One of S.F.’s best burritos now costs $22. Why this acclaimed taqueria nearly doubled its price

SFChronicle ^ | 3/12/24 | Mario Cortez

[who knows what evil?]

That is pure BS...less than $1 per pound all over East Tennessee, and that is retail.

[Stravinsky]

I believe it. And he probably is basically forced to use more expensive ingredients like organic onions and stuff like that due to his customers. I’ll bet the customer that was accusing him of raising prices because of the fame supports leftist policies that are a significant part of the actual reason for that increase too.

[TexasFreeper2009]

exactly, people keep expecting prices on food and housing etc to go back to pre covid levels. That is never going to happen.

[Harmless Teddy Bear]

Well at $1 per pound a fifty pound sack could be $50 but still I find it kind of out there.

$8 to 80 is a big jump.

Unless we are having some sort of onion crop failure that should not be happening.

[Drew68]

Fish sandwich in San Diego, was $20, 9 years ago.

The trick in San Diego is the closer you travel to Mexico, the cheaper (and tastier) the food is.

Between Imperial Beach and San Ysidro, there's plenty of hole-in-the-wall Mexican joints still selling incredibly affordable and tasty food.

And, no, I've never got food poisoning.

It's it's still possible to get a burrito in downtown San Diego at one of the many hole-in-the-wall Mexican places for around $10.

Of course, these aren't "artisan" burritos "crafted" by white hipsters. These are Mexican burritos made to order by Mexicans.

[Drew68]

Supposedly a Big Mac combo meal is $18 in California.

The only way I can justify eating McD's these days is to use the mobile app ordering at the kiosk with a drive-thru code. I have an account so I earn points towards free food (and there's lost of either free or deals at the kiosks with an app account).

I've stopped ordering combo meals. I just get a sandwich and fries to go. Or a sandwich and something free to go. I'll bring it home and drink a can of soda.

McD's prices are insane in California these days.

[monkeyshine]

I don’t know why it didn’t really sink in until today, but I’ve been spending a small fortune on lunch lately. I noticed the prices going up, but something today registered. Amortizing it I figure I’m dropping close to $4k a year on lunch eating out. The places I have been going for years which were like $10-$13 lunches are all now $19 to $25 lunches. And these aren’t fancy places. Some are not so healthy but few of them are horribly bad, fattening or high calorie. They’re just damn expensive. Only the burger place is actually reasonable, it’s fresh and tasty. But obviously not the healthiest. Great fries though, which I get without salt.

And I don’t blame the owners so much. Food prices are up. Wages are up. Rent is up. What choice do they have? But I do have a choice. I decided I have to start making my own lunches much more often. I’m brown bagging it.

[NWFree]

Is that what that is all over the sidewalks?

[californian by choice]

Ingredients
Share list

2 Tablespoons of vegetable oil
1/2 Onion finely chopped
1 tablespoon finely chopped garlic
500 grams of ground beef
2 Tablespoons of MAGGI® Juice
2 Tablespoons of CROSSE & BLACKWELL® English Sauce
2 Pieces of Serrano Chile cut into slices
1 teaspoon of salt with garlic powder
5 sprigs of fresh parsley, disinfected and finely chopped
6 flour tortillas for burritos, hot
1 Cup of hot whole bay beans
1 Package of grated cheddar cheese (226 g)
1/2 Onion finely chopped
2 tomatoes cut into cubes
1 serrano chili finely chopped
5 sprigs of fresh cilantro, disinfected and finely chopped
1 Avocado cut into cubes
1 Lemon (its juice)
1 teaspoon of salt with onion powder.
_________________________________________________
Let's cook!
Kitchen

1. In a frying pan, heat the oil and fry ½ onion until it changes color. Add the garlic, meat, MAGGI® Juice, CROSSE & BLACKWELL® English Sauce, 2 chili peppers, salt with garlic and parsley; cook for 3 minutes.
Fill

2. Fill the tortillas with the meat preparation, add beans and cheese, fold the edges and roll up. Grill them in a pan on both sides and cut them in half.
It serves

3. For the pico de gallo, mix ½ onion with the tomatoes, 1 serrano chili, cilantro, avocado, lemon juice, salt with onion and serve with the burritos. Offers.

[abigkahuna]

For under $2 I get a can of Panang Curry at my local asian market. Slice and dice some big ol carrots, some onions, green beans garlic and then protien. Cook the protein first in the garlic and shallot or onion. Set aside. Cook the vege...set aside. Dump tuna can sized curry into wok and cook a bit—add can of coconut milk—something direct for Thailand that has the least amount of additives to it. Water and Coconut is preferred. Maybe a bit of something as a perservative...

Let that do its thing and add the vege and protein and simmer...

serve alongside rice brown or white. In fact for you diabetics, there is something called Parish Rice—25 pound bag delivered is $50. It has a glycemic index of around 41—thats low low low....that’s based upon a quarter cup of rice. (cooked or uncooked I don’t know—still)

Enjoy...

A great way to spice up life. Panang Curry is not as spicy as others. Considered safe for children. I like to add a dozen or so thai chilis to bring it up to speed—your mileage may vary.

[abigkahuna]

Parish Rice I just ordered a new 25 lb bag for $54.99 Free Delivery and direcrt from the farm: https://parishrice.com

here is an article from LSU regarding the rice: https://www.lsuagcenter.com/profiles/jmorgan/articles/page1644526361838

[monkeyshine]

Thanks for the recipe. I will try that. Or ask my wife to do it she’s more adept at making meals like that. But that I cannot do at work. I have a toaster oven, a microwave and a fridge. And I generally don’t like to use the microwave. I could make a large dish at home and portion it out to eat it over several days reheated, or I can make a sandwich and some veggies, or bake a chicken and take parts of it to work along with carrots, broccoli, coleslaw or cabbage salads. Things like that. I suppose I could get a hot plate for work but don’t have a lot of prep area for cooking a meal there. The hot plate would be good for reheating dishes like yours, or heating things like soup.

I don’t have diabetes or even prediabetes, but maybe I’ll try for something ketogenic. I did that before and it worked well. I am not obese or even really fat but would like to drop 20 pounds. I kept the keto weight loss off for a long time even during the pandemic. But since the pandemic I’ve added about 10 lbs. Time to whip myself back into shape and diet would help that process a lot. When I did keto before year ago I actually at a lot of el pollo loco. Fairly healthy just grilled chicken, broccoli and coleslaw. But this exercise is also about saving money so I can prep several days worth of lunch at home and just reheat it at work. Healthier and save a bundle too.

[jonrick46]

Burrito-Trifecta:

Flour tortilla made with house rendered beef tallow, chargrilled steak, chargrilled chicken, marinate shrimp, rice, beans, guacamole, cheese, crema, onion and cilantro. $30