As someone who has eaten a lot of Mexican food in both LA and San Francisco, I can say that San Francisco is ground zero for amazing burritos, the best of which can be found in the 24th Street area of the Mission District. I had my first Mission burrito at El Farolito on 24th Street when I was 21 years old after many rounds of low-quality, cheap drinks at some crappy dive bar in the area. I was still a vegetarian then, so I think I ordered a super veggie burrito. It couldn’t have been more than $6, because this was before the Mission was completely overrun by techies.
Fast-forward a decade and some change, and I’m back to eating meat again. When I do indulge, my burrito of choice is a carnitas super burrito. For the sake of this article, I decided it would be more scientific to rank burritos by a specific rating scale, and I decided to focus my efforts in the 24th Street corridor, which is widely considered the “heart” of the Mission by burrito purists.
My rating scale consists of the following criteria, on a 1–5 scale:
1. Meat Quality: Did the meat taste relatively fresh? Was it tender? And did it seem like it was of above-average quality?
2. Meat to Rice/Bean/Veggie Ratio: Was the burrito well balanced? Were all the elements equally represented?
3. Juiciness: When you take a bite out of the burrito, is it finger-licking good?
4. Overall Flavor: Can you stop after one bite? Or are you tempted to eat the whole thing in one sitting?
5. Temperature: This one’s pretty self-explanatory. If it’s cold, it’s no bueno. A warm, grilled tortilla gets extra points.
I picked seven places in the 24th Street area — some very well known (e.g., La Taqueria) and some more under the radar (e.g., La Espiga De Oro). As a control, I ordered the same thing at every place — a carnitas super burrito. One location did not carry carnitas, so I ordered the other pork option on the menu, chile verde. Without further ado, here are the results!
#1. Papalote (3409 24th Street), 4.36 average score
This was a surprise and will probably upset burrito purists, but Papalote’s chile verde burrito received the highest scores on my ranking scale. Papalote did not have carnitas on the menu, so I opted for the chile verde super burrito. It wasn’t cheap —
it was the most expensive of the burritos, at almost $11. Though it was pricy, the flavors and quality of the burrito were truly impressive. The pork was of a very high quality, dripping in juices and delicately flavored with a mild green sauce. The tortilla was lightly grilled, and each bite was perfectly balanced with the ideal mix of rice, refried beans (black beans at that!), and melted cheese. Before I knew it, I’d eaten nearly a quarter of the burrito and had to leave Papalote in fear of eating the whole thing in one sitting.
#2. La Espiga De Oro (2916 24th Street), 4.14 average score
I had never been to La Espiga De Oro, and I’d often walked past its rather nondescript location on 24th Street. There was hardly a crowd present on the Friday evening I dined here, which was quite the opposite of the scene at El Farolito, where a line snaked out the door. The carnitas super burrito was also extremely reasonable, at $7.75, and the flavors were impressive. The tortilla was slightly browned and chewy, and the carnitas had a complex spice profile — the meat was tender and had smoky, spicy notes. The burrito was chock full of carrots, avocado, melted cheese, and chili flakes. It certainly packed a punch. This is a place I’ll certainly be revisiting.
#3. El Farolito (2779 Mission Street), 3.94 average score
There is not much to dislike about the classic standby El Farolito. It’s an institution in the Mission, and rightly so. There was a line outside the door when I ordered my carnitas super burrito, and the wait was justified. The burrito was very good and, at a little over $8, a fantastic value. The carnitas in the burrito is of a high quality and spicy. Additionally, the burrito is loaded with avocado slices, which you don’t see at every burrito joint (most places skimp on this ingredient). One slight drawback was that the meat was a tad on the dry side, for which I docked points. Still, this place is definitely a strong contender for solid, high-quality burritos.
#4. Taqueria San Francisco (2794 24th Street), 3.9 average score
This was another surprise. I’d never been inside Taqueria San Francisco, and it has rarely come up in conversations with other burrito lovers in my neighborhood. I’m not sure if it’s because it has received less press or because it’s almost in Potrero Hill. The super carnitas burrito here costs a very reasonable $8.50, and I was impressed with the generous carnitas-to-rice ratio in the burrito. There were also huge pieces of avocado, and the taqueria had great homemade salsa, which I added to bites of the burrito. The tortilla was also nicely grilled and served warm — just how I love it. I docked points because the flavor was less spicy than that of the other burritos (it was slightly bland), but the flavor picked up once I added a dash of the homemade salsa.
#5 Taqueria Vallarta (3033 24th Street), 3.86 average score
The carnitas super burrito here is huge and the biggest of all that I tried. It’s something that could be shared easily between two people (or maybe three, if the folks sharing are not that hungry). For $9, this is an incredible value. The burrito was chock full of avocado, rice, and other vegetables, but they certainly skimped on the meat a little. The carnitas was crispy, spicy, and flavorful, but the amount was relatively small compared to that offered by the other burrito places (this burrito was predominantly rice and beans). Overall, the flavor of the burrito was good, but some of the other elements — the meat-to-other-ingredients ratio and the overall meat quality — weighed down the overall rating.
#6. La Taqueria (2889 Mission Street) 3.68 average score
I have to admit that I was a little shocked to give La Taqueria a lower-than-average rating, particularly because it’s the darling of burrito reviewers and celebrated in many Yelp write-ups. I don’t know if I went there on an off day, but my burrito experience here was rather underwhelming, to say the least. The meat was under-salted and under-spiced, and the tortilla was not properly heated up — it was actually a bit cold! Overall, I thought this was a very average Mission burrito. If you were to compare it to a burrito in New York City, it would get five stars, but with so many other places to choose from in the Mission, this fell flat. With that being said, I have had amazing experiences eating various soft tacos at La Taqueria in the past, so maybe it’s just not a great place to get a burrito.
#7. El Metate (2406 Bryant Street), 3.0 average score
I so wanted to like this place. It was packed on a Friday night, filled with couples and groups of friends socializing, and the interior décor was adorable, with lots of bright colors and lovely paintings. That was the highlight of my experience here. Other than that, the burrito was below average. The tortilla was COLD; the carnitas was dry and under-salted; and there was not much cheese or guacamole in the burrito. It felt very unbalanced. It was also overpriced, at close to $10 for the burrito. I don’t have much else that’s positive to say about this, as I was pretty disappointed with my experience here.
