The 9 Best Burritos in San Diego

If you only try one burrito on this list, make it the Oaxacalifornia. Picture a California burrito, with carne asada, fries, pico de gallo and guacamole, and then picture it wrapped in a cheese quesadilla instead of a plain flour tortilla. It sounds like a dare. It turns out to be a great idea, because the cheese is built right into the wrapper and shows up in every bite, all the way to the end.

This is La Perla #3 on Rosecrans Street, and the number matters. There are other La Perlas around town, but this Point Loma shop is the one that gets credit for the Oaxacalifornia. San Diego's own Sam the Cooking Guy liked it enough to publish a make-it-at-home version, and he credits La Perla #3 with creating it.

The burrito earns its top spot on more than novelty. Reviews keep landing on the same things: well-seasoned steak, a burrito packed full, strong salsas, and a wrap that holds together even with all that inside. If someone in your group just wants a regular California, it's on the menu too.

Plan around the lunch rush. The dining room is small, with a few tables and some counter seats, the parking lot is compact, and at peak lunch people have reported waiting half an hour or more. Go early or mid-afternoon, take it to go, and eat it by the water on Shelter Island, a few minutes down the road.

If La Perla is the showstopper, Ortiz's is the classic done right. The order is the California burrito, which here means carne asada, fries and melted cheese, with the green salsa on the side.

What people rave about is the balance. It's a steak burrito with fries in it, not a fries burrito with some steak, and that meat-to-fries ratio is what keeps coming up. The green salsa gets almost as much love. Order it on the side so you can add it as you go.

It's a big burrito too, and the size gets mentioned nearly as often as the ratio, so come hungry or bring someone to split it with.

Ortiz's is a small strip-mall shop on Voltaire Street with a handful of booths and, as of this spring, framed Padres memorabilia hanging around the menu board. Voltaire runs straight into Ocean Beach, which makes this an easy stop on the way to the beach or Sunset Cliffs.

JV's is where the burrito gets ambitious. The Surf & Turf puts marinated steak and shrimp in the same burrito. When Eater went into the kitchen in 2023, the build also had rice, guacamole, and sautéed tomatoes, onions and green peppers, all wrapped in two overlapping flour tortillas. This burrito needs the backup.

It's a family operation. In that same story, manager Julio Carrillo said his uncle founded the restaurant, and the dining room was full of colorful handwritten menu signs. Reviewers talk about carne asada with a deep sear, huge portions and prices that stay friendly.

Not in a surf-and-turf mood? The California has that same seared steak, and there's a chile relleno burrito for anyone who wants a stuffed pepper in the mix. There's a small dining room, but these burritos travel well, and Morena Boulevard is just a few minutes from Old Town and Mission Bay. Grab one to go and find a spot by the water.

Chuy's is a mom-and-pop shop on El Cajon Boulevard, where, as Food Network puts it, two brothers are cooking up memories from their childhood in Mexico. The shop landed on Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives in Season 30. The Chuy's Burrito, with carnitas and chile relleno rolled up with guacamole and pico de gallo, is the answer for anyone who can never decide between pork and a relleno.

The burrito that comes up most, though, is the Surf and Turf Cali: carne asada, shrimp, fries, rice, cheese, sour cream, guacamole and chipotle sauce in a double flour tortilla. The menu calls it extra large. Believe the menu, and bring someone to split it with. One ordering tip: there's also a separate Surf and Turf, so say "Cali" if you want the fries.

The tortillas get singled out too, prized for real flavor of their own and a rich, generous style of cooking. If you like heat, Food Network points spice lovers to the Shrimp a la Diabla. Those big specialty burritos take a few extra minutes when the shop is busy, so give the kitchen a little time.

Humberto's is a small Golden Hill taco shop that does one thing really well: a big, hot California burrito with a lot of meat in it. Two things come up again and again: how hot and fresh it comes out, and how generous the steak is.

The fun part is that you get to choose your protein. The California comes with fries, cheese and Mexican salsa, with carne asada as the default, and you can swap in adovada pork or pollo asado. Guacamole and sour cream are add-ons here, so ask for them if that's how you like it. Get a horchata, jamaica or tamarindo on the side.

This is a grab-it-and-eat-it-now kind of place. The room is small and parking on 25th Street is tight, but the Golden Hill edge of Balboa Park is a few blocks away if you want somewhere to sit. Making a night of it? Turf Supper Club, where you grill your own steak, is just up the street.

At The Taco Stand, it starts with the tortilla. The company says it makes its tortillas, salsas and guacamole from scratch every day, and the fresh tortillas are the first thing people bring up about the La Jolla shop. The California comes fully loaded: flame-grilled Angus steak, fries, cheese, guacamole, tomato, mild salsa and sour cream.

The salsas are half the fun. The lineup runs from mild, cilantro and verde to chipotle, then up to habanero, which the menu labels very spicy, and salsa macha, labeled extra spicy. Start mild and work your way up. Want something besides the California? The Mar y Tierra pairs spicy grilled shrimp with Angus steak and chipotle salsa, and there's a mushroom burrito for vegetarians. Save room for churros. They come three to an order.

This is the Pearl Street shop in La Jolla's Village, which makes it an easy lunch on a day at the Cove. Everyone else has figured that out too. Lines get long at peak times, occasionally past an hour, and seating is limited, so an off-hours visit is a whole different experience.

Colima's house burrito does something clever. It puts carne asada and breaded fish in the same tortilla, then adds the fish-taco fixings: cabbage, guacamole, Mexican salsa and tartar sauce. Think of it as a steak burrito and a fish taco that decided to move in together. It's the order that makes Colima's worth going out of your way for.

The name is a tribute. The family's roots are in the Mexican state of Colima, and the restaurant's emblem is the Nevado de Colima, the region's best-known volcano.

If seafood is the draw, the Del Mar goes all in, with grilled shrimp and breaded fish, rice, cabbage, tartar sauce and Mexican salsa in a double tortilla. Vegetarians should look for Ramon's Favorite: black beans, rice, potatoes, avocado, and grilled onions, peppers, mushrooms and tomatoes. Ask how it's prepared if you need it fully vegan. The California gets good reviews too, and people regularly mention big portions, quick service and fair prices.

Colima's is on University Avenue in North Park, and it has a drive-through for the nights you're not getting out of the car. Check hours before a late-night run. The lot is tiny and the drive-through line can back up at busy times, so if you're already in the neighborhood, walking over is the easy move.

Mike's Taco Club is the burrito for a beach day. It's on Newport Avenue, a couple of blocks from the sand, with a red awning and a pickup window out front, and it's the place reviewers keep calling their go-to Ocean Beach burrito.

The Cali is the order: steak and fries with sour cream, guacamole, Jack cheese, tomato, onion and cilantro. That's a creamier, more dressed-up California than the stripped-down classic at Ortiz's, so if you like yours loaded, this is your pick. Want seafood in the mix? The Steak N' Shrimp Cali adds grilled shrimp to the same build. If someone in your group would rather have a fish taco, the grilled fish taco comes with cabbage, onion, tomato, cilantro and avocado.

Parking on Newport is a hunt and seating is limited, so here's the plan: walk up from the beach, grab your burrito at the window, and walk back down to eat it facing the water.

El Azteca comes with a family story, and it's in the hot sauce. In a 2022 La Mesa Courier profile, co-owner Oscar Villa Senor said he learned the business from his parents, who opened the first El Azteca in Pacific Beach in 1996. The house sauce recipe came from his dad, Alejandro. So whatever you order, get the house sauce.

The California is the order. The menu lists guacamole, pico de gallo and cheese in it, and the fries come out crisp, the meat tender, with bites that stay balanced end to end. It's generous without being overwhelming, a burrito one person can actually finish. Also worth knowing: the chile relleno with carne asada burrito, and a vegetarian burrito with rice, beans, guacamole, lettuce and tomato.

This is the Parkway Drive shop in La Mesa, the East County pick on this list. Bring a friend, order a California and a chile relleno with carne asada, and put the house sauce between you.