With its rice, beans, meat and vegetables all rolled up in a handy, convenient tortilla, the burrito has become a regular part of many students' diets.
And with more than five burrito restaurants near the UT campus, students can easily get their hands on the popular item to calm their Mexican-food cravings.
What makes the burrito so enticing is that it rolls a complete meal into an easy-to-handle package, said Joseph Salinas, a computer sciences junior.
"The burrito is very appealing," Salinas said. "You can hold it in one hand, and it's a full meal in itself. It covers four or five basic food groups. It's good stuff."
Chandler Wiley, manager of the Chipotle Mexican Grill on the Drag, said the restaurant attracts about 500 to 600 customers a day.
"We have some people that come in five days a week," Wiley said.
Though service was slow when Chipotle opened in April 2000, Wiley said free burrito giveaways and other promotions have led to a large increase in sales.
"One day we gave away 3,000 burritos," he said. "It promotes sales, and they come back. Our focus here is just simplicity, quality and customer service."
A large part of creating a good burrito is in the construction and wrapping, he said.
"There is a certain spot on the tortilla where the beans and rice are placed," Wiley said.
At Freebirds World Burrito,
"Our employees need to know how to roll a tortilla so a little of each item is in each bite," Hood said. "We layer the food out and have a tight wrap so it looks like a tin can."
At Freebirds, like most burrito restaurants, the food is prepared right in front of the customer, allowing the consumer to customize it.
In addition, many restaurants use their own recipes instead of prepackaged food.
"We prepare our tortillas and salsas from scratch," said Ahmad Modoni, manager of Changos Taqueria, which has five different types of salsas, ranging from medium to hot.
In addition to having a wide variety of salsas, Changos offers many different types of meat, including mahi mahi, chicken and pastor, which Modoni said is similar to the meat found in gyros.
Wrap it Up, in Dobie Mall, also offers a large selection of burrito-wrap flavors, including Honey Mustard and Spicy Buffalo.
"We taste different than most restaurants," said Andy Jun, owner of Wrap it Up. "We use many different types of seasonings. Customers even told me we have the best steak and chicken in this area."
Though Wrap it Up doesn't
"We want to try to have the best service in Austin," Jun said. "I take a picture when you win. We try to be friendly and make you feel like part of the family. I want that kind of business."
Though its burritos are smaller and cheaper than most, Taco Bell's new "Grilled Stuft Burrito" has also made an impact.
"We have been selling a lot of this burrito," said Mere Escobar, a shift leader at Dobie Mall's Taco Bell.
The new burrito, which comes with chicken, steak or beef, has a special pepper sauce whose ingredients are confidential, Escobar said.
"It's got more than your typical bean burrito," said David Zeornes, a business sophomore. "It's a variety, and it's big; the volume is good."
However, Zeornes said he prefers the taste of Freebirds, which makes a "good ol' American burrito."
Though many patrons are students, the managers of Freebirds and Changos said they are also popular among families and business people.
"Some of our lunch customers are students, but most are business people who heard about it in college and still come here," Hood said. "The great thing about our burrito is that it contains all of the food groups in just one bundle."
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