It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a Canberran in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a free meal. Yes, in this city where the average salaries are the highest in the country the population seems acutely attuned to anything they can get for free. I've seen events massively over subscribed, people walking for miles owing to not enough parking and queues of hundreds for a free event. So when Canberra's newest Mexican restaurant Guzman y Gomez announced they would be serving free burritos from 11am till 8pm today, I knew that the citizens of the 'Berra would be out in force.
One might think the freezing weather, bitter wind and icy rain would deter the crowds, but they had obviously never contended with the Canberran love of anything free. Throughout the day I heard reports of long lines but the reports also indicated the lines moved quickly, so straight after work S and I headed over to check it out - hey we are as fond of a free thing as the next Canberran.
The line was long but true to the rumours it moved quickly and it really didn't take much time till we were inside being serenaded by the mariachi band and were considering burrito options. There was a crack team on in the kitchen, I reckon they were turning out an order every 15 or so seconds. We ended up trying the Spicy chicken guerrero, the steak chipotle, the pork chipotle and the barramundi burritos. Given it was only one burrito per person and there were two of us, I will leave it up to your imagination to work out how we managed that.
All of them were very tasty, although in general I felt they could have done with more sauce. There are sides of sauces you can serve yourself but given the crowds they were hard to get to and I'm not quite sure how you are then meant to get the sauce etc into the wrapped up burrito. I don't know which was my favourite, probably either the barrumundi or the pork - which probably means the pork is awesome given that I'm not usually a huge pork fan. What I can tell you was that after eating that much I ended up so full that I've been sitting blob like ever since.
Only time will tell how Guzman y Gomez will go when people actually have to pay for their food but I can say it certainly was a hit with the Canberra freebie seeking public.
Mmm... free goo!
ReplyDeleteHaha I'm sure Homer would like free burritos even BETTER than free goo!
Hee Hee. My favourite Homer comment that gets quoted all the time is "mmmm snouts and trotters"
DeleteWish I were there! Looked like heaps of fun.
ReplyDeleteI will have chilli con carne at home this weekend instead.
SSG xxx
It was fun and they were lucky with the weather. Today the apparent temperature is well below zero, it has been raining and snowing all day! That said I still reckon Canberrans would turn up for something free - we are all mad for a freebie here.
DeleteTeehee...this made me smile :) Good old Canberra!
ReplyDeleteThey gave away over 4,000 burritos Kari. Never underestimate the power of free food!
DeleteCheers for the awesome post Lisa!
ReplyDeleteYou are most welcome, I can't wait to try out the rest of the menu.
DeleteOh my gosh, Canberra finally has a truly Mexican restaurant?! ONCE I'VE LEFT?! Bah, humbug! :P
ReplyDeleteJust think of all the excitement you will have when you finally come back Hannah!
DeleteI was in AU a year ago and the one thing I really noticed was the many different ethnic food places, but lack of mexican. Here near Chicago we have Mexican food all over the place. So I really had fun seeing this! My friend who lives in Canberra sent me the link to this!
ReplyDeleteWe have a brilliant range of Asian and European food in Australia but are sadly rather lacking in food from the Americas. It is very exciting that Mexican food is slowly making its way here. Glad you enjoyed the post!
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