The Absolute Best Mission Burritos (Some May Surprise You)
By: Matt Whang
Tags: Food, Taqueria, Restaurant, Friday Five, San Francisco

The Absolute Best Mission Burritos (Some May Surprise You)

A burrito from Taqueria Guadalajara. Photo: Dennis via Twitter

What makes a good burrito?

I’ve spent many sleepless nights pondering this question. You see, I live in the Mission district of San Francisco — home to one of the greatest late-night drunk foods ever. Wait — scratch that — one of the most iconic meals ever, period. I’m not talking about the cheap Chipotle imitation or flaccid cylinder of grease at Taco Bell. I’m talking about the often imitated, but never truly duplicated, San Francisco Mission burrito.

To the uninitiated, let me first explain what makes a Mission burrito a Mission burrito. Traditional burritos have three basic ingredients: meat, rice, and beans wrapped in a flour tortilla (always a flour tortilla). In the 1960s, Mexican taquerias in the Mission district modified this original formula by including extra items such as salsa, guacamole, sour cream, and cheese. Fundamentally, these delicious extras are what distinguish a Mission-style burrito from a traditional one.

The other element of a Mission burrito is its method of preparation. Burritos that include extra ingredients tend to become overstuffed and break open, which makes for a bad eating experience. To overcome this, San Franciscan taqueria chefs pioneered a special technique that allowed the tortilla to hold more ingredients. They would steam the tortilla for a few minutes, softening it and making it more pliable and stretchy for better wrapping. This would also make the tortilla chewier, giving the Mission burrito its distinctive, toothsome quality.

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A final tip to those readers now inspired to seek out their own Mission-style burritos: Don’t call a Mission burrito a “Mission burrito” if you’re ordering one here in San Francisco. It would be analogous to asking for a “New York Style Pizza” at Di Fara’s in Brooklyn or a “Philly Cheesesteak” at Geno’s in South Philly. It’s blasphemous, and makes you look like a tourist.

The proper way to order a Mission burrito like a local is to ask for a “super burrito.” Also, don’t do anything clueless like ask for spinach-flavored tortillas or chips in your burrito. Just order the super burrito, choose your meat, choose your beans, and go.

The Mission is full of taquerias, and most of them offer some version of the same super burrito. But what makes a good super burrito stand out from the rest? To maintain consistency for my reviews, I made sure to order the exact same thing at every establishment — a carne asada super burrito. After extensive research into this matter (resulting in 100 days and 100 nights of heartburn, meat sweats, and fire-shits), I’ve concluded that a good burrito must be judged by the following criteria:

Structural integrity: A burrito’s construction is hella important. Meaning, how structurally sound it is and how the interior ingredients are arranged. This also refers to the burrito’s portability factor: You should be able to eat it with one hand while walking around, without any spillage or structural deformities. Each bite should include a mix of every ingredient. This might not be achievable every time, but in my burrito-eating evaluations, if I got at least five out of the eight ingredients with every bite, I would say the burrito’s ingredients were evenly distributed. Flavor: I’ll admit flavor is a relatively subjective criterion. Everyone has different tastes, and not everyone likes the same flavors that I do. I spoke with some fellow Mission burrito aficionados about their flavor preferences and received a multitude of answers. Some said they preferred a greasier, funkier, meaty flavor, while others preferred a fresher, cleaner taste. I definitely lean on the fresher tasting side. My favorite Mission burritos are the ones that have meaty underlying base notes that are punctuated by fresh, spicy salsas. At the end of the day, I think the best burritos are well balanced in the flavor department — every ingredient’s flavor is present, and not one ingredient overpowers your palate. I also gave extra points to the burritos with a little hidden flavor — an extra marinade on the meat before it gets fried, or a subtle, garlicky je ne sais quoi added to the guac. All in all, the burritos with a good flavor balance get the thumbs up in my books. Size and value: Living in a city like San Francisco, I refuse to pay more than $12 for a burrito. I could go to Californios and get the best burrito of my life with free-range, Wagyu asada, truffled beans, and saffron rice, but if it costs more than $12, it’s not making the cut. Fundamentally, burritos are a working man’s food and should be an affordable meal that fills you up. After eating a Mission burrito, you should feel satisfied for at least the next three to four hours. When I first arrived in SF and didn’t have a job, I survived on the two-burrito-a-day diet: I spent 20 bucks a day, felt perpetually full, had regular BMs, and clogged my arteries like shoving glue down a straw. It was fucking amazing.

Alright, now that you know how I will be evaluating these burritos, on to the rankings. Of the dozens of taquerias I have evaluated, these are the top five. And yes, you may notice some of the most famous places (ahem, La Taqueria) didn’t make the cut — and quite a few relatively underrated and unknown places did. Again, I stuck to my rubric above and let it speak for itself.