By Alana Dore, News Correspondent
Burrito-lovers rejoiced as new Mexican restaurant Amelia’s Taqueria opened on Huntington Avenue in mid-November. Expanding from its first location in Allston, the new Amelia’s is located across from the YMCA, just steps from Northeastern’s campus. Currently framed by holiday lights in the window, Amelia’s hits customers with authenticity from the street. The inside is splashed with a color scheme of reds, greens and yellows, and the scent of toasted tortilla drifts across the build-your-own burrito counter.
Amelia’s offers a variety of choices including the usual burritos, tacos, quesadillas and nachos, as well as more obscure options, like the torta, something Qdoba-frequenters might not recognize. The torta is a grilled flat-bread with onions, black beans, Oaxaca cheese, avocado, tomato, hot chipotle sauce and a choice of meat.
Manuel Hernandez, one of the restaurant’s supervisors, explained that its signature style is adding fajita vegetables to all its burritos and quesadillas in addition to the customer’s choice of meat and other toppings. He also emphasized the importance of using only fresh ingredients and making everything the same day it is sold.
“We try to control the amount of food that we cook so we don’t have many leftovers, so that we can start the next day with everything fresh and everything recently made,” Hernandez said.
The second location has attracted many Northeastern students since its opening and it even has a few regulars. Seniors Sam Whitney and Max Rubin have been several times in the three weeks since its opening.
“It puts both Chipotle and Qdoba to shame,” Whitney said.
Rubin agreed, comparing the restaurant to both Anna’s Taqueria and El Pelon Taquería.
In order to spread the word about the business, Amelia’s offered free burritos for all customers on its opening day.
“When you are introducing a new product, you have to do a little promotion, so that was the idea and apparently people like it,” Hernandez said. “It’s going well.”
The new location was chosen with the college audience in mind. Hernandez said that the owners of Amelia’s recognized the demographic’s love of burritos and wanted to make their food accessible to Northeastern students.
This is just the beginning for Amelia’s. The owners aim to continue growing their business and opening other branches around Boston, particularly in well-populated areas near other college campuses. For now, Northeastern students can enjoy their burritos close to home.
“I thought that having another Mexican place near campus would be redundant,” Rachel Wojnas, a sophomore speech-language pathology and audiology major, said after trying Amelia’s for the first time. “But it’s different than Qdoba and Boloco. The meat has a smokier taste.”
The restaurant also tailors its business to college students who are living on a tight budget and looking for a late-night burrito fix. All menu items have a starting price of under $8 (you’ll have to fork over a little more for the guacamole) and the restaurant stays open until 2 a.m. every night. Whether you’re stumbling out of Conor Larkin’s or headed to a late night in Snell, Amelia’s might just be worth stopping by.
Photo by Maria Amasanti
