This is probably the best late-night food in Boulder. It is also good enough to eat before midnight too! :) Great tasting fast casual mexican at reasonable prices for downtown Boulder. A Boulder tradition.
Don't miss the tacos, veggie green chili, and burrito bowls. I love the marinated and grilled chicken. The bar is also a fun area to hang out in for a more casual night with friends. Also, tasty queso.
Favorite veggie green chili in Boulder!!!
Not sure what all the hubbub is all about. I had a steak burrito here and it was decent, but there was nothing special about the meat or the burrito itself. The salsa was okay, a little lacking flavor, like they just made it but didn't let the flavors marry yet. Kind of a downer. My boyfriend had the fish tacos and he said they were okay.
I'll continue the hunt for the greatest burritos in Boulder.
It's like I'm not "Boulder" enough....but the "chill vibe" here super sucks. By "chill vibe" I mean these employees with this "2 cool 4 u" attitude, come on. I work literally down the street and I've been here like...6 times? Never ever EVER have the employees here seemed like they have an ounce of customer service experience in them. Like, okay, thanks for making my burrito and I hope YOU like it considering YOU never asked ME what I wanted on MY $7 burrito! And I'll hold off on an extra helping of eye-roll, thanks!
Review Source:Ive ate here many times. The burritos are sub-par but they are terrible if you go after 9pm (I REPEAT TERRIBLE). The servers are usually college age and you have to remind them if your order is different than the "norm" as they probably go into a trance from making so many burritos. Lunch is the usually the freshest but over all its a typically burrito chain that has yet to excite my taste buds.
Review Source:I was afraid I would have to vomit last night. It wasn't exactly closing time - it was only 11:15pm on a Saturday night, and Pete's is open past 2am. So what gives?
I received a burrito that I watched the guy make. When the meat, the sour cream, and the green chili are all the same tepid temperature, you have to wonder if these guys would pass a spot check by the health department. I had to pay something like $1.70 for the green chili - bland and barely lukewarm? With warm sour cream? Foul.
As others have mentioned - the food is inconsistent at best. But serving food that has been sitting out all day, with no quality control and nobody measuring the temperature of the items on the service bar - that's bad business.
The big fish burrito is awesome. Â I used to get this all the time when I went to school at CU. Â I love that they mix all the inside of the burrito up so that every bite has all the flavors. Â Nothing worse than getting a bite of just rice! I will be back in May and this is a MUST STOP!
Review Source:Gabe and the crew are awesome, I get a lot of breakfast burritos there and they are always great. Â The phone app is really cool as I don't have time to wait in line sometimes and I can just walk in and grab my food to go. Â The burrito bowls are a great option if you don't want the tortilla, too. Â I will definitely keep going and STRONGLY recommend trying the bfast burrito, it fills you up all day or is two meals depending on the person.
Review Source:Solid. Went here for lunch a lot when I worked on Pearl Street.
Similar to Chipotle but it's not as big of a chain and they have a more diverse menu. Sometimes there are hot guys working here.
Not exactly calorie-free. the food not the hot guys. make sure you get your workout in that day.
Illegal Pete's is some next level shit. They definitely serve some bomb ass burritos, and I'd probably give them five stars if my parents didn't bring me here almost every damn day of our recent trip to Boulder. (Once, they enjoyed Illegal Pete's for both lunch and dinner in one day; I had to pick up a sandwich for my own dinner elsewhere instead.)
Illegal Pete's offers a really nice variety of options. They've got burritos, sure, but there are also tacos and quesadillas and green chili stew. I usually ordered the veggie burrito, and was delighted to find that both their black and pinto beans are meat-free. Double beans, holla! They have tons of well made salsas. The XXX hot sauce is pretty great. Guac is free on any burrito if you don't get cheese and sour cream, so props for that. Perhaps the best part is that after you order your burrito, they mix everything together before rolling that bad boy up. Genius. The green chili stew is also super tasty--it's usually offered as a topping for burritos (at an extra charge), but you can also order it as a stew, served over rice and beans and with whatever toppings you choose. Delicious!
Prices are super reasonable and they have fun trivia questions that can win you a free soda. The staff were super friendly, though on a few of my billion visits I felt like I got skimped a little bit on some burrito components.
The down side is I may never eat another burrito again because I ate approximately nine billion burritos at Illegal Pete's over the course of six days.
Illegal Pete's is a great place to eat. They are a high end Chipotle. Ingredients are fresh & of amazing quality. It is always busy at lunch, so it is best to go between 11 & 1130 so you wont have to wait long. The line can be out the door. The cool thing about their burritos is that they mix all the ingredients. You get a taste of all the ingredients at once. They have amazing salads & delicious beers on tap. Although i will often find myself having a can of Dale's Pale ale there. A great place for a good meal!
Review Source:+ They stir your fillings up before rolling up the burrito. This is a new and awesome experience for me
+ They use Niman Ranch meats, which is a network of farms that are committed to humane and sustainable practices (I don't think you can ask for much more at a grab and go eatery).
+ The guac is free with veggie burrito (I think?)
+ They have a tap
+ They have outdoor seating for people watching on Pearl
+ They are open early!
- The guac is extra with meat
- There is no tofu option
On my first visit to Boulder I was looking for a lunch spot and came across Illegal Pete's. The first comparison is obviously to Chipotle, but the well worn decor of the place is much more welcoming than the blonde woods and corrugated steel of Chipotle. The menu is much more diverse than Chipotle, but I was feeling like a burrito so that's the only dish I can compare. They are very close in quality of the ingredients, the main difference being Chipotle seems to have jucier meats, but I liked that Illegal Pete's promoted that it's meats came from "humane" farms (but they're still killing the animals...). That is the kind of thing that matters to me. Prices seemed very competitive to Chipotle.
While I didn't indulge, it looked like for a little burrito place Illegal Pete's had a nice beer selection of both bottled and drafts, including local brews. Always a plus in any restaurant. Bottom line, if you're looking for a great little lunch spot in Boulder, skip Chipotle and head here.
I came here on a Thurs night and got a veggie burrito. I didn't know a burrito could be so unpleasant. The place sure was poppin though. Seems like you'd be better off getting schwasty before you come out here to eat anything (best explanation I can think of for all the five star reviews here).
Review Source:Short and sweet - decent/good food, ingredient quality seemed good but not spectacular. Â Strange environment, seemed very bar-like, but not quite - what is their goal? Â Nice that they have beer on tap, perhaps high on my list if i want beer and tacos. Â Lower on my list if I want a nice sunny afternoon taco with friends and no beer.
They need a salsa bar, I am convinced of this as much as the earth is round. Â (I'm only convinced that the earth is round due to educational propaganda and anecdotal evidence of course) Â What's with the cock sauce and tabasco, what, what? Â Tabasco and cock sauce, what?
My bottom line - I'm going elsewhere to look for tacos for now, as I'm new to Boulder. Â If I go back, I'm going to ask for side of salsa while in the serving line. Â Tabasco and Sriracha???
Illegal Pete's is a local burrito and taco chain that is very similar to Chipotle in concept. I eat there occasionally, and can't complain. Their ingredients are of slightly lower quality than Chipotle's stuff. It's most noticeable in the meats, which are tougher and less juicy, but the vegetables and tortillas are also sometimes not perfectly fresh. The one thing that they do better than Chipotle is the actual construction of the burritos because they mix up the ingredients before wrapping them. This means you get a good bit every bite.
Chipotle's and Illegal Pete's are often near each other, and it always a toss up as to which I'll choose. Slightly better ingredients at Chipotle, slightly better construction at Illegal Pete's. Â All in all, Illegal Pete's is a fine place to get a quick burrito or taco.
I would go to this one over the location on the Hill; it might be a little cleaner. Some friends and I participated in some debauchery in our 20's at the Hill IP's. I can't say any more about this, however.
I love the guacamole here. I get a burrito without the tortilla so I can get a side of chips. The chips are great. I branched out the other day and got the pork carnitas, and I heard a rumor they're cooked in mexican coke. I have no idea if this is true. I love sitting on the patio, drinking beer, and eating cheap carnitas with mass amounts of green tabasco..
Oh Schmegal Pete's how I miss you so!!
So many a night did I spend on your lovely patio sippin away and grubbin tough on my custom made ritto ritto's (pesto, queso and their special secret sauce) and delicious quesadilla's.
What I love, love love love, is the amazing and incredible service here. The tenders just straight dominate! Always with a smile and just totally lovin life. I remember one afternoon the usual suspects forming a 20 foot straw out the window to sip grita's - t'was hilarious!
That and so many other incredible memories of this place make it my favorite spot on Pearl Street.
Jesus, how does Illegal Pete's have a rating on the bonus side of 3 stars? Â How? Â I guess it's the cache, you know, everyone being like "Oh, it's a Colorado original that hasn't sold out to the corporate assholes". Â Is that what it is? Â Well, a shit born in Colorado, excreted in Colorado, and flushed in Colorado is still a shit, no? Â
Didn't Chipotle get it's start right here in CO too? Â I guess the difference is when you serve quality ingredients and stick to your guns, you get noticed by the money investors and hit the big time. Â I would much rather sell out to the corporate beast and go to Chipotle to eat a quality product vs. eating a shoddy product just because they stayed local. Â I guarantee you that if Illegal Pete's was offered a ton of $$$ to expand nationally, they would take it in a heartbeat, local label be damned.
If you can't tell, I've been disappointed by Illegal Pete's for the last time. Â The ingredients are just not quality. Â Whenever I get the steak, it's chewy beyond digestion. Â And the chicken? Â I almost always get grisly chicken in my tacos. Â Sure some of it is moist and delicious, but I can only reach into my mouth to extract fatty, tendon-y chicken in front of my friends so many times before I say enough already. Â The lettuce is always brown, and the flour tortillas are always dry to the point of being stale. Â
I'll never understand why people will wait a half hour in line to eat here.
I was visiting from out of town this weekend and while in Boulder my friend told me about this place; she said she loved it and i thought yes.. let's eat here!
We split a burrito as i wasn't that hungry (I know what you're thinking.. not hungry, right; but yes... ) anyways we ordered the chicken pesto. Â The first bite and i knew this was good. Â every bite just seemed to get better and better!
I really enjoy how they mix everything for you.
I would definitely eat here again next time I'm back!
bonus is that they have good beer!
I stopped getting burritos from Illegal Pete's on Pearl because I can't stand the employees there. The food has always been pretty lousy, but there aren't a lot of quick restaurants downtown, which means I hit up Pete's more often than not.
However, after dealing with distracted, vapid service from Pete's peons for the past few years, I've decided to end my burrito relationship with them. It's one thing to have lousy food. It's quite another to staff your restaurant with people who couldn't care less about the food production, let alone the customers.
They are slow, perpetually annoyed and wholly unfriendly.
It always feels like Illegal Pete's is a party to which customers are not invited. If that's the case, the restaurant should lock the doors and kindly ask people to eat elsewhere. The food would probably be better there anyway.
I didn't even realize this was a chain until I started to write my review. New in town, will be residing here for a couple of weeks for in office training with IMBA.
Delicious! Ordered the grilled chicken burritto. Added corn and guacamole...mmmm. I love how they stir the ingredients together in the tortilla before folding it. Every bite is the same goodness, you don't have to wait to get to the cheese.
OK, one more solid review for Pete's, but here's my say: The breakfast burritos.
Well, their website says they open at 11am everyday, but this Boulder location opens at 9:30 Saturday, maybe the same on Sunday, and maybe earlier on weekdays, due to their b-burritos. Huh? You'll have to call to check like me, or memorize their hours posted on the door.
Anyways their breakfast burrito is around $4.50 and their regular burritos around $6.50. As far as I can tell, they come out around the same size, and I can get eggs, potatoes, chorizo, bacon, cheese, green chile and more in the morning. So this is just one large b-burrito, that I save the last third for later in the day (remember, your brain doesn't know your stomach is full until it's too late). So I'm in a race against time to obtain this burrito, when I head out late, to get there before they run out of eggs...
No, Pete's is not authentic whatever, but they are fresh, generous, consistent, and tasty, which makes them popular with students, tourists, and lots others in Boulder looking for a quick, decent, satisfying, and importantly, cheap meal. But hey, I am still looking for an authentic b-burrito near me in Boulder...let me know where u go.
Friend of mine turned me onto their green chile, both pork & veggie options, which can be slathered in any burrito. Not that much heat, but still quite enjoyable. Fish tacos made to order with crispy battered fish and their cooling smooth white sauce is also not authentic, but very enjoyable too.
Word from staff is dog pals are OK on the patios (i'd still be careful on the front section, as that IS on the Pearl St. Mall, where pets are banned).
Illegal Pete's is the best of the killer-burrito genre in the Boulder area. Â It certainly trumps Chipotle, and even though Qdoba gives it a run for its money, Pete's has an unbeatable weapon: the spoon.
That spoon stirs your burrito's contents up before it is wrapped. Â It's simple, and genius. Â No more all-rice or all-beans burrito bites. Â Oh no. Â At Illegal Pete's, each delicious bite is a little meat, a little cheese, a little guac, a little rice... Â mmmmm...
I used to walk into Illegal Pete's craving one of their delicious burritos... and then end up ordering something equally delicious, like a quesadilla or fish tacos or something like that. I appreciate the fact that I have those kinds of options, unlike at Chipotle or Qdoba. Illegal Pete's also was the first (in my book) to encourage me to get a naked burrito (without the tortilla) and to eat the insides with tortilla chips instead- something that Chipotle figured out much later. Now there is no going back.
I live in Seattle. There is only ONE Chipotle in the entire city and it is constantly crawling with college kids, and then there are 500 Taco del Mars that make me sick every time. I miss Illegal Pete's like you wouldn't believe, and my mouth is watering just thinking about it.
Don't get me wrong, I think that Illegal Pete's has a pretty good burrito but...
The thing about the Pearl street store that drives me crazy is the emo-pretty boys that serve the burritos. My friends live right next to this place and warned  "I don't know if you want to eat there" and wouldn't say exactly why. I had to find out what was up for myself.
I go in there and I thought that (insert emo band name) was making my burrito. They were dancing and moving as they made my burrito. What's worse is that they weren't nice and polite like you think that sensitive emo kids would be. They were pretty snobby. It seemed like they thought they were sooo cool for working at Pete's on Pearl and that I was a punk for eating there. I don't mind pride in the place you work, but it sucks when you are so confused, pissed and somewhat laughing about the experience of ordering that you can't enjoy the food. I am taking away a star for each dude that was behind the counter that day.
Well, this is the other half of the local-burrito-chain coin.
As I said in another review, in the Boulder burrito battle you have to choose a side. Â I 'm not sticking with Pete. (Though as restaurant names go, I love it!)
I've tried, honestly I have, to understand why some people like Pete's better than Chipotle. My experience has been that Pete's has no flavor. None. And I go for the hot salsa. The guac must consist solely of smashed avocados, because it has no zest, no zip, no yumm factor. Who knows what's in the salsa 'cause you can't taste it. I don't like it when my burritos "pee", and every time I've been to Pete's I've gotten tons of meat run-off water. Dear God! Buy a slotted spoon Pete!
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