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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.
Flavors · 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.
Traditional dish from San Francisco, Califórnia
Also known as: Mission-style burrito
Illustrative images. The pictures in this guide are illustrations based on the real place, not photographs, and may differ from it.
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Mission burrito — San Francisco, the United States
The Mission burrito is a large burrito made with a warmed flour tortilla and filled with grilled or cooked meat, rice, beans, salsa and, on request, cheese, sour cream and guacamole. After being rolled, it’s wrapped in aluminum foil, which holds the filling while you eat.
The name comes from the Mission District, the Latino neighborhood of San Francisco, where taquerías have served this style since the 1960s. The rice inside the burrito and the large size set it apart from simpler burritos that contain only meat and beans.
The origin is disputed. Documentation submitted for the grocery store El Faro’s application to San Francisco’s register of historic businesses, in 2024, states that founder Febronio Ontiveros sold the first burritos in September 1961, at the request of firefighters from a nearby station, and presents him as the creator of the "super burrito" in the Mission style. The taquería La Cumbre also claims the creation, offering a version in which Micaela Durán joined two tortillas to make a larger burrito.
Some taquería owners in the neighborhood do not use the label "Mission-style": they say they make burritos the way they are made in Mexico. The term spread outside the city from the 1990s, when restaurant chains took the style nationwide.
In the Mission neighborhood, the burrito is everyday food, ordered at the counter and assembled in front of the customer.
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Where it comes from
San Francisco , Califórnia
Taquería style from the Mission neighborhood of San Francisco since the 1960s.
Ingredients
Large flour tortilla, meat (carne asada, carnitas, chicken or others), rice, beans, salsa and, in "super" versions, cheese, sour cream and guacamole.
How it is eaten
With your hands, unwrapping the foil gradually as you eat. It is usually served with salsas and tortilla chips.
When it is eaten
Year‑round, at lunch or dinner, as a quick meal.
Your questions
Questions about Mission burrito
What sets the Mission burrito apart?
The large size, the warmed flour tortilla, the rice alongside the beans and the aluminum foil that wraps the burrito.
Who invented the Mission burrito?
The origin is disputed. The grocery El Faro, dating to 1961, and the taquería La Cumbre both claim the creation, each in the Mission neighborhood of San Francisco.
What is a "super burrito"?
It is the most complete version, which adds cheese, sour cream and guacamole to the filling of meat, rice and beans.
Flavors of the United States
Discover other flavors of the United States
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 · 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.
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 · 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.