Ben Davis, my favorite saxophonist, guitarist and former burrito master had a "Tortillas Party" a few weeks ago, where he made all the classic burritos from Tortillas. Tortillas was my favorite restaurant in Atlanta, and completely sustained my vitality during my college years through massive amounts of starch and cheese. I ate there first in early 1993 with Crystal Bradley and Rick Moore from Barrel/Galanas Cerdd/Copa Vance/Home of the Wildcats/Lay Down Mains when I was just graduating high school (we ate in the booth under the stairs), and ate there last in 2003 right before I moved to Amsterdam. Someone put together a Myspace tribute page for Tortillas, check it out here. Also, special thanks to Ben's in-laws for hosting this very special event, they were super-cool.
Original Toy from Tortillas, with the Green and Red Sauce
My choice - regular bean and cheese with rice (to soak up the juice), and some chips with red sauce. Even the trays are perfect.
Classic menu - including Super Burritos!!! Click to enlarge.
Ben working his magic - if we could only get Dane to make some Sweet Tea
I actually did not start that myspace page.
ReplyDeleteSorry - I will correct that. For some reason I thought you did that. Do you have a copy of that list of Tortillas employees that I could add to the post?
ReplyDeletei'll take frijoleros and "the bean man's choice"
ReplyDeleteBest dish in history of ATL GA....heavy on the green sauce
DeleteYeah, how can you diss Frijoleros? It's been closed for 10 years, and I still miss it. Moe's, Willy's, and all the chains can suck it.
ReplyDeleteI'm not going to get into the whole Frijoleros vs. Tortillas debate - they were both awesome and they are both gone. However, I heard that Frijoleros moved to New Orleans. Robbie McAdams went there once.
ReplyDeletei've googles 'frijolero's new orleans' and never gotten anything. if i can ever verify that, i'll plan a trip to new orleans for the bean man's choice or some reasonable facsimile.
ReplyDeleteis someone out there still catering tortilla's parties??? i remember that one you guys had at sue's sister's house for your birthday several years back...
ReplyDeleteSupposedly Ben Davis (aka Dr. Kinje from Noot d' Noot) is going to do another Tortillas party, so keep an eye out. Maybe sometime in the spring.
ReplyDeleteI miss the Frijoleros vs. Tortillas debates... that was when Midtown Atlanta was in it's bohemian heyday. I worked there (The Frij) for 3 years, I remember when articles would come out in Creative Loafing vouching for one or the other. It would set my boss (Jay, the owner) on FIRE!
ReplyDeleteGoddammit, how the hell am I out of this loop? I ate at Tortilla's weekly, sometimes more, for a good decade! Next time make sure I am informed!!!!!!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteFrederick
Degenerate Press
Hey Allan Gibson...I worked at "The Frij" too! If you read this...look me up-I'm in Woodstock,Ga.. It's Kathy a.k.a. The Bean Queen. Also known as the first employee of Frijoleros to work for Charlie and Bob when the opened Eats. I miss both bean joints!!
ReplyDeleteCan you divulge any secrets? I found the green sauce recipe on-line and just finally found canned tomatillos to make it. Sooo close to the real deal. Now I'm dying to know the other secrets...What kind of cheese was it? Anything done to the pintos? Man, I miss Tortillas. I wish I was your friend so I could come to your Tortillas party.
ReplyDeleteOh, just seeing the picture of that burrito, wrapped in the foil, in the red basket, is stunning in its ability to make me salivate and remember exactly what it tastes like. What was so good about them? I've mulled this over many times. The beans were never seasoned that well, the whole deal was pretty plain really, but the jack cheese was so nicely salty and it melted just right.The best part was the bottom of the burrito. And the tortillas were steamed perfectly too, they would steam the spinach. I actually broke a fucking tooth on one during one of my early visits b/c there was still a rock in the beans. But I never stopped going. But they would always look weird about my 'no beans' request. :)
ReplyDeleteHey Dawn - you need to check out the Tortillas Myspace page, all of the recipes are included in there. Also, there is a guy who makes Tortillas burritos at home and will deliver them to your house, you can find him on Facebook. Supposedly he is opening his own Tortillas franchise somewhere in Atlanta soon, so keep an eye out, and enjoy!
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