We’re Drooling Over These 12 Best Fusion-Style Burritos
When it comes to the best handheld foods, burritos are definitely up there. They have the convenience factor of a sandwich, but are designed to hold way more food, which is obviously a big plus. While we will forever love the taste of meat, rice, and beans wrapped snugly inside a warm flour tortilla, restaurants these days are making burritos out of pretty much anything you can imagine, and we are all for it. Here are some of the coolest non-burrito burritos on the market today.
1. Sushi Burrito // Buredo // Washington, DC
We’re kind of amazed it took until this decade to invent the world’s first sushi burrito, but alas, this concoction was born in San Francisco at a humble fast casual restaurant called Sushiritto in 2011. Since then, copycat restaurants have been slinging sushi burritos across the country, but one of our favorites is a small shop called Buredo in our nation’s capital. While sushirittos are infesting the fast casual scene (in a good way), you will probably only see them called sushi burritos, because the guys in San Francisco actually trademarked the term “sushiritto.” Classic.
2. Macnocheeto Burrito // Homegrown Smoker Vegan BBQ // Portland, OR
Next up in the series we like to call “Vegans can eat good shit, too” is this absolutely insane Macnocheeto Burrito from Homegrown Smoker Vegan BBQ in Portland, Oregon. This impressively flexible flour tortilla is filled with smoked soy curls, BBQ beans, creamy macnocheese a.k.a. vegan cheese, grilled peppers and onions, BBQ sauce, and even more vegan cheese sauce. Not exactly sure how this stuff is all made, but it looks like a pretty happy union in there.
3. Korean BBQ Burrito // Korilla BBQ // New York, NY
It’s hard not to love Korean BBQ. Any place that supplies you with seemingly endless meat while trusting you enough to cook it yourself over a hot grill is a champion in our book. Korilla BBQ, which started out as a food truck and now has a brick-and-mortar in NYC serves KBBQ, but with a twist. This restaurant functions Chipotle-style, allowing you to choose your base and then your toppings. The Korean BBQ burritos at Korilla are straight-up legendary, and are stuffed with extraordinary goodness you don’t normally see in a burrito, like bacon fried rice, kimchi, slaw, and bean sprouts.
4. Ramen Burrito // Slapfish x Loosie Rouge // New York, NY
Slapfish won nearly every heart in NYC when they debuted the Ramen Burrito. Slapfish is actually a West Coast restaurant known especially for their lobster rolls with locations across the Orange County-area, but they participated in a temporary pop-up at Loosie Rouge in NYC. The ramen burrito, filled with grilled pork, egg, and spicy miso sauce, was a huge hit and became an Instagram sensation, rocking the worlds of people that didn’t even get to eat it.
5. Banh Mi Burrito // Sa Pa Kitchen // Boston, MA
The banh mi is a very interesting amalgam of flavors. While the interior, usually consisting of cured pork, pickled vegetables, and fresh herbs, represents traditional Vietnamese flavors, the baguette-like bread the whole thing is served on pays homage to the French, who held an influence over Vietnam through colonization. We love food with a story. While the burrito version of the banh mi doesn’t feature the crusty baguette we’ve all come to know and love, you know Sa Pa Kitchen out of Boston, Massachusetts totally knocks the proteins out of the park.
6. Kabob Burrito // Mini Kabob // Glendale, CA
While this burrito does contain rice and meat like a traditional burrito, it uses lavash as the wrap instead of a tortilla. Lavash is a thin, unleavened type of bread that is actually made in a tandoor oven versus a conventional oven, and is eaten across Western Asia and the Caucasus Region, in countries like Armenia, Turkey, and Iran. Mini Kabob in Glendale, California knows how to make a great lavash burrito with key accoutrements like fire roasted jalapenos and “garlic fire” sauce, making us wish we could transport ourselves to this location ASAP.
7. Phoritto // Komodo // Los Angeles, CA
Pho is a pretty amazing hangover cure. Pretty sure that wasn’t the intention behind the origin of the dish, but we bet the dude (or dudette) who invented it would be thrilled to know that a hot bowl of pho can literally save lives. The burrito version of this might be lacking the broth to bring you back from the dead, but it can still wake your taste buds up to a reality of deliciousness. Filled with vermicelli rice noodles, bean sprouts, cilantro, and whatever protein you desire, this burrito is also pretty good looking.
8. Bibimbap Burrito // Buddha Belly Deli // Henderson, NV
You might not expect Henderson, Nevada to be a food hotspot, but Buddha Belly Deli puts the city on the map. They’re especially known for their Bibimbap Burrito, which marries two foods that have a cult-like following. Basically, if you haven’t had bibimbap, you haven’t lived. You can definitely expect this burrito to be chock full of rice, kimchi, pickled veggies, and – because it just isn’t bibimbap without it – a fried egg.
9. Poke Burrito // The Low Key Poke Joint // Los Angeles, CA
The poke burrito may look similar to the sushi burrito, but there are some key differences between the two. First off, poke originates from Hawaii, rather than Japan. Originally, poke was what they called thin slices of fish tossed with simple seasonings that served as a snack amongst fishermen while they were waiting for the next big catch. Poke is super trendy in the food scene right now, and The Low Key Poke Joint’s Poke Burrito does the trend justice. The Joint knows how to serve a great pokeritto, which is rarely served without their own special ingredient: Flamin’ Hot Cheetos.
10. Ice Cream Burrito // Ben & Jerry’s // Nationwide, Seasonal
We don’t ever want to imagine what the world would be like without Ben and Jerry because it would be way too sad. These dudes are seriously two of the best guys on the planet. This sentiment is especially proven by their invention of the Ice Cream Burrito, cleverly known as the “Brrr-ito.” As if it couldn’t get any better, they debuted this creation on April 20, a.k.a. 4-20, a.k.a. National Munchies Day, a.k.a. you probably know what we mean by now.
11. Pizza Burrito // Old Town Pizza // Auburn, Lincoln, and Roseville, CA
We’re down for pretty much anything that follows the world “pizza,” but this pizza burrito exceeded all of our expectations. With pesto sauce, sausage, red bell pepper, and tons of oozy cheese, we imagine this being pretty similar to a calzone, but in handheld form. Side note, we sincerely hope this pizza burrito takes less time to make than a calzone, because ain’t nobody got time to wait 45 minutes to melt some cheese, ja feel?
12. Burger Burrito // Burger Stomper Bar // Toronto, Canada
The best part about eating a burger is the toppings, and, of course, attempting to make them all fit on one bun. This type of food Tetris is some pretty risky business, especially if you’re like us and there is no roll in the world strong enough to fit everything you want to put on top of that lovely piece of meat. Here’s where Burger Stomper Bar has it figured out. They grill their sliders and then throw ‘em on a tortilla, where there is plenty of room for your toppings frenzy. Those Canadians are just too damn smart.
