The Painted Burro

Fantastic new brunch, always love the food here. I've been here twice in 2 weeks because the food is so good. Order anything, it'll all be worth it. They don't mention that the items on the brunch menu are all small-sized, perfect for tasting. Pace yourself though, it's a lot of food! Get the iced coffee horchata, it's so good!

First time here! Love the idea of a bottomless brunch. Food was mostly really good, especially the tacos (love!), the corn dish, and the tortas, with the exception of a few dishes: I thought the potatoes were a little dry and the muffin for the eggs Benedict was too tough (we couldn’t really cut it with a knife). You get 90 mins only but honestly the food is filling and the service is fast, so we were done within 45-60 mins. Amazing horchata iced coffee ❤️

The Painted Burro is pretty much unbeatable. You like Mexican and South American food? You’re set here. I’ve been for brunch (the cold brew horchata combo is a favorite) and dinner multiple times and this place has never missed. Combined with lovely service, a cool interior, and reasonable (for Somerville) prices, they never miss!

The place has a nice atmosphere, but unfortunately the food looked better than it tasted. My husband ordered nachos, it was fun to eat with the cabbage and the pickled(?) carrots, the dressings were good too, but the meat and the cheese didn't taste really good, and they should be the hero of the meal. I ordered the chicken milanese (without garlic) and it was a bit bland in my opinion. I guess fried chicken sandwich is not really a classic mexican food, but the chicken and cheese were pretty tasteless and the beans needed more flavor too. There was like 1 slice of tomato in the whole sandwich. There was a tiny amount of arugula salad (or something similar) next to the sandwich which actually tasted way better than the sandwich itself, a bit more would have been nice. After reading all the good reviews, I start to think that we just didn't order the best items from the menu...?

This review is based on getting take out from here. I’m sure if I was dining in and enjoying the atmosphere the price would seem worth it. But each entree pictured was $21 and the “make it a meal” was just the cup of rice/beans showed. The flavor is good but the portion size is not. (Pictured is the chimichanga entree, the pork carnitas enchiladas entree, and the “make it a meal” add on).

Overall good food, good vibes, good drinks for a Saturday brunch. Downsides relate to this being in a crowded part of Somerville with limited parking nearby depending on time of day. Another downside is that brunch service is super crowded and the service slows down. We ordered the bottomless brunch. They bring you out small tapas plates of anything on the brunch menu. As much as you want. However, several times our order got messed up or never arrived. The server was friendly and eventually the food came out, but it definitely wasn't seamless. Service started with a warm greeting but it ended with a cold/non existent farewell.

Great place to enjoy affordable Mexican food and drinks. Recently visited on a weekday night as a large group, and they were able to accommodate our group of 11. We started off with some complementary nacho chips which were warm and crispy. I got the Sonora sunset cocktail drink and it had a pleasant kick with jalapeños. Short ribs torta was delicious but it wasn't an ideal choice to have with cocktails as the bread was quite dry. Overall, their service was somewhat lacking as they rarely came to our table and we had a hard time asking for things that we needed. Otherwise, I would recommend this place for casual hangouts for large groups.