So you’re driving around San Francisco in your rental car. You decide you’re hungry, but where do you go? San Francisco is a melting pot of cultures, and it shows in it’s food scene. No matter what you’re in the mood for, you’ll find it in San Francisco: seafood, Italian, Japanese, Mexican, the list goes on and one. But one item has reached cult status amongst locals: the mission burrito. Transplants always complain that they can never find a proper mission burrito whenever they move. For some reason, a proper Mission burrito can only be found in San Francisco.
The mission burrito is known for it’s sheer size, and commands special tortillas that are designed to stretch in order to contain the wonderful insides. You can customize the mission burrito to your liking, but standard fare is spanish rice, beans, meat, and salsa. You can usually also add guacamole, sour cream, or cheese to your burrito as well. Typically when you order a mission burrito, it will be done in “assembly line” fashion. The employee starts with your burrito at one end, then slowly moves down the counter and scoops each ingredient in one by one. What makes the mission burrito truly special is the tortilla.
Mission burrito’s feature extra large tortillas, but that’s not enough. Also needed is the tortilla steamer. These steamers allow the tortilla to stretch more, making these behemoth burritos possible. This is the part most often missed by imitators.
How could you be in San Francisco and not try one? The mission burrito is truly a San Francisco creation. It will be often duplicated, but never replicated.
