VENTURA COUNTY WEEKEND : CENTERPIECE : County’s Burritos Stand Up to the Taste Test : The Top 10 choices pack a wallop with such fillings as <i> carne asada, </i> fresh vegetables and beans, with a variety of extras including chips, rice and salsa.

When I was going to Ventura High School, there were great corn burritos right across the street at Foster’s Freeze, which is now a battery store. Oh well. Yet, those were clearly the days--12 for a buck! You’d take a bite out of one of those dudes and the beans would squish out the other end, sizzle off your fingertips leaving third-degree burns, then spiral to the ground like a dying missile only to plop with a hiss on your wingtips. If you were lucky, they remembered to take out the toothpicks before frying them. So what do you want for a buck, health insurance, too?

No one knows for sure who made the first one, but the burrito was an early model of efficiency--something tasty, usually beans, wrapped inside a flour tortilla. The name means literally “little donkey,” and came to describe the food little boys tending donkeys stuck in their back pockets to eat later. Now, as you well know, burritos have become much more elaborate.

My mission was to search (the county) and destroy (my insides) in pursuit of the Top 10 Best Burritos. This list makes no pretense at being the complete burrito guide to Ventura County. After all, there are burrito joints everywhere, and I went to more than 40 of them from Fillmore to La Conchita.

National chains, though popular, are not covered. Most of the places reviewed are mom-and-pop self-serve operations, with sit-down restaurants excluded due to space limitations.

* Baja Fresh

(1464 Madera Road, Simi Valley, 520-7301)

This is the place that most everyone in the east county frequents. There are other Bajas in Newbury Park, Camarillo and Oxnard. It’s yuppiefied Mexican food. No lard, no MSG, no microwaves and no other bad stuff--but the food is great. The Baja Burrito is a masterpiece and makes a nap a necessity afterward. The Baja Salsa is dark and delicious, and all orders come with chips and a lime. This is what all fast-food should be.

* Cartwright’s

(2895 E. Main St., Ventura, 643-3506)

Along with hamburgers, hot dogs and other all-American fare, you can get a one-of-a-kind veggie burrito proudly proclaimed in giant letters on the front window. It is, essentially, a potato-salad burrito with avocado, cheese, lettuce and salsa. It’s heavy, tasty and a definite two-hander.

* Chuys

(590 E. Los Angeles Ave., Moorpark, 523-3183)

There are other Chuys in Oxnard and Simi Valley, but this one is sort of beat-up and funky. There’s an airy inside patio area, which includes a Chrysler-size gumball machine and lots of video games. The burritos are first-rate but when you bite into one, it is messier than the ending of the “Wild Bunch.” The carne asada , or grilled beef, is just right, and it comes with a side order of rice. In the background, oldies play nonstop. The burrito was so good, it was history before half of “Hang On Sloopy” was over.

* Classic Carrot Cafe

(1967 E. Main St., Ventura, 643-0406)

Basically a feel-good veggie place, it offers a couple of burritos: the California Broccoli Roll and the Vegetarian Burrito. Both disappeared so fast I can hardly remember what was in them without reading the menu--rice, broccoli, avocado, the usual. Also, the basic corn chips are better than everyone else’s.

* Corrales Mexican Food

(4200 N. Ventura Ave., Ventura, 641-2548)

What once was a little family-owned hole-in-the-wall way up the Avenue, has expanded to two more popular locations on Thompson Boulevard. At the Thompson location nearest downtown, the service is excruciatingly slow. But it doesn’t matter. Everything is great, especially the veggie burritos because the ingredients are really fresh. Perhaps it is because the place is so busy, nothing sits around except for the customers. The recommended veggie burrito contains lettuce, rice, beans, cheese and avocado--yum. Corrales also sells veggie burritos with meat! This is the sort of thinking that gives us super-long light cigarettes.

* Evita’s Mexican Cafe

(3868 E. Main St., Ventura, 656-4571)

“The family taco stand perfected” is what they call it, and they’re right. This place is a hit--with two cash registers where you order, a sure sign of success. The El Gordo is a two-hander burrito, and it comes on a plate with a knife and fork. A catcher’s mitt would also work. It’s double-wrapped with two flour tortillas, and comes with your choice of meat, rice, tomatoes, lettuce, cilantro--all in abundance. For the truly starved, there is an El Grande, which is an El Gordo with guacamole and salsa. You’ll be as happy as a fat guy asleep at the opera.

* Johnny’s Mexican Food

(176 N. Ventura Ave., Ventura, 648-2021)

The great Johnny’s scare, which started last New Year’s with the rumor that the place would close forever, is over. I was so stressed, I was going to sell my Mercury and take the $50, buy a bunch of burritos, and freeze them so as to possess a stash should the unthinkable happen. Beans and rice, chili relleno with rice, or carne asada are all as good as it gets. They have the best rice and the best salsa anywhere. All we need now is Johnny’s to be open on Sunday and Monday.

* Rib Ticklers Barbeque

(11012 Violeta St., Saticoy, 647-7427)

If Homer Simpson wasn’t a cartoon, you could see him sitting outside this Saticoy eatery and hear his dippy voice intoning one of his most important words (after “beer,” that is) which of course, is “Meeeeeeeeat.” This is basically a rib place, but one can get a carne asada burrito and put BBQ sauce on it. Sounds weird, but it’s great. Get the all-meat because the regular asada burrito has too much other vegetables and stuff that’s not meat. The happening fast-food in Saticoy, Rib Ticklers offers dining indoors or out and free refills on the drinks. The sauce, which is concocted here, is the thing--mild, BBQ and turbo.

* Ruben’s Burritos

(104 N. Signal St., Ojai, 646-6111)

This is the original Ruben’s, but there are two others, one in Mira Monte, the other in Port Hueneme. The veggie burrito with black beans is a true classic. This is the burrito of the Ojai Valley.

* Taqueria Hernandez

(2010 Saviers Road, Oxnard, 486-9840)

Mexican music was blaring as I pondered my choice at the freebie table: radishes, lemons or peppers? That is when I noticed that something was lost in the translation because my veggie burrito had meat on it. But the rice was out of this world and the beans maintained their identity right up until I chomped them into paste. Foodies and others may swoon over the burritos made out of stuff I tend to shun, like brains and tongue, but to this gringo’s taste, the veggie is a real treat.