The Mission’s last great hope has made us proud today, winning FiveThirtyEight’s National Burrito Bracket. America’s Best Burrito, according to data journalism, is the carnitas at La Taqueria. No rice, no mercy. Here was their final scorecard:
La Taqueria: Carnitas Burrito
Tortilla: 18
Beef: 19
Other Ingredients: 20
Presentation: 20
Flavor Profile: 19
Total: 96
The widely prophesied winner defeated final four contenders El Paso’s Delicious Mexican Eatery, Al & Bea’s Mexican Food in Los Angeles, and the Bronx’s Taqueria Tlaxcalli.
Miguel Jara, La Taqueria’s owner, told Inside Scoop that he is “kind of old” and doesn’t use the internet. “My kids are the ones that were talking about it and telling me what happened,” he said.
“It’s not necessarily the burrito you’ll want to eat every day," writes Anna Maria Barry-Jester, FiveThirtyEight’s burrito correspondent, "and may not even be my personal favorite (I’ll leave you guessing on that), but it’s a technical marvel with a monumental first bite worthy of a national title.” Despite the equivocation, expect lines at La Taq from now to Market Street.
So think back fondly to the the last time you enjoyed – in the words of a burrito correspondent – “the bombardment of liquid and flavor” of La Taq’s carnitas burrito?
Well, it might be your last for a while. After the La Taqalypse, we'll be sobbing into inferior burritos while we wait in La Taqueria’s Soviet era line. And with the coming surge in popularity could arrive a decline in quality. Welcome to a dystopian Mission where we stalk the streets like wild, ravenous creatures.
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