SAN ANTONIO — Here in Texas, we love our barbecue, but one restaurant on the northwest side is bringing a West Coast flair to our Texan taste buds.
Dimitri Karimbakas, one of the owners of Stuffed, moved from California to San Antonio 13 years ago, and while he loves Texas and considers himself half Texan, he was missing his favorite burritos.
"California is the land of burritos. Texas is the land of tacos," Karimbakas said. "We wanted to bring burritos here."
He said he and his business partner had been talking about opening up a business for some time. The start of the pandemic gave him some free time to really put the plan into motion, and after hosting successful pop-ups, the two decided to open up "Stuffed."
"We wanted to bring all those Cali burritos that we miss here and do stuff that's never been done before," Karimbakas said.
So what is a Cali burrito? First, we need a geography lesson. Karimbakas explained that there are different burritos for different parts of California. The burrito that he holds closest to his heart is the "Central California" burrito.
It has "good carne asada steak, french fries, pico (and) cheese with our secret house sauce," Karimbakas explained.
Although there are plenty of people from California calling Texas home, he said Texans have been the ones craving the West Coast burrito fusion.
"We are getting an overwhelming response from Texans," Karimbakas said. "They love it. I would say most of our customers who come in are Texans."
But there's still something that you'll only be able to find at this restaurant.
"The basic philosophy is everything's better wrapped up in a tortilla. I think we can all agree on that," Karimbakas said. "We take a spin off our Cali burrito, but we throw curly fries in there, bacon... That's not something you'll get in California. That's something you'll only get in Texas. In this spot specifically."
Stuffed also has a fish and chips burrito for those observing Lent. Karimbakas said they plan on expanding their menu to offer more food and drinks.
A burrito eating contest will be taking place this Saturday, April 2. To find out more, click here.