San Francisco's Mission-style burritos were designed for firefighters

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.

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.

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.

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.

Smothered (or wet) burritos are drenched with sauce

A bar in Grand Rapids, Michigan, first put smothered burritos on the menu in 1966. The dish is usually topped with enchilada sauce, though other options, like mole, can also be used.

The sushi burrito hails from San Francisco

Inventor Peter Yen wanted to combine sushi-making techniques with Latin flavors, so he founded Sushirrito, which specializes in burrito-sized sushi rolls with Mexican-inspired fillings like ginger guacamole.

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.

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.

LA's oldest Mexican restaurant pioneered the burrito in America

El Cholo Spanish Cafe opened in 1923. It was among the first to serve several now-common Mexican dishes, including burritos in the 1930s, guacamole in 1955, and nachos in 1959.

New Mexico is home to a 'breakfast burrito byway'

Santa Fe's Tía Sophia's was the first restaurant to offer breakfast burritos in the 1970s, a heritage New Mexico has fully embraced. Look no further than its "breakfast burrito byway," a state-sanctioned trail that allows visitors to check out some of the best morning bites in the country.

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.

The original McDonald's served barbecue

Barbecue was a popular roadside cuisine in the early days of the US highway system, and McDonald's, while it was still a small enterprise in San Bernardino, California, served it as a part of its fast food menu.

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.

Explore stories from riders of San Francisco's transit system

Since 2008, the "Muni Diaries" podcast has collected true stories from more than 4,000 transit riders, from a man riding with a black crow on his shoulder to the bus driver who moonlights as a poet.

An archive of the art of the Sanborn fire insurance maps

For a century, US insurance companies used Sanborn Fire Maps to decide the premiums customers would pay for fire insurance. These maps were designed to show the building materials used in each structure in 12,000 communities across 300,000 maps. While they have become obsolete, these maps are still useful for historians and urban designers, and anyone interested in lovely, original typography. Dive into the most artful Sanborn Fire Maps with this passion project collection.

The Spanish consolidated power in California with 21 strategic missions

This map shows the order of establishment of the Franciscan-led missions whose saintly names still grace contemporary maps, from Santa Rosa in the north to San Diego in the south.

Thermopolia were ancient Roman snack bars

Although they weren't exactly restaurants, with sit-down service or extensive menus, thermopolia were modest food counters for Romans looking for quick bites—often bread with fish, cheese, and lentils.

Famous Catalan dishes

Catalan cuisine is defined by its bold and unexpected flavor combinations, which are largely a reflection of Catalonia’s diverse geography. Meat and seafood are often combined into a single dish, an ode to the region’s fertile soil and coastline. Meatballs with cuttlefish and peas is a common meal enjoyed alongside fresh bread. Salivate over 15 more dishes in this listicle that’s frontloaded with a bit of history.

How to dine like they do in 'The Bear'

One of the most exciting aspects of FX's hit show "The Bear" is how it highlights real Chicago restaurants and businesses. This guide to some of the restaurants visited by the show’s characters (and a few that aren’t) includes the real Michelin inspectors’ notes on each spot.

How fecal transplants work

1,700 years ago, Chinese alchemist Ge Hong was renowned for his soup that could cure diarrhea-stricken patients. It had a surprising secret ingredient: feces. While it might seem unwise to consume feces, exciting new research suggests that taking...

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.

Irish immigrants deserted the US Army to fight for Mexico

During the Mexican-American War, hundreds of Irish Catholic immigrants—facing discrimination in the US Army—defected to Mexico and formed the Saint Patrick’s Battalion. Though many were captured and executed, they remain honored as heroes in Mexico.

Public school districts are subsidizing housing for their teachers

In the face of stagnant wages and a widespread teacher shortage, some public school districts are offering subsidized housing for teachers, hoping the benefit will attract and retain highly qualified educators. California has been at the forefront since 2016, with housing complexes constructed in expensive areas like San Francisco and Daly City.

At the beginning of the 20th century, a group of young men ate standard American food—replete with food additives like borax and formaldehyde—as part of government research to better understand food safety.

All kinds of people follow the FIRE movement

Amy X. Wang, the assistant managing editor of The New York Times Magazine, looked at the people behind the growing FIRE movement in a recent podcast episode.

Fire engines are among the most complex vehicles on the road

These vehicles are purpose-built to carry water, foam, hoses, ladders, and lifesaving equipment to a scene in minutes. This animated video pulls apart every system inside a pumper truck, showing exactly how the machinery that fights fires actually works.

NASA funded research into creating pizza with a 3D printer

The agency awarded a contract for the development of devices that can create edible structures from long-lasting dry powders when mixed with liquids or pastes. By delaying this integration until the time of consumption, food could last longer than the current six-month expiration of freeze-dried meals for Mars expeditions.

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

The use of fungi to detoxify land and water—a process known as mycoremediation—has been used to clean up natural resources affected by the 2025 California wildfires.

70 years ago today, city officials in Santa Cruz, California, banned rock 'n' roll to protect its youth from corruption after witnessing a 'provocative' concert the night before.

A researcher recently discovered an interview from 1967 between groundbreaking journalist Joan Didion and the Grateful Dead, years before the band became an institution.

Learn how your body is, scientifically, like a firework with its own slow, controlled burn.

Domino's Pizza's 30-minute delivery guarantee was responsible for the chain's 1980s surge, but it was discontinued after the company was found liable for delivery driver accidents.

Massive 3D printers have been used to build homes by stacking layers of 'concrete toothpaste,' a fire-resistant material that effectively insulates against outside noise.

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

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

Up to a million Girl Scouts sell about 200 million cookie boxes every spring, generating $800 million, largely because refusing a child is frowned upon

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

Mid-century modern graphic designers, known for their bright colors and bold lines in advertising, also found success with children's books.

In 1984, Operation Smash Hit intentionally crashed a 239-ton train into a nuclear waste canister at 100 miles per hour to prove the canister's safety, which remained completely intact and lost just 0.29 of its 100 pounds of pressure.

US intelligence allegedly pursued more than 600 schemes to assassinate Cuban revolutionary Fidel Castro.

The concept of phantom limbs, the perception that amputated limbs are still present, dates back to a French military surgeon in the 16th century.

See how Budweiser's famous Clydesdales spend their days at Warm Springs Ranch, where roughly 70 to 80 of the beer brand's giant horses can be found at any given time.

Memecoins are a type of cryptocurrency—a form of digital currency with a wide variety of uses—created around popular 'memes,' or viral internet jokes.

Apollo astronauts left items in the moon's 'toss zone,' including golf balls, family photos, and bags of human waste, to make room for lunar rocks.

Ebola is a filovirus, meaning it resembles a thread under a microscope, though it sometimes twists and can resemble a bowl of spaghetti.

Learn how to read a prospectus, the juicy document that any company must file with the SEC before going public.

In 2009, the nation was gripped by the story of a missing young boy who was believed to be floating over Colorado in a homemade balloon, until it was revealed that he was at home the whole time.

Existentialist writer Jean-Paul Sartre coined the famous phrase 'Hell is—other people' in his play 'No Exit'

Trace how the Bill of Rights, inspired by centuries of political theory, took shape between 1774 and 1789.