Cha Cha Diego's

Anyone who knows me pretty well, knows that one of the things I truly enjoy in life is a damn good bean and cheese burrito. 

In San Diego, obviously, I had no problem finding one of these simple, yet amazing handheld meals. Even  in Santa Barbara, we were close enough to Southern California to have lucked out with a few decent down home, dirty (as in the real deal, no Chipotle for me thankyouverymuch), cheap decently priced Mexican shops.  San Francisco, on the other hand, is another animal completely. We had one, maybe 2, spots where they actually used refried beans and non-organic cheese. (Thank you, Pancho's on Polk.)

Ross, too, is another burrito lover. While I'm a simple pleasures kind of girl (plain beans and cheese, maybe some guac and sour cream if I'm in a spendy mood), he is much more of the full-fledged burrito (carnivorous, put everything you can possibly stuff into it, and make it extra spicy while you're at it) type of guy..

Imagine our surprise, while on the moto headed to a new beach, we saw a sign for "Cha Cha Diego's Mexican Food- Southern California Cuisine." Obviously we made a post-beach lunch/dinner linner plan for some hearty  comfort food. Laying on the beach, drinking our beers, we could already taste the salsa... We wondered what it would be like...Would the owner be there? If so, would he give us free stuff if we told him we were from San Diego too? (We're on a budget, ok?!) Would the cheese be orange, real cheddar-y orange??? (Most cheese we eat here is white and we aren't even really sure if it is cheese, let alone what kind of cheese it may be...)

All of our suspicions were confirmed when we got there.

• Yes, the owner was there. Nice guy named Craig, who hails from Kearny Mesa. He was kinda kooky, but my only disapproval of him was that he said Escondido is not "real" San Diego....Hmmm.It's not Temecula, buddy! He's not even a Padres fan though, so I didn't expect much out of this guy...)
• No, we didn't get free stuff.....sigh.....In fact, we spent a pretty penny on this meal.
• Yes, the cheese was cheddar! The beans were refried! It was pretty darn good.

I just need to make a side note that although the burrito was decent, it was no Santana's. I likened it to a burrito I would make for myself at home, with some grated cheddar from Albertson's and a can of refried beans in the microwave.  A good snack, for sure; maybe a 6 out of 10 overall. However, the fact that I was able to eat anything other than rice and chicken automatically puts this meal a cut above most I've had over here.

I am certain about one thing...December 21st, Santana's, here I come!