Tito’s Tacos, the nationally acclaimed Culver City landmark, has just been voted the home of the No. 1 burrito in the country by the website The Daily Meal in its prestigious annual rankings of America’s 35 Best Burritos.
“It is simply perfect,” one of the 140 judges said after tasting a Tito’s burrito. “This is America’s best burrito.”
Said The Daily Meal:
“We love when this happens: A newcomer to a perennial list blows everyone out of the water and commandeers the top spot.
“As their website will tell you, Tito’s Tacos was opened in Culver City in 1959 and since has become beloved by people from all walks of life and cultural backgrounds looking for a traditional south of the border eating experience.
“There’s a lot of pride in their culinary traditions here, and that is something we very much respect. There’s a chili con carne filler option, but the crowd favorite is the simple bean and cheese, which speaks to the burrito’s beginnings as a humble field food. It’s simply perfect, and it is America’s best burrito.”
Wirt Morton of Tito’s Tacos extends an invitation. “Savor the mouthwatering taste of a delicious bean and cheese burrito from Tito’s Tacos, when you are next in the vicinity. Find out what the experts agree is the very best burrito in the country.”
A whopping 12 of the Top 35 Best Burritos were found up and down California, and No. 2 was Nico’s Mexican Food, San Diego, followed by a San Francisco eatery, Taqueria (http://www.thedailymeal.com/eat/americas-best-burritos).
As for the history of the burrito, The Daily Meal reported:
“Some of the first recorded iterations of the burrito we all know and love date back to before the Spanish colonization of the Mesoamerican region in the 15th and 16th centuries. That was when the native peoples in what are now Belize, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica wrapped fruits and vegetables — avocados, mushrooms, squash — in corn tortillas.
“During the same time, their northern neighbors, the Pueblo peoples of the American Southwest, came even closer to the burritos we enjoy today by wrapping meat and beans in the cornmeal flatbread they called piki.
“Burrito means ‘little donkey’ in Spanish. Some postulate that the name refers to the appearance of the bedrolls packed onto the backs of the animals. This speaks to the humble beginnings of the dish. It has been relied on by field workers and travelers alike to keep their food warm and intact as they work or roam.”
