100 Favorite Dishes: Chile relleno burrito from El Taco de Mexico

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Lori Midson

As a countdown to the Best of Denver 2010, coming April 1, Cafe Society is serving up a hundred of our favorite dishes in Denver. Send your own nominations to [email protected].

Number 76: Chile relleno burrito from El Taco de Mexico

Ask any Denverite where to go to get a bona fide chile relleno burrito fix, and if they don't immediately point you directly toward El Taco de Mexico, then they're from Texas. Or California. Or Oklahoma. Maybe Seattle (cough). Whatever.

Anyway, El Taco's chile relleno burrito is in a class by itself, an irreproachable food high that's been one of the city's most identifiable gut bombs for as long as the don't-fuck-with-me women behind the El Taco counter have been lobbing refritos, rice, whacked meats and cleavered chiles oozing with cheese into oversize flour tortillas smothered with more cheese and their crazy good green chile and spicy salsa.

Those burritos have swelled the bellies of everyone from pimps and grave diggers to choir boys and cat walkers. And they've been my blanket, my must-have obsession, my enslavement for nearly as long as I've had my mouth open.

Hungry for more? The dishes in our countdown thus far are linked below:

No. 100 Chicken-fried steak from Lola No. 99 Alaskan reindeer sausage from Biker Jim's Gourmet Dogs No. 98 Mac-and-cheese fries from Jonesy's EatBar No. 97 Soft egg ravioli from Prima No. 96 Pho - any pho -- from Pho 95 No. 95 Assiette de charcuterie maison from Z Cuisine À Côté No. 94: Cheeseburger from Larkburger No. 93: BBQ Masher from Cabin Creek Smokehouse No. 92: Apple pancake from the Original Pancake House No. 91: Burrata from Osteria Marco No. 90: Eggs Benedict from Devil's Food Bakery No. 89: Chile Relleno from La Fiesta No. 88: Deviled eggs from Steuben's No. 87: Corn-in-a-cup from Jack-n- Grill No. 86: Enchiladas from Taco House No. 85: Pupusas from Pupusas Sabor Hispano No. 84: Baklava from Ali Baba Grill No. 83: Masa-fried oyster shooters from Deluxe No. 82: Tacos al pastor from Los Carboncitos No. 81: Salsa bar from Tacos Y Salsas No. 80: Dim Sum from Star Kitchen No. 79: Green chile cheeseburger from Cherry Cricket No. 78: Fries from Encore No. 77: Shanghai-style dumplings from Chopsticks China Bistro