"Me and a buddy noticed the lack of Mexican food options in Cairo, so we started brainstorming," says Dave Franzel, a New Yorker and one of two owners of the delivery shop, Gringo's Burrito Grill.
He left, but returned to Cairo in September to set up shop with his partner, Ahmed Nada. "Gringo's" (possibly referring to themselves, since gringo is a rather base word for non-hispanics) started with a small, delivery-only kitchen. They plan on expanding to Zamalek and hope for eventually opening a locale with an open-to-the-public view of the kitchen so customers can customise their burrito.
As it is, clients can customise their burrito, quesadilla or nachos when ordering over the phone: not spicy, spicier (adding more imported canned jalapeños to your meal), holding the beans or the rice in your burrito, etc.
"We can do it any way you want. That's our aim," Dave confirms.
So what is a burrito or a quesadilla? A bready wrap, stuffed with meat. Rice and beans are included somehow. Well, that's in essence the description of both a burrito and shawerma, but the burrito is a worthwhile alternative for its pleasant differences.
Some of the most spectacular differences that Gringo's Burrito Grill offers that you cannot get with your shawerma:
#1 Guacamole
Fresh, hand-made guacamole "every two hours," according to Dave. Even if you've tried raw avocados and don't like them, try Gringo's guacamole. Mixed with cilantro, green onions and tomato, this is one of the few places that actually serves real guacamole and not a canned, watery faux avocado paste. And for only LE5, considering that an avocado itself is up to LE30/kilo, Gringo's is very generous.
#2 Beans
A big difference between shawerma and burrito is the type of beans used for the foul. The Mexican-style black beans, stewed in their own dark juice and sometimes with a bit of tomato paste and garlic, look ever more enticing than regular foul and give the experience a whole different flavour. Once you taste these, switching back to street foul is difficult.
Suggestion: Order a few sides of guacamole and a side of their chips and black bean dip and you'll be surprised how easy you are to please.
#3 Rice
Mexican rice is slightly fried in tomato paste. Some add cilantro to the mix. You probably never thought of that one!
Other slight differences: A bread-lover might notice a slight difference between the flour tortilla bread and the shamy wraps. The meat stuffing a burrito can be as simple as salt, pepper and the carbon taste from the fresh grill.
Hint: check out the Gringos Burrito Grill Facebook page because every once in a while they offer their fans an off-the-menu novelty, such as machaca, a Mexican-style seasoned shredded beef, or their newest creation for the spice-lovers, jalapeño chips.
With fast cooks, fast delivery and such a tasty difference from regular food, their guacamole, quesadillas and black beans are worthy of ... assigning a speed dial setting.
Address
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Delivery only
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District
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Maadi (Gringo's delivers outside of Maadi, but to confirm where)
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Hours
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M, T, W, Sat, Sun:
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12:00
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-
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10:00pm
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Thurs - Fri:
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12:00
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-
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1:00am
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Tel
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01020466887
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Internet
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http://gringosburritogrill.com
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Smoking
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NA
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Price range
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A meal for two, LE100-130
No minimum for delivery within Maadi
Outside of Maadi, busy days minimum charge is usually between LE100-150, call for confirmation
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Short link: