Last updated December 14, 2000

To my great pride and amusement, my burrito page remains popular, despite having seen no substantive upgrades for several years. Unfortunately, time is a commodity that I have too little of, so updates are never likely to be either regular or even deterministic.

This page’s popularity is due at least in part to Paul Spinrad’s ur-burrito-page, which contained the seminal treatise on the San Francisco burrito that appeared in the SF Weekly some time ago. However, Paul’s burrito page also hasn’t been updated in a while, and some of the links have gone stale, but every time we run into each other, we make noise about collaborating to create a grand unified burrito page. If this ambitious plan ever comes to fruition, here is where it’ll be.

San Francisco is the city of burritos. There are more good taquerias with good burritos here than in any other city I know of. Burritos are one of the two foods I crave when I return from traveling. The other is, of course, Odwalla juice (which can now even be found in the greater Seattle area as well).

My selections below reflect a some degree of geographical bias. There are undoubtedly good taquerias with good burritos elsewhere, I just haven’t had the opportunity to go track them down yet.

Numerous people have sent me about this page and have suggested places to check out as well as reported about good burritos to be had in non-intuitively obvious locales.

I would like to thank the many people who’ve sent in suggestions over the years, and apologize to those who I have not responded to. For those of you looking for recipes, I don’t have any, so your best bet is probably Google.

I’ve received multiple messages from proprietors of burrito-making establishments asking (very politely indeed, I might add), whether I would list their restaurants below. My rule is that I won’t mention a place until I’ve eaten there.

And finally, given the amount of email I receive on the subject, I know that many good taquerias, including El Toro and Pancho Villa, aren’t mentioned below. This will be rectified one of these days.

San Francisco

El Balazo, on Haight between Clayton and Cole. Their super veggie with marinated vegetables (aka "Super Bob’s") is really tasty. If I’m feeling carnivorous, I get their super chicken mole burrito or their super steak.

I prefer El Balazo’s salsa verde because it’s not hazmat-grade and appears to have garlic in it.

El Balazo has one major drawback, however: it’s at the high end of the price scale and the burrito sizes are not consistent at all. Sometimes a super is way to large for me to even contemplate finishing in one go, and sometimes I can disappear one in just a few minutes. Your mileage will vary.

El Taco Loco is on Mission at 28th, and its forte really is tacos. Personally, I like the chorizo the best, closely followed by the carnitas and al pastor. The tacos are so good that every time I’m there, I don’t feel tempted to have a burrito.

While difficult, it’s worth saving a little room in your tummy because Mitchell’s Ice Cream (San Jose and 28th) is only a block away from Taco Loco and has superlatively good ice cream. In addition to all the standards, they have many tropical flavors, including 5 different kinds of coconut as well as ube (a purple sweet potato) et al. Highly recommended.

La Cumbre, on Valencia between 15th and 16th. So far I’ve only had the super steak, and it was large, dense, and yummy. I had one for lunch and didn’t really need any dinner that evening. Many of my friends, as well as the readers of the SF Bay Guardian, swear by this place, and I understand why. I’m looking forward to trying out their other burritos.

Zona Rosa, on Haight at the corner of Shrader, used to be the neighborhood’s benchmark until El Balazo came along. Zona Rosa’s vegetarian burritos (get the one with black beans and the whole-wheat tortilla) remain good, no matter how stiff the competition.

Azteca, on Church near the corner of Market. The quesadilla suiza is great, mainly because the meat used for the steak isn’t chewy-as-shredded-truck-tire, as many other taquerias’ is. Azteca also has several vegetarian burritos, all good.

Cancun, on Mission at 19th. This discovery was prompted by email from someone who saw this page. Cancun’s regular veggie burrito is very tasty indeed. The one major difference between Cancun’s preparation and that of most others is that Cancun doesn’t steam the tortilla, but throws it on the grill for a while instead. While this makes it a tad greasy to the touch, it tastes really good, and makes the burrito just a bit crunchy. I’ll be going back to check out Cancun’s meat burritos in the near future.

Gordo, on 9th between Irving and Lincoln. My favorite burrito here is the super chicken. Instead of the grilled meat found in a typical chicken burrito, it seems to be cooked. This gives it a milder, but not bland, taste. The nice thing about this is that, even with the (recommended) squirt of hot sauce they put in the burrito, you can actually taste the beans and the rice and the cheese and the tortilla. Far too often, misplaced taste bud machismo drowns out a burritos taste in a wash of jalapeño; this is not the case here. Gordo has other Bay Area locations, but I’ve never been to any of the others.

These days, the main down side with Gordo is that they nickel and dime you for anything beyond the basics, including guacamole.

Mountain View

La Bamba, on Old Middlefield at Rengstorff. I had a super burrito al pastor when there last. The burrito was huge, way too big for one-pass consumption, the tortilla grilled not steamed, and the meat thrown on the grill as my burrito was being made. Al pastor involves marinated pork, and La Bamba’s is pretty good. The menu mentions Salvadorean specialties in addition to other kinds of burritos (the two people in line behind me both ordered super steak burritos), so there is ample room left for exploration.

There are still plenty of good burritos to be had in the greater Bay Area. I’ve been to several good taquerias, I’ve just never taken the time to write down exactly where they are (or anything else about them for that matter). Until now, knowing how to get there has sufficed.

Berlin

Europe continues to work its way through a Mexican food craze with, at best, mixed results. I’ve been back to Berlin a few times recently and took the opportunity to scope out the burrito sitch there on two occasions. I’m sticking to Döners and Currywürste.

Civans, in Zehlendorf Mitte, just where Clayallee starts. One of the best Döners in the City can be had from this literally hole-in-the wall place. The garlic sauce is a must.

Krasselt, on Albrechtstraße in Steglitz, across from Eis Hennig and in the outside wall of a Reichelt. It’s a literal hole-in-the-wall, but as far as optimal Currywürste go, this place remains my fave. They make their own ketchup and they haven’t cheaped out on the fries like many others.

New York City

If you’re ever in Manhattan with a craving for a decent burrito, go to Benny’s Burritos in the Village, 93 Avenue A. I vividly recall being surprised at how good the burrito was several thousand miles from its home.