Current state of Mission Burritos

My friends’ daughter and husband are coming down to SF in a while and wanted a classic Mission Burrito.
My favorite was always LA Cumbre but I haven’t had one in years.
So my question is where is the tastiest
example nowadays? Anything in the realm of Mexican too. Thanks!

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La Cumbre had the best T-shirts (Calvin Trillin bought two) but for burritos I’d go El Farolito or Taqueria Cancun.

La Taqueria gets lots of raves but doesn’t serve a true Mission burrito (no rice in the filling). I can actually finish one in one sitting.

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La Cumbre was great a long time ago (I started going there back in 1982, give or take), but by all accounts it’s gone way downhill (though that may be a function of so many other excellent taquerias opening since then). But back then it wasn’t what we know now as a classic Mission Burrito. The default La Cumbre burrito was carne asada, beans, and salsa–nothing more. (I always got mine with cheese, but I felt like I was cheating a little.) There was a beautiful simplicity to it that was very different from the throw-in-everything Mission Burrito of today. Not better; just different.

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2nd El Farolito for a typical Mission burrito and La Taqueria for an atypical one. The El Farolito at 24th and Mission is within a block of La Taqueria so if they are hungry they can try splitting one at each. I also like El Castillito on Church Street and La Corneta in Glen Park.

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i eat tacos but the BF eats burritos, and his go-to is still Cancun on Mission Street btw 19th and 18th.

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I had a couple too, but even better, I’ve actually encountered folks attired in same in fairly far flung locales

Hey ho. Thanks Hyperbowler.
Didn’t mean to close the thread.
They’re not coming till April.

And after a burrito at El Farolito and one at La Taqueria, they can hit Mission Pie for dessert.

A little OT, but when I lived at 20 Monroe St. (now 20 Dashiell Hammett St.) I tried, but failed, to get the folks at the Tunnel Top to serve Burrit-os.

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I Like El Farolito on 24th because the parking is easier. I also second La Coroneta in Glen Park because they have the “baby burrito” option. Same ingredients, more user friendly portions for this 40-something lady.

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I Like El Farolito on 24th because the parking is easier.

That’s like saying the arsenic is less poisonous. I would never so much as consider parking anywhere in the neighborhood unless it’s very, very early on a Sunday morning.

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Well, perhaps that’s because you live in some kind of delightful, rainbow, easy parking neighborhood. That stretch of 24th is usually pretty easy during the day compared to where I live.

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Whatever. I just wanted to make sure nobody got the wrong impression; parking there might be easier than, say, Nob Hill (where I used to live), but it’s still shitty (as it is pretty much everywhere in the City), and anyone going there is much better off taking Muni or BART.

I’m with you. There is such a thing as public transit in this town and 24th and Mission is one of the most transit-accessible locations imaginable. I’ve been able to survive without a car for the last 40 years.

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That’s how I remember those days too.
Grilled steak and whole beans was as far from the tex-mex I’d had since a tot
As I’d ever had.
So amazing, I remember buying a few more and taking them back to my sis and b.i.l.
at gate 5. :slight_smile:

Oh yeah, and a pastry from Dianda’s. And then maybe find a place to take a nap.

This post is so funny, because someone asked the same question on FTC a few weeks ago.

My brother lives in the Mission, and here is what he texted after I asked his opinion:

“La Taqueria on missionary at 26th. Taqueria cancun at Mission and 18th-ish. El farlito at 2mission and 24th are my top 3 picks in that order.”

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I get the appeal of El Farolito, but have a personal rule to never endure it sober.

People like to bag on Pancho Villa (I guess for the slightly higher prices and lower grease factor?), but I find it and its sister spot El Toro to have the best salsas, and both are very consistent.

I’ll throw out La Espiga de Oro and El Metate as less-heralded options.

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FWIW, I used to be a fan of Mission Street style burritos. Since I have moved to Mexico, like everyone else, I discovered that Mexicans don’t eat Mission Style burritos. Because the rice, beans, protein, salsa, cheese, sometimes greens are all mixed up, the tastes are all jumbled up.

The burrito hardly exists in any form in Mexico City where I now live and even in the state of Chihuahua, the place where burritos are most often eaten, whether in the town of Villa Ahumada which has the reputation of the best burritos or in the city of Chihuahua, the best burritos are hand made wheat tortillas, thicker than ours, wrapped around a stew (guisado) of one sort or another and that’s it, period. I’m not a snob, but I now prefer the simpler style. My favorite in Chihuahua city, is Enrizos. There are a couple of them: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Enrizos/336911033082348

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But in America we like Mission-style burritos. And California rolls. And bbq chicken pizza, Korean BBQ tacos, and putting wasabi in our soy sauce. Authentic is good, but so are mash-ups. It’s a melting pot thang. :yum:

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We’re not supposed to put wasabi in soy sauce? Man.
I’m out of the loop.

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