Taquería El Farolito (2779 Mission St)
El Farolito runs ten counters around the Bay, and 2779 Mission is the one its own site calls the flagship. Gerardo Rico and Pedro Grande cooked for El Farolito, then left and opened Taqueria Cancún in 1991.
Why go
Lauren Saria and Paolo Bicchieri write on Eater SF's burrito map that El Farolito the business took the original Mission-style burrito and perfected it,
and they tell you to go super.1 The grill is what does it. The burrito goes onto hot metal so the rice, the beans and the meat set into one thing.
The name points back at El Faro, the Folsom Street grocery where Febronio Ontiveros is said to have rolled the first Mission burrito in 1962.
Order this / avoid
- Order: the super burrito. Eater names carnitas and al pastor as the meats to take.1
- Order: a quesadilla. The shop puts those beside the burritos and tacos as what it is known for.4
- Avoid: turning up with a card only. The counter takes cash.
What locals & experts say
- Omar Mamoon, writing in Eater SF in April 2023 after about fifteen years living in the Mission:
Further down Mission Street lies Taqueria El Farolito, a late-night spot where my rule of thumb is to consume the massive missiles only after 2 a.m. and only after many drinks (the two usually go hand-in-hand).
3 - Paolo Bicchieri, on Eater SF's late-night map, files this door under where to eat in the small hours and describes burritos
the size of bricks
.2
Good to know
- Doors: ten around the Bay. The other three in this city are 2950 24th Street, 4817 Mission Street and 1230 Grant Avenue in North Beach.
- Getting in: a counter, and no bookings.
Verdict
should-visit — The counter runs from mid-morning into the small hours. I would skip the tacos.