The 8 Best Burritos in San Francisco

Where's the absolute best burrito in San Francisco? The most delicious hot dog in Chicago? Welcome to Best in Town, where we call on a local expert to share the absolute best versions of their city's most iconic food.

Ozi Magaña is a longtime San Francisco–based visual artist. One of his favorite subjects to portray is also one of San Francisco’s most iconic: the Mission-style burrito, which Magaña paints and draws and emblazons on T-shirts. But while his work is beautiful, what first caught our attention was a dedicated Instagram account where Magaña documents his ongoing journey to find his favorite Bay Area burritos—a quest he takes very seriously. That’s why we turned to him to create a list of the city’s eight can’t-miss burritos.

My first burrito experience was when I was a kid. My parents are both from El Salvador, but the Bay Area, where I spent most of my childhood and where I live now, has always been home. I was raised by a single mom, and a burrito was one of the ways she would feed me quickly without really having to cook anything. Burritos were always in my life and always what got me through the day.

You’ll find great burritos throughout San Francisco, but a majority of the city’s best burritos are located in the historically Latino Mission District. This neighborhood is where the namesake Mission burrito was born—piled high with meat and (sometimes) rice, and wrapped expertly tight with aluminum foil. Any Mission burrito comes stuffed, but order a “super” burrito, and it will arrive packed to its limits with guacamole, sour cream, and cheese. The Mission burrito has become so ubiquitous that when you hear the word burrito, it’s likely some version of this San Francisco classic that comes to mind.

How do I find my favorite burritos in a city full of them? If I’m going to a new taqueria, I always try their carne asada (seasoned and grilled steak) first. You can tell a lot about a place by the way they cook their steak. As for salsa, I’ll always get a hot salsa. I really like my burritos spicy, taking breaks between bites just to calm the tone a little bit. Another pro tip: Ask to have your burrito put back on the stovetop after it’s rolled to get a nice crisp on the edges. Some restaurants call this “dorado style.”

Now for the don’ts: I never put lettuce in my burrito; it gets too soggy and it ruins the whole thing unless you’re a very fast burrito eater. And I don’t always add cheese—that depends on the day, and if I want to treat myself a little bit. At a great burrito spot, forgoing rice means the butt end will be filled with all the flavorful juices from meat, beans, and salsa that otherwise would have been absorbed. But if the components aren’t balanced, going rice-free can result in an overly greasy burrito.

This list consists of burritos I’ve been eating since I was a kid, and others that I’ve sourced from friends’ recommendations over the years. Most of the spots I love are in the Mission, where I grew up, but there are a few spots that are worth a drive in other neighborhoods. These are the eight San Francisco burritos you can’t miss if you’re visiting.

Multiple locations

La Corneta, run by Joel Campos and his family since 1995, is one of the places where my mom would pick up burritos when I was a kid. It’s the ultimate nostalgia burrito for me and the standard for my burrito taste. The rice is fluffy and seasoned just enough. Good rice is hard to find; it’s usually undercooked or overcooked, and it can ruin a meal faster than any other ingredient. Here you can tell that they cook the rice in a flavorful broth. The beans have a lot of flavor and are cooked firm enough to hold their shape but soften as soon as you bite into them. The guac is fresh and chunky with just enough zest to brighten the other fixings. La Corneta’s burritos have a very specific Mission-style burrito flavor, which is hard to describe, but you can only find it in the Bay Area. It’s something about how they prepare the protein—how they season it, how they cook it on the grill, and how it sits in its own juices as it’s waiting to be served.

Order: The super steak & prawn burrito. It features steak and shrimp with rice, black beans, guac, and spicy pico. Or the chile relleno burrito with rice, black beans, and avocado (if the kitchen is out of fresh avocado, ask to add guacamole).

Multiple locations

El Farolito, a local family-operated chain of taquerias that’s been around since 1982, is where I end up on a late night after a party or a bar crawl. Their al pastor soaks up all the alcohol, and I feel better about my decisions from earlier in the night. The Mission location that I like (2779 Mission street) has great al pastor. They don’t have a spit, but it still has that flame-broiled flavor that I’m looking for. The meat is juicy but also crispy, which is a hard thing to get—you want a little bit of crunch with those nice little burnt chunks. The 24th Street location feels like being in your family’s kitchen. You want to sit there and eat the burrito inside. The steak and chicken are a bit juicier here too, so at this location I opt for the carne asada or pollo asado. The important burrito components are always consistent at El Farolito.

Order: At the Mission Street location, the super al pastor burrito with pinto beans; at the 24th Street location, the pollo asado burrito with rice, pinto beans, cheese, and guac.

3275 22nd St, San Francisco

Breakfast Little is, as the name suggests, a really great breakfast burrito spot. Andrew Perez opened the restaurant several years ago, after his first breakfast place, the now-closed Piccolo Pete’s Café. Their burritos are not super big or super greasy—they’re nice and light. But don’t let the size fool you, the flavors are incredible. Some of the breakfast burritos here feature standard offerings like bacon, sausage, and even tater tots. But my favorite is closer to a take on a Salvadorian breakfast. It features plátanos and black beans, and it’s just like my grandma’s cooking. I appreciate the experimentation they’re doing here. We need more burrito fusion!

Order: The Tia Maria burrito (scrambled eggs, black beans, plátanos, queso fresco, salsa, crema, and tater tots) with avocado.

2288 Mission St, San Francisco

This is another amazing late-night Mission spot that's been open since 1993, and there’s always a long line. It’s one of the best places for carne asada. The way that they salt and season their meat is spot-on. Some burrito joints keep their meat bland to mix well with the other flavors of the burrito, but here, they found a flavor that really works for them. Whatever marinade they use definitely has a little kick to it (maybe a bit of cayenne?). Cancún’s burritos are a bit greasier than the other burritos on this list (not a bad thing!), so if you’re looking for that sober-up kind of meal, this is where to go. Some places are just greasy for the sake of being greasy, but Cancún is the best of both worlds—it’s greasy and has really good flavor. A burrito here will get you filled up quick, so you can eat half and save the rest for round two later.

Order: The carne asada super burrito with black beans, cheese, and guac.

544 Excelsior Ave, San Francisco

Don Chuy’s is in the Excelsior neighborhood, so you have to drive a bit for this one if you’re coming from downtown or the Mission. It’s worth it. The little corner store, which opened in 1975, houses a serious taqueria in the back. Even in this city, where burritos are stuffed to bursting point, some have gotten smaller recently as a response to rising ingredient costs. These burritos are some of the bigger ones I’ve had, and they’re really amazing. It’s nice to see some spots are still doing it big, like the hefty ones I grew up with. The carnitas here are the perfect mix of crisp, tender, and salty. The rice is well cooked, and the beans are perfectly salted. Nice big chunks of avocado too—I prefer straight avocado versus guac, in general. Sometimes guac can be too citrusy, but straight-up avocado adds a balance of creaminess with the meat.

Order: The carnitas burrito with rice, black beans, avocado, and spicy salsa.

Multiple locations

This is another location off the beaten path (or at least, outside of the Mission), but El Burrito Express’s Sunset District outpost (1601 Taraval Street) is well worth trying. There aren’t a lot of burritos in the neighborhood, and this one’s really, really good. Owner Mila Lopez opened the doors to El Burrito Express back in 1981, and has been packing well-balanced local ingredients into these burritos ever since. El Burrito Express has well seasoned rice and beans, which act as a nice bedding for your meat of choice. When I first tried this place, someone recommended the carnitas, which are bomb. The carne asada is really good, too. It’s one of the better places outside of the Mission.

Order: The carne asada or carnitas burrito with rice, black beans, and guac.

601 Mission Bay Blvd S, San Francisco

You won’t find more innovative and decadent burritos than the ones Miguel Escobedo has been making out of this food truck since opening in 2018. Not only is his al pastor some of the best in the city, but the specialty burritos are a nice change-up from the standard offerings. This is the best place for a vegan burrito option that isn’t just rice, beans and salsa. You really don’t find that often. They were doing jackfruit for a bit, and the rotating vegan option always has more flavor than any Beyond Meat or Impossible burrito I’ve tried. Their al pastor has just the right amount of crunch, juice, and that just-off-the-spit flavor. This is one of the few places that you can order “Tijuana style,” which has no rice and beans—just the al pastor with cheese, guacamole, sour cream, and salsa. They put their housemade salsa right inside the burrito, so it already has a kick and you can add more as you eat.

Order: The vegan burrito or al pastor Tijuana-style burrito with cheese, guacamole, sour cream, and hot salsa.

2889 Mission St, San Francisco

What can I say about perhaps the most popular burrito place in the world? La Taqueria, which Miguel Jara opened back in 1973, draws immense lines—and it’s worth the wait. If you’re coming to San Francisco to visit, you should brave the line. This burrito has all the flavors and textures you’re looking to experience in a traditional San Francisco burrito. There are, however, some nice touches that set this burrito apart from others in the Mission: They don’t use any rice—which is why I started skipping rice at other taquerias—so expect a nice shot of juice at the butt end of your burrito. It all comes down to the flavor of the meat and the flavor of the beans here. The carne asada has a backyard barbeque feel to it; You can taste the flavor of open flame. I used to call ahead to order when it got busy, and people always got mad at me for cutting the line.

Order: The carne asada burrito with pinto beans, cheese, and avocado.