The sushi burrito hails from San Francisco

Sinaloan sushi is a Mexican take on the Japanese classic

Sushi became popular in Mexico in the early 20th century, thanks to Japanese immigrants who settled in Sinaloa, a Mexican state that runs along the Pacific Ocean. The region’s modern-day sushi blends both cultural traditions, evident in items like the Mar y Tierra roll, which includes carne asada and shrimp.

Inspired by the burrito, wraps took over the food scene in the 1990s

Using the burrito as a model, World Wrapps in San Francisco pioneered the fast-casual concept with a menu of wraps filled with gourmet ingredients like sauteed salmon and saffron rice.

The California Burrito is a french-fry filled spin on the Mexican staple

A California Burrito features carne asada and a generous heap of french fries wrapped in a flour tortilla. Its exact origin is unclear, but it's believed to have been invented in the San Diego area sometime in the 1980s.

Before Chipotle, San Francisco was the epicenter of American burrito obsession

More than just something to eat, burritos were akin to a Bay Area religion in the early 1990s, inspiring performance art, comedy shows, music, philosophizing, and more.

A Connecticut man claims he invented the wrap

Bobby Valentine, a Connecticut-based restaurateur, claims that the burrito-inspired item was invented because someone requested a club sandwich on a day when his toaster was broken. Improvising, Valentine threw all the ingredients into a tortilla and put it on a $4 grill.

Yohei's sushi innovation turned sushi into a convenient fast food

Nigiri took relatively little time to prepare, making it an ideal dish to serve from a food stand. The success of Yohei’s stand, where customers could select their desired toppings, inspired others to open similar businesses.

There are more than a dozen burrito types in the US

Different regions have different aspects, including Mission-style in San Francisco (and nationwide via Chipotle), the chile Colorado burrito, New Mexico’s breakfast burrito, and fusions like the Korean burrito.

Chihuahua, Mexico, is the birthplace of burritos

Ciudad Juárez is home to dozens of burrito restaurants and food stalls, each with its own signature preparation. In Villa Ahumada, typical fillings include chiles rellenos and local cheese.

Sushi contains cooked or raw fish, and comes in various rolls and styles

In the US, most sushi restaurants serve maki and uramaki, which feature fish wrapped in rice. But those are far from the only styles of sushi out there.

Frozen burritos made the dish widely available in the 1950s

California native Duane Roberts, who also pioneered the frozen hamburger patty, invented the frozen burrito in 1956 to be easily prepared at fast food restaurants. This innovation also allowed it to be sold in supermarkets.

The first sushi bar in the US opened in the 1960s in Los Angeles

Kawafuku opened in the city’s Little Tokyo neighborhood in 1923 and installed its sushi bar in the mid-1960s. The restaurant primarily sourced local seafood, including abalone, though it also imported fish from Japan, attracting many Japanese expatriates.

The rice in sushi wasn't originally intended to be eaten

In Southeast Asia in the third century, rice, mixed with salt, was used to preserve fish for several months. The rice was considered too salty to eat and was often thrown away, though adventurous eaters, over time, began eating the rice. In 16th-century Japan, rice was often mixed with vinegar rather than salt, a practice that eventually led to the modern version of sushi. “Sushi” roughly translates to “vinegared rice.”

Are burritos sandwiches?

In this video, we trace the burrito's origins, explore the legal and culinary battles around its classification, and break down why this seemingly simple food raises such a complicated question.

One writer suggests using the California roll to evaluate sushi restaurants

Christine Carone uses the logic of the Big Mac Index—a metric for evaluating purchasing power by comparing countries’ Big Mac prices proposed by the Economist—for evaluating takeout sushi. Her recommendation is looking at the cost of a California roll, a relatively inexpensive, middle-of-the-road item for any American sushi spot. If it’s too expensive, the restaurant isn’t offering good value. But if it’s too cheap, you should worry about the quality of the fish.

'Shogun,' a 1980s TV series, helped popularize sushi in the US by stimulating an American interest in Japanese culture.

The perfectly rolled burrito depends on the tortilla

Experts recommend warming a tortilla before wrapping it around the filling. Once warm, you should distribute the ingredients evenly on the back half of the tortilla for a uniform shape.

How to make a burrito in space

Just because you’re living at the International Space Station doesn’t mean your cravings disappear. In this video, Chef Traci Des Jardins explains the best way to make a burrito while experiencing microgravity.

A deep dive into the man behind ballpark nachos

Nachos were invented in Mexico in 1943, but "ballpark nachos" (featuring liquid cheese and pickled jalapenos) were invented in 1976 for the Texas Rangers, then a relatively new franchise. This Texas Monthly piece digs into the history of Frank Libreto, who realized classic nachos could be a cost-efficient concession with just a few small tweaks.

Funazushi takes 3 years to prepare

Funazushi is a type of honnare (sometimes spelled hon-nare or called narezushi) sushi. Unlike nigirizushi, the quicker form that's commonly found in restaurants, honnare is preserved over a long stretch of time. Mariko Kitamura, who runs a funazushi shop in Takashima City, Japan, describes the dish as a "fish version of prosciutto" with a saltiness that's similar to caviar.

The history of sufganiyot, or Hanukkah doughnuts

Mediterranean-focused food blogger Tori Avey shares her best recipe for fluffy, sugar-dusted sufganiyot and explains the history of the sweet that combines European and North African traditions.

Fast-casual restaurant Chili's is experiencing a resurgence, with its parent company recently reporting a nearly 32% increase in sales, thanks to passionate Gen Z fans on TikTok.

Watch Anthony Bourdain's meal at El Bulli, which popularized molecular gastronomy

The 'drinks' included cocktails in the form of alcohol-infused sugarcanes, a cotton candy piña colada, and a dual-textured, temperature-changing gin fizz. Foods included a gorgonzola cheese sphere with the consistency of a chocolate egg and a dish of freeze-dried and foam tofu with the appearance and texture of tiramisu.

How scientists know invasive nutria were likely introduced to California by humans

Although native to South America, DNA testing of the semiaquatic rodents showed they are closely related to a population in Oregon, suggesting they were deliberately transported into the state. First identified in the San Joaquin Valley in 2017, the distance, terrain, and lack of nutria between the two regions has allowed researchers to rule out natural migration.

Frisbees are named after a pie company

The toy was based on pie tins manufactured by the Frisbie Pie Company. Students used to throw the used tins around, inspiring Walter Frederick Morrison and his partner Warren Franscioni to design a plastic version.

Brazil is leading a cheese revolution and challenging European dominance in the industry

Brazil has plenty of traditional dishes that rely on cheese, but it’s only in the last decade that the country has emerged as a powerhouse in artisanal cheesemaking. While the cheeses may be inspired by European traditions, options like cocoa-dusted goat cheese or an Amazonian buffalo cheese are pure South American.

New Haven 'apizza' nods to Naples and New England

The thin pizza, called "apizza," is crispier than the typical slice from New York or a national chain, and much more like the thin-crust pizzas associated with pizza's birthplace. It's also got some inspired toppings, with one popular pie that speaks to New England's love of seafood: the white clam pie.

Salvador Dalí designed the Chupa Chups lollipop logo

The ubiquitous lollipop design actually comes from the mind of Salvador Dalí. Dalí had no problem creating commercial work for the right price and agreed to create the eye-catching logo. Dalí's skill for attracting attention explains why the logo is placed on top rather than the side.

Quincy Jones' 'Big Band Bossa Nova' helped introduce bossa nova—a jazz-influenced Brazilian genre—to the US

The Dracula character, now seen as the vampire archetype, was inspired by a seafood-induced nightmare its creator experienced.

Sony set the standard for cylinder-shaped batteries when it repurposed manufacturing equipment used to make rolls of magnetic recording tape.

The American cockroach is actually from Africa, an apparent hitchhiker aboard ships carrying enslaved people, with evidence suggesting the bug may have arrived in the New World as early as the 1600s.

The name 'Silicon Valley' arose from the founding of Shockley Semiconductor Laboratory in Fairchild Semiconductor in 1956-57, founded near Stanford University in Palo Alto

In 1915, workers recovered a submarine-like vessel from the Chicago River, prompting fears of German espionage

Explore an interactive map built from more than 100,000 survey responses on where people find joy in their lives

Learn more about the history of fireworks, which dates back to an accidental invention during an alchemist's quest for information about immortality.

See a 3D reconstruction of Tenochtitlan, the Aztec capital that was home to an estimated population of 200,000 to 400,000.

Salvador Dalí believed he was his own dead brother, who had died nine months before he was born

SpaceX's S-1 or 'prospectus' revealed many previously unknown details about the company, including its unprofitability despite doing $18.7B in revenue in 2025, exactly how many voting shares Elon Musk will have in the company (roughly 85%), and more.

Artificial coral reefs have been 3D printed from nontoxic, biodegradable terracotta clay, which coral polyps have used as a foundation for rebuilding marine ecosystems.

In its famous catalog, Sears sold $600 DIY house kits from 1908 through the 1940s, resulting in an estimated 100,000 'Sears and Roebuck homes.'

Brian Wilson wrote the Beach Boys' 'Don't Worry Baby' for the Ronettes, but the legendary girl group rejected it.

The Great Salt Lake's distinct dual coloration results from high-salinity organisms that only live in the northern portion and produce a purple protein.

Mark Twain spent decades feuding with the US Postal Service, convinced its costs and regulations were bureaucratic overreach.

Legendary architect Frank Lloyd Wright designed the SC Johnson headquarters in Wisconsin, aiming to make a cathedral-like workplace

Some Pokémon have been named after real and fictional organisms, while some real-world species have been named after Pokémon, such as Chilicola charizard and Binburrum zapdos.

Sunflowers have long been a symbol of nuclear disarmament because they can extract large amounts of radioactive cesium from soil.

Experimental hantavirus vaccines and therapies, still under development, have long been funded by the US military.

Poison ivy's characteristic rash is caused by an allergic response to an oily compound in the plant called urushiol.

Hotels in Cannes, the glamorous city on the French Riviera, hire hawks to ward off seagulls during the city's famous film festival.

While El Niño moves warm Pacific Ocean waters east along the equator, La Niña moves them west, shifting where rainfall will become more common for months.