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

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.

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.

San Francisco's Mission-style burritos, which are packed with rice and other fillings, were designed for hungry firefighters on the go.

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.

Is a burrito a wrap?

The composition is markedly similar. Many ingredients are the same. So, what's the difference between a burrito and a wrap, beyond branding? This podcast wades into the debate, trying to come to a conclusive answer, once and for all.

Unique ingredients and preparations differentiate burrito styles

Examples include California burritos, which wrap french fries in with the other ingredients, and chimichangas, an Arizona specialty in which the burrito is deep-fried prior to serving.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Health food broke into the mainstream by the 1980s

A 1984 New York Times story noted that Americans were eating less red meat than a decade prior, and that, in general, the country was “talking, thinking and worrying about what they eat to a degree unique in the nation's history.” The feature then details foods that were then considered bizarre: whole-grain muffins, hummus, and a variety of vegetarian dishes. (Some readers may experience a paywall.)

Burrito styles vary across the US and Mexico

Mexican burritos are typically simple, containing 1-3 ingredients. (One exception is Sonora’s burro pecheron, which includes additions like avocado and pepperoni.) American burritos are typically larger and have a wider range of ingredients.

'Foodie' culture arose in the early 2000s

Food writer Jaya Saxena attributes the mainstreaming of the term to early-aughts TV shows, including “Top Chef” and “No Reservations,” as well as the dawn of social apps like Yelp, which turned everyday diners into critics.

Westerners didn't encounter sushi until the mid-1800s because Japan was closed off to tourists.

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.

A television show helped popularize sushi in the US in the 1980s

"Shogun," a miniseries released in 1980, followed a British sailor's journey through 17th-century Japan. Nearly a third of American households watched its five installments, and it was used as an instructional text in classrooms throughout the '80s, inspiring a wave of American interest in Japanese culture, including sushi.

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.

The unexpected return of the steakhouse

Although the 2010s and early 2020s saw fewer people eating red meat, the momentum has now swung in the opposite direction, with vegetarian spots closing and hip new restaurants slinging beef. Food writer Bettina Makalintal makes sense of the sudden shift by unpacking the steakhouse's resurgence.

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.

Why TikTok loves fast-casual restaurant Chili's

The company noticed TikTokers posting enthusiastically about its food and began partnering with creators on the platform. The videos include mukbangs, a South Korean trend in which users eat a massive amount of food, and #cheesepulls, where Chili's mozzarella sticks are stretched to their limits.

Conveyor belt sushi was invented in 1958

Yoshiakai Shiraishi had trouble staffing his sushi restaurant with waiters. When he saw a conveyor belt moving beer bottles at a brewery, he realized the technology could solve his problem. He unveiled his innovation at his Osaka restaurant in 1958, introducing a style, kaitenzushi, that would be replicated by others—and contribute to sushi’s growing popularity.

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.

Some call Beard the original 'foodie'

James Beard came of age when home cooking revolved around canned and frozen ingredients. Likewise, West Coast cuisine wasn’t on anyone’s radar. Beard’s appreciation of fresh, seasonal ingredients and regional influences provided a foundation for today’s movement toward local, farm-to-table cooking and the foodies who seek it out.

Chipotle was initially started to fund another restaurant

Founder Steve Ells was a chef at Stars, a tony restaurant in San Francisco. His original plan for Chipotle—which first opened in 1993 in Denver, Colorado—was to make enough money to open a separate, higher-end restaurant.

Processed foods were marketed to busy wives in the 1950s

In the 1950s, they were marketed as time-saving conveniences for young families, especially those living in the rapidly expanding suburbs, who could easily find them in local supermarkets, making them a seemingly sensible alternative to fresh foods.

Chef Hanaya Yohei invented modern sushi in the early 1820s

The enterprising chef created nigiri sushi—fresh fish placed on top of vinegared rice balls that are then hand-molded together—as a way to quickly serve fish to busy Edo workers who could take their food to-go.

The history of the Caesar salad

Despite what you might guess from its name, the Caesar salad wasn't invented in ancient Rome. The popular dish was created in the 1920s by two Italian brothers who'd emigrated to the United States and opened a popular restaurant in Tijuana called Caesar's Palace. This history of the popular entrée digs into that history and unpacks how it became a restaurant staple.

The American diner evolved from a 'lunch wagon' into a restaurant

Providence, Rhode Island's Walter Scott began serving homemade dishes from a freight wagon to late-night workers, who were looking for meals long after proper restaurants had closed for the night. Scott quickly inspired dozens of copycats, crowding the streets and leading to complaints. Soon, Scott and his imitators parked their carts, which became the earliest American diners.

Natural food stores began sprouting up in the US in the 1960s and 1970s

Health food stores began opening in the ‘50s, though they were primarily focused on vitamins and holistic supplements. Natural food stores, however, provided pesticide-free produce and often relied on local farmers for their products. One of the first was New Age Natural Foods, in San Francisco’s Haight-Ashbury neighborhood, which opened in 1965.

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.

Delivery apps have realigned the restaurant industry

As delivery apps like Grubhub and DoorDash became popularity, traditional dine-in restaurants have adapted to become more accommodating. In this thinkpiece for the Atlantic, Ellen Cushing argues that it's both changed the kind of food being made and realigned our very notion of a restaurant. (Some readers may experience a paywall.)

Why is rice so popular?

From Spanish paella to West African jollof rice, rice is a staple in dishes across the world. This colorful animated video dives into the global expansion of rice, which contributes more than 20% of the calories consumed by humans each year. Learn about rice’s beginnings thousands of years ago, the environmental consequences of its popularity, and the potential for positive changes in the future.

Taste 15 of the best sandwiches across the US

It's entirely feasible to enjoy a sandwich at every mealtime. You might kick off your day with a breakfast sandwich featuring fluffy eggs and cheese on a kaiser roll, savor a po'boy filled with crispy shrimp and hot sauce for lunch, and wrap up your...

A Netflix documentary ignited an omakase sushi craze

Before 2012, edomae omakase was an expensive sushi experience that was not particularly popular in the US. That changed with “Jiro Dreams of Sushi,” a 2011 film about the 85-year-old owner of Sukiyabashi Jiro, an omakase restaurant with three Michelin stars, that earned rave reviews. Demand for omakase exploded, and restaurants responded by raising their prices.

Vintage 1980s photos of the streets of San Francisco

In the early 1980s, San Francisco was changing amid increased diversity and a nascent tech boom. This series of photos from 1981 and 1982 was found of the evolving city, depicting trolleys, doorsteps, storefronts, and more from a time very different from today. Explore the vintage shots here.

White Castle helped propel fast food as a restaurant model

Diners looking for quick meals had plenty of options with food stands and automats, but White Castle pioneered the concept of the fast food restaurant with its first location in 1921 in Wichita, Kansas. The owners emphasized White Castle as more than a fast and cheap way to eat; it was a place to sit and enjoy a meal, with stainless steel interiors and open kitchens.

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.

World War II helped convince food companies to produce more processed foods

Processed foods had existed since the 19th century, but they began infiltrating the mainstream during World War II, with foods designed to last on the battlefield for days. After the war, food companies saw great potential in the relatively cheap foods aimed at busy households. (Some readers may experience a paywall.)

Meet the man whose 100-patty In-N-Out order permanently changed their menu

In 2004, Will Young and a group of friends, including Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh, talked an In-N-Out in Las Vegas into making a 100-patty burger. The stunt prompted the chain to cap orders at 4 patties, a policy that remains in place today.

Pizza's popularity has waned in the 2020s

The food remains popular, but it has lagged behind the growth of other fast food spots like coffee shops and Mexican restaurants. It ranked sixth in US food sales from restaurant chains in 2024; it was in the second slot throughout the 1990s. (Some readers may experience a paywall.)

Korean barbecue uses thin slices of marinated beef

Korean food, and specifically Korean barbecue, jumped across the Pacific to become one of the fastest-growing international cuisines in the United States. In Korean restaurants, dishes like bulgogi (thin slices of marinated beef) are grilled at the table and accompanied by a wide variety of side dishes.

Back when it was still a small restaurant, McDonald's served barbecue.

Bluefin tuna, now used in high-end sushi, was once reserved for cat food

Until the ‘70s, the enormous fish were the base for cat food or, at times, thrown into the trash. Now it’s the most expensive fish in the ocean and is a popular topping for nigiri sushi thanks to the abundance of fat in its belly.

Tex-Mex is its own distinct cuisine with roots in the Texas borderlands

The cuisine emerged from Tejano cooking, blending northern Mexican ranch food with ingredients such as yellow cheese, beef, and wheat flour. Dishes now considered staples, including chili con carne and fajitas, were Tex-Mex inventions rather than traditional Mexican dishes.