The word "burrito" means "little donkey" in Spanish — burro ("donkey") plus the diminutive suffix -ito. How a term of endearment for a small equine became the name of one of the world's most popular foods is a question with multiple competing answers, none fully settled.
The Spanish word burro descends from Late Latin burricus, meaning "small horse" or "pony." This Late Latin word may itself come from an earlier source — possibly a pre-Roman Iberian word for a small, hardy breed of horse, or possibly related to Latin burrus ("reddish-brown," from Greek pyrros, "flame-colored"), referring to the animal's typical coloring. The diminutive burrito would literally mean "little pony" or "little donkey."
Several theories attempt to explain why a food was named after a donkey. The most popular legend credits Juan Méndez, a food vendor in Ciudad Juárez during the Mexican Revolution (c. 1910-1920), who used a donkey to transport his ingredients. He wrapped food in large flour tortillas to keep it warm during transport, and customers began referring to his offerings as food from "el burrito" — the little donkey. Another theory suggests the rolled tortilla resembles the bedrolls or packs that donkeys carried. A third
The earliest dictionary attestation of burrito as a food term appears in the 1934 Diccionario de Mejicanismos by Feliz Ramos i Duarte, which defines it as a rolled tortilla with meat or other filling, associated with the state of Guanajuato. This places the term firmly in Mexican regional cuisine, though the exact age of the word is unknown.
What most Americans think of as a burrito — the large, foil-wrapped cylinder stuffed with rice, beans, meat, cheese, sour cream, and salsa — is not a traditional Mexican dish. This is the "Mission-style" burrito, created in the 1960s in San Francisco's Mission District, where taquería owners began adding rice and other fillings to create a larger, more substantial meal. The result was an American innovation that transformed a regional Mexican snack into a portable feast. Feargal O'Sullivan, founder of the taquería La Cumbre, and the owners of El Faro are
The burrito crossed into mainstream American culture in the latter half of the 20th century, propelled by the growth of Tex-Mex and Cal-Mex cuisine. The Chipotle chain (founded 1993) made the Mission-style burrito a national phenomenon. The "breakfast burrito" — filled with eggs, cheese, and breakfast meats — appears to be a New Mexico innovation from the 1970s. The "wet burrito" (smothered in sauce) is a Midwestern variation.
Linguistically, "burrito" is one of many Spanish food words that entered English through the American Southwest: alongside "taco," "enchilada," "tamale," "salsa," "guacamole," and "tortilla." These words trace the cultural influence of Mexican cuisine on American foodways, a process that accelerated throughout the 20th century until Mexican food became as American as pizza — another borrowed word from another immigrant cuisine that was transformed into something new on American soil.
The word has also entered metaphorical use: to "burrito" someone is to wrap them tightly in a blanket, and a "purrito" is a cat wrapped snugly in a towel. The little donkey has come a long way.