Burritos in Bakersfield

La Mina Mexican Restaurant is a small restaurant chain located in Bakersfield. They have 6 locations last I checked. Some of these locations offer a burrito eating challenge. It's a good stopping point when you're visiting family in Northern California.

They feature the Arturo Grande Burrito, priced in June 2010 at $11.99 each. It's the biggest burrito on their menu. If a diner puts down two in one hour, they get a refund. If they can eat three, they eat for free and take home a $50 prize.


They look delicious. You get your choice of meat... I've learned to go with chicken because it seems to be the lightest. Their carne asada comes in thick chunks, and if you select ground beef they really load down your burritos with huge portions.

And that's where the difficulty of the challenge arises. The burritos really don't come in set sizes. I've taken the challenge three times, and every time the burritos have looked different. I've never failed this challenge. I also never took home the $50 prize. Getting past that second serving is hell.

Each burrito, filled with beans, meat, loads of rice, lettuce and tomato, must weigh in at 4-5 lbs. The staff couldn't even offer me a range. They remind me of the King Ranch Burrito at La Casa Garcia in Anaheim, though these pack much more rice.


Every challenge has gone differently. The pictured burritos were cleared in 33 minutes. That was my most impressive finish.

The third time I took this challenge resulted in a near-failure, because the kitchen decided to really stuff the burritos with rice and douse them in sauce.

The picture may not do it justice, but this burrito was significantly plumper than the ones above. Exploding with rice. Lots of beans too. I needed 58 minutes to clear both burritos it day. Almost didn't happen! It also didn't help that they refused to bring both burritos out at once.

My suggestion? Bring a scale. Someone needs to find out how much they're shoveling down on this one. The bet totally favors the house. At the Oak St. location they told me that I was the second and third successful finisher as of June 2010.

Now do I hear any takers for the $50 note?