{"id":162046,"date":"2026-02-03T15:49:15","date_gmt":"2026-02-03T15:49:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/162046\/"},"modified":"2026-02-03T15:49:15","modified_gmt":"2026-02-03T15:49:15","slug":"chipotle-owes-its-existence-to-a-hippie-era-san-francisco-icon-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/162046\/","title":{"rendered":"Chipotle Owes Its Existence To A Hippie-Era San Francisco Icon"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Chipotle is a fast-casual dining behemoth that has amassed many loyal fans over the years. Call it dedication or obsession, but you can&#8217;t deny the chain has become synonymous with comfort food. But like a lot of great ideas, it was born from inspiration and taken to new heights. In this case, we have Mission-style burritos \u2014 a hippie-era San Francisco icon \u2014 to thank for inspiring Chipotle&#8217;s founder. Becoming popular in the 1960s, Mission-style burritos are humungous creations loaded\u00a0with fillings and wrapped in a tortilla, which already helps explain how they influenced the chain.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Steve Ells, who started Chipotle, was working as a line cook at Stars in San Francisco, where the neighborhood was surrounded by a lot of good burritos, particularly in\u00a0the Mission District.\u00a0Ells then decided to set up a humble burrito eatery in hopes of earning enough to open his own fine-dining restaurant. In the early &#8217;90s in Denver, Colorado,\u00a0Ells started selling Mission-style burritos, which evolved into what we now know as <a href=\"https:\/\/www.chowhound.com\/1729475\/chipotle-first-fast-casual-chain\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Chipotle, a pioneer in the fast-casual chain boom;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">Chipotle, a pioneer in the fast-casual chain boom<\/a>. Without the playful \u2014 and perhaps a bit rebellious \u2014 spirit of Mission burritos, Chipotle might not exist. So fans of the chain ought to tip their hats and thank San Francisco.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Read more: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.chowhound.com\/1978664\/chain-restaurant-best-ribs-according-to-reviews\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:7 Chain Restaurants With The Best Ribs, According To Reviews;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">7 Chain Restaurants With The Best Ribs, According To Reviews<\/a><\/p>\n<p>The influence of Mission-style burritos on Chipotle<img alt=\"\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"780\" height=\"438\" decoding=\"async\" data-nimg=\"1\" class=\"rounded-lg\" style=\"color:transparent\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/1770133755_423_960a3fa0ff13a6af6e2d13c4e28d6980.jpeg\"\/><\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.chowhound.com\/1905363\/where-did-mission-burrito-originate\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:San Francisco&#039;s Mission-style burritos;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">San Francisco&#8217;s Mission-style burritos<\/a> are a spin on northern\u00a0Mexico&#8217;s classic favorite. However, instead of just beans, cheese, and meat nestled in a flour tortilla, Mission-style burritos aim for a heartier and more indulgent punch, which seems to be crafted especially for the American palate. The jam-packed wrap includes a variety of ingredients, such as beans, Mexican rice, salsa, and a variety of proteins,\u00a0like carne asada. Some versions even come with spicy jalape\u00f1os. What makes it even more different from Mexico&#8217;s authentic burritos is how the Mission version is finished with extras like guacamole. The burrito is then wrapped in distinct foil packaging to help keep it warm, which many of us have seen Chipotle employees do. Mission-style burritos are impressive in size, which is something Chipotle never fails at.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">In addition to the similar shiny foil packaging, Chipotle has the same filled-to-the-brim mouthful and personalized adventure (allowing customers to customize the fillings) as burritos found in Mission. Chipotle, however, takes burritos up a notch by offering more options, like the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.chowhound.com\/1914037\/chipotle-ordering-hack-secret-menu-burritodilla\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:burritodilla, a secret Chipotle menu item;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">burritodilla, a secret Chipotle menu item<\/a>. The chain&#8217;s menu is also more varied than other places in San Francisco, featuring\u00a0burrito bowls, dedicated high-protein options, and salads. As such, Chipotle is a great example of how food evolves and adapts, going beyond its origins and even deviating to become its own iconic dish.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Want more food knowledge? <a href=\"https:\/\/subscribe.chowhound.com\/newsletter-syndicated?utm_source=yahoo-uk-ca&amp;utm_medium=chowhound-NL-feed\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Sign up to our free newsletter;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">Sign up to our free newsletter<\/a> where we&#8217;re helping thousands of foodies, like you, become culinary masters, one email at a time. You can also <a href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/preferences\/source?q=chowhound.com\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:add us as a preferred search source;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">add us as a preferred search source<\/a> on Google.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Read the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.chowhound.com\/2088160\/san-francisco-mission-burrito-inspired-chipotle\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:original article on Chowhound;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">original article on Chowhound<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Chipotle is a fast-casual dining behemoth that has amassed many loyal fans over the years. Call it dedication&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":162047,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[2402,78603,101,103,102,104,106,105],"class_list":["post-162046","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-francisco","tag-chipotle","tag-mission-style","tag-san-francisco","tag-san-francisco-headlines","tag-san-francisco-news","tag-sf","tag-sf-headlines","tag-sf-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/162046","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=162046"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/162046\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/162047"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=162046"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=162046"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=162046"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}