El Farolito!!!

In light of El Farolito’s continued U.S. Open Cup run, it’s time to revisit my journey to try one of their burritos. As mentioned in a previous post, I spent some time in the Bay Area last year and decided to take a trip from Oakland into the Mission District to try El Farolito’s al pastor burrito. You may be saying to yourself, “doesn’t El Farolito have locations in the East Bay?” And to that I say, yes, they do. However, I felt like I needed to venture into San Francisco and the Mission District to truly grasp what an El Farolito burrito is.

Now to get from Oakland to the Mission District there are several options. You can drive, and I did have access to a car. But, as you readers will hopefully come to learn, if I have the opportunity to comfortably travel via public transport, I will do so. So that left BART or a combination of other different public transit options in the area. I was strongly recommended to not use BART, so I didn’t. Instead, I chose what one could even say was the scenic route.

My first step on this journey was to drive my car to Jack London Square to take the San Francisco Ferry. This was a very easy process, and the ferry is a fun way to experience traveling from the East Bay to Pier 41 in San Francisco. Can’t beat those views. From Pier 41, I now had to get to the Mission District while avoiding BART. I had the pleasure of taking the Metro to the Noe Valley. While the time I was actually on the train wasn’t too long, waiting for the specific train I needed took forever, but I was determined to get my burrito. Finally, I walked from the Noe Valley to the Mission District and El Farolito for around 15 minutes gave or take.

I arrived at El Farolito, hungry and excited for the future, and was perusing the menu when I realized the restaurant was cash only and I didn’t have any cash. For a brief moment, I thought my dream of eating an El Farolito burrito because they won a soccer game was over. Luckily there was a nearby bank which proved to be my savior that day.

I returned to El Farolito with cash in hand to finally order my burrito. The line wasn’t too long and the workers were all super nice. I ordered an al pastor burrito with a jarritos soda and found a booth to sit in. The booth was and the restaurant as a whole were sorta grimy, but that’s how I knew the burrito would be good. And it was. Maybe the best burrito I’ve had and would absolutely make the trek to the Mission District again for another one.

I returned back to Oakland and was already reminiscing on my burrito. Definitely a must try burrito if you are in the Bay Area. Now on my list is to actually see El Farolito play a game.