Burritos are often contrasted with similar dishes, such as tacos, in which a small hand-sized tortilla is folded in half around the ingredients rather than wrapped and sealed, or with enchiladas, which use corn masa tortillas, and are covered in a savory red hot beef and bean burrito, to be eaten with a fork and knife. The word burrito means “little donkey” in Spanish, the diminutive form of burro, or “donkey”. Before the development of the modern burrito, the Maya civilization of Mexico used corn tortillas as early as 1500 B.

The precise origin of the modern burrito is not known. Some have speculated that it may have originated with vaqueros, the cowboys of northern Mexico in the 19th century. Another origin story tells of Ciudad Juárez in the 1940s, where a street food vendor created the tortilla-wrapped food to sell to poor children at a state-run middle school. The vendor would call the children his “burritos”, because burro is a colloquial term for a dunce or dullard. Eventually, the somewhat derogatory but endearing term for the children was transferred to the food that they ate.

In 1923, Alejandro Borquez opened the Sonora Cafe in Los Angeles that later changed its name to El Cholo Spanish Cafe. Burritos first appeared on American restaurant menus at the El Cholo Spanish Cafe in Los Angeles during the 1930s. Although burritos are one of the most popular examples of Mexican cuisine outside of Mexico, they are only popular in the northern part of Mexico. However, they are beginning to appear in some nontraditional venues in other parts of Mexico. A variation of the burrito found in the Mexican state of Sonora is known as the burro percherón. The origins of the Mission burrito or Mission-style burrito can be traced back to San Francisco, in the Mission District taquerías of the 1960s and 1970s.

Ontiveros claims credit for inventing the “super burrito”, a style which may have led to the early development of the “San Francisco style”. This innovative style involves the addition of rice, sour cream and guacamole to the standard burrito of meat, beans, and cheese. San Diego-style burritos include “California burritos” and carne asada burritos. The style has been described by food writers as an “austere meal of meat, cheese and salsa”, a contrast to the Mission-style burrito, which is typically larger and always contains more ingredients. In the early 1960s, Roberto Robledo opened a tortilleria in San Diego and learned the restaurant business. 1960s, and by 1970, he had established the first Roberto’s Taco Shop.