PEOPLE IN! This was the stupidest thing we had heard in a long time. Plus, they are frickin' burritos! Slap the stuff down and get moving! I could have cooked some up at home in far less time.

We won't be going back for a long time.

Who wants to start up a Chipotle? They seem to actually want to feed people there.

Zac, If you went there a couple weeks ago they must have just opened, like, that day. I think they opened on the Thursday before Easter or something like that so they've been open for not quite 2 weeks.

Anyway, my service there was actually very good. We arrived around 2 in the afternoon and there were about 4 people in line before us, but they moved us through efficiently. When we were seated I did notice a group being seated with menus so apparently table service is an option. And a waitress did stop by to freshen our drinks and see how we were doing, even though we ordered at the counter. So my service experience was a lot better than yours.

In Soviet Russia, the burrito... oh, never mind.

I think everyone deserves at least two chances.

Plus...anything thats reasonably good and within walking distance of my house is worth returning too.

I'm sure they will get their act together in the next few.

speaking of mexican though..I guess their is a fairly authentic restaurant in Cloquet...anyone know anything?

I forget the name of the place in Cloquet, but I did eat there once and it was pretty good. Not as good as Guadalajara in Superior. For my money that is the best Mexican resturaunt in the area right now.

The Mexican restaurant in Cloquet is Mexico Lindo. I haven't been there, but my boyfriend said it was pretty good.

Everyone at my work raves about Mexico Lindo in Cloquet. My dad works in Carlton and thats the only place he and his work pals eat anymore. I guess I should go to see what all the buzz is about.

yes Mexico Lindo is the shit...wait...and I have been there 4x and ive loved it every single time.

Does anyone know if Burrito Union does takeout?

speaking from experience (I'm tossing out a rare Texas cred card here), and the relatively small amount of mexican/tex-mex, west-mex (let's face it, I grew up on the stuff and can afford to be just a little picky...) experience I've had on this end of I-35:

Maya's got the best fajitas north of the Red River...the Texas/Oklahoma Red River

this could, however be amended with a trip to Guadalajara...

What the hell is "west-mex" anyhow?

i finally ate a 5 pound burrito! I've been waiting for this/that moment all my life. One complaint, i wish they would make their own meat & tortillas. But, overall I give them a 4star for atmosphere & beer, 2 1/2star for the "homemade burritos"

my wife and i went there the other day and i must say we were both extremely disappointed.

the salsa, which was highly recommended by our waiter, tasted solely of jarred minced garlic, of which there was plenty.

i had the capitalist chicken burrito (as did my wife) and could only stomach maybe 1/3 of it. the chicken tasted as if had soaked in lime juice for nearly a week. one bite was so sour i had to spit it out.

the rice was undercooked and once you could actually see the insides of the burrito, everything just looked like grey moosh.

two other quick complaints:

1.) both of the metal dishes they served our food in were chipped and rusty.

2.) there's no sign saying you can be seated and served. we found this out after standing in line for 15 minutes without moving more than 2 or 3 feet.

bonus: expensive. $22 + tip for two burritos some chips and a pop.

Food kicks ass.

As for the service... The first time it took me 40 minutes to get my burrito with four people ahead of me in line.

Today it only took them 30 minutes with five people ahead of me. They're getting better, I guess.

Still no Chipotle.

Well comrades, this place makes an excellent undisclosed location. I wish the swedish mafia would find a new source for their BEANS! I wish I could tap Duluth's collective alternative ass for all the gas that they produce eating the black beans from the brewhouse and now the burritto union..but all in all two thumbs up.

Went to Burrito Union today while in town, just to check it out. Jeez, you aren't kidding, that place is confusing as hell. I thought I knew what to do from reading the previous posters here. We waited at the counter for someone to come over to ask what we wanted, and waited 5 minutes or so. We thought about sitting down, and started looking for an open table, when a server came over and said we looked a little confused. We were the only ones in line, and got our burritos made and ready in under 5 minutes. This was at around 1:00 PM.

I got the Imperial Chicken, and loaded it up with all the extras. It was pretty good, but those bowls they serve in make it very difficult to cut the burrito with a fork when it gets so messy that you have to put it down.

Overall, pretty good experience, would definately go back and maybe try one of the other burritos.

Went to burrito union sunday 7/08/07 10:45 a.m. for breakfast burritos. I hate poor service, and that is exactly what I got. One younger guy was trying to man the counter, but he was tied up with three burritos. Meanwhile a group of three or four employees are talking at the end of the bar. After about 10 minutes some ditsy/ hungover, maybe, blonde comes up to help me. After waiting so long i wanted lunch instead of breakfast so i said i wanted the imperial chicken. She said not until 11 a.m. It was 10:55 at this point. I told her to forget it and i left. A far cry from chipotle. I ended up eating Quiznos. I will not be returning to the union anytime soon. Crappy Service!

I've been here a few times and I really like the food but I think the staff needs a serious beating. I went in there for carry out not long ago and you could tell the guy was all ticked at me for not tipping him. It was carry out, give me a break. When I used to work at a pizza restaraunt I never got tipped for making everyones pizza, burritos are no different.

I have been to burrito union about 7 times now. By reading the posts, it sounds like when they first opened you had to order in the line, but that has changed. Now you either get seated and waited on like in a restaurant or use the line if you are getting carry out. I think this change cleared up a lot of the confusion. As far as service goes, I think they are doing fine. I don't mind that some of the employees seem a bit rude-it's part of the total experience. I understand that they can be a bit too slow, but now that we all know this we can be prepared with extra conversation topics and not arrive completely starved and crabby. As far as the to go line goes, when I go at I only notice a few people in the line, and today I used it for the first time. One girl was making my burrito and then a group of people came behind me and she asked for help and everything was speedy.

I think its funny that people get so confused about The Burrito Union. It's simple-you either go through the line and get it to go, or you wait to be seated and are served like a regular restaurant. The food is wonderful-but it's not Mexican. It's not intended to be Mexican. It's a burrito joint-you will not find fajitas or free chips and salsa. The burritos are generously proportioned and quite tasty. Lately they have been featuring a weekly salsa and burrito which allows people to branch out and try something other than what's on the regular menu. I eat there as much as I can-the people are friendly, the food is great, and the atmosphere is unique-something that Duluth is not used to. People need to be open minded when trying new things and not come with predispositions.

Ashley, that's the way it is NOW. It wasn't the case when it first opened. For a period of about a month you could get table service or counter service to eat in.

My kids and I go to BU fairly regularly now, once a month or so. It's good food, good atmosphere, and a decent serving for the price. The kids also love the brewhouse root beer.

th Union kinda fits into this little bubble that i predominantly exist in between home and work...food's okay, but i go there mainly for th brew.

Just OK? Those pork burritos -- especially of the make-your-own variety -- are to die for!

I would kill to have something more homegrown than a McDonalds in my neighborhood.

p.s. "Ironic1," I second the root beer applause -- it's right up there with the fine, Dad's-esque product pumped out by LSB.

ironic,

is that your picture in the (left-hand) restroom next to the light?

I have been to Burrito Union several times and I am done eating there. The rice is undercooked and the chicken is boiled.. It continues to be nasty, and no where near as good as Lil Ang's or Chipotle (Which I am dying for in Duluth).

Overall the place is nice, and if I lived on the block it might be a good place to drink, but the food is awful. Free chips is great, but this is NO Chipotle.

Zra,

It sure looks like me, but if it is, it is done without my knowledge.

I was wondering why this almost year old thread keeps on getting comments so I gooogled burrito union duluth and saw this post came up first and the actual Burrito Union website doesn't even show up on the first page. When I googled just burrito union it comes up second. That would explain it.

I haven't eaten at the Burrito Union yet. If you are going to compare food though, why has no one mentioned the Hacienda del Sol? Maybe someone did. After a while I got bored and started skimming. They have my favorite hot sauce. Of course, I get the same thing every time I go...

As for Guadalajara... why would I want processed cheese in my enchiladas? It's good, but not the best.

I think this thread keeps coming up because burritos are important... and that google search thing.

I'm happy to see this post come back! I am so excited that I get to eat SPICY FOOD again! WOO! Hmm... doesn't the BU deliver?

still biting my tongue...
still biting my tongue, and it's starting to hurt...damn my long history with Mexican cuisine...

to their credit, the Maya up the hill comes purt durn close to non-yankee-fied authentic as I have found north of the Red River (that's the Texas/Oklahoma Red River), though the Tri Cities out in WA state has a couple of fine establishments (possibly due to the heavy population of seasonal orchard workers)...

I have heard that there is a good one over in Cloquet...wait, did I mention that in an earlier post?

Mexico Lindo in Cloquet is a tick or two above Maya in my book. Locally, it is my favorite authentic Mexican place. Good Margaritas, too. I've never been to Guadalajara over the bridge, though. Comparing BU to those places is unfair, though (as mentioned in earlier posts, I believe). BU is my favorite food place within walking distance when the wife and kids are out of town and I am too lazy to mess up my own kitchen. Just a good, solid burrito. Kind of reminds me of my St. Cloud days and Bravo Burrito. Zra: Come down to Cloquet and I'll treat you for lunch at the Lindo.

The mushroom and shrimp burrito at Maya is one of the best things I've ever put in my mouth.

Drat, now I'm hungry.

I haven't had a margarita at Burrito Union yet. How are they?

I have to say, I'm amazed at the range of reception of Burrito Union's food. Everything from "kicked ass" to "pretty good" to "nasty."

I have to say, I'm amazed at the range of reception of Burrito Union's food. Everything from "kicked ass" to "pretty good" to "nasty."

I think you will find that about every restaurant you bring up in this part of the world. People are really weird about food. For instance, you couldn't pay me to eat at Maya.

Lindo, however, is fantastic.

Lindo is good, my fav Mexican place around here.

Maya is inconsistent. I've had both good and bleh food there.

AS I don't eat red meat I'm fairly limited at BU and have been lukewarm about the main fair there. I do like the place in general though, atmosphere and chips are good to great. Choc cake was tasty but a bit dry.

the best time to go to the union is weekends before 1pm...this is the only time you can order their awesome breakfast burrito...its to die for!

I went to BU the other day and had the lime-garlic chicken as a salad, not in a burrito. YUM, it was really good! And my friend, I think, got pretty toasted on the potent bloody mary she drank down.

I have been faithful to BU since shortly after they opened. Their food has always been top notch. The stout chocolate cake is HUGE, but pretty tasty. I REALLY recommend sharing it between 2-4. And ya, get milk with it.  I agree, more cilantro would be a great idea. There guack is GREAT. I’m not a huge chip fan, but sure love theirs. They WERE a little slow when they started (I always found it worth the wait.) They really improved pretty quickly. So, if you didn’t go back because of the speed, give them another shot. I’ve had almost everything on the menu and always enjoyed. Funky beers and good drinks. NO! I really am not a co-owner. I just love them. BREAKFAST ROCKS!! They don’t open till 11 during the week now. SO SAD!!!!!!