As previously reviewed on this blog, The Mission Mexican Grill is a three strong burrito chain with two restaurants in Oxford and one in Reading. The first time I tried a burrito from The Mission I was quite impressed and gave them a 7/10 after an enjoyable lunch in Reading. Back in early June I headed up to Oxford to meet the owner Jan and also head chef Victor. It was good to meet yet another enthusiastic burrito aficionado who seemed genuinely excited about bringing high quality burritos to the UK. The inspiration for The Mission is Pancho Villa in The Mission district in San Francisco and homage to the 'mother burrito' is paid through photography on the restaurant walls. There is real enthusiasm at The Mission and this certainly translated in to the quality of the burrito that I enjoyed in Oxford. That got an 8/10 from me and so The Mission remains, in my opinion, the best burrito outside of London. A few weeks later I popped in to the Reading restaurant on a Saturday evening whilst on my way back to London from Cardiff. Possibly not the best time to visit but the consistency of quality was almost there so Reading retains it's 7/10 rating. If you're in Oxford or Reading do make sure that you check them out. With a bit of luck we should see some more The Mission restaurants soon...
