At Miguel’s Jr., everyone knows about the Garbage Burrito. The unfortunately named dish is stuffed with almost everything on the menu and has been a staple for Riverside County and San Bernardino County customers for decades. The more-is-more construction is complex, but its origin story is simple. One day at work, co-founder Mike Vasquez spotted his daughter making a giant custom burrito for herself, using any (and seemingly every) ingredient at hand.
“She made a burrito with my dad, and he’s all, ‘You just put everything in the garbage can in a burrito,’ because it basically has everything on the menu,” Javier Vasquez, CEO of Miguel’s Jr. and son of Mike Vasquez, told SFGATE. “It looks like garbage. That’s why they called it the Garbage Burrito. My dad wasn’t a marketing guru. He just thought it’d be funny.”
The joke has never worn thin. Forty years after its surprise appearance inside a Miguel’s Jr. kitchen, the Garbage Burrito is just as famous as ever. Its humorous name has helped propel this small but growing regional Mexican chain to nearly two dozen locations across the Inland Empire. Up next: Los Angeles.
Built for the Inland Empire
Around 7 p.m. on a fall Friday night, the drive-thru line at the Redlands location of Miguel’s Jr. begins to overcrowd the strip mall. That’s partly because everything is made to order but also because the recipes are exemplary of tasty, fresh California-style Mexican cuisine, with the ease of the drive-thru on hand.
Not everyone has come for the Garbage Burrito, but plenty do. The massive menu item is filled to the brim with refried beans, rice, cheddar cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, creamy guacamole, sour cream and the customer’s choice of meat. It can be overwhelming for someone who’s used to more straightforward flavors…