Going Out No. 19: Cha Cha Cha

Specifically the one on NE Broadway.

Welcome! This is the Going Out edition of Riley’s Recs, where I review a restaurant, bar, or activity here in Portland. Every Sunday, I also share Staying In recipe recommendations for your week. Don’t forget to check out pdxrecs.com for even more recommendations and follow RR on Instagram at @rileysrecs. Enjoy!

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Meal: Dinner

Price for two including tip: $37.08

To eat: Mama’s Beef Burrito x2

To drink: Mandarina Jarritos x 2

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There are a lot of expectations wrapped up in a burrito.

Be cheap. Be close to my house. Be under the radar. Be at least 4.5 stars on Google.

Not unlike the modern day woman, a burrito must be everything to everyone.

But how can an undiscovered, hole-in-the-wall Mexican restaurant exist in the center of a major city? How is a restaurant supposed to use Certified Humane beef and keep burrito prices under $10?

It is too much.

And yet I have my own demands. My ideal burrito must:

• Include rice, pinto beans, and guacamole but never cheese

• Cost more than $12 (to ensure higher meat quality)

• Be located less than 10 minutes from my house

Thankfully, the Mama’s Beef Burrito from Cha Cha Cha on NE Broadway meets every single one of my *totally reasonable* requirements.

What is Mama’s Beef? I literally have no idea. “Braised Beef in Aromatics” is all we get by way of an explanation.

I would guess, based off my moderately-trained palate, that the beef is braised in chiles and cinnamon and then shredded. The result is juicy but not fatty, rich but not overpowering. It’s more flavorful than carnitas and more complex than al pastor. It’s Mama’s Beef.

And who is Mama? Or what is Mama? Google fails to provide relevant results. In Spanish, Mama’s Beef translates to “carne de mamá," so I’m going to guess it’s a family matriarch’s recipe. Because OF COURSE, this flawless, perfect burrito is because of a woman.

To be clear, I am recommending the Mama’s Beef burrito from the NE Broadway location specifically. Not South Waterfront or Cascade Station or the airport.

That’s because you can’t find Mama’s Beef at any of the other Cha Cha Chas. For reasons that I cannot 100% verify but know to be true (just trust me, okay), the Broadway location is independently owned and managed. Meaning, its menu is unique.

To try the Mama’s Beef burrito, you must make your way to the corner of NE 27th and Broadway and order yourself a burrito. Ideally with a Jarritos.

It will arrive on a warm plate, dressed scantily in a half-sleeve of paper. You’ll cradle it in your hands like a hot water bottle before taking a bite to reveal an orderly arrangement of rice, pinto beans, diced tomatoes, guacamole, braised beef, and the occasional corn kernel. Grease will trickle down your finger, but you won’t mind. Because you’ll be eating the best burrito in town.

I know what you’re thinking: but what about [insert your favorite Mexican restaurant]?

I’ll only say that aside from a truly transcendental burrito at Santa Ana’s in Woodburn—which fails the “10 minutes from my house” criteria—the Mama’s Beef burrito is unmatched in my book.

Yes, Cha Cha Cha is a chain. But there’s nothing wrong with eating at a restaurant with a Wikipedia page. The ability to expand and franchise is a sign of popularity and success, which is what we want for restaurants, right? Or have we put the same expectations on restaurants as we have burritos?

Be popular, but not too popular. Be authentic Mexican, but don’t serve tripa. Be affordable, but give employees health care.

This is a post about burritos. But it’s a post about unfair expectations. On burritos. On restaurants. On women.

Happy Valentine’s Day!

*Editor’s Note: you can actually get the Mama’s Beef burrito at the Milwaukie location, which is also independently owned and operated.

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