I tasted burritos from 3 iconic Colorado fast-food chains, and the winner was the cheapest and tasted the most complex

Qdoba Mexican Eats and Chipotle Mexican Grill — two of the country's most popular burrito chains — both got their start in Denver, Colorado.

After moving to Denver the summer, I learned there was another local fan favorite called Illegal Pete's.

The burrito company started in Boulder, Colorado, in 1995, and two decades later, there are a dozen Illegal Pete's chains sprinkled across Colorado and Arizona, according to the company's website.

Since I don't eat meat, I opted for my go-to veggie burrito order from the three fast-food chains.

One of Qdoba's biggest appeals to me is that guacamole doesn't cost extra on any of their burritos. My total came out to $8.25 before tax.

At Chipotle, a veggie burrito without meat includes free guacamole and costs $7.65 before tax, the cheapest of the three burritos.

The veggie burrito at Illegal Pete's came out to $10.18 before tax since the guacamole cost an extra $2.19.

I typically think of Chipotle's burritos as being mammoth in size, so I was surprised that each burrito seemed to be about the same amount of food.

Qdoba's burrito tasted too bland to me.

I thought the rice, beans, and veggies lacked any strong flavors, and the salsa didn't really make up for it.

I had three consecutive bites of just rice while eating the burrito. Where were all the extra toppings? I never really found them.

But the tortilla, which was the thinnest of the three, was my favorite.

Without any standout flavors, though, I thought Qdoba's veggie burrito left a lot to be desired.

Thinking that the ingredients in my burrito were well combined, I expected to have a little bit of everything in each bite.

Unfortunately, my first few bites were just the tortilla.

Illegal Pete's tortilla was by far the thickest of the three, and by the time I finally got to the fillings, I was already starting to get full.

I was disappointed by how few veggies I found wrapped inside my Illegal Pete's burrito, but I thought the flavors were strong, which moved the burrito up in my ranking.

After I tried all three burritos, I came back to Illegal Pete's for a second taste. This time, though, the bottom of the tortilla was soggy, bumping it to second place out of the three chains.

Chipotle is my go-to stop for fast-food burritos, and I quickly learned why after trying each chains' burritos back-to-back.

While the Chipotle burrito was the messiest for me to eat, it had the most variety in flavors.

I noticed a smokey flavor coming from the hot salsa and grilled vegetables that neither Illegal Pete's nor Qdoba's burritos had.

That, combined with the bright flavor from the pico de gallo, created a variety of tastes that coated my entire mouth.

I also noticed many more distinguishable textures inside Chipotle's burrito compared to the other two.

The fajita veggies were the crunchiest of the three chains', which paired well with the creaminess from the guacamole and sour cream.

Out of the three burritos, I thought Chipotle's had the most complex textures and tastes.

I don't think you can beat $8 for a smoky, creamy, and satisfyingly crunchy veggie burrito. Chipotle was — and will continue to be — my fast-food burrito chain of choice.