you know you want to sing it...

Dærick here... Every time I hear the name of today's lunchtime reviewee I am almost compelled to sing that damn song, and I know you are too (even if you won't admit it!) So, let's cut right to it, shall we?

Location: Green Acres on Los Angeles Ave.
Date: May 11, 2009
Time: a little before high noon

Dærick's review:
As long as I've lived in Simi, I have to admit that until today I have never been to Green Acres. I have no explanation or defense for this, and I accept your derision. Green Acres has always been that fantastic scent of cooking meat that I drive through on LA Avenue, but now it has become so much more.

Once we arrived at the Green Acres compound it was straight to the counter... no doors or other clumsy obstacles to bother with here, it's just park, walk, and order. Already my mutant lunchtime senses were tingling, and I hadn't even ordered yet! The menu here is pretty straightforward, and to be honest pretty comparable to other places you could choose to go. What sets this place apart is how they prepare the meat they use. Pardon me a moment, I think I'm drooling again...

Where was I? Right, the review, I remember now. So I ordered the shredded chicken burrito for today's meal, largely because it was the suggested special and I wanted to order something different than Tim who I believe ordered the tri-tip burrito. Anyway, I got that and a drink, no sides for this lunch. Speaking of sides however, I will say that had I been inclined to get a side of chips Green Acres carries the big boy sizes and not the grade school sizes that most places have. But I digress.

My burrito came up really quickly, which was a surprise actually. Now, I will say that in terms of size it was not the humongous giant burrito you can get at some places, but to me that is a good thing. I didn't struggle to finish it, and I didn't feel I had to stretch my stomach out. Inside was a good ratio of meat to filler (beans and rice in this case) and it also had an excellent distribution. Every bite had meat in it, and the flavor carried through. I will say that the sause inside, while very good, was a toxic orange-red in color that stained my fingers a little. Any of you who tend to get food on yourself while eating should be very careful, you've been warned. As far as flavor goes, my burrito was excellent. The treatment of the chicken was well balanced, seasoned well but not overpowered.

In short, I loved this lunch! I am willing to give up the side that you might get somewhere else for the price, the burrito I had today made the sacrifice well worth it. All told I spent under $9.00 for the drink and burrito, and left a very satisfied man. On a scale of 1 to 87 I rate today's lunch an A.


Tim's review:
Green Acres is the place to be! Fine tri-tip is the life for me! Meat, spreading out so far and wide! Keep Del Taco, just gimme those beans on the side! We have been talking about Green Acres for a long time, mainly on the reputation I have been mentioning to Daerick for ages. Though, admittedly, I have not been there in a few years, and before that, I was a regular customer when their set up was just a table and a giant BBQ.

I'm very familiar with their tri-tip, and I was going to settle for nothing less on this fine day. I got myself a grande burrito, which I believe is Spanish for "overstuffed with tri-tip" burrito. My Spanish admirers can check into that for me. A grande burrito comes with the following: beans, rice, cheese, cilantro, hot sauce and meat of your choice. The meats are tri-tip, chicken, shredded chicken and pork. All of which are delicious. So, my burrito came and I noticed two things; it was heavy and it was stuffed to capacity. In fact, shortly into the meal, I nearly had complete burrito failure, but it was narrowly averted when I squeezed the hell out of the bottom of the burrito and held on for dear life. If that burrito had blown, lives would have been lost. My burrito was well made, where I didn't have tons of one ingredient and little bits of another. In fact, based on the amount of meat in the burrito, it may be the best value in the city that I know of. Tri-tip ain't cheap, and there was a lot in there. After finishing my burrito, I tended to my hand, which was covered in burrito innards that had leaked out while said hand kept the populace safe from a burrito explosion.

I really like what they have done to make the place more of an outdoor cafe than anything else. Lots of seating, and though it was busy, we had our food in under 5 minutes. I will say they really need to gain some perspective on what "large" means. We ordered "large" drinks (the only size the had), and I would say they were large from a time gone by. Like a large from fast-food places, circa 1979. The place is nice and cool, and they have fans and misters in place for warmer days. All told, my meal was about $9.50, but worth every penny. And, while I'm writing, let me give a tip of the hat to the butchershop inside. I have been buying meat there for years, and it is always top notch. And in conclusion, on a scale of Kidney Bean to Navy Bean, I rate this a bowl of Navy Beans with garlic bread on the side.