Flavors · San Diego

California burrito

Carne asada burrito with French fries inside, cheese, pico de gallo, sour cream and guacamole. San Diego’s tourism authority presents it as a creation of the city from the 1980s.

Traditional dish from San Diego, Califórnia

Also known as: Cali burrito

Updated October 2026

Illustrative images. The pictures in this guide are illustrations based on the real place, not photographs, and may differ from it.

Click a photo to enlarge it.

California burrito — San Diego, the United States — California burrito

California burrito — San Diego, the United States

The California burrito is a wheat-tortilla burrito filled with carne asada, French fries, cheese, pico de gallo, sour cream and often guacamole. The French fries inside the burrito, instead of rice and beans, are what set it apart.

Despite the name, it’s tied to San Diego, not the entire state. The city’s official tourism body, the San Diego Tourism Authority, presents it as a local creation from the 1980s and calls San Diego the birthplace of the California burrito.

There is no confirmed creator. Several establishments in the metropolitan area claim the first version, including restaurants in El Cajon and Bonita, and other accounts link it to taco shops with names ending in "-berto's," common in the city. Local press summarizes the origin as confused, but almost unanimous in pointing to San Diego.

The burrito belongs to the taco-shop culture of San Diego, near the border with Mexico, venues that stay open late and serve carne asada, tacos and burritos.

Every year on National Burrito Day in April, San Diego’s tourism authority promotes the California burrito as the city’s dish, and local restaurants even call it the San Diego burrito.

Share: WhatsApp

Where it comes from

San Diego , Califórnia
Presented by San Diego’s tourism authority as a creation of the city.

Ingredients

Large wheat tortilla, carne asada, French fries, cheese, pico de gallo, sour cream and guacamole.

How it is eaten

By hand, wrapped in paper, often served with hot salsa.

When it is eaten

All year round, at any hour; taco shops usually stay open late.

Your questions

Questions about California burrito

What’s in the California burrito?

Carne asada, French fries, cheese, pico de gallo, sour cream and usually guacamole, in a large wheat tortilla.

Is the California burrito from San Diego?

Yes. San Diego’s tourism authority presents it as a creation of the city from the 1980s, although no single creator is confirmed.

Why does the California burrito have French fries?

It’s the hallmark of the recipe: the French fries take the place of the rice and beans found in other styles of burritos.

Flavors of the United States

Discover other flavors of the United States

Dish · Buffalo

Beef on weck

Rare roast beef sandwich on kummelweck roll, topped with coarse salt and caraway, with horseradish and the roll dipped in the roast jus. It’s a tavern specialty from Buffalo, older than the chicken wings.

Dish · Buffalo

Buffalo wings

Fried chicken wings not breaded and coated in a hot pepper and butter sauce, served with celery and blue cheese dressing. They were created in Buffalo in 1964, according to the most accepted version.

Sweet · Key West

Key lime pie

Key lime pie, made with the small yellow Key lime, condensed milk and egg yolks on a cookie crust. Associated with Key West since the late 19th century, it is the official pie of Florida.

Dish · Los Angeles

French dip

Sliced roast beef sandwich on French bread, with the bread dipped in the roast’s jus. Two downtown Los Angeles establishments, opened in 1908, claim its invention.

Drink · Miami

Cafecito

Cuban coffee: a short, strong espresso sweetened during preparation, with a sugar foam on top. It’s the everyday coffee of Miami’s Cuban community, served in small cups at café windows.

Sweet · New York

New York cheesecake

Dense, creamy tart made with cream cheese, eggs and cream on a cookie crust, served without topping.

Dish · New York

New York-style pizza

Large pizza with a thin, crisp yet flexible crust, thin enough to fold a slice in half. It originated among Neapolitan bakers in New York and is sold by the slice throughout the city.

Dish · New York

Pastrami on rye

Pastrami sandwich: cured, seasoned and smoked beef, hot-sliced on rye bread with mustard. It’s the sandwich of New York’s Jewish delicatessens.

Dish · Santa Maria

Santa Maria-style barbecue

Beef barbecue seasoned with salt, pepper and garlic and roasted over oak coals, served with pinquito beans, salsa, toasted bread and salad. The Santa Maria Valley chamber of commerce registered the menu in 1978.

Dish · San Francisco

Cioppino

Stew of fish and seafood in a tomato-and-wine broth, created in the 19th century by Italian fishermen, mostly from Genoa, on the San Francisco pier. It is served with bread for dipping into the broth.

Dish · San Francisco

Mission burrito

Large burrito made with a flour tortilla, filled with meat, rice, beans, salsa and sour cream, wrapped in aluminum foil. It originated in the taquerías of the Mission neighborhood in San Francisco in the 1960s.

Dish · Tampa

Cuban sandwich

Cuban sandwich made with Cuban bread, roasted pork, ham, Swiss cheese, pickles and mustard, pressed on a griddle. In Tampa it also includes salami. The City Council declared it the city’s signature sandwich in 2012.

Dish · Virgínia

Brunswick stew

Thick stew of chicken, lima beans, corn and tomato, cooked for hours in iron pots. The Virginia General Assembly points to Brunswick County as the place of origin, in a long-standing dispute with Georgia.

Dish · Washington, D.C.

Half-smoke

A sausage thicker and spicier than the hot dog, smoked and grilled, served in bread with chili, onion and mustard. Washington’s tourism agency calls it the city’s signature dish.

All the flavors of the United States