At least three restaurants specializing in these big-as-a-baby burritos filled with french fries among other ingredients have opened in the city in the past year.
On a recent Sunday, Whittier, Calif., native Albert Ortiz and his family commandeered a table at the crowded restaurant Stuffed.
“The minute I walked in the door, I was back in California,” Ortiz said while dabbing his hulking burrito with a splash of fiery salsa.
That wave of migration from the West Coast includes Stuffed owners Dimitri Karimbakas and Chan Sany, who hail from Fresno and Long Beach, respectively.
California is known for many styles of burritos.
The famous Mission-style burritos of San Francisco are often 10-inch monsters weighing in at nearly 2 pounds and loaded with rice, beans, meat and other fillings.
Hailing originally from the San Diego area, this equally massive burrito is most commonly filled with carne asada and french fries instead of rice or beans.
While beef is the most common protein inside a California burrito, versions made with chicken, pork or even tofu can be found.
Jessie Peña just opened Tacoholics in San Antonio, moving it from El Paso.
Stuffed and Tacoholics were preceded by the California-based ghost kitchen chain Man vs Fries, which opened here in mid-2021.
Stuffed has had to close early several times after running out of ingredients, and sourcing the large flour tortillas necessary for a California-style burrito has been difficult for Peña.
In that time, he’s cooked through about 1,000 recipes, noshed at more than 200 restaurants and seriously considered getting a map of the city’s grocery stores tattooed on his arm for easy reference.