Burro Loco LIC's neon signs offer many things to the passersby on Jackson Ave: Tex-Mex, Fried Chicken, and even Fish and Chips. Perhaps all the effort is spent to capture attention back from the other side of the street, where a string of restaurants make Burro Loco look lonely, the only restaurant on its block.

A visit recently left this former Californian impressed. (It's that good.) Every dish seems to be entirely fresh, from the black beans to the chicken to the crispy nacho chips. The back of the menu pledges "no microwave", and it's clearly true. You can see for yourself behind the counter that things are whipped together when you ask.

Burro Loco has the feel of a new phenomenon in New York these last few years, the Mexican place that borrows the form and execution of the typical Chinese place. There are backlit photographs of dishes on display above the counter, but instead of Peking Duck there is a chicken burrito. The folks who run the place seemed to be Southeast Asian (Malaysian? Thai?), though the guy in charge apparently used to live in Texas.

The Platonic form of Mexican food is the chicken burrito. From it, you can judge all things. For $5 (including a free soda), the lunch special chicken burrito is a reasonable bargain. The chicken is juicy chunks, not overly grilled like you'll sometimes find. The black beans were very tasty. They steam the tortilla then loosely wrap things up (with yellow rice) "enchilada style". Guacamole and sour cream on the side. Some very tasty nacho chips are there for you to help yourself. The salsa was mediocre, I must say. But the overall package was tasty. It's rather good food, in a city where very delicious Mexican is hard to find (the best is Green Cactus, which has just opened a shop in Forest Hills. More on them some other time, but you must try it if you see it.)

One special thing to note is how vegetarian-friendly the place is. Many choices, and the menu even gives specific suggestions and color codes the vegetarian choices.

They're open till 11pm each night which is pretty late. And they have two delivery guys working hard on speedy (if beat up) Honda scooters. The place has the look of a mainly-delivery operation, since the restaurant itself doesn't contribute much warm ambiance to the food served.