On the absence of a make your own burrito bar

Burrito Bar 1

Burrito Bar 2

Burrito Bar 3

Burrito Bar 4

28 Responses to “On the absence of a make your own burrito bar”

  1. carina says:

    wtf…you want chipotle in the mission?

  2. SlideSF says:

    I find they will make almost anything you want at Pancho Villa. Do you need to see it printed on the board, or do you actually want to roll your own?

  3. The lack of foil in your diagram should answer the question right there.

    The structural integrety of the burrito is not to be trifled with.

  4. Ariel Dovas says:

    I didn’t know Chipotle was build-your-own. Is that true?

    Maybe they could roll it for me, I just want to control not only the ingredients, but the portions as well.

    You could experiment with black and pinto (I know you can ask for this, but how fun would it be to do it yourself?), layers (putting cheese with warm beans and meat, where it would melt, rather than on top of the guacamole), etc.

    You could think of it as a taco bar, if that sounds more appealing. But I’d want to make a burrito. Obviously this is not where I’d go to get the “traditional” Mission burrito.

    • batman says:

      in reality sounds fun…but the truth is burrito rolling is not an easy task.. specially the super ones…its like a rolling a blunt…all the white people look at others do it and this WOW its easy…then they try it and get nasty twig looking shit…leave the burrito wrapping to the pros.. im sure after eating 2-3 of your fucked up creation ( which will look like a baby who barfed its organs while wrapped in foil) the burrito bar would die.

    • Well... says:

      Ariel could do it at home but he’d rather pay a poor Mexican person to do it for him.

      • Ben says:

        So edgy, so snarky. Let’s think this through a little more.. the implication here is that it’s better to make it at home, but I’m pretty sure the “poor Mexican person” is getting paid to uh.. do it for him.

        What’s it gonna be? Feel bad for ordering a burrito, or make one at home and reduce the need for the worker’s services?

        • batman says:

          COMPROMISE ! take a “mexican home” service.. he just supervises at home while you roll your own burrito ! if it takes off you have LOAN an mexican from your favorite mission taqueria !

  5. Tuffy says:

    It sucks that rent is so high in San Francisco that people can’t afford their own kitchens anymore.

  6. MrEricSir says:

    KRAMER: Oh, hey guys. Man, I’m telling you. This pizza idea, is really going to happen.

    GEORGE: This is the thing where you go and you have to make your own pizza?

    KRAMER: Yeah, we give you the dough, you smash it, you pound it, you fling it in the air; and then you get to put your sauce and you get to sprinkle your cheese, and they – you slide it into the oven.

    GEORGE: You know, you have to know how to do that. You can’t have people shoving their arms into a six-hundred degree oven.

    KRAMER: It’s all supervised.

  7. Barbara Graber says:

    I would be down, there’s always too much rice for my taste, and more tomatoes would be yummy! Love the drawings!!

  8. JT Snowball says:

    It sounds funny at first. But if you’re in the Mountain View/Palo Alto area, try La Costena. There’s an enye in there.

    The burrito bar allows you to build a superior vegetarian burrito.

    Letting the lay person actually roll it is a terrible idea. Not only do most of us lack the ninjitsu necessary, but we would also mess up to the wet-dry balance so essential to good burrito.

  9. Erik says:

    There is no way that I could roll my own burrito into something that could be et without making a huge mess.

  10. You’re all ignoring the 500-pound gorilla in the room — the homeless guy who bellies-up to the bar and starts shoving stuff into his tortilla with his filthy hands, and daring people to fuck with him. I’ve SEEN those guys doing comparable stuff at the farmer’s markets.

  11. Brock Keeling says:

    “Mission Burrito”

  12. Tony T. says:

    This idea reminds me of those “Mongolian Barbecue” places that were real popular in the ’90′s. You went up to this salad bar of sorts and put together your own “mongolian” dish from all the ingredients, and then gave it to a cook who cooked it up for you on a big grill. It always tasted like crap, because, well, none of us know WTF makes a good “mongolian” dish, what and how much ingredients/seasonings to use, etc. So maybe not so complicated with burritos? As other commenters have already mentioned, it’s all in the “roll” and I dare you to “roll your own” in a manner that will result in anything close to a decent eating experience. Yo.

  13. BK says:

    As someone who’s living away from SF and misses his favorite burrito spots (which, for the record, are El Farolito, El Castillito, and Taqueria San Francisco) and bemoans the rise of more and more gringo establishments in the Mission, I say this is a terrible idea. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. And if you have a problem with how a taqueria makes a burrito, try a different taqueria or another order. You’re probably doing it wrong. And if you’re complaining about too much rice, move back to So Cal, bro. Rice, when done properly, is a welcome, flavorful addition to any good burrito and properly offsets meaty textures.

  14. Josh says:

    I find Mission taqueria exhibit a severe lack of thought regarding how they distribute ingredients in a burrito. One end is all meat, the other all rice and beans, one side is all cold ingredients, the other all hot. Its the even distribution where you get every flavor in every bite that separates decent burrito with good ingredients from a meal where you have to stop and say “damn that’s tasty” after each nibble. Proper proportions and distribution — crucial.

  15. Haggie says:

    I do this at the burrito bar station at Whole Foods, except my burrito rolling is so horrible that I have started making “burrito in a box”.

    I put the flour tortilla in the bottom of a large self-serve box, layer in all my favorite ingredient, and then take it home and eat it with a fork and knife. Burrito in a box…

  16. Bob Dole says:

    WTF do ppl even eat vegetarian burritos? That’s like trying to replicate a McRib. NO.

  17. Mission Russell says:

    Please. Obviously written by someone not living in the Mission. There are a plethora of places that will make your burrito just the way you like. This article is full of brown, smelly ignorance.

  18. The_Audacity says:

    All interesting comments, but it all comes down to this:

    Why the fuck would I want to pay SOMEONE ELSE to make MY OWN burrito?

    (or salad, burger, ham sandwich, falafel wrap etc for that matter)