Koko Lists
Start a new list
Log in
Sign up
← New random battle
Koko Battle
Tap your pick.
La Taqueria
La Taqueria opened on Mission Street in 1973, founded by Miguel Jara, who emigrated from Tijuana in 1961 and built the space out himself after deciding to open a taqueria that could recreate the food he missed from home. More than fifty years later, it's one of the most cited taquerias in the country, not just the Mission District, and it's stayed under the same family's ownership the entire time. The restaurant is credited — by Bon Appétit and other national food publications — with helping create the Mission-style burrito format itself: a large, foil-wrapped burrito built without rice, leaning on meat, beans, cheese, and salsa rather than filler to bulk up the portion. That same kitchen discipline carries over to the tacos, served on small corn tortillas with the same carefully cooked meats, without the rice-and-sour-cream additions that pad out many other taquerias' offerings. FiveThirtyEight named La Taqueria the best burrito in the country in 2014, and in 2017 the James Beard Foundation recognized it as one of "America's Classics," an honor specifically reserved for beloved, community-rooted restaurants rather than fine-dining destinations. That's a rare combination of data-driven ranking and institutional recognition for a counter-service taqueria that's never changed its basic format to chase either kind of attention. For a national tacos list, La Taqueria is the essential "this is where the format got defined" entry — corn tortilla tacos and rice-free burritos from the taqueria most directly credited with establishing Mission-style Mexican food as its own American tradition.
VS
El Farolito
El Farolito has run a 24-hour taqueria at the corner of Mission and 24th Street for decades, owned by Salvador Lopez and grown into a small Bay Area chain of roughly a dozen locations while keeping the original Mission storefront as the one most identified with the name. It's a cash-only counter — an ATM sits inside for anyone who forgets — that's stayed genuinely unpretentious even as its reputation has spread well past the neighborhood. The super burrito is the item most associated with the taqueria — a genuinely oversized, forearm-length burrito stuffed with meat, beans, and cheese — but the tacos built on small corn tortillas get just as much loyalty from regulars who prefer them to the more famous burrito. El Farolito's salsa bar has its own following, with a lighter, herb-forward green salsa built specifically to cut through the richness of the taqueria's slow-cooked meats. Being open around the clock has shaped the taqueria's identity as much as any single menu item: El Farolito is as much a late-night institution for people leaving Mission District bars as it is a lunch spot, a role few other taquerias on this list are built to fill given more conventional hours. For a national tacos list, El Farolito is the essential "24-hour Mission institution" entry — corn tortilla tacos and forearm-length burritos served around the clock from a taqueria whose name extends well beyond its own counter.
Next battle
Full comparison
About La Taqueria
About El Farolito
Popular Battles
1984 vs. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
1 votes
Friends vs. Curb Your Enthusiasm
1 votes
Ideogram vs. Sora
1 votes
Navy Pier vs. Bishop Museum
1 votes
Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree vs. Skittles
1 votes
George Carlin vs. Oprah Winfrey
1 votes
