Katherine MacAlister goes to a brand new, shabby chic burrito restaurant to sample the spicy tastes from across the pond

It was like walking into a Wild West bar that had seen better days; a corrugated iron roof, bare brick walls, graffiti, and bare floors framing wired windows, gazing out onto the frontier that is Cowley Road.

Which is exactly how Atomic Burger wanted it when they designed their latest foray Big Ron’s Burrito Shack, on the site of their first Atomic restaurant, which has since moved over the road.

In fact it probably cost a great deal of money to do shabby chic cowboy style and we fully expected Clint Eastward to stroll in at any time and chow down on some mighty fine pork and beans, while the cicadas chirped away, spurs chinking as the sheriff walked past, hooves thundering down the road, all accompanied to the soundtrack of The Magnificent Seven.

Instead it was just us, shuffling in, slightly incomprehensibly, to be met by the highly enthusiastic team who explained where we could sit and how to order.

In fact, it’s so authentic you have to pinch yourself and remember that this is actually just a fun, new restaurant with some novel decor rather than a last chance saloon.

The menu was as simple, even by our standards – no starters, no desserts – but the title Big Ron’s Burrito Shack, rather gives the game away.

Opened up in memory of one of Atomic Burger’s founders Martin Bunce, who sadly died of cancer earlier this year, Big Ron’s was his next dream, and therefore one brought to fruition by his devoted team and partner James Reilly after his death.

Burritos it is then – the Baby Ron (£5.25) – a 10” flour tortilla, the Big Ron 12” (£6.75) or the Ron Grande – two 10” tortillas wrapped in one big burrito (£10), which like Goldilocks and the three bears, fitted us all perfectly.

So pick your size – choose from Mexican beef, tequila and lime chicken, Texas pork or cajun roast veg – and debate how hot you want your chilli sauce from salsa verde through mexicana, picante and Big Rons Rocket Fuel.

The rice, guacamole, sour cream, black beans, shredded lettuce and monterey jack cheese are all included and come rolled up with the burrito in tin foil, all washed down with a variety of beer or fizzy drinks.

My teenage son stepped up first – twirling his pistols – a Ron Grande with fiery chicken – the full 20” of burrito. Respect. The rest of us were wimps in comparison, but between us tried a good selection of the pulled pork and cajun veg, rolled up as tightly as a cuban cigar and served with nachos and salsa.

And boy they were good. The Blazing Saddles crew would have sold their own mothers to get their hands on this kind of tucker.

And let’s face it, there’s plenty of burrito competition in Oxford at the moment, Mission Burrito has two outlets, then there’s El Mexicana on Gloucester Green and Las Iguanas on Park End Street.

But this was something else.

The tortilla didn’t have that slightly clammy feel. It was nice and fresh and floury. Neither did you have to queue and make endless decisions. Your orders were taken and the food brought to the table, rendering it a restaurant rather than a takeaway, and while we were the first ones there at 5pm, Big Ron’s soon filled up around us.

Even my teenage sons pronounced themselves full by the end of their 20 inch burrito binge and we finished up and groaned our way back to the car, all within an hour of arriving. “I might need to go and have a lie-down,” he admitted when we arrived home.

A massive success then – the kids loved it, and while the novelty value may shock the grandparents, Big Ron’s is a great addition to Cowley Road’s increasingly eccentric line-up.

This really is a new frontier.

Big Ron’s Burrito Shack, 96 Cowley Road, Oxford
01865 792700 bigrons.co.uk