Add San Diego’s iconic California burrito to the items that are making it more expensive to live here.
The big picture: It’s tough to find this flavor-packed San Diego staple for under $10, which wasn’t the case just a few years ago.
- The hefty, homegrown burrito’s rising cost is a common complaint among friends and Reddit users desperately searching for cheap options.
By the numbers: California burrito prices at several popular restaurants have increased year by year since the pandemic, images of menus past and present posted to Yelp show:
- Harry’s Taco Club: $9.95 in 2020-21 to $15.99 in 2026.
- Rubio’s Coastal Grill: $8.99 in 2019 to $13.99 in 2026.
- Lolita’s: $7.75 in 2020 to $13.45 in 2026.
- Roberto’s: $7.80 in 2019 to about $11 in 2023 to $13 in 2026.
- Lucha Libre: about $12 in 2021 to $16 in 2026.
Meanwhile, burritos at Harry’s, Taco Stand and Lolita’s got heavier over the past two years, according to our scales. (Yes, we weighed burritos for this story.)
One cheaper exception: The Taco Stand’s California burrito, packed with carne asada, fries, cheese, pico de gallo, sour cream and guacamole, costs $10.19. That’s up from $8.59 in 2020.
- This cheaper options doesn’t sacrifice flavor or size, weighing in at nearly a pound and a half.
What they’re saying: “Consumer sentiment and discretionary income … are definitely things that you look at when you’re deciding if and when to take a price increase, because naturally, it is inevitable at some point, as people have obviously noticed,” Dave Betland, Rubio’s vice president of marketing, told Axios…