Underground Burrito: A different kind of take-it-to-go restaurant opens in Bluffton
Next time your significant other asks you to pick up a six-pack on the way home from work, you might need some clarification: Do you mean beer or burritos?
Underground Burritos is now open in Bluffton, and you can probably guess by the restaurant’s moniker which six-pack is on the menu.
These burritos aren’t like the ones at Chipotle or Moe’s where a customer can custom-build a football-sized burrito stuffed with both hot and cold ingredients.
“It’s different,” explained owner Jimmy Soules. “It’s not the norm.”
Underground Burritos can be ordered hot and ready to eat, but what makes Soules’ product unique is the ability to order burritos refrigerated and heat them up later in the microwave or oven.
Right now, the menu includes seven burritos with traditional ingredients like shredded chicken or pork, black beans and cheese ($7.95 each), but there’s also a few surprises. The base of the vegetarian burrito is roasted cauliflower, and for a dollar more, customers can get a burrito stuffed with brisket.
Burritos can be ordered individually or in a box of six for a discounted price of $39.95 (regular price $47.70).
Underground Burritos are made fresh daily in a small kitchen around the side of Ulmer’s Family Pharmacy.
There’s no seating for customers at the site; you are meant to pick up your order and go.
“It’s kind of fun to watch people. ... ‘This is your whole kitchen?’ “ Soules said of the small kitchen where he’s working. A range and small counter, a computer desk and pantry shelving leave room for about 3-4 people to stand closely in the space.
“What we are really trying to do is have people call ahead,” he explained.
Soules envisions families having a standing order each week so there’s a quick breakfast on hand, or a worker keeping a box of burritos in the office fridge for a week of no-fuss lunches. He said he had one customer order 36 for a Superbowl party.
He’d also like to see other businesses selling his product.
Right now, Ian Duncan is selling about 25 or 30 Underground Burritos a week at his coffee shop, The Grind Coffee Roasters at 1 Sherrington Drive in Bluffton’s Sheridan Park.
Duncan said the breakfast burritos and vegetarian burritos “are doing really well” for both breakfast and lunch.
“We are impressed,” Duncan said. “Everything is super fresh.”
Soules isn’t new to the Bluffton dining scene. He was one of the partners who founded Bluffton Room in Old Town in 2014 and was behind Agave Side Bar the next year. After a brief time living in Puerto Rico — his restaurant there was wiped out by Hurricane Maria — he found himself back in Bluffton.
The entrepreneurial chef is busy experimenting with burrito ideas suggested by customers. This week he debuted a Lowcountry boil burrito stuffed with sausage, shrimp, corn and potatoes.
Customers should expect the shop to mostly stick to combinations it does best, though.
“Instead of trying to be everything to everybody, we are just going to do burritos,” Soules said. “I just wanted to do something that’s kind of unique and fun.”
If you go
What: Underground Burrito
Where: 68 Bluffton Road, Suite 6 in Bluffton, around the side of Ulmer’s Pharmacy
Hours: Variable but, in general, Tuesday through Saturday from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.
Call or email: (843) 757-0808 or undergroundburritos@gmail.com
Online: undergroundburritos.com
