Lunch Money: Three Tacos with Chicken Tinga at The Burritaco Burger Grill 

I was compelled to visit The Burritaco Burger Grill after a reader wrote in a recommendation that came with a caveat. The food is great, the reader wrote, but “It’s a quirky place. No atmosphere.”

Pulling up to the Mebane restaurant on a recent Thursday afternoon, I find a setting that indeed feels spartan. The parking lot is unpaved and expansive, bordered by houses on one side and woods on the other. The restaurant itself is housed in a long, low cinder block building painted white. Near the entrance, two heavy wooden dining tables sit under a concrete overhang, each with just one vinyl chair. The signage amounts to the restaurant’s name painted directly on the building, twice, in black block letters, and two instructive posters: “WELC ME” and “Smile you’re on camera.”

I slap on a grin and step inside.

The interior feels bigger than it appeared from the outside. That might be because the black-and-white checkered floor has a kind of optical illusion effect, or it might be because one third of the restaurant is empty, save for a wooden stool with a Sony boombox perched on top.

The rest of the space is dotted with tables and booths, each adorned with fake flowers in small vases. A few couples are eating quiet lunches. A server seats me at a booth.

“Can I get you anything to drink, sweet tea?” she intones, as though sweet tea were my name.

“Just water for now,” I reply. I haven’t looked at the prices yet. 

She nods and disappears.

I examine the menu, a laminated two-sided sheet. As you might expect based on the name of the restaurant, it’s ambitious, with Mexican and American cuisine jostling for space: fajitas, carne asada,  shrimp ceviche, quesabirrias, and enchiladas are listed alongside a hefty lineup of burgers and sandwiches—a “Carolina burger” with house chili, a chicken sandwich with smoked gouda—as well as entrees like jambalaya and pan-seared salmon. 

The prices aren’t too steep, but with tax and tip, most of the menu items would put me over my $15 budget. The basic burrito ($10) or the definitively named “The Order – 3 Tacos” ($11) could work, though. I decide on the tacos with chicken tinga. 

As I wait for my food, the boombox cycles through ‘80s hits: “I’ll Stop The World And Melt With You,” “Material Girl,” “Electric Avenue.” I get what the reader meant by no atmosphere, but I’d argue there’s plenty here—or, at least, a certain kind of harmony. Above my booth hangs what appears to be a chandelier made from purple pipe cleaners and styrofoam. On a nearby wall, there’s a small framed rug bordered by a collage of beer labels. A smiling scarecrow watches over the dining room. 

My tacos arrive a few minutes later on a metal sheet tray, delivered by a man in a bright green camo print bandanna.

“Are you the owner?” I ask. The reader who sent me here mentioned the owner, Melvin, is “there every moment it’s open.”

“I think so,” he says coyly, looking around the restaurant as if to confirm.

Melvin tells me he worked in restaurants for 17 years before opening Burritaco Burger Grill in 2022. The space previously housed a Mexican restaurant, so he wanted to keep that element, for locals who were used to it, but also add something more traditionally American, he says, as they get travelers from all over stopping off Highway 70.

He leaves me to enjoy my meal. The tacos come with a generous portion of ultra-rich meat and all the properly zingy accoutrements to cut through it: white onion, salsa verde, cilantro, lime. The chicken tinga, stained rust-red from chipotle and tomato, isn’t shredded to threads but broken into tender bite-sized pieces. I pick up a taco, the soft tortilla conforming to the meat, and when I bite down, the way the whole thing yields, something primal locks into place. It’s deeply satisfying.

With tax and tip, my total comes to $14.41. While Melvin is ringing me up, he asks if I’m looking for a server job. I tell him I’m not. He invites me to the staff Christmas party anyway.

Follow Staff Writer Lena Geller on Bluesky or email [email protected]. Comment on this story at [email protected].