Now, right off the bat, let’s establish we’re not talking about Taco Bell here. Nor are we, honestly, discussing something along the lines of your favorite neighborhood tiny taqueria, which does take the time to source quality ingredients and put much love into what winds up on your plate.
We are lucky enough to have such a treasure not far from our house after many years of bemoaning the plethora of hamburger-used-57-ways “Mexican” places in the area.
Ptui.
No, it seems that this establishment caters to a more sophisticated city clientele while holding itself to stricter production standards.
Now that I’ve been completely fair in distinguishing between them all, the focus of attention…is still a burrito.
One of San Francisco’s most popular burritos will now cost you $22. The restaurant owner says the price tag helps the business break even from inflation. https://t.co/3RBTWaqzUk
Here’s a look at the pricey burrito making headlines. pic.twitter.com/uqF3nWNdAJ
— NBC Bay Area (@nbcbayarea) March 13, 2024
But a burrito and taqueria who find themselves in the middle of a big uproar about how much is too much for a traditionally uncomplicated working-class meal if someone takes the effort to 1) make the best one they possibly can, 2) maintain the quality of ingredients as inflation eats away at profits, and 3) in one of the most expensive places in the country.
It all started back in November when the associate restaurant critic for the San Francisco Chronicle rated the burrito from the Mission District’s La Vaca Birria as the best in the district. Don’t you know the place was promptly swamped afterward?
Newcomer La Vaca Birria’s burritos fire on all cylinders, going to great lengths to ensure that every aspect is tip-top. The tortillas are warmed up with rendered beef tallow, a charcoal grill gives carne asada deeper flavor and the beef birria has a profound flavor profile unequaled in San Francisco. These components give Vaca’s burritos an edge over its contemporaries, going toe-to-toe with the best all over the Bay Area. You could order a super ($15), but the grilled cheese burrito ($17) is the taqueria’s more memorable take on the Mission burrito. What distinguishes this burrito is a thick cheese skirt that corrects the cold cheese issue of many other burritos. A sear on the plancha locks in all the flavors. I suggest going with birria for its intense flavor or the asada, which boasts a bracing smokiness. What really seals the deal are the salsas made with scorched ingredients that add even more smoke and depth.
OMG, I’m starving.
What burrito seekers didn’t know then was that the little place was also teetering on the edge of going under, and owner Ricardo Lopez figured there was no time like the present to price the burrito what it cost to produce. The immediate reaction was indignation and outraged cries of, “But it’s a BURRITO!” sprinkled with healthy dose of cynicism about a little publicity going to one’s head.
…The customer complaint Lopez responded to appeared to blame this press coverage for the change in price. “Two years ago it was $11. … Today it is $22,” a customer wrote on Google. “The Chronicle wrote an article about the burrito in November. Coincidence?”
In a long and candid response, Lopez agreed that there was no coincidence. When Hernandez wrote about the restaurant, La Vaca Birria was nearly broke. The endorsement, Lopez wrote, “gave us the confidence in ourselves that we can charge what we need to keep our doors open and maintain our vision without lowering our quality.”
What Lopez needs to charge to both keep the doors open and maintain that hard-won burrito reputation in a socialist haven like San Francisco/California is eyewatering.
…Key ingredients for Lopez’s beef birria, like USDA Choice grade chuck, have gone up. When he began the business as a food truck about three years ago, it was $4 per pound; two years ago it was $4.50, and now it’s $6. Because the restaurant uses about 2,500 pounds of beef per month, the $2 increase costs $5,000 per month. Other ingredients he uses, like onions, have jumped in price from around $11 to $80 for a 50-pound sack. Soybean oil has climbed from $20 to $50 per container. Even mesquite charcoal, a key component for his smoky grilled meats, is more expensive. (According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, food inflation was up 2.2% year-over-year in February, and overall inflation was 3.2%.)
…Labor has consistently been the restaurant’s largest expense. The S.F. minimum wage ordinance has pushed the rate up to $18.07 per hour. Lopez said some of his longtime staffers make above minimum wage, and he tries to keep raises generous. Items at La Vaca Birria are fairly labor intensive, Lopez said: Staff cook the birria in the oven a day before it’s served, chill it overnight to remove fat from the broth, then braise it until it’s rich and tender.
Yeah, those price increases for ingredients are insane, but are not a shock to anyone who isn’t a member of the Biden administration. As the man says in one interview, he hasn’t seen anything return to pre-COVID pricing. Yet there’s this expectation his prices should stay the same because “Mexican” food is traditionally a cheap feed.
Whoever squawked about the burrito must not have realized where they were buying it.
Lopez has tried to keep all of his production in-house with one exception, and even that, he’s managed to keep locally sourced.
…To be fair, Lopez has also made a conscious decision to buy premium beef to make his birria – which is Mexican marinated beef.
And has chosen not to buy any prepared foods from suppliers. Meaning everything is made from scratch – with the exception of the tortillas – which he gets from a local shop.
And all that effort is also reflected in the prices.
I can’t imagine what his overhead is for the property, not to mention the labor costs on top of salaries.
So far, he hasn’t had to let anyone go but he’s also a realist.
…”The food that you make in your pueblo back in Mexico, it’s very labor intensive,” said Lopez. “And the only way you get that here is at those fine dining restaurants, doing everything from scratch.”
…And Lopez said he knows people can choose to go to the burrito shop a few doors down for a $9 dollar option, which he says is good too.
And for regulars who have decided to cut back, Lopez said, “It’s either that or keep the price the same, don’t make any money and we close our doors at one point.”
In the comments on the X video, people are deriding the scratch-made nature of the food – why does he have to do labor-intensive preps like hand-cut onions, or hand-squeeze limes. Well, that’s kind of the point, isn’t it? You can get the other stuff – bottled lime juice and dehydrated or frozen onions and cheap beef – anywhere (at least 10 places here in our town I can think of off the top of my head). As Lopez says, that $9 burrito is down the street.
The point is this one shouldn’t have to cost $22. But, then again, we’re living when a meh meal at Subway sets you back almost $20. I now fondly remember when Subway caught hell for raising the five-dollar foot-long price a buck.
QUELLE HORREUR
@SUBWAY $6 dollar foot longs just doesnt have the same ring as $5 dollar foot longs #thetruth
— Nomadic Aaron ✝️ (@AaronWL42) February 3, 2016
Checking menu prices online now, they seem to be averaging about $11 for a footlong, with a “pro” (meaning double ingredients) going for almost $18.
Those franchises have nowhere near the costs this shop has – theirs is all shipped-in, processed food everything. The help is not overburdened with prep work, either.
As I don’t have a San Franciso budget, I won’t be buying a $22 burrito. But I can sure appreciate the effort to scratch-make one and the challenges of doing so in that hellhole. I can also look at the price of onions and ground beef and imagine what a guy’s up against who has to cook for a crowd and doesn’t get to use his leftovers.
That $22 isn’t the shocker it, by all rights, should be.
It’s a sign of the times.