The story behind Mad Mex's Gobblerito
The Gobblerito
Mad Mex's Thanksgiving themed burrito is back.
The drink led to the diner, which led Matt Glick to the idea for the beastly “Gobblerito” meal.
Glick had been out drinking with friends in Philadelphia about 10 years ago when he stumbled into a Philadelphia diner and ordered turkey and mashed potatoes slathered in gravy. A legend was born.
“I was eating what was a Thanksgiving-like dinner, and it occurred to me that pretty much everyone loves Thanksgiving,” said Glick, who now works as the food and beverage manager for the 12 Mad Mex restaurants in the region. “As I was sitting there, I said, ‘This would make a great burrito.’”
The Gobblerito has grown in popularity each year, Glick said. Mad Mex used to serve it for a few days before Thanksgiving. Now, it’s on the menu for most of fall leading up until Thanksgiving – this year that’s from Sept. 18 through Nov. 21.
“Fall is the perfect time for a Gobblerito,” Glick says. “It’s delicious. It tastes so good. It’s a comfort food and fall is the perfect time for comfort food.”
Glick made one for the Tribune-Review on Monday inside the Mad Mex Shadyside restaurant on Highland Avenue. He began with a tin pan with cooking spray, and then placed the flour tortilla inside.
He scooped a generous helping of house made black bean mashed potatoes made with butter and cream, salt and pepper, traditional stuffing of bread, celery, onion, sage and chicken stock, fresh corn and topped with 6 ounces of roasted turkey breast. The contents overflowed out of the tortilla, before he folded it into a square shape.
But he wasn’t not done yet.
The Gobblerito is steamed for four to five minutes and then drenched in one big ladle of gravy made from flour, butter, turkey stock and seasoned to taste. It’s not Thanksgiving without cranberry sauce so Glick adds a side dish of it. piles the ingredients in a way that a customer tastes all of them in every bite.
An apple cider margarita complements the Gobblerito, says Glick.
The Gobblerito name is trademarked, costs $12 and is 1,490 calories. In its opening week, they sold 8,000.
“People go nuts for this,” says Glick. “It is popular because it’s at Mad Mex. It might be duplicated but it can never be replicated.”
Details: http://madmex.menu
JoAnne Harrop is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact JoAnne at 724-853-5062 or jharrop@tribweb.com or via Twitter @Jharrop_Trib.
