After a rough day at the office — they showed me a new task, and I thought I understood it but boy did I not — I decided I needed something better for dinner than anything I could make, so I tried Matt’s Hot Dogs on East Marginal Way.

I ordered and ate a Chicago dog, a Seattle dog, and an order of fries. The prices were reasonable, and the dogs were pretty good, but a little light on the fixins. The fries were thin, but good. The service was quick and friendly. The place seemed clean.

All in all, everything was better than OK, but I ate my food standing at a thin counter, because Matt’s has no seating except on picnic tables outdoors.

I’m an old, fat man who doesn’t like to eat standing up. And also, this is Seattle, where it rains a lot. Gotta stand up to eat when it’s cold outside, and when it’s hot those few tables will be jam-packed, so Matt’s is pretty good, but I can’t see making it a habit. 

♦ ♦ ♦

On a different afternoon, I finally tried Aliberto Jr’s. It’s a local chain of Mexican fast-food places that didn’t exist last time I lived here, and which I’ve ignored since moving back.

I want real burritos, not chain burritos, so I’ve eaten at half a dozen mom & pop Mexican places in Seattle. Some of them even pretend to make “California-style” burritos, but they’re all liars. For a decent California-style burrito, you must go to California.

What’s worse than so-so burritos is that all the local places I’ve tried have served only small or small-ish burritos, or big but unimpressive burritos at very steep prices.

Into Aliberto Jr’s I walked, carrrying low expectations, and figuring I’d have to buy two burritos to get one burrito’s worth of burrito. A “monster burrito” jumped at me from the readerboard menu. Big is good, even if the burrito isn’t good.

For $8.49, the sign promised “meat, rice, beans, guacamole, pico de gallo, lettuce, sour cream and cheese,” but it didn’t say what the meat would be. As if I care. It’s a monster burrito, so presumably it’s Godzillameat.

I ordered it, and the service was slow, mostly in Spanish, and sorta surly, but the burrito was tasty, messy, and enough. The meat was hamburger, surrounded with other yummy slop, and the burrito was as big as it could be without being ridiculously big. It was enough to fill me up, without emptying my wallet.

It’s not El Casitillito, but it’s the best burrito I’ve had since El Castillito, and there are chairs so I’ll be back to Junior’s. I went back the next night, actually, and bought three monster burritos — one for that night, and two for the fridge and microwave the next two nights.

Matt’s Hot Dogs
6615 E Marginal Way S, Seattle WA (Georgetown)
Food & drink: Good.
Price: Reasonable.
Service: Good.
Transit: #131, #132
Verdict: YES.

Aliberto Jr’s
(7 locations)
Food & drink: Very good.
Price: Good.
Service: Slow.
Transit: depends
Verdict: YES.

3/23/2023
Original publication