Frijoles, Japan's Answer to Chipotle

This post contains affiliate links. For more information, please read our affiliate disclosure.

I once had a roommate named Buttface (not her real name). Buttface was from New Zealand, and new to America. She asked where in the neighborhood she could get a good cheap meal. My other roommates and I recommended Chipotle. Later that week, she lamented not being able to find good cheap food around us.

“Did you try Chipotle?” we asked.

“Oh, I walked in there. It’s just Subway,” she said.

I have never been more furious with another human being. Comparing Chipotle to Subway is like comparing the Land of Milk and Honey to… Subway. One day I will make that girl suffer for insulting my love.

I love Chipotle. I love how it’s consistently good. I love how cheap it is. I love meat and cheese and 6,000-calorie burritos. I even invented a training regimen called ECFLED, or “Eat Chipotle For Lunch Every Day,” where you strive to burn enough calories so you can have Chipotle every day and not get fat. Still fine-tuning that one.

You remember a few years back when there was a salmonella (or something) scare at Chipotle, and they closed all their stores for a few hours to clean up and have food safety meetings? I went there that day. BEFORE they closed down to fix stuff. I miss Chipotle. I lust after it.

And I once had a plan to deliver it to the world.

After traveling in Europe in 2013, I told my writing partner, Hollywood mogul and JV Bond villain Schmon Binegan (his real name) that there was a distinct lack of Chipotle over there. “Here’s what we do,” I said. “We open up a burrito place in Munich. We just straight up rip off Chipotle - like, copy everything they do exactly. We’ll make a killing.”

We didn’t do it because we’re lazy. I went back to Munich in 2016… and there were four Mexican places in the train station. Much like our plan to bring escape rooms to America, we were ahead of our time and also failed miserably to capitalize on a good idea.

You can get a lot of American garbage food in Japan, but Chipotle is one thing that’s missing. I crave it. I remember fondly the day I took Eriko to the Chipotle in Burbank (she called it “your local burrito place”) on her first visit to America and she asked for the bathroom code all by herself, her hajimete no otsukai in the US. So you can imagine how much I wish we had Chipotle in Tokyo.

Sadly, we don’t, but someone has succeeded where I’ve failed: they’ve ripped off Chipotle and created a restaurant just like it. We went there. This is our story.

Welcome to Frijoles

There’s not a lot of Mexican food in Japan. Tokyo, being the culinary center of the universe, has quite a few taco places and even a TexMex-Hawaiian restaurant near our new apartment, but in the rest of Japan, Mexican food is a mystery.

I tried to educate Eriko by purchasing one of those Old El Paso taco kits and making her good ol’ Nebraska style crunchy ground beef tacos. She reacted by moaning like Bob Wiley eating fried chicken throughout the entire meal. We repeated the experience with her family in Kanazawa. Her parents enjoyed the concept of the taco.

Since there aren’t too many Mexicans in Japan, you can’t count on authenticity, so I wasn’t expecting much when I saw Frijoles, located in Azabu-Juban and featuring a sandwich board that made it look like a healthy spot that would fit in well in West Hollywood. They offer burritos, tacos, rice bowls, and salads, as well as Mexican sides, and even have vegetarian options. But once inside, it’s clear what this place is: it’s Chipotle. They just ripped off Chipotle 1:1 and did a fine job of it.

Constructing the burrito

If you know Chipotle, you know the drill here: you walk down the counter and have them add stuff for you. There are two sizes, normal and grande. I went with grande because that was the closest to the American Chipotle size. You can add rice, black or pinto beans, and a choice of three meats: chicken, carnitas, or steak. The steak looked best, so I went with that.

I was worried after the guy added the beans, because he was going a little light on the filling. He added a decent scoop of steak, but given the price, I was hoping for more. Then the lady stepped in. Clearly the guy was new. The lady gave me a second HUGE scoop of steak and I was happy. I added sour cream, cheese, and red salsa since that’s what I get at Chipotle.

Eriko got a chicken salad and orange juice, and I ordered an A&W Root Beer because how often am I at a place that’s got that? The total was around $30, not cheap by most standards. But how was the food?

The Frijoles burrito

The burrito came wrapped in foil and in a red basket, just like a similar restaurant found throughout the US. The tortilla tasted fine, and the beans were basically flavorless. The rice, however, tasted exactly like Chipotle’s rice. The steak definitely wasn’t as good as that at Chipotle.

But the sauce… OH MY BUGGLESWORTH. It’s spicy. Way spicier than its counterpart at the aforementioned chain. My mouth was on fire. I downed the root beer, ate some of my wife’s salad, and popped hard candies in my mouth, and I was still feeling it.

Overall, I wouldn't say the burrito was as good as my beloved Chipotle, and it was quite expensive, but it was closer than anything I’ve had in Japan to what I remember from America.

The Frijoles chicken salad

Just like at Chipotle, the salad at Frijoles is made up of the same shredded lettuce that’s stuffed into burritos. It can be annoying to spear all those little bits of lettuce. Unlike Chipotle, this salad was really big. The chicken, again, wasn’t as good as its US counterpart, but it was pretty good. Eriko was satisfied. All in all, we had a really good meal.

And so how was it… later that evening? You know… after?

We all know what happens when you dine at Chipotle, and Frijoles had even spicier sauce, so I was a bit worried. I got through the evening, and thought I was in the clear until the next morning and OH NOOOOOO.

Yes, that familiar revenge was there, but not nearly as bad as I feared. No blood stains needing to be removed. Could have been way worse.

Should you eat at Frijoles?

Note its proximity to the Mori Art Museum, also a fun place!

If you want authentic Mexican food, you’re going to be disappointed. If you want something that tastes exactly like Chipotle, you’re going to be disappointed. If you want cheap, you’re going to be disappointed. But if you’re willing to spend a little more to be reminded of a thing you love from your home country, then Frijoles is a damn delicious way to do that. We’ll definitely be going back.

Frijoles is located in Minato City, and they deliver through the various delivery apps that I’ve never used. Perhaps tourists won’t want to bother with it, but if you’re a resident of Japan, give them a try. Burritos are good. The end.