Rico’s
Once I found Rico’s touting to have probably the best burritos in San Francisco, I was skeptical. Because Rico’s is in North Beach, and not in the Mission. I mean, surely the best burritos in San Francisco hail from the Latin-influenced Mission district, and not the kinda-yuppie North Beach, right? But my date and I were hungry, so we decided to venture forth into the place anyway. Immediately, we knew this was not the typical taqueria — for one thing, we were asked to sit at a table, and to be waited on. Then we were faced with the typical Mexican fare on the menu.. enchiladas, burritos, tacos… uh, wait a sec… what’s this, a “British” burrito that has steak and mushrooms? A “Popeye” burrito with spinach, mushrooms, Monterey Jack cheese, black beans & rice? Okay, so apparently they have weird specialty burritos with unusual ingredients. I’m scared of this stuff. So I chicken out and order a carnitas burrito, with guac and sour cream. As we wait, we pig out on the complimentary chips and salsa, which were admittedly quite fantastic. Then the burrito arrives, and I find that the guac and sour cream is ON THE OUTSIDE, right on top of the burrito. Weeeird. I don’t particularly like eating a burrito with knife and fork, but in this case, I had to. So I go ahead and slice up a portion (it’s a pretty big burrito by the way), and bite into a piece. Wow. Pretty tasty. Juicy pork, great salsa. I began to change my mind on North Beach being a place for great burritos… I still don’t know if it’s the best place for burritos (especially since I like my guac and sour cream IN the burrito), but I’ll grant them that it “probably” is. Definitely head here if you’re jonesing for some Mexican food in North Beach.
Rico’s
943 Columbus Ave @ Chestnut
SF, CA
Open Daily 10am to 10pm
I will never understand the San Francisco mindset that “real” burritos or the best burritos can only be found in the Mission.
Better we ghettoize all “real” mexican chefs and burrito makers down there, south of the [market] border?
Of course, regardless of where in this city we claim the real burrito lies, San Diegans are laughing at us.
I was well disposed to Rico’s since I live within a block of it, then had to deal with a super surly woman at the register one night and have vowed to never go back. Despite that, it is one of the rare places where you can sit down within a modicum of real dining and enjoy Mexican food. In the ‘burb’s, this is de rigeur, but in SF, no, we have the super cheap 5$ protein bomb of a burrito. Be warned, though, this place caters almost 100% to tourists, hence the funny burritos. And those tourists have never had the american-sf tradition of a burrito, so it’s a little different than you would expect. I still think Corneta on Mission at 24th is by far the best burrito place. I recently changed loyalties from Toro on 17th and Valencia. Fresh avo, great meat sauce, clean, no-nonsense, probably the best way to spend your six dollars!