First Stop: Burrito Brothers

Posted Jan 8, 2007 by Bill Ward

Updated Jan 9, 2007 at 11:05 AM

GAINESVILLE,  1 p.m.—The first stop of in Gainesville is a mandatory one—Burrito Brothers. It’s a tradition, at least for me. But guess what, Gator Nation? They moved the restaurant out of the hole-in-the-wall spot on the corner of 13th St. and University, where it had been for 25-plus years. I can’t believe it. I thought maybe they “sold out,” you know, went corporate, went big time. After all, they did open a Burrito Brothers last April in Carrollwood. But some guy with a black eye walking past the usual panhandlers on 13th St. told me that something called “University Corners” is developing that spot of Gainesville and that Burrito Brothers basically had to get out. Apparently, a lot of spots around the “Student Ghetto” are getting torn down and developed. The black eye guy said condos are going in starting at $300,000. With property going for that kind of cash, Burrito Brothers apparently had to move. They went to a spot just about a block west of the old place, just behind the Presbyterian Center on University Avenue. I have to say, the new place is better. A lot better. It has a courtyard where you can actually sit down and eat (unlike the old location, where there was only a five-foot bar to load your burrito with red sauce. It has a neon “GUAC” sign for the guacamole. When it’s lit, there’s guac. When it’s not, there’s none. Before, there was always a sign on the door saying “NO GUAC TODAY.” And there’s even restrooms in the new Burrito Brothers! Unheard of. Mike Harris, the Tribune’s local sports team leader, is here with me. He’s doing a story on fans here for the paper. It was his first Burrito Brothers experience. He gives the food two thumbs up. This, coming from a bar-b-que connossieur. He just found the first person—a UF student—who doesn’t care about the game tonight and doesn’t even know who the Gators are playing…sounds like my old UF roommate, who never once attended or watched a Gatoir game of any kind in any sport.