A small but growing taco joint in Fresno has gotten a lot of mileage out of its humongous signature entree.
Three years ago, Taqueria Yarelis put itself on the viral-video map with the Anaconda Burrito, a 3-foot-long beast of a meal. A Facebook post that debuted the ultra-big burrito in November 2016 now has more than 36 million views.
Then, last week, the taqueria got a signal boost from BuzzFeed’s “Worth It” video series.
The BuzzFeed team’s trip to Fresno, which included a stop at Forestiere Underground Gardens and Tioga-Sequoia Brewing, kicked off the sixth season of “Worth It.” The show travels the world and compares items — food, more often than not — at three price points. The question at the end of each episode: Which of the three was worth the cost?
Is a $32 Burrito ‘Worth It’?
The video shows hosts Steven Lim and Andrew Ilnyckyj at a table at the North Fresno Street taqueria, measuring the monstrous meal and enjoying a few bites.
Spoiler alert: Lim and Ilnyckyj are genial dudes and usually generous with their praise. The $32 Anaconda was up against a $4.50 “chivichanga” from Sonoratown restaurant in Los Angeles and an $11, cheese-encrusted breakfast burrito from Low Key Burritos in downtown L.A.
Lim, while sipping a beer at Tioga-Sequoia in the video, decrees the Anaconda “worth it.”
Many appear to agree. In an interview with BuzzFeed, the taqueria’s Edwin Espinosa says the place makes 50 to 70 Anacondas a day. The success brought on by the monster burrito made it possible for Espinosa to buy a house, he said. And the taqueria is preparing to open a second location near Herndon and Willow avenues.
“Everybody here in Fresno, they always had the same … tacos, burritos. We wanted to do it different,” Espinosa told BuzzFeed. “We wanted to have something that would catch everyone’s attention. It was idea after idea. We wanted to hit the jackpot. And we finally did.”
