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Judah Friedlander Finally Finds Decent New York Burritos, Turns His Attention to Bagels

Friedlander, not eating a burrito.
Friedlander, not eating a burrito. Photo: Melissa Hom

Back in May, Judah Friedlander told us that New York’s Mexican restaurants “gotta step it up,” specifically calling out the city’s glut of “non-refried-bean burrito places.” Well, when we caught up with him last night at a Cinema Society screening of Our Idiot Brother, he told us that he’s found some spots he does like: Taco Taco and Molé. “They have the same owners,” the 30 Rock star told us. “They actually have refried beans. Finding refried beans in this city is trying to, like, find a pay phone — it doesn’t fucking exist.”

Friedlander, who spent time in San Diego as a kid, told us that it’s the homemade beans that usually set Southern California’s burritos apart: “It’s not from a can. It’s an hours-long process to get the beans right … here it’s just crap.” He continued, “A burrito is not supposed to be filled with 80 percent rice and then some shitty chicken, you know? And how about putting some garlic in the guacamole?”

But now that he’s found burritos that are up to snuff, what’s the next foodstuff that New York needs to improve? “The bagels have gotten too big in this city,” he told us. “You’ve got to go to Queens and Long Island. Better bagels — you’ve got the old Jews who do it right … Too many gentrified bagels in the city.” His other bagel-buying tip: get mini-bagels. “That’s the size of what a bagel was twenty years ago. Right now the dough-to-crust ratio is totally off.”

Earlier: Judah Friedlander Is Not a Big Fan of New York Burritos
Related: As H&H; Struggles, Who Really Makes New York’s Best Bagels?

Judah Friedlander Finally Finds Decent New York Burritos, Turns His Attention to