New Brisbane

On a recent trip to Canada, I picked up a copy of the Four Hour Body (4HB) by Tim Ferriss, whose book the Four Hour Workweek is a ‘must read’ for any blogger. In his new book, Ferriss describes what he calls a ’slow carb diet’, and advocates that eating at a burrito bar can be a great way to stick to it. Fortunately, upon my return to Brisbane I noticed that Mad Mex had opened up in the Brunswick St mall, right downstairs from my Fortitude Valley pad - how serendipitous! And, when my flatmates brought some of that delicious smelling Mexican food up to the apartment one night, I knew I just had to try it out.

Mad Mex
332 Brunswick Street
Fortitude Valley QLD 4006
P: (07) 3172 2234
W: www.madmex.com.au
Sun- Thurs 10am-10pm
Fri-Sat 11am-11pm

With a few stores already scattered around the eastern states, Mad Mex has grown rapidly since its first store opened in December 2007, with the Fortitude Valley store as its first incursion into Queensland. Compared to the traditional Mexican food you find in Brisbane, it’s no wonder they’ve grown so quickly. Their food is packed with fresh, healthy, delicious ingredients that leave you feeling full (not stuffed!) without the massive amounts of cheese and grease that you typically see in a Mexican restaurant.

At the heart of it, Mad Mex is a burrito bar, and in case you don’t know what that is: think Subway but with beans. It’s your choice of bread (Taco, burrito, quesadilla, nachos), your choice of meat (chicken, pork, beef or steak) with beans, rice, your choice of toppings (jalapenos, cheese, corn, lettuce, tomatos, etc.) and your choice of sauce (salsa, sour cream, guacamole), all prepared right in front of you.

Not being a huge burrito fan, I wasn’t sure how I’d go. I’d previously tried a burrito at Tuckeria up the road, but was confused by the two different types of beans, and wasn’t overly happy with the end product. But, after eating at Mad Mex once, I was hooked, and have been back at least half a dozen times since. Sure, they gave me a couple of free vouchers to try them out and write this article, but I keep going back. In fact, they’re my new lazy Friday night meal option and I almost have enough stamps on my loyalty card for another free meal!

The two main things I’ve been eating there are the naked burrito (4HB friendly!) and the nachos (binge day friendly!), which doesn’t sound like a lot of variety, but I mix it up each time by trying different meats and topping combos (my favourite so far is the shredded beef). The naked burrito (burrito in a bowl, no tortilla) is amazingly tasty and they even had a great introductory special going for the first few weeks too - I did think $2 extra for guacamole was a bit steep, but it seems to be pretty reasonable when I look at pricing for other burrito joints. The nachos were pretty good too, though I would’ve preferred melted cheese to cheese sauce. No real complaints though!

My flatmates have also assured me that the tacos (of which you get 3!) and the burritos themselves are also delicious - and I see each of them destroying a Mad Mex meal at least once a week. In fact, I think one of my flatmates has been eating there at least once a day for the last 3 weeks. He doesn’t like to cook.

As a responsible journalist, I’ve done my research and was pleasantly surprised when I logged into the Mad Mex website. Not only do they have all kinds of information that gave me huge confidence in the healthiness of their food (the descriptions are actually a little bit mouth watering!), but they also have a calorie calculator for anyone looking to maximise their nutritional intake… or you can just go nuts, safe in the knowledge that you’re eating healthy.

Word on the street is that Mad Mex will shortly be opening a bar upstairs and I’m hoping it’s a tequila bar, with cheap shots, jugs of margaritas and salsa music. If it’s not, I’ll feel really betrayed, but I’ll still probably go there, because I like the place just that much. I also can’t wait til they start opening late on weekends, because if they do it surely won’t be long until the 2am kebab is replaced by the 2am burrito!

Go there now. Try it out. Or you clearly have no taste.

Hasta luego!

- Ross