Picante Mexican Grill

Closed?! Why? I’m sad to see they are closed! The only real Mexican style food in the area. Thank you Picante for the past years of great service and food. You will be missed.

Heartbreaking this place just closed. I’ve been going there for 20 years and make sure to get there every time I make it home. I honestly think they have the best burritos in the world lol. I live in Cali and make it to Mexico a decent amount and haven’t found a better one :)
Sad times but grateful for the good food.

Not much ambiance perhaps, but the food is fresh-​tasting, flavorful, and not greasy. Good-​sized portions. There’s a wide range of menu choices — and they offer a special menu at Christmastime. Both the counter staff and the cooks (who hand you your food through the pick-​up window) are friendly and efficient.
I’ve been coming here for many years: Picante is consistent and reliable. Beats Chipotle hands-​down!

Good, quality, fast meal. The food is very authentic which is nice compared to some of the chain Mexican restaurants out there. The menu is a little overwhelming with all the options and then there are more «specials» plastered all over the counter where you order. But, overall a pleasant experience.

Perfect for the price. We were just stopping through cambridge and needed a quick bite. No frills, super fresh, super flavorful.
We had the zucchini & mushroom burrito and the chicken burrito — would recommend both.

Came here on a Saturday for dinner while bar hopping. The food is subpar. Would not return!!!
The vegetarian taco is horrible.
Nachos aren’t exciting

Yummy! Love the burritos and the awesome salsa bar! Mexican brunch on the weekend! Try the Tino burrito!

The food is excellent. Never had any issues in the 7 – 8 years I’ve been coming by. I almost always order a chicken burrito with NO BEANS. Guess what? I never have to return to the counter to have them make me a new burrito. Quality ingredients and very flavorful. They also include warm tortilla chips with your order.
Also worth mentioning, they offer a free salsa and hot sauce bar. In a day and age where every burrito place charges extra for such a thing, it’s nice that a place like this exists.
Oh yes, the staff is friendly and they are pretty fast getting your order out.

Their website:
Tag line: «Yuppyish /​upscale burritos and mexican plates.»
I give this place a solid 3. I’ve been numerous times over 20 years. Feels a bit like a cafeteria as you do have to clean up for yourself and get your own utensils. And there’s a nice variety of salsa, but they leave it all at room temperature as it’s being consumed. Sure, for the super picante (made with habanero), the spice is going to overpower any sense that it’s going bad, but the rest? I’m a little worried.
I think their pico de gallo («salsa fresca») goes pretty fast around mealtimes so it’s not too much of a worry.
I used to get their specialty burritos (Tino, Yanqui) more than their grilled burritos and the latter has good grilled flavor.
Liked their flan and their limeade as well.
They do a Mexican brunch as well during the weekends.
Decent price and value.

Huge quesedilla for $ 7. Their house made salsas are excellent, particularly the chipotle. Great value all around, and fast. Often get my lunch there when I am in a rush.

Never greeds nicely to an almost 2 yr old customer. And it seemed like the price going up every 3 – 4 months. So when I asked about the price went up again. The owner replied bluntly by saying, «yeah~ that’s what it is~» Right… thank you very much, that was nice thing to say to your customer. About the food quality? Not terrible and not pleasant either. Simply Not going back.

Where would my family be without Picante? Starving probably. My son is a burrito fanatic and goes to pick us up dinner at least once a week. I recommend the burrito de papas. Potatoes, melted cheese and salsa. Yum!

Bottom line: it’s okay, but when given the choice, I’m going to Chipotle.
There’s a couple of reasons to this. The first is that they got our order wrong. Boom, can’t be doing. The second one is that my girlfriend asked if she could get ground beef in her taco salad instead of chicken and the guy flat out said «no». Is that real life? You have ground beef, you have taco salad, just make it happen. It’s not rocket science.
Other than that, the food lacked a lot of flavor. It was good, but not that great. Will I go back again? Maybe. But most likely I’ll just walk a little further and go somewhere else.

We tried to support this local spot. They have a great delicious salsa spread. The food looked pretty low quality, however. Not very flavorful except for the fresh salsa.
But soon after our dinner, we all got really sick. Never again!

I hate to have to do this to a struggling food joint but this is not a place I’d come back to, and I can’t imagine it staying in business for a lot longer. I had the chicken and rice plate, which was so subpar to the point that I was considering just trashing it. You could easily make better Mexican food than this in your home in 10 minutes; it seems almost too obvious that the chicken was hastily fried, had some basic seasonings dumped on it, and then left in a bucket for hours.
The one redeeming feature is the pretty expansive salsa bar though. I would actually come back if I were in the mood for just a tortilla snack.

Why aren’t the salsas on ice? I’m really confused and very unsettled by this.
Seems like such an obvious and inexpensive step to more fresh and sanitary salsa.

Probably the best burritos your gonna find in the area. I so miss being close enough to run out at lunch and grab a deluxe steak burrito. And they have a magical avocado cilantro and jalapeño salsa that is mystifying. I literally could drink it

Picante’s burritos are not my go-​to, default, preferred style of burritos. The tortillas aren’t steamed, and they more rectangular than cylindrical. There’s lots of rice in them, and the ‘ritos really need to add sour cream and/​or sauce for moisture.
That being said, it was right by where I worked for many years, and it became one of my haunts. The style of burrito grew on me, though its still not my favorite, and I liked their sauce bar. However, I still have a laundry list of complaints.
The bathrooms are pretty gross. The Seating is uncomfortable. You cannot hear a word that they’re saying through their busted loudspeaker system, which is a problem because that’s when you know your order is ready. The chips aren’t salted. The burritos rip easily. The people working there aren’t the nicest. The prices are perpetually raised because of an alleged «increased produce cost.»
I gave Picante way more business because of its location (and because I love burritos) than I would have otherwise, but there were many days I left there with a belly full of burrito and a smile on my face. To put it succinctly, «with all your faults, I love you still.» Well, I at least like you.

Fantastically filling vegetarian platter. Quick service. There were a variety of sauces but none was as flavorful as I wished.

OK