The Guido Burrito, aka Italy in a tortilla

March 19th, 2009, 4:33 pm · 10 Comments · posted by Jeff Overley

It’s March Madness time, and what good American sporting event would be complete without the most egregious of junk foods?

With that in mind, I set out to Nonna Lucci’s, home of a monstrous, artery-hardening creation I’ve been looking for an excuse to try. I’m speaking of the Guido Burrito, an Italy-meets-Mexico beast weighing in at two pounds, and its equally ginormous siblings, the Bada-Bing Burrito and the Godfather Burrito.

Now, two pounds might not sound all that big, but consider: That’s eight Quarter-Pounders with Cheese. That’s two fatty burritos from Chipotle. In other words, it’s sizable. (Sidenote: Any time the weight of your meal is specified, it is probably unhealthy.)

This trio of culturally confused gutbombs debuted a few months back, after the owner had a “wet burrito dream” about an Italian version of the Mexican classic, a cashier told me.

The $6.95 Guido is meatball, provolone, mozzarella and romano rolled up in a tortilla and topped with marinara; the $6.95 Bada-Bing has Italian sausage, bell peppers, onions and the same cheeses/sauce, and the $7.95 Godfather is all of the above. Naturally, I chose the Godfather.

I half-expected the burrito to be kinda like pizza in a cup, an eye-popping concept that just doesn’t work. Once I took a bite, though, I was praying that Mexico would conquer Italy, or vice versa, and that the newly oppressed citizenry of either country would start toiling away in burrito factories to churn these gems out for the whole world.

I guess it shouldn’t be surprising that two pounds of sausage, meatball and melted cheese is delicious, but really, the burrito hits the right notes; Nonna Lucci’s has a sauce that balances the zestiness of dried herbs and spices with a good tomatoey sweetness. The meatball and sausage were both good, with the latter releasing juices throughout the burrito.

Without a doubt, I’d grab one of these again. But looking at the pound-and-a-half I have leftover, that probably won’t happen before the Final Four.

Nonna Lucci’s
19913 Beach Blvd.
Huntington Beach
714-536-1160

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Niyaz Pirani says:

March 19, 2009 at 5:13 pm

it kind of looks like lasagne. and really oily. i’m not sure if i’d eat this one.

janetms says:

March 19, 2009 at 10:31 pm

Is Nonna Lucci any relations to Lucci’s Deli conveniently located just around the corner on Adams?

Jeff Overley says:

March 20, 2009 at 7:42 am

janetms - yep, they’re owned by the same folks.

niyaz - oily? those are juices, brother, get it straight.

March 20, 2009 at 8:41 am

Jeff,
How’s the pizza? I’ve always lamented that Lucci’s didn’t serve it… I was thinking it would be good!

March 20, 2009 at 9:29 am

janetms - I haven’t tried the pizza, but I don’t think you can go wrong, as it’s $7.99 for a large cheese (or $6 with a coupon I saw yesterday). I should mention that Nonna has a pretty wide-ranging menu that also offers pasta, fish tacos and barbecue fare such as pulled pork sliders.

ashley says:

March 20, 2009 at 12:02 pm

EVERYTHING there is delicious! Lucci’s Deli has great nightly specials and isn’t too far from the smaller dining location.

bpsqwerty says:

March 20, 2009 at 2:49 pm

I reeeeeeeeeeeally don’t know if I could eat this LOL

I love italian and I love mexican but still. I just dunno about this!

King Smokey says:

March 20, 2009 at 3:18 pm

If they’re all the same size, does that mean that all meatball or all sausage is $7, and if you want half and half, it’s $1 more?

DiverDown says:

March 20, 2009 at 3:35 pm

Those photos are awesome. True, it makes me feel a little queasy, but that might just be the indegestion hindsight kicking in : ) I’d definitely try it.

March 20, 2009 at 3:50 pm

King Smokey - Good question. I put in a call and I guess the Godfather is a little bigger than the other two. I was told the Guido (meatball only) has 3 meatballs, and the Bada-Bing (sausage only) has 2 sausages, but the Godfather (sausage and meatball) has 2 meatballs and 1.5 sausages.

DiverDown - Glad you enjoyed the photos; I hear ya, I get acid reflux just looking at them. I should point out that is a full-sized dinner plate at top.

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