Was it a late-night leftover fries situation at one of San Diego’s ubiquitous -berto’s? A stoned surfer mixing munchies? An abuela’s hangover cure for her favorite grandson? Like the thing itself, the California burrito’s origins are kind of a mash-up. But no one disputes San Diego is its home.
“I could be totally wrong, and no one really knows,” says José Robledo, current owner of San Diego taco empire Roberto’s (and son of its founders), with no hint of hubris. “But I do give credit for the California burrito to my nephew at my sister’s shop, Lolita’s—in particular the Bonita location—in the 1980s.”
Robledo’s nephew worked the counter at Lolita’s and noticed a regular who came in toting his own fries. “He would order a carne asada burrito, open it up, and add the fries, then roll it back up,” Robledo says. “My nephew thought, Hmmm… this gentleman must be on to something, and finally he tried it himself. Of course it was the best thing he ever ate!”
After a couple years, Robledo adds, the California burrito—flour tortilla, carne asada, cheddar, fries— became an official menu item. Until then, savvy customers could request it, and cooks knew not to bother with those fries on the side.
Santana’s Mexican Grill is another possible birthplace of San Diego’s big, beefy baby: Its tagline is “home of the California burrito.” Dashing Mexican actor Kuno Becker even went on record (that is, Instagram) claiming Santana’s at 411 Broadway in El Cajon was first to add fries to the standard carne asada burrito in 1987. How can we argue with handsome?
“Bragging rights are lost to time for so many iconic Mexican meals, especially in the US,” says Gustavo Arrellano, author of Taco USA: How Mexican Food Conquered America. “Did Santana’s or Lolita’s invent the California burrito? We don’t really know. Did Roberto’s popularize it? Absolutely!”
Though we may never unearth its birth certificate, another thing about San Diego’s California burrito is certainly beyond dispute: It adds another tick in the “why SoCal rules” column. “Funny thing, a lot of people in the Bay Area can’t get over why we would put fries in a burrito,” Robledo laughs. But then he gets serious: “I have the same stance on rice.”
California burrito from Roberto’s Taco Shop
Mission burritos, named for San Francisco’s Mission District and “popularized nationwide by Chipotle,” Arellano explains, include rice. In other states, he adds, this riced-up version shows up on menus as the “California burrito.” We San Diegans know the truth.
The San Diego way is catching on—if slowly. Robledo says Roberto’s California burrito is the number-two seller at his Texas locations.
“Strangely, though,” Arellano chimes in, “the California burrito with fries hasn’t spread much
north past Orange County, where Roberto’s opened a few spin-offs before there were a lot of other taco shops.”
In his 2011 quest for the burrito’s origins, Arellano turned up what he thinks is the earliest media reference to it in a 1995 issue of The Albuquerque Tribune: “the New California burrito, a strange melange of beef-steak, cheese, and french fries. It’s odd and appropriately named.” Well, one might argue, perhaps the moniker is not apropos—maybe it’s time to give credit where it’s due and rename it the San Diego burrito?
