Burritos are not traditionally considered a romantic food. First of all, they are messy. Rice, salsa juice, chunks of meat and green leafy things tend to crumble out of the fat tortilla tube when you're trying to wrestle off a tidy bite, splattering your clean white shirt, possibly landing in your lover's lap.

Secondly, they are chock full of onions, the food that launched the sale of a million Mentos. There's nothing that kills a kiss quicker than a mouth that reeks of these slippery, pungent slivers. Shudder.

But not everyone's getting kissed on a regular basis these days (read: Munch). Since a pre-Val Day burritofest wouldn't be crimping Munch's smooching style, Munch decided it was time to visit Pittsburgh's Burrito Central: the stretch of Forbes Avenue in Oakland between Meyran and Bouquet. On Munch's hit list: two potent national chains, Qdoba and Baja Fresh.

The two restaurants fall into the new culinary catch-all category "fast casual." Both eateries have a clean, bright look. Baja Fresh is black-and-white tiled, with red accents and lots of tables. A steely food preparation area is at the front of the restaurant and a salsa bar -- piled with jalapenos -- is off to the side.

Qboda is done up in earthy, Southwesterny shades, with booths and an undulating food counter at the back of the restaurant. Qdoba has the advantage, from Munch's beery perspective, of a liquor license. They sell Mexican beers at college-bar prices.

Qdoba and Baja Fresh are capitalizing on the trend toward healthful foods in fast food joints. There's little on either menu that's fried, plenty of veggie and grilled choices, and staunch "no lard" promises. Both chains are riding out the food service Atkins crisis by offering wrapless entrees like Naked Burritos (Qdoba) or Bare Burritos (Baja Fresh) -- basically taco salads, minus the tortilla bowl.

At Qdoba, Munch tried a signature burrito of the chicken mole persuasion, with a combination of black and pinto beans laid on, as well as a plop of sour cream and the "fiery habanero salsa," which wasn't nearly as scary-hot as Munch wished. It needed a liberal jolt of Cholula hot sauce.

Overall, the Qdoba burrito was tasty, though pale in flavor and chunky in texture when compared to Downtown Madonna's chicken tinga burrito, which is made with excellent house-made ingredients like seasoned rice, spicy sauces and pollo deshebra, chicken cooked in a flavorful broth and shredded. Madonna's has the hot sauce advantage, too: They stock the "green stuff," El Yucateco, that makes your teeth ache.

Kid Brother of Munch's Fajita Ranchera Burrito contained no beans, which suits him fine. The combination of peppers, beef and onions is right up his alley, and he didn't mind that the steak was a tad chewy and lukewarm.

People have been raving about Baja Fresh to Munch for months, and Munch's skepticism gathered like a storm. One friend said he hadn't had as fine a burrito since he worked in the Mission District of San Francisco and ate them daily.

Munch wouldn't go that far with praise for Baja Fresh. Admittedly, everything Munch and FOM ordered at Baja Fresh was steaming hot when the order was up -- a crucial difference from Qdoba.

FOM freestyled his order and got a Bare Burrito piled with tasty fried fish. Munch tried the grilled vegetarian burrito, stuffed with peppers, beans and lettuce. It could have used more veggies -- zucchini, tomato, corn -- but what Munch liked best was the thick, soft, almost flaky tortilla it was wrapped in.

What Munch liked second best about Baja Fresh was the salsa bar, because Munch was able to sample a little cup each of astringent tomatillo salsa, chunky pico de gallo and a salsa rioja that was addictively hot enough to make the top of FOM's bald head bead with sweat. There was also a pile of fresh cilantro, available for those who love it, and considerately served on the side so those who hate it needn't come into contact with it. Next to the soda fountain is a bowl of fresh lime wedges, which Munch employed a squirt of in every dish, including into a Diet Pepsi.

The clear winner of this battle of the burritos is Baja Fresh, for ample and killer condiments. But Munch will always choose the short walk over to Madonna's, on Fourth, to parking in Oakland midday, any day.

Baja Fresh is at 3615 Forbes Ave. (412-687-7700) and at The Pointe in North Fayette (412-788-0370). Qdoba is at 3717 Forbes Ave. (412-802-7866).