Boloco, Catering and Take-out, Hanover, NH

Update Review, July 2020

Boloco isn't somewhere I expected to seek out again (or, ever really - I'm not that into Mexican cuisine, and my first experience, at a catered event, didn't give me a reason to try to visit myself), but, in July of 2020, I found myself nearby one, and needed a light meal.  Ok, and I was drawn in by the $1 mini burrito of the week! Thus, Boloco it was.

Limited Menu During COVID.

Due to the COVID situation, Boloco has reduced the menu down, but it was still pretty extensive.

Chips & Queso. $3.50.

Since I wasn't into the salsa last time, I went for the queso this time, particularly after multiple staff told me it was good.

Chips.

The chips were as I remembered, white corn style, nice salt level, crispy.  But just tortilla chips, not really my thing.  I may or may not have had my own deep fried thick cut chips with me to use instead ... and gave these to my dad when I got home.

Queso.

The queso really was good.  Definitely better than I expected.

It was perfectly melty, like, perfectly melty.  Kinda amazing, really.  Liquid, but just thick enough, perfect consistency.  Nicely warm.

The flavor was not just "cheese", it was a mild cheese, but then there was kick from whatever was mixed into it, bits of peppers and onions.  Really, it was quite good.

I was pleasantly surprised by the queso, enjoyed dunking my own chips in it, and later polished it off by smothering some greens with it.

Elote Street Corn Mini. $1!
Mini of the week, usually $6.

"Farro, street corn salsa, cotija cheese, creamy elote aioli, fresh cilantro, tortilla chips."

Throughout the summer, Boloco offered a weekly $1 mini.  The variety rotated through their regular menu, and seemed entirely random.  These normally cost $6!

You had your choice of tofu, chicken, or no protein for that price, or, steak for $1 more.

I went sans addition, since I didn't want chicken or tofu, nor did I want to spend another $1.  Lol.

Elote Street Corn Mini.

"Farro, street corn salsa, cotija cheese, creamy elote aioli, fresh cilantro, tortilla chips."

The filling was definitely ... interesting.

As one who doesn't like rice in her burritos, the farro was a least a touch better, but I still wasn't into it.  I don't want grains inside my burrito!

The street corn salsa was great though, corn, peppers, nice spicing, quite flavorful.  The cotija and "elote aioli" went well with it.  I wasn't into the chips inside really, but I liked the idea of the additional crunch.

I really wished I could just have a burrito filled with the corn salsa, a touch of cheese, and some aioli, heh.  Smothered in queso?

Original Review, December 2016

I was recently in Hanover, NH for a recruiting event at Dartmouth, where we had lunch catered by the local Boloco.  I knew of Boloco, a chain of fast casual burritos, with locations only in New England (and mostly Massachusetts), but this was my first time actually eating anything from there.  For lunch, we had burritos, chips and salsa.  I can't say I was excited for this, as I don't like Mexican food very much, and I don't really like burritos in particular (well, I don't like rice and beans).  But the last recruiting event I did had Mexican catering from Rubio's and that was fantastic, so, I had a bit of hope.  Plus, Boloco isn't really Mexican ... it is "globally inspired burritos", aka, basically just wraps.

I wasn't impressed with Boloco, but, to be fair I didn't have any items I would have selected given the full menu.  For our evening event, we had catering by Ramunto's (pizza, garlic knots, and cinnamon knots), and that was much more successful.  Stay tuned!

Catering Box of Burritos.

Our catering order arrived nicely packaged and was set up by the staff.  They laid out a white paper tablecloth, set up plates and utensils, opened up the chips and salsa buckets (and took the lids away, which was a problem when we had leftovers ...), put out serving utensils, and left the burritos in a closed box to keep in the heat.

Chips & Salsa.

Boloco offers 3 tomato based salsas (mild, medium, and bold) plus corn and mango salsa.  I'm not sure which this was, I think likely mild as it had no heat.

I didn't like the salsa.  The chunks of tomato were vibrant red, but, flavorless.  It had no heat or spice to it.  There was lots of raw white onion.  Overall, just bland and not fresh tasting.

The chips were pretty good though, very salty, but I liked that.  Chips and salsa are normally $1.99 for a personal side, we were provided with giant containers as part of our package ($10/head including a burrito and drink per person).

Classic Fajita Vegetarian, small size. $6.88.

Boloco's concept is that you pick your style (buffalo, teriyaki, cajun, Bangkok thai, tikka masala, summer, or classic Mexican), then your type (burrito or bowl), then your size (mini, small, or original), your tortilla (white or wheat), your protein (white meat chicken, dark meat chicken, grass-fed steak, slow braised carnitas, tofu, fajita veggies), and then any additional things you'd like to add (other veggies, other grains, sauces/dressing, hummus, guac).

I liked the sound of some of the styles, like the ones with tikka masala or thai peanut sauce, and I don't like rice or beans, so I could certainly have come up with a tasty custom version, but since this was a catered event, I didn't have options, and I didn't know what the different styles actually were as I hadn't been to Boloco before.

I grabbed a "Classic Faijita Vegetarian" because I didn't want chicken or steak and the rest all seemed to be chicken or steak.  Sadly this turned out to be just a boring veggie burrito, classic Mexican style with rice, pinto beans, cheese, salsa, and cilantro, in a wheat tortilla with some fajita veggies (onions and peppers).

So ... yeah.  Mushy rice and beans and the same flavorless salsa made up the majority of my fillings.  I don't really like these things even when nicely prepared.  The veggies were fine I guess, but I only found a few thin slivers of onion and peppers, and they were very soft and slimy.

Speaking of slimy.  The tortilla, likely because it was packaged up, was super moist and gummy.

I didn't really like anything about the burrito.  On the plus side, it was hot.  The packaging was very effective.

A small veggie burrito is normally $6.88, but this came as part of a catering package including chips, salsa, and drinks for $10 each.