Lancaster’s original burrito-bar, Go Burrito brings the flavours of Mexico to Lancaster with its own special twist.

Burritos, nachos, chillies specials, all cooked fresh everyday by specialist chefs. Currently open for walk-ins, pre-ordered collections and of course deliveries (via Lancaster Eats/Morecambe Eats).

We spoke with owner James and here’s what he has to share.

How would you describe Go Burrito in a line or two?
GoBurrito is an exciting local independent business serving what we like to call slow cooked fast food. We try to provide amazing, vibrant food with locally sourced ingredients, served by a wonderful team in surroundings we love.

What was the inspiration behind starting Go Burrito?
We wanted to create a place in which we’d love to eat/hangout. Back in 2011 when we were developing the idea, the options were much more limited than they are now. It had to have enticing fast food without the guilt, it had to have great music filling the waves and it had to be fresh. Using lakeland assured meats across the board, local suppliers for all the fruit and veg, adding in the colours of the guac and the home-made salsas and listening to bands like the Stone Roses or a bit of Biggie means that we’ve been able to realise our ambition.

What was Go Burrito like in the early days?
Hectic! We had little or no experience of the industry whatsoever and were very much flying by the seat of our pants. From day one we were busier than we had ever imagined so we were constantly calling people in to help. Between that, not having any money for proper kit and home made counters that weren’t really fit for the level of trade we were doing, it was a very steep learning curve.

How has Go Burrito evolved over the years?
We used any pounds that were left over at the end of each week to develop the shop. Bigger rice cookers, heavier duty ovens, proper servery counters were just some of the ways in which Goburrito evolved. We started to see that there were people out there who shared our vision and wanted to work with us so we went from a staff of 3 to a staff of 35 at peak. We of course added the University Store to the City Centre store and started to get involved in festival catering which has taken us the length and breadth of the country including Kendal Calling and Glastonbury. By 2020 we had been to some 30 festivals. We’ve catered the odd wedding as well as hosted plenty of bands and DJs upstairs in the city centre store.

What are you excited about in the months and years ahead?
We’re very excited to be opening a new store on Morecambe promenade early summer 2021. It’s been almost a year in the making that we’ve had to keep quiet about it but we’ve really been able to put our heart and soul into it and are looking at it as a new dawn, After the floods we managed to stay afloat because we had just opened our second venue at the Uni and after the year we’ve all had this has really given the whole business something very exciting to focus on in a similar way.

What is the most exciting experience you’ve had with Go Burrito?
We’ve catered for some big names and big bands, had celebrities in the shops and generally built up some amazing relationships with our customers. But for us, the most exciting thing is always the next big thing. We’re looking forward to a time in the not too distant future where we can be trading fully from 3 stores with people sat all around enjoying their B’s. That’s what we find exciting and what we’ve been working so hard towards for all these years

What is the most-loved/popular favourite Burrito by your customers? And yourself?
The most loved burrito is definitely the simple chicken burrito with a side of bandito fries and melted cheese, ideally enjoyed with a cold beer. On the odd sunny day that we’re treated to, there really is nothing better.

As for me, my favourite has to be a pork and chorizo burrito with a side of nachos and salsa – I prefer cold nachos. Something about the zingy, freshness of the salsas with a nacho does it for me. I’d always wash it down with a corona too, sometimes more than one.