Nate Silver used to be a burrito analyst

Who would’ve guessed that before Nate Silver was using his “witchcraft” (ahem, math) to forecast election results with uncanny precision, he ran a burrito blog? In true Nate Silver form, he evaluated burritos and Mexican restaurants across Chicago and ranked them using a bracket system. Math and burritos?! Man after my own heart!

And thanks to Nate Silver, we can finally settle this age-old question:

24 Responses to “Nate Silver used to be a burrito analyst”

  1. timbo says:

    This is pretty awesome.

  2. Question says:

    We have Burritoeater. The earliest posts are from 2005. Did Nate Silver copy Burritoeater’s idea?

  3. DontMissSF says:

    Can we stop pretending San Francisco has good burritos?

    Papalote < 2010; I will remember you.

    • MrEricSir says:

      Can we stop pretending anonymous internet trolls have taste?

      • Chris says:

        Stating a contrary opinion isn’t in itself trolling. Besides, he or she is right about Papalote.

        Also Socal > Norcal when it comes to Mexican food. There, I said it.

        • womp womp says:

          I agree with the troll

        • MrEricSir says:

          “Stating a contrary opinion isn’t in itself trolling.”

          No, it depends on the context. In this context, there isn’t even another way to read his comment, since the thread has nothing to do with SF burritos.

        • KyleM says:

          I don’t. I had LA’s best and I didn’t think it was better than SF. I do, however, now know where the freezer burrito gets it’s inspiration.

          Plus Papalote is hardly representative of what an SF burrito can be.

          • Herr Doktor Professor Deth Vegetable says:

            Hear, Hear.

          • blah says:

            I was just in LA this weekend and had a really crappy vegetarian burrito, and it reminded me how bad LA burritos are. It’s weird, I get good burritos in SF and good burritos in San Diego, but LA just doesn’t do it.

          • corner soul says:

            LA’s more of a taco town… Burritos tend to be an afterthought.

      • wake Up says:

        This from the biggest troll in the SF blog world

    • Herr Doktor Professor Deth Vegetable says:

      We don’t have “good” burritos, we have the BEST burritos.

      This is known.

      • Kidlet says:

        I know they’re a chain now, but Chuy’s big-as-your-face burrito with deluxe tomatillo sauce still counts as the best burrito ever. or maybe that’s nostalgia talking.

      • womp womp says:

        you obviously haven’t had a burrito out of the mission

  4. high n tight says:

    Nate’s work on PECOTA is much more impressive than either his election forecasting or glorified Yelping.

    • JT Snowball says:

      PECOTA is pretty awesome, but I’d give the edge to his forecasting.

      Though you’re right–I knew about Nate Silver before he was cool.

  5. PECOTA RULES says:

    Judging by that banner, I’m glad he wasn’t ranking Chinese Food or Soul Food.

  6. KyleM says:

    I wonder if the people talking up SF Mexican food here are the same ones that think all Hispanics in the Mission are illegal gang members. I’m guessing there’s at least a bit of an overlap.

  7. nofishtoday says:

    I’ve had the best Mexican food in the world and it’s not in the US of A, I’ll tell you that much.

  8. Herr Doktor Professor Deth Vegetable says:

    Why are you bringing up Mexican food? We’re talking about “Mexican” food, as embodied in the Mission Burrito, which was invented in, and still exists in its tastiest form, in the Mission district of San Francisco.