El Cortijo Taqueria Y Cantina

Tasty, but the prices are a little high. We used to DC prices in DC, and not in VT. Service was good. I like the concept, but I wasn't overly impressed to go again.

I wanted to rate this higher, and to be honest, I almost did. But I'd be letting bias from Guild and Co and the Farmhouse creep into my rating if I did.

The other two restaurants listed above are all part of same family, so we walked into El Cortijo with fairly high expectations.  Thankfully we've learned not to judge a restaurant by how it looks, so walking into something that could have been a modified Airstream didn't bother us. Actually I kind of dug the weathered diner interior. We also knew that what we were getting into is about as authentic Mexican as Taco Bell, so we didn't have the expectation of getting delicious Mexican this far north. What we had expected? Fresh, balanced flavors with high quality ingredients and above-average to spectacular service, which is what we get at the other restaurants in the group.

What we got? A waitress that seriously couldn't care less about us or her job. She honestly tossed the bill on the table. The restaurant isn't that big, it would have been one or two more steps to get to us.
The food was not as well throught out as we had hoped. The balance of flavors was way off. Our appetizer, nachos were rather sweet. We thought i was sort of a fluke, but then we tried the hot sauces on the table. The red one, also very sweet. In fact, the majority of our food was overly sweet. I expected, if anything, a bias toward salt--common in "mexican themed" restaurants.
The carnitas tacos were decent, slightly overpowered by the sweetness of the pineapple, and the carne tacos did stand out, but we would have expected at the price point, steak not ground beef (though this is clearly indicated on the menu, but it's just a note).
The beans and rice that came as part of the "plate" lunch were OK, nothing spectacular. Madera's version of Spanish rice is much more flavorful and moist. This was a little on the dry side.
The churro was decent, crisp with a light sweetness and some citric bite to it, but it definitely had been sitting for a while.

I definitely walked out of here sadly unimpressed. Sub-par service, and an atmosphere and food quality that don't translate to the price. If it were 15% or so cheaper, I think it'd be fine. It's not fine dining, and not worth a $40 lunch for two.

Excellent concept, high quality local ingredients (some organic), very fresh tasting dishes, actually much more authentic than most "taquerias" which get their "flavor" from trans fats, MSG, and other crap.

This place would do well in Southern California, New York, or anywhere else where there is real competition. Burlington is lucky to have this restaurant. The person who complained about a lack of flavor is probably used to lower quality Mexican food. Yes, you need to adjust to a place that is not going to blast your palate with salt and false flavors, but the result is well worth it. Absolutely awesome.