The Mission

One of the most well-known neighborhoods in San Francisco its history dates to 1776, when

Spanish priests displaced and enslaved the local Olona Indians to build the Catholic

Mission San Francisco de Azziz.

Almost a century later, when the gold rush led to a massive influx of white settlers in

California's granted statehood so the US could capitalize on the economic boom, the

district around the mission expanded to be housing for German and Italian immigrants.

The 1906 San Francisco earthquake, which leveled much of the city, further altered the

character of the district, as polls and Irish moved to the rebuilt area.

And after the Second World War, this working-class neighborhood with a rotating cast of

inhabitants took on the character that defines it today, as Mexican and Central American

immigrants came to live in the mission, leading to white flight to elsewhere in the city.

Enter the Mission Burrito

Preservedly created in 1969 by Raul and Mikaela Durán of La Cumbria, Tacarria, though

like all regional signature food stuffs its invention is disputed by others, this overstepped

burrito with a foil wrapped around an oversized tortilla, its content stretching it to the

limit like a flower corset, became the signature dish of the neighborhood, and made the

mission's Mexican restaurants a destination for all residents of all walks of life in the

city by the bay.

In 1993, a Colorado culinary school graduate named Steve L's appropriated the mission

burrito for a Mexican restaurant concept near the University of Denver.

Local buzz led to a dozen restaurants in Colorado, and a substantial investment by McDonald's

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