Urban Tortilla

They clearly could care less about service. i get it, it’s an airport but before you go thinking this is another complaint about price and quality let me ask if you’ve ever flown through Austin TX, the gold standard for delicious local food offerings. 5 mins before closing don’t ask for a quesadilla, the grill will be magically turned off and can’t be turned on.
Whats that a family of 6 pulls up in line right at closing so you tell them «closed.»??? Not even a hey sorry guys we’re closing up, but just «closed.» If you own this place thats an easy $ 60 they lost you by laziness.
Haven’t even gotten to the $ 1.00 extra for corn and disgusting excuse for guac they offer. Sad to say Burger King would be a better option.

Worst food ever! It was stale, smelly. I had guac n chips. This place should be closed! I wonder how they even pass the inspection!

Expected this place to be like an airport chipotle. The airport chipotles I’ve been to at like BWI and IAD are basically the same price as the downtown locations. Maybe a slight 5−10% markup at most. This place was subpar quality and I paid 14 bucks for a mediocre burrito bowl. It’s not 1 star because at least it was fast. But the quality was low and it was ¹⁄₃ smaller than a chipotle burrito bowl. Plus they have the nerve to charge 75 cents for sour cream. It’s not even guac! Frankly, take your 14 bucks elsewhere at sfo because this place is a ripoff… I’d rather risk E. coli at chipotle than pay 14 bucks here.

It puts food in your stomach. That’s about it.
From the outside, the place looks like Chipotle’s younger brother. They offer wraps, a bowl, tortilla, and all the same fix’ins. As you go down the line though and later take your first bite, you’ll soon learn the true meaning of disappointment.
For one, adding a scoop of corn cost extra. Since when did America have a corn shortage? Avocado is one thing, but you want to charge me for corn? It’s so cheap and abundant! America runs on corn (watch the documentary called Corn King). Hey, let’s start charging for the tortilla too. Might as well.
My first bite into my chicken bowl was a dry bite. Dry chicken and dry rice. I didn’t add sour cream because I figure that they would charge for that too.
I’ll admit though, it was an option that included my good carbs (brown rice), protein (chicken), and veggies (lettuce and tomatoes).
I know airport terminal foods are always more expensive, but do they have to nickel and dime you? If so, at least make it worth it!

It’s clear upon first interaction that the staff that work here hate their job. I was excited to see they had tortilla soup but wanted to see if it had dairy. I mean, totally valid question. This IS California after all. The old man behind the counter said he didn’t know. Instead of seeing if he could find out, he just stared at me like a deer in headlights. In frustration, I asked the woman behind the counter who had trouble even understanding what I meant by dairy. She didn’t know either.
There’s clearly a disconnect between corporate and their franchises. Regardless, it amounted to a negative experience, no purchase and a 1 star review. Ohhhhh the power of the consumer :)

It is in an airport so it is slightly more expensive but the servings are pretty large. I got a sausage breakfast burrito, which I thought was pretty flavorful. I would eat it again. My mom and brother got the burrito bowls and they liked them too. This place is very similar to Chipotle.
One thing I thought was weird was that they charge extra for the corn ($ 1.75). I mean charging for guacamole if expected since avocados can be expensive, but corn is like one of the cheapest things out there. People use corn as fillers in food! Even for an airport I thought that part was over priced. They charge the same price for the guacamole too.
Bottom line: food not bad, would eat here again but I think charging extra for corn is crazy

Oh the price we will pay to not have to pass through security, again. Reminds me a little of the tex-​mex of San antonio. Eggs were good, and not burnt :)

We strolled all around the SFO airport, searching for a healthy, laid back place for dinner that would not break the bank, which is often a hard order at an airport. Urban Tortilla filled this need — it’s was very fresh. We got burrito bowls with brown rice. Mine was veg only, which included beans, rice, salsa, lettuce, and the added bonus of a huge scoop of guacamole included in the price ($ 9.75). My husband’s chicken burrito bowl was equally filling, fresh and tasty for only $ 1 more. We also got chips & salsa ($ 4.70). Nice seating was available right beside this quick-​service, Chipotlesque restaurant.

If you’re looking for a chipotle replacement or even just decent airport food go elsewhere! The burrito reminded me of something I’d make as home with pretty generic ingredients. Like a pintest hack gone wrong. The veggie burrito was pretty flavorless despite cilantro rice, salsa, guac, etc. Try other options.

Adequate interpretation of Mexican food, executed somewhat competently with mediocre ingredients, is still better than the competing options in this terminal.
Their price-​gouging is less egregious than others and the portions bigger. Sadly, that makes this the «winner». Sigh.

Why do I have to keep reminding people that they are in an airport when I write these reviews. It will be expensive. It won’t be as fresh. It will be annoying because air transit makes you annoyed. And it won’t be the best or near the best. It’s ok. Relax and read on.
Simple place kinda following a Chipotle model. I like the burrito bowls and the nachos (you can save a few coin by getting them meatless — that’s not an option on the menu).
I think as the terminal gets built out, there might arise a better option, but for now, this is my go to… and that’s quite alright. Portions are actually a bit on the large side, so you can share with a friend easily.

Two breakfast bowls and two waters – $ 30.35.
Two stars for the ridiculous gouging.
Breakfast itself wasn’t too bad. Scrambled eggs, potatoes, choice of meat. (Ham)
I skipped the optional salsa – 4:30am is a bit early for adding on some spice.

I am giving 3 stars because my beer on tap was half off with purchase. AND they had Blue Moon which is a fav of mine. My burrito bowl was okay. Did like that they had cilantro rice as an option in addition to white and brown. Otherwise, as other reviewers had mentioned, it is a Chipotle wannabe. The high prices are expected because it’s at the airport. The half off beer helped :0)

$ 12.05 for a burrito bowl. Alrighty, can I have sour cream? «That’s extra.» Nevermind. Can I have Corn salad like Chipotle? «That’s also extra…»
Alright, then just give me a bowl of rice, beans and pork. What a waste. I know you’re trying to copy Chipotle but at least make it decent. Jeez, what a waste of money. I understand Guac being extra, but corn and sour cream?

So expensive for such bleach Mexican food! Just avoid it all together…

Within the relatively new terminal E at SFO, there are several decent dining options. Urban Tortilla is in the middle of the pack on. They provide a decent product at standard slightly high airport prices. They have a fairly standard build to order burrito/​taco line. In the mornings they offer a breakfast burrito, breakfast bowl, and other items. You can get fountain sodas (which is nicer) as well as cans/​bottles to go, and they serve beer and wine if you are so inclined. They even have happy hour prices in the afternoon.
Service is reasonably quick and friendly. The food is ok — not spectacular but better than some airport options. There are other options in the new terminal that provide a slightly better dining experience, but this is not far behind.
One other note to the other reviewers that call Urban Tortilla a Chipotle copycat. I must point out that as Henry Ford did not invent the car, Chipotle did not invent the build to order burrito bars. And as Henry Ford changed the auto industry with mass production, Chipotle changed the burrito industry with mass production. But the build to order burrito bar was around in small taquerias and shops for many years before Chipotle came around.
In the San Francisco area Mission style burritos were made like this since El Faro and La Cumbra in the mid 1960’s — characterized by large, thick burrito filled lots of rice and beans, and tailored to your tastes. It was here that Steve Ells came across the Mission style burritos — when he worked here in SF in the early 1990’s — and he opened his first Chipotle in Denver in 1993. He copied these types of places, opened his first place, grew to multiple stores, then eventually was backed by McDonalds franchised the concept, and mass produced mission style burritos.
So to call Urban Tortilla a Chipotle copycat is insulting to all the purveyors of Mission style burritos that were around long before Steve Ells came up with the Chipotle concept.

Fraud: I’ve had the same experience where there were multiple fraudulent charges on my CC. I called my cc company to dispute the charges and order a new CC. I ate there August and have fraudulent charges on my cc a month later in Sept.
I don’t know what is going on and have seen the message from the assistance manager. I would appreciate a comment on my thread if possible as this is not appropriate behavior from a business in the airport. Working in retail, those charge backs from credit cards can hurt you financially. I would hope you find whom or who ever is skimming the card information from your customers to prevent the fees you must be incurring among all other reasons to not hurt your business.
Food: Food is not great, but after being in a place devoid of Mexican cuisine I was desperate. I had the quesadilla with chicken and guac on the side and a beer. the beer was the best part of the meal. I wolfed down half the quesadilla though and it did the trick to make me feel whole again. I would give them 3 stars for fast processing of my order, food was palatable and service was not rude at all — but it is a 1 because of those charges!

Why does every fast food Mexican chain always copy Chipotle? This, in my book, is no different from Moe’s, Qdoba, Burritoville, etc.
Urban Tortilla is no exception to this stream of followers. Like the Pied Piper, Chipotle leads the path of «build your burrito». Urban Tortilla jumped in the line. You choose your rice. Choose your beans. Choose your meat. Choose your salsa. Choose your extras. Yawn…
I opted for the «burrito bowl» at Urban Tortilla. Not so messy. Easy to eat with a fork. And saves a few calories (ha! Who am I kidding?)
It was average tasting. Pork was kinda fatty. Cilantro wasn’t enough. (Is there *ever* enough cilantro in the world though, really?) Workers were lackadaisical and didn’t seem all that interested in building my burrito bowl. And they couldn’t seem to hear what I was saying, so I think I got pinto beans instead of black. Some sort of brown rice instead of white. And I really had wanted guacamole, but she couldn’t seem to hear that. Oh well. That’s an upcharge.
So my bowl was almost 11 bucks WITH the employee disccount.
Meh.
Not many great, nor inexpensive options at SFO. Maybe I’ll eat it again. Maybe I won’t. Either way, I won’t be running to catch up with the last one in the pied piper’s line of the burrito world.

Flight was delayed and needed some food. This was the closest place to my gate.
Seemed like a Chipotle knock-​off with the portions being MUCH smaller, but more expensive.
Got a veggie bowl. As I said, portions were SMALL, but prices were HIGH.
Food was decent. The rice was a little harder than I’d expect, but it served it’s purpose… feeding me before a 6 hour flight.

Do not use a credit or debit card here! Fraudulent charges just showed up in my transactions! I ate here once months ago and it seems they stole my information when I swiped my card. As of today Unilocal shows this happening to two others as well! Now I have to close the accounts.
NOT COOL!!! Will be reporting this to them!