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We’ve been overrun by a legion of "Frankenfoods." Creations like the cronut and the ramen burger are the talk of the nation. But years before these crossbreeds a twinkle in a Frankenchef’s eye, an equally freakish culinary innovation was spreading through Southern California’s taco shops. It’s called the California Burrito, and it’s one of the most elegantly decadent foods you’ve never heard of.

Explain the California Burrito to anyone who isn’t from the San Diego area or under the age of thirty, and you’re met with either bemusement or disgust. Most people are on board with the standard, San Diego-style _carne asada _burrito: a large flour tortilla filled with grilled steak, cheese, pico de gallo, and, if you’re lucky, guacamole and sour cream. But the California Burrito adds a helping of fries to that equation—yes, wrapped up in the burrito.* It invites skepticism. So seeing as my hometown of San Diego is the nucleus of California Burrito artisanship, I decided to revisit this little-known local delicacy.

The burrito’s origins are unclear. Most credit the Fresh MXN Food chain (formerly and colloquially known as Santana’s) with the burrito’s invention.Â I called up Gustavo Arellano, author of Taco USA: How Mexican Food Conquered America and noted California Burrito enthusiast, to see if he knew. He told me that the California Burrito did not begin as the burrito we know today. The first of its name was just a standard, Mission-style burrito: a big burrito, with beans, rice, guac, and sour cream. The version with french fries, was first mentioned in New Mexico, of all places. Arellano guessed that the Southwestern chain Roberto’s Taco Shop may have been the burrito’s original inventor: "When I interviewed the son of the founder, they told me that by the ’80s, all of his dad’s taco shops had the California Burrito on their menu...They don’t know who invented it in the chain, but it came from the chain. And given how ubiquitous that chain is in San Diego, I wouldn’t doubt them." Like Roberto’s, many places proudly date their California Burrito offerings to roughly this time period, but others confessed that all of their burritos had been French-fry-free until the mid-2000s.

Gustavo Arellano’s Favorite Cali Burritos

"My favorite California Burrito is from a place in Lake Forest [Orange County] called Albatro’s. Their California Burrito is perfect. They put the right amount of french fries, they fry them perfectly right there, and of course, the smart thing that they do is that they put the cheddar cheese right on the fries, so when they give you the burrito, the cheddar cheese has melted. It’s like this river of cheese, right next to the fries, and then the sour cream—it’s cold, so it cools everything down. My bonus round pick is **Lolita’s in San Diego. **They offer something called the 2-in-1 burrito, a California Burrito, with taquito inside. It has all the greatness of a California Burrito, with a crunchy taquito, too. It’s Taco Bell before Taco Bell."