Before your choices of fillings were rolled up in steamed tortillas at Chipotle, foil-wrapped monster burritos were well-known items in California. Tracing the exact origins of these behemoth burritos is a bit of a tricky endeavor, but hefty Mission-style burritos are definitively associated with San Francisco. Burrito shops within the heavily latino Mission District of the city specialized in selling burritos filled with pork, flavorful Mexican rice , beans, and avocado wrapped up into large flour tortillas for years before they were first slid across counters at Chipotle.
Chipotle founder Steve Ells first encountered the hefty meal while working as a line cook in California and wanted to bring a similar experience to the place he grew up. As a result, when Ells opened Chipotle in Denver, Colorado, the Mission-style burritos that were placed on the menu were similarly loaded with shredded and chopped meats, salsas, and customers' choices of accoutrements before the pieces were theatrically packed, wrapped, and rolled inside foil sheets.
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A better burrito made convenient
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Though standard Missi...