Tecalitlan

I couldn't get to sleep last night. Perhaps it was stress over the big meeting that I have at the end of this week, or Obama's declining poll numbers, or problems with my apartment's air conditioning. But just as likely, I think it was guilt over failing to include Tecalitlan in the Burrito Bracket.

My original rationale for not including Tecalitlan was that it was "too much of a sit-down restaurant". But that's a pretty flimsy argument. No fewer than four restaurants in the bracket are "sit-down" places that feature table service.

Too expensive? That argument doesn't fly, either. Although Tecalitlan does have some specialty items like enchiladas and fajitas that cost a little bit more, it also has burritos available for $5 -- exactly what I paid at La Pasadita yesterday -- as well as tortas for $3.50, and tacos for $1.75. Nor are these throwaway items: they offer no fewer than 11 different varieties of burriots, ranging from juevo to cauliflower.

I really don't have a leg to stand on. Tecalitlan is a lot closer in spirit to Lazo's or Arturo's than it is to say, Caoba, which is clearly a different genus of Mexican restaurant. It's frequently mentioned in conjunction with phrases like "great cheap Mexican food", and it's not fair to punish it simply because it also happens to have some delicious enchiladas on its menu, or serve up a mean margarita.

So one last series of changes to our bracket before this competition really gets rolling:

• Tecalitlan moves into the #3 seed.
  
• Chipotle, which was seeded way too high at #3, gets bumped down to #7.
• Picante Taqueria moves from #7 to #10, leaving the Arturo's-Lazo's confrontation intact, and setting up a Chipotle-Picante gringo grudge match.
  
• The #10-#12 seeds all move down one notch.
• The original #13 seed, Taqueria Traspazada, moves into a "play-in" game with Taco & Burrito Express for the 15th seed.

Got all that? You don't have to -- just look at the bracket.