While NYC may have us beat when it comes to pizza and bagels, there’s still no denying how difficult it is to get a truly decent burrito on the East coast. Even if you manage to find a supposedly reputable spot, chances are you’ll walk away with a flimsy imitation wrapped up by some skinny-armed hipster (or even worse, THIS crime against humanity). It seems like every year there’s a new taqueria claiming to offer that exclusive Mission burrito experience no matter how disappointing previous attempts have been, and B’klyn Burro is the latest to give it a shot:
Like Tony Bennett, I left my heart and my appetite in San Francisco’s Mission District. But now San Francisco Mission burritos are coming to Brooklyn with a taquero (burrito/taco chef) from one of the most respected taquerias in the game. Bite into one of our amazing burritos and you’ll be teleported to 24th and Mission, San Francisco. Food this good needs to be on both coasts. Well guess what, IT IS!
From the looks of things, this place will only be popping up at select locations this week rather than going the brick & mortar route, so any New Yorkers curious to test its authenticity better hurry up. I expect a fully-detailed report!
Having lived back and forth between SF and NYC, I have found one place in the Bay Area that I found to be better than Grimaldi’s in Brooklyn and on par with Lombardi’s in NoLita: Pizzaiolo in Oakland. Have I had a great burrito on the East coast? Not yet.
Grimaldi’s and Lombardi’s are both tourist pizza spots in NYC that are sub par to what New Yorkers refer to as NY pizza. While the pizza served there is “okay” at best. Other spots such as Lucali’s in Brooklyn are harder to rival.
However, I agree that a great burrito on the East coast is hard to come by.
Sounds like I need to try Lucali’s and you need to try Pizzaiolo:
http://www.pizzaiolooakland.com
“Bite into one of our amazing burritos and you’ll be teleported to 24th and Mission” And jacked for your cell phone.
If you’re from brooklyn and someone jacks your shit at 24th and Mission, then…. oh yeah, brooklyn is exactly like 24th mission now. Carry on.
And just so we’re clear, the best Mexican food in the country is made in San Diego, or any other city that’s within 30 miles of the US/Mexico border.
Who said anything about Mexican food? Mexicans don’t eat burritos.
+1. Also, Eric clearly hasn’t been to the Yucatan.
Bingo. The burrito (or, at least, the burrito-as-we-know-it) was invented and perfected right here in SF.
Actaully, it happened in the Salinas Valley, from Moss Landing to San Ardo and I can prove it 100% beyond a shadow of a doubt – did my Thesis on this at the Naval Post-Graduate School in 2007.
Cite your sources! Genuinely curious, and I don’t get (too much) of my information from blog comments.
My Sources included John Steinbeck, and descendientes of the original farmworkers from Salinas, Soledad, Gonzales, Jolon, Chualar, Spreckles, King City, etc.
Send us your thesis! nick@missionmission.org
Of course Mexicans eat burritos. I have eaten burritos with Mexicans in Mexico, California, and Arizona.
burritos is san diego are shitty. there, i said it. seriously, have you ever tried one? all they have inside the tortilla is meat and avocado. no beans, rice, salsa, or any of the stuff you’ve come to depend on.
oh, but i guess in SD they sometimes put french fries inside the burrito as well, so there’s that.
I’m from SD originally and I used to love how a carne asada burrito down there was just a gigantic pile of meat with a tiny bit of guac, nothing else. There’s a kind of meat-centric purity to that experience that’s almost like what you get if you go to a Jewish deli and get a huge pastrami sandwich, with nothing on it but a bit of mustard. (And La Taqueria, let’s not forget, still has relatively minimal burritos.) These days, though, I’m more fond of the SF approach, with all its rice and accessories, particularly since I don’t eat a whole lot of red meat any more.
Actually, you are also wrong, Andrew. Rice is an unfortunate and unnecessary adjunct to the Burrito – just like some beers like Michelob – just filler. San Diego burritos are excellent, muy puro! Even at he driver-thrus like Roberto’s.
Actually, taste is a matter of opinion. So no one’s wrong. The same could be said for fries in an SD burrito, no?
Same being – “rice is an unfortunate and unnecessary adjunct”
Of course – a strong opinion is all we have….in the end.
OR A NONCOMMITTAL MEH.
French Fries inside a burrito is an abomination.
I realize it’s all a matter of taste, but it’s difficult for me not to vomit with rage with whenever anyone says SF burritos are better than SD burritos.
It’s sad that the mission is so hipster that we are now associated with Brooklyn. Really sad.
COMMENTARIAT WANTS TO KNOW WHAT ROCK YOU’VE BEEN SLEEPING UNDER FOR LAST 7 YEARS
my thoughts exactly.
lol what cause you remember when the mission was an Irish Catholic neighborhood? it’s been filling up with hipsters for 20 years. now it’s filling up with yuppies and social networking billionaires.
You’re not right in saying the mission has been filling with hipsters for 20 years. 20 years ago it was working class, Latino, artists and punks. Although hipster as term dates far back it wasn’t used 20 years ago except on Seinfeld when that tall racist idiot was called a hipster dufus. As a specific type of person in attitude and dress that we immediately recognize as frequenting this blog, Dolores Park, and pretentious coffee shops, they just weren’t here. In fact, hipsters currently being between the age of 20 and 30, were 10 years old and living off mommies tit in suburban bumfuckville 20 years ago.
The East Coast might have better pizza but the Mission has yuppie Pizza down pat. Not that there is anything wrong with that.
Oh you mean like think crust, over priced organic spinach and a few slices of pepperoni? No thanks.
CHIPOTLE MAKES THE BEST PIZZA
This is like Marco Rubio trying to win the Latino vote for Republicans.
There is a great Chipotle in Brooklyn Heights. Those are quite authentic!
HAHAHA well played trollboy….just be sure to pronounce it Chi-potal.
I’m a native New Yorker who lived in the Bay Area for 12 years, many of those in the Mission. NYC burritos don’t come close to the Mission. Dos Toros comse the closest, forget about Chipotle! Looking forward to trying these.
My wife’s family used to have a restaurant on 24th St., called Mi Casa during the ’80s. At the location where Delfin is at today. They were the first to serve big-ass vegetarian burritos. Anyone remember this place?
You can actually get good Mexican food in NYC. People often bitch about there being “no good Mexican food” probably just haven’t ventured out of Manhattan or Williamsburg. Queens and outer Brooklyn have some great tacos and tortas, for instance. The Mission burrito, however, (which as someone already pointed out is neither a Mexican nor SoCal invention, but truly an SF one) is still desperately lacking. I’ll try to check this out and report back.
Whew, a heated debate about a foil-wrapped cylinder that looks like it has already been eaten and excreted at least once.
¡Nuestros mojones son mejores que vuestros mojones……morones!
You might want to see a doctor, if that’s what your excrement looks like….
Vuestros mojones no deberian paracerse asi.
There is a taqueria in Iowa that makes all burritos in the mission seem like they are made with dog food. Also thats after you freeze it and bring it half way across the country.
i come to this blog for the comments section. i love sf burritos. i hate foodies.
Best burritos on east coast…Buffy’s in Binghamton, NY! Yea, suck on that you hipster bitches! If you want the good stuff, you gotta drive 3,5 hours. Also, while in Bing, try a lamb gyro from Taj. You. Will. Shit. Your. Pants. Not literally. It’s just that good.
When I saw California Burrito in the Port Authority way back 2000, I had to laugh. I think french fries in a burrito are San Diego style, right?
had it last night… salsa verde was excellent… beans and rice were good… meat tasted like it was found in front of the McDonnalds at 24th and mission
You mean El Farolito meat? very authentic.
BTW French Fries are NOT common in SD burritos – yuck!