Calling all Mexican food lovers: your prayers have finally been answered. With the recent launch of the Burritobox, burritos are now at your beck and call, 24 hours a day. For those who aren’t familiar with the name, the Burritobox is a vending machine that dispenses warm burritos in under a minute. The first Burritobox made its debut at a Mobil station in West Hollywood, California, followed shortly by another Burritobox machine at a 76 gas station on Santa Monica Boulevard in Century City. And according to the owner of the super mart in the gas station, the burrito machine is extremely popular and has brought in a lot of additional customers who are curious to try out this wacky new invention.
So how does it work exactly? All it takes is one swipe of your credit card and then you get to choose from five varieties of burrito with the touch-screen menu: shredded beef and cheese, free-range chicken, roasted potato; uncured bacon and chorizo sausage. After you make your selection, the machine provides the nutritional and ingredient information. A single burrito costs three bucks, while sour cream is an additional 50 cents, guacamole is 75 cents, and Tabasco sauce is 65 cents. The condiments are dispensed in separate packaging along with the burrito.
For added entertainment value, the machine plays a commercial or a music video (with tunes by artists like Ellie Goulding on its playlist, this is a pretty hip vending machine) while customers wait for their burrito to be dispensed. Taste reviews range from “colorless and unappetizing” to “the best invention ever.” The taste testers over at Laist.com tried out all five flavors (the shredded beef and cheese burrito scored the highest), but you can read more in-depth reviews by checking out their website.
On another positive note, the creators of Burritobox claim on the official website that all products are free of hormones and antibiotics, and that the breakfast burritos contain cage-free eggs. This is yet another novelty in the series of unique items that are fairly new to the vending machine scene, among them caviar, gourmet cupcakes and marijuana. I don’t know about you guys, but I’m still waiting on the Tiffany & Co. vending machine.
