MAIN INGREDIENTS
Originating from San Diego, California, this American-Mexican fusion dish consists of shoestring fries topped with carne asada, cheese (often Cotija cheese), guacamole, and sour cream. The sour cream and guacamole should be on separate sides of the container so that they don't mix.
Hot sauce is sometimes served on the side, depending on personal preferences. Carne asada fries are usually consumed after a few beers or late at night, and just by looking at the messy, caloric, and comforting combination of potatoes, cheese, meat, and dips, the connection between the two is pretty clear.
MOST ICONIC Carne Asada Fries
View moreBurrito is a dish consisting of a wheat flour tortilla that is wrapped in such a way that it is possible to fully enclose the flavorful filling on the interior. The filling consists of a combination of various ingredients such as meat, beans, rice, lettuce, guacamole, and cheese, among others.
Its name means little donkey in Spanish, and a popular theory suggests that it stems from the way the bedrolls and packs appeared on the donkeys that carried them. Some claim that the dish originated in the 19th century by either the vaqueros in Northern Mexico, farmers in California, or the miners from Sonora.
VARIATIONS OF Burrito
MOST ICONIC Burrito
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The Philadelphian icon known as Philly cheesesteak is an extremely popular sandwich consisting of thinly sliced pieces of steak and tender, melting cheese in a long and crusty hoagie roll. It was invented in the 1930s in what is now a Philadelphian institution called Pat's King of Steaks.
Pat's started as a regular hot dog stand in South Philadelphia, and one day Pat had decided to make himself a sandwich consisting of thinly sliced rib-eye steak and cooked onions placed into an Italian roll. When a hungry cab driver stopped by and smelled the beef, he forgot about the hot dogs, and Philly steak sandwich was born.
MOST ICONIC Cheesesteak
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One of the street foods that are synonymous with Chicago, the Maxwell Street Polish sandwich is said to have been created in 1943 by a Macedonian immigrant Jimmy Stefanovic who operated a hot dog stand - now called Jim's Original - back then located in Chicago's old Maxwell Street market district.
Served on a bun, the grilled or fried Polish sausage is topped with grilled onions, yellow mustard and optional pickled green sport peppers. Soon after its invention, Maxwell Street Polish grew to be one of the Windy City's most popular local fare, and remains a staple of its hot dog stands until this day.
MOST ICONIC Maxwell Street Polish
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Carne asada burrito is a type of burrito that originates from San Diego. The dish consists of a large flour tortilla topped with carne asada meat, pico de gallo, and guacamole. The carne asada parts is made with a combination of beef (skirt or flank steak), lemon juice, lime juice, salt, pepper, and onions.
The pico de gallo consists of tomatoes, onions, jalapenos, cilantro, lemon juice, lime juice, garlic powder, oregano, chili powder, and cumin, while the guacamole is made with avocados, pico de gallo, lemon juice, lime juice, and a dash of hot sauce.
MOST ICONIC Carne Asada Burrito
View moreDespite the name, Michigan hot dogs are practically unknown in Michigan. They are traditionally produced in New York State and Québec. This tasty street food staple consists of a long steamed roll and a steamed hot dog sausage in natural casing, and the whole thing is topped with a meaty sauce called Michigan sauce, chopped onions, and occasionally, yellow mustard.
The sauce is thick and chunky, typically made with tomatoes, vinegar, brown sugar, and cabbage, while the onions may be ordered with or buried (under the sauce).
MOST ICONIC Michigan Hot Dog
View moreThe first Mission burrito was made either at El Faro taqueria in San Francisco's Mission District on September 26, 1961 or at La Cumbre taqueria on September 29, 1969. The burrito is quite large and consists of a big, press-steamed tortilla that is usually filled with baked beans, rice, sour cream, guacamole, salsa, shredded lettuce, and jalapeños.
It should always be served wrapped in tin foil, ensuring that the tortilla doesn't break due to its size. There is also a popular practice of adding some salsa to the burrito in between bites to make it even juicier.
MOST ICONIC Mission Burrito
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Fajitas is a popular Tex-Mex dish made from marinated, grilled skirt steak that is served in a wheat flour tortilla. The earliest printed mention of the word fajita referring to food appeared in 1971, and ten years later it had become one of the most popular dishes of Tex-Mex cuisine.
The word fajita is derived from the Spanish faja, meaning girdle or strip, referring to a cheap cut of beef covering the diaphragm that was considered somewhat undesirable by many locals. In the 1930s, Mexican ranch workers used to tenderize the skirt steak by pounding and marinating it in lime juice before cooking it over an open fire and serving the meat in a wheat tortilla along with numerous condiments.
MOST ICONIC Fajitas
View moreChimichanga is a wrapped, deep-fried flour tortilla filled with a variety of ingredients such as shredded chicken, beef, rice, beans, onions, and cheese. Although the dish is especially popular in the Mexican regions of Sinaloa and Sonora, most people believe that chimichanga was either invented in a Tucson restaurant or in a Phoenix restaurant in the early 1920s.
Regardless of its origins, chimichanga is a widely known favorite throughout Mexico and the United States up to this day, with numerous regional variations. It is recommended to serve chimichangas with salsas, sour cream dips, or guacamole.
MOST ICONIC Chimichanga
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Italian beef is a popular Chicagoan sandwich consisting of thinly sliced, seasoned layers of roast beef in a dense and chewy Italian-style roll, topped with either pickled giardiniera relish or roasted green bell peppers. The sandwich is typically dipped in jus - on one end, both ends, or completely soaked in the flavorful gravy.
Additionally, mozzarella or cheddar cheese can be added to the sandwich, according to personal preferences. There are three popular theories about the origin of the Italian beef sandwich. One says that is was invented by Al Ferreri (the owner of Al's Beef restaurant) and his family at the start of World War II.
MOST ICONIC Italian Beef
View moreTasteAtlas food rankings are based on the ratings of the TasteAtlas audience, with a series of mechanisms that recognize real users and that ignore bot, nationalist or local patriotic ratings, and give additional value to the ratings of users that the system recognizes as knowledgeable. For the “Top 56 American Street Foods” list until January 29, 2025, 5,958 ratings were recorded, of which 5,131 were recognized by the system as legitimate. TasteAtlas Rankings should not be seen as the final global conclusion about food. Their purpose is to promote excellent local foods, instill pride in traditional dishes, and arouse curiosity about dishes you haven’t tried.